Celebrations
Celebrations come around every so often
on a regular basis: Easter, Christmas, birthdays, and wedding
anniversaries are a few that come immediately to mind. Celebrations
also occur spontaneously: a good test score, an unexpected refund
check, your team wins a big game, and others. And sometimes we want
a celebration to be over so we can get on with life.
Last Sunday we celebrated the
completion of the flooring project as we were in the church for the
first time in two weeks. This coming Sunday we will have the
opportunity to make one more celebration, as we officially welcome
and celebrate Deacon Sue.
Much like the official installation and
Celebration of New Ministry for a rector often comes months after
their arrival, this liturgy of welcoming our new deacon also comes
almost a full two months after Sue's arrival at Saint John's.
By now we've all had a chance to meet
and welcome Sue to Saint John's as our new deacon. As the saying
goes, this IS her first rodeo, so there are some things
to work out and improve on. But I have found her great to work with
and she has already begun inserting herself into both the community
of Saint John's and the wider community around us.
Which brings us to the upcoming
celebration of her new ministry with us. Archdeacon Jane O'Leary
will be present Sunday as we officially welcome Sue. At the 8 am
service there will be some official words of welcome. And at the
10:15 service there will be a symbolic giving of gifts and we will
participate in a liturgy of new ministry.
And then, after all of this is over, we
will go back to life as normal. Every celebration has its ending.
Every celebration can be seen as a respite from the daily grind of
life. So before we get back to business as usual, or before we get
bogged down with the minutiae of every-day living, let's take this
time on Sunday to pause and give thanks for our new deacon and use
this celebration as a starting point for how our ministries might
change in the future.
On Monday we work. But this coming
Sunday we celebrate! Please join us.
Blessings,
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