May 26, 2021

Every once in awhile we arrive at a point where we seem to be overwhelmed with things to do and not nearly enough time or resources to accomplish them. Having a shortage of time and resources for some people is a daily occurrence. For others it happens much less frequently. No matter our situation, we all deal with the stress of running into those shortages in different ways. Some people probably list out what can easily be done and work their way through the more difficult tasks, accomplishing one at a time with a sense of pride. On the other end of that scale, some people become so overwhelmed with what needs to be done and their limited resources that they just lie down and take a nap. I tend to swing between those two extremes.

For the first time since the pandemic began I am suddenly feeling overwhelmed. I'm suddenly faced with new COVID guidelines about everything from cleaning to regathering. I'm trying to balance those new guidelines with many questions about when we can begin implementing those guidelines here at Saint John's. Add to that trying to figure out how to best implement the return of any number of ministries in and around the church. There are times when I'm certain as to how to proceed and where to start. There are times when I just want to lie down and take a nap.

I bring this up not to complain about my job, or to use the people of Saint John's as a type of sounding board, but to remind you that where there's one there are probably many.

In other words, right about now many of us are probably beginning to feel stressed or overwhelmed about any number of things going on in the world. We all have issues and concerns that have cropped up. Because, if you think about it, this time last year was easy – Stay home, mask up, sanitize everything, avoid contact with people, etc. etc. etc. But now . . . vaccinated people were told they could do one thing last week, and this week they can do something else. Last week we had to still be careful about common-touch items, but today I read that's not as necessary as we thought. These and many other things seem to be changing rapidly.

We all have concerns. We are all being bombarded with new information on a daily, or sometimes hourly, basis. Each of us has a point of feeling overwhelmed, and that point is different for everybody.

So this is your official reminder: Be gentle with others. Be patient. Learn to see each step forward not as a shortfall of where you want to be, but as a gift of progress from where we've come.

We are all moving forward, but it will take more work than we might have originally thought.

Blessings,

May 19, 2021

The emergency brake on my wife's car is a step brake. That is, you step on it with your left foot to set the brake, and you step on it to release it. The emergency brake in my car is a hand brake that rests between the driver and passenger seat. I would say that almost every car I've ever driven has had a hand brake, while very few have had a foot brake. This experience has shaped my reality.

At the end of June, Joelene and I are taking several members of the J2A on a mission trip to the Oregon coast. While there they will visit a few churches, meet with some of the vestries, help to clean up the beach, and experience a part of the country they have never seen. At least two of them have never been on a plane. We will be leaving very early on Monday, June 28, and returning very early on Sunday, July 4. Because of the very early departure and arrival, I will be driving everyone to and from BWI in the church van. Since I've never driven the van before, I needed to take a driving test with Charlie Chaney supervising.

He showed me how the side door worked, and how to lower the steps and re-secure them. I found where the wipers and lights were, checked the mirrors, located the registration and insurance cards, saw there was a step brake, and generally familiarized myself with the van.

I put my sunglasses on, started it up, stepped on the emergency brake, and off we went. I decided to head down National Pike/Dual Hwy to I-70, over to I-81 to Exit 6, and back to the church. That would give me some practice in both city and highway driving.

Just about the time we got to Aldi's, I noticed a red light on the dashboard. Red lights on dashboards are generally not good. So I took off my sunglasses for a better look, expecting it to say, “Check Engine.” Instead it said, “Brake On.” So I stepped on the brake again. It only went further down. I stepped on it harder. It went to the floor and stayed. The lights at both Tracy Lane and Eastern Blvd were green, and traffic was tight so I couldn't move over. Traffic thinned after Eastern, I found a space between cars, moved into the right lane and then over to the parking strip where I stopped and parked. Looking down to see why the brake wasn't releasing, I found a handle labeled, “BRAKE RELEASE.”

My experience of past parking brakes didn't let me see the reality of the current situation.

Which got me thinking . . . as we come out of the COVID pandemic, I hope that how we experienced the past won't cloud our vision and blind us to the reality of new situations. Let's make sure we see the whole picture before driving off like nothing has changed.

Blessings,

Todd+

May 12, 2021

Throughout the pandemic, Saint John's has continued to look for ways to reach out to those in need. Community Cafe was necessarily suspended, but that didn't stop us from looking for ways to reach out; in fact, it may have prompted us to look for new and different ways to do this.

