May 30, 2018

Trinity

I'm writing this reflection on May 29. Yesterday, Monday, May 28, was Memorial Day and the offices were closed, so this is my first day back in the office after a very long weekend.

This past Sunday was Trinity Sunday, the first Sunday after Pentecost, and the day we remember, celebrate, and honor the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And on that day, we were surrounded by Trinitarian images.

I presided at three services – 8, 10:15, and the 3 pm wedding of Jerry and Bruce. It was one of the longest days I've ever had as a priest, but it was also one of the best. The Holy Trinity was present in those three services.

At the 8 and 10:15 services I compared the Trinity to a dance. God the Father is the dance itself that binds everything together. God the Son is Fred Astaire, the first dancer that comes to mind when we think about great dancing. God the Holy Spirit is Ginger Rogers, the third person in the relationship that makes the dance whole and does things we can't explain. The Holy Trinity is present in the relationship of dancers.

At the wedding I said that 1+1=3. Jerry and Bruce were coming together in Holy Matrimony and their relationship of two individuals would come together to create a third person, the marriage itself. The Holy Trinity is present in the loving union of two people.

During the wedding service we heard from 1 Cor. 13, “And now faith, hope, and love abide.” These three things are eternally intertwined. Faith leads us to trust in another. Hope is our longing for how others will see or treat us. And both of these are wrapped up in love. Love allows us to have faith. Love urges us to hope. And even if we fail in upholding the other two, love will remain. The Holy Trinity is present within all relationships if we take the time to see it.

Trinity Sunday. Three services. A dance. A marriage.

They say good things come in threes. Maybe there's a reason for that.

Where to you see the Holy Trinity present in your life?

Blessings,

May 23, 2018

The Mission of St. John's is to . . . Worship, Welcome, Serve, and Encourage

The focus this week is the final word in our Mission Statement: Encourage

This just might be the most difficult of the four parts of our mission to define. It's not that to encourage, or to be encouraging, is difficult to define, but just how do we do that?

I'll name a few, but then I'm going to leave it up to you to find ways to encourage people.

In our worship, we encourage people to experience the holiness of this place and the liturgy. The Episcopal liturgy is similar to some liturgies, but also different from many. One of the things that makes our liturgy different is the tandem use of the BCP and the Hymnal. This can be confusing to some; but by sitting with people who are new to the Episcopal church and helping them through the different books, we are encouraging them to experience the liturgy in its fullness.

We encourage people to a life of discipleship through our different classes. Both the Sunday morning forum between services and the Monday night forum offer something different for people. And the Sunday school classes for the various age groups of children also encourage them to learn about Christianity, life in the church, and discipleship.

We encourage people to participate in various ways during the service, from ushering to serving at the altar and singing in the choir.

Beyond our worship, we have a variety of areas which people can serve. We have a family-oriented shelter where we encourage participation of our parishioners, and the shelter itself encourages the residents to move on to permanent housing. Our participation in the Micah's Backpack program helps feed children which encourages them to learn, because you can't learn properly when you're hungry. Our Community Cafe program feeds both adults and children one Saturday a month. This program encourages people to come in and eat, encourages them to take supplies they may need, encourages them to a (possible) different kind of behavior when they are in our building, and hopefully offers the encouragement of God's love.

Our parish culture of welcoming people into our midst also offers a form of encouragement. I believe that people are truly encouraged to see a church that actually lives into its stated belief of, “All are Welcome.”

As we move forward, how might you encourage people to worship with us? How might you offer encouragement to those around you through your presence and acts? How might you be encouraged to serve? Encouragement can also be described as joy. So when we Worship, Welcome, and Serve, if we do it with a sense of joy, then we will also be doing it with an encouraging attitude.

Blessings,

May 9, 2018

The Mission of St. John's is to . . . Worship, Welcome

The second point of our Mission Statement is to Welcome. The Episcopal church in general, and St. John's in particular, states that we are a church who welcomes all people. And, in general, I think we do a good job of that. Joelene and I felt very welcomed by the parish as we were interviewing and then settling in. You might say that's because we were the new clergy family, but I can tell you from experience that that isn't always the case. And I have spoken with several people who have felt the same way.

