January 31, 2024

Wednesday Word – Go, Go, Go

This past Sunday was our Annual Meeting.  We read the reports of the various committees and programs of the parish.  The 2024 budget was presented.  We elected three new Vestry members (Perry Smith, Charlotte Velasquez, and Tom Berry) and approved one more (Bob Kessler) who will fill the unexpired term of Mike Hanson who had to resign last year.  We also elected a Convention Delegate and Alternate (Monica Smith and Linda Clark).

Pam, Jo Ann, Monica, and others spent a good amount of time preparing for the Annual Meeting and we were all rewarded with good food, good company, and a meeting that stayed on course accomplishing what we needed to get done.

Now that the Annual Meeting is over, my attention has turned to Lent and Holy Week.

As you’ve seen in a number of places, this upcoming season holds a number of opportunities for worship, prayer, and contemplation.  We are once again teaming with St. Luke’s Lutheran and the UCC for a Wednesday Lenten program.  Stations of the Cross will be offered weekly throughout Lent and daily during Holy Week, at which time the church will also be open for individual confession.  The Triduum, the singular liturgy of Christ’s Passion and Resurrection that covers the three days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil, is being planned for.  We will close all of this out with the Festal Eucharist of Easter Day.

There is a lot going on and a lot to plan for; and sometimes I get overwhelmed and tired just thinking about it.

I’ve been reading through the Gospel of John during this Epiphany season.  One of the things that has struck me is how deliberate and intentional Jesus is.  When a group of men bring only a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus for judgment, he stoops down and draws in the dirt.  When he meets a Samaritan woman at a well, he takes his time with her.  At the Last Supper, he takes time to wash the feet of his disciples.  When faced with his own death, he has a long conversation with Pilate about truth.

As Lent and Holy Week approach with their crush of obligations and opportunities, may we all take the time to be deliberate and intentional about what we are doing.  It just might be by doing that we will live into the fullness of each, rather than feeling rushed as we jump from one event to another.

May you be deliberate and intentional in this upcoming holy season.