The weather cooperated--that is, we didn't have to plow through snow to get there, but we DID have enough snow to play in. The speaker (the Rev. Altagracia Perez from Inglewood, CA) was inspiring. The workshops (on everything from making Anglican prayer beads, to Lutheran-Episcopal ministries, to J.R.R. Tolkein) were engaging.  The worship (from Rite I to Rite III) was creative.  The recreation (ice skating at the pond down the hill, roller skating indoors, snowshoeing, skiing, hiking) was fantastic. The YMCA was welcoming, and the conference staff (including our own Student Leadership Team member, Whitney Rice from KU, and Lubbock native Katy Murphy-Lubowicz, who represents Province V) was really on the ball.

Province VII can also take pride in the fact that its delegation was the largest one there! We had 64 students, chaplains, and friends in attendance, with 35 of those coming by bus from Texas thanks to a generous gift from some individuals in the Diocese of West Texas who subsidized the trip. 

Three of Province VII's chaplains--Nan Doerr (Sam Houston),  Mary Hileman (Oklahoma State),  and Susan Hanson (Texas
State)--led workshops, and one of our students, Amber Conrad from Texas State, served as editor of the news sheet that was distributed each morning.

 These are the schools that were represented on the bus: UT Pam Am, Texas A&M University Corpus Christi, Del Mar College-Corpus Christi, Texas State University, Sam Houston State University, McMurry State University, Texas A&M University, Texas Lutheran University, Harvard (this student is a native of San Antonio and was home for Christmas), Texas Tech University.

Other Province VII schools were represented at the gathering, as well: Oklahoma State University, the University of Oklahoma, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, the University of Arkansas, Southwest Missouri State University, the University of Missouri, the University of Kansas, and Kansas State University.

Other chaplains who attended were the Rev. David Krause (Texas Tech), the Rev. Joe Alford (University of Kansas), the Rev. Matthew Cobb (Kansas State), and Hershel Hartford (University of Arkansas).

These are the Province VII schools--along with a couple of others our students attend--that were represented at Estes Park: Del Mar College (Corpus Christi), Harvard, Houston Community College, Kansas State University, McMurry State University, Southwest Missouri State University, Oklahoma State University, Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Sam Houston State University, Texas A&M, Texas A&M at Corpus Christi, Texas Lutheran University, Texas State University, Texas Tech University, the University of Arkansas, the University of Kansas, the University of Missouri, the University of Oklahoma, the University of Texas Pan American, Drury University, and Longview Community College