Being a welcoming place takes effort. It takes more effort than simply saying, “Welcome to St. John's,” handing them a bulletin, and then feeling you've done your part. As far as Sunday goes, it means doing the above, but it also means asking people you don't know, “Have we met?” If you find out they are new, it means asking if they are familiar with the Episcopal church. If not, it means offering to have someone sit with them. It means escorting them to coffee hour and introducing them to a few people.

We are also a welcoming parish when we invite people to join us for Community Cafe, as servers or guests. We are a welcoming parish when we invite outside groups to use our facilities. We are a welcoming parish when we “seek and serve Christ in all persons” regardless of their outward appearance. We are a welcoming parish when people know that this is a safe place.

We are a welcoming parish when we exhibit proper boundaries and behaviors. People in leadership positions and certain ministries are required to take the Safeguarding classes, not because we think they are people of questionable behavior, but because we want to be able to say to people, “We do this because we take your safety seriously; welcome to this safe place.” Mayfest is this Saturday evening, and along with it the sale of wine. We have worked to ensure that this is a welcome and safe place by putting certain boundaries and expectations in place regarding the presence and sale of alcohol.

Those proper boundaries and behaviors also extend to church theology and doctrine. As I wrote for Soundings a few months ago, we are a big tent circus of a church that welcomes all people into the household of God regardless of gender, race, orientation, or any other difference we might assign to a person. We welcome all. There is a caveat to that, however.

Part of having good boundaries is knowing who you are and what you will and will not tolerate. That said, as a parish who welcomes all, we will not welcome those who espouse racist, misogynistic, or other hateful views. We will not welcome those who abuse or belittle others. We will not welcome those who try to limit the limitless love of God to only a select few. In short, we will welcome all those who welcome all those.

The mission of St. John's is to welcome. I invite you to work at that, because it's harder than you think.

Blessings

May 2, 2018

The Mission of St. John's is to . . . Worship

In this month's Soundings I wrote about the process the Vestry went through to come up with a mission statement that captured what we did as a parish, was active, and was easily remembered. The result of that process was Worship, Welcome, Serve, and Encourage. Over the next four weeks I want to reflect on those words.

Worship is defined as “reverent honor and homage paid to God.” And the Catechism states, “In corporate worship, we unite ourselves with others to acknowledge the holiness of God, to hear God's Word, to offer prayer, and to celebrate the sacraments.”

Churches can do a lot of things, but the one thing churches do that no other group does is the intentional worship of God. Scripture is full of accounts of people worshiping God. Worship entails thanksgivings, blessings, deliverance, and a whole host of other reasons. But I think the primary reason for our worship of God is tied to creation. In the beginning, God created . . . and that alone is worthy of worship. One of my favorite references to this comes from the beginning of Canticle 18 in Morning Prayer: “Splendor and honor and kingly power are yours by right, O Lord our God, for you created everything that is, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

The Prayer Book is a reflection of Scripture, and in it we have a bountiful and beautiful resource for the worship of God that spans every time, day, and season of the year. This is a good thing because there are times when we don't feel like worshiping God. Maybe we have just lost a family member or a job. Maybe we're having difficulties in a relationship or with our children. Maybe we're just too busy or too tired. But worship should never be based on how we feel. As we say in the Rite I Eucharistic Prayer: It is very meet, right, and our bounden duty, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto thee, O Lord . . .

Our worship of God is very proper. Our worship of God is right. Our worship of God is our obligatory duty. Our worship of God is formational, in that it forms who we are and who we understand God to be. There's a reason the Israelites prayed/worshiped seven times a day. There's a reason Islam requires prayers/worship at least five times a day. There's a reason Christian monks prayed/worshiped up to eight times a day. Worship is where we connect most with God.

As with any relationship, we need to cultivate times to focus on and connect with the other. Worship allows us to focus on and connect with God. I encourage you to participate in this primary act of our faith as often as possible. Obviously that includes Sunday mornings, but it also includes other times such as Evening Prayer that is held in the church at 5:30 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. It includes the 12:15 Wednesday Eucharist. It also includes morning, noon, and evening prayers you do on your own.

The mission of St. John's is to Worship. I invite you to join us as we are formed by that act.

Blessings,