This is the second Theology of Wine group that Skip and Judi have lead at their church. They attend Little Church on the Prairie (which is neither little, nor sits on a prairie!) I was once the youth director at the church and served there right before I went to seminary. After using the Theology of Wine material for the first class Skip called me and said "Judi and I are going to help you edit this material, and then we are going to get it published. Little did they know what they were getting themselves into! We have been editing (and re-editing the material ever since. It has been slow and time consuming work, but it has vastly improved the work. That's a part of Skip and Judi's group in the photo above. (Thanks to Cathy Norberg for the photo!)It was especially fun to meet with this group since I've known some of the members for over 30 years. It was great to re-connect with Bill and Alice Amblad who worked tirelessly with us on the youth programs when we were on staff at Little Church.
In the photo to the left Skip is standing in front of the island and Judi is to his right. Bill and Alice are standing to the right of Skip. Now about that piece of Oregon Wine History. Ted Wier gifted me with this bottle of Oregon Pinot Noir. The winery is now simply Erath, not Knudsen Erath. Knudsen moved down the hill to start another winery and Dick Erath became the sole proprietor. I doubt the wine is still good to drink Ted stores all of his wines standing upright in his furnace room. But is is fun to own a souvenir of the early wine industry in Oregon. It was wonderful meeting with this spirited group of people. They have offered some very helpful guidance for us.So, you may be asking when do you publish this work? It may be as soon as this summer. We are currently looking for more small groups to test out our material. Just leave a comment and we can connect up. It is an exciting venture for me and I am extremely thankful to Skip and Judi for making it possible.