One way we've offered support was through Kim Halsey's efforts at bringing a food giveaway to our parking lot. There have been three of these events (if I remember correctly) over the past year, and there are three more coming up fairly soon: June 11, and July 10 & 17.

We continue to support Micah's Backpack and Bester Elementary through food and supply donations designed to assist hungry and needy children in the south end of Hagerstown.

Most recently we've added the Blessings Box to this list. The Blessings Box (an idea put forth by Dcn. Sue Wert) is really a set of three lockers sitting on the front porch of the office that stocks food and other supplies. These items are freely donated and are free for the taking. “Give What You Can; Take What You Need” is its motto. Not only has this been stocked by parishioners, but the United Way of Washington County recently got into the act by donating food.

I wrote about this somewhere, but we also received a $1000 donation to be used to purchase supplies for the box. That money went into my Discretionary Fund and is earmarked for that specific purpose.

So on Monday, Dcn. Sue and I took a trip to Target and did some shopping.

We came out of Target with $343 worth of personal hygiene items, diapers, hand sanitizer, baby food, and other items. Some of those items went directly into the box, others went into storage to be put in at a later time.

As we were shopping, or maybe as we were loading the car, Dcn. Sue said, “I hope the recent focus on the Blessings Box doesn't take away from Micah's Backpack.”

I think that's a fair question. But I also think, and as I told Dcn. Sue, Micah's Backpack and the Blessings Box serve two different purposes. Micah's is designed to help ensure school children whose families are living at or below the poverty line have enough food after school and over the weekend. The Blessings Box is designed to provide immediate, short-term relief for people of all ages who find themselves in a difficult situation.

As you donate from your abundance to these two programs that serve people in need, please remember that this is not an Either/Or situation, but a Both/And. One does not take the place of another, but both are needed and both are necessary. So keep the two lists handy on whatever tablet you use to make a grocery list and alternate between Micah and the Box. Or maybe do a little of each and mark your donation Micah or Box so we know how to divide it up. These two things are both needed, and these two things will continue to be generously supported by the people of Saint John's.

In our abundance, may we never neglect to do good and share what we have.

Blessings,

May 5, 2021

Almost every church sign says something to the effect of, “Everyone Welcome.” But from my experience, and maybe yours, too, very few churches actually live into that statement. Whether it's, “Everyone Welcome” as long as you don't sit in my pew, or, “Everyone Welcome” as long as you don't disagree with the head pastor, or, “Everyone Welcome” as long as you vote like we do, there is a long list of things that become mandatory before everyone is actually welcomed.

I will admit that I am biased in this, but I have always thought that Saint John's truly does try to live into the statement, “Everyone Welcome.” That's not to say that we don't have our differences, because we do. But I have never seen anyone asked to leave the parish because of those disagreements. And I have never told anyone that they would be better served in a different place. That's also not to say that we have certain ways of doing things, because we do. We worship in a particular style and we honor that particular style every Sunday. So everyone is welcome, but we will not be hanging a sheet over the rood screen in order to project song lyrics because some people find that more welcoming.

Could we do better at welcoming people into Saint John's? Probably. Could we do worse? Most definitely. But we recognize that welcoming people is important and I believe we try at least every Sunday (and hopefully other days of the week as well) to live into the second point of our Mission Statement: Welcome.

Which is why I was proud of our Welcoming Commission, enthusiastically led by Deanna and joined by several others, at the last Vestry meeting when they proposed including the statement that “Saint John's is a Welcoming and Affirming congregation.” This may or may not mean anything to you, but “Welcoming and Affirming” are often seen as key words to people of the lgbtq+ community as meaning a safe place.

Too many people struggling with their identity have been forced out or abused at the hands of their faith communities. Too many people have been ostracized from their families because they simply want to live their lives as God created them. Too many people have been told that they are not welcome here.

Over the years, you, the people of Saint John's, have worked to make it a welcoming place. That took work and it will always take work, because it takes effort on our part to greet an unfamiliar face, it takes effort to invite people to sit with you in your pew (distancing rules aside), it takes work to follow up with people. And we continue to work at it.

And now, thanks to the Welcoming Commission, the Vestry unanimously approved incorporating the words “Welcoming and Affirming” to our website and Facebook page as well as other websites that can link back to us.

So thank you to Deanna and her group, and to the Vestry, for getting us to publicly state what we have always known: Saint John's is a welcoming and affirming congregation.

Keep up the good work,

Todd+