Thursday, October 29, 2009
Maternity leave
Friday, September 25, 2009
Looking Forward
Yes, I'm still here, and I hope to see you all on Sunday! I'm especially looking forward to planting the tree we bought as part of the gift giving at the installation. We have a cherry tree for the kids and me to plant together, in thanksgiving for love of God "planted" in us. We'll go outside for it right after the service.
In the midst of trying to tie up all the loose ends before going on maternity leave, I find myself ready to go, but also really wanting to stay to work with you on some things that are coming up. The ministry fair is on October 4 (you might remember the one we had in the spring, when we had tables and displays on all the different ministries at Christ Church), and I am excited to see how stewardship season kicks off, also on that day. This year Cindy Hutchison is our intrepid stewardship committee leader, and we'll hear from different parishioners each Sunday in October speak about giving to Christ Church.
Also starting in October, we're doing some stewardship of our own in the use of our building. As you know, we already have a number of congregations that regularly use our space for worship--one Spanish speaking Pentecostal Church (the Missionary Church of Christ), one French speaking Pentecostal Church (Mission Maranatha), and St Peter's Ugandan Anglican Church. We also rent our the halls from time to time, regularly to a labor union and also an anger management seminar. WATCH, the Waltham Alliance to Create Housing, also uses our space quite frequenty.
Of course, the rental income helps us to be more financially sustainable, but it's also a question of stewardship. Put simply, we aren't being good stewards of our building if it sits empty all the time! By partnering with other groups and organizations whose missions we support, we are partnering with them in their work. One new such program is with Breaking Barriers, a group which recently merged with WATCH.
Starting the first week of October, Breaking Barriers is restarting a chapter of their "Path to Success" leadership development program. Entitled "The Power of a Mother," the classes are focused on helping immigrant moms with young children, who often find themselves quite isolated. Along with English instruction, the classes will focus on leadership development and life skills training. The classes will be held at Christ Church for about 15 women, with care provided for their children as well. They will be held on from 10 to 12, 2 days a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays, I believe). Christ Churchers have been invited to collaborate with Power of a Mother in a number of ways:
- Joining thementoring and tutoring program for local immigrants, including Path to Success mothers,
- Presenting during Path to Success life skills classes,
- Interactive literacy activities with young children in the childcare
Liz Straghalis, their program coordinator, will be speaking at next Tuesday's Outreach Committee meeting (6 pm) to talk more about it--please let committee chair Shawn Russell know if you're interested but can't make the meeting (smr8b@yahoo.com).
Those are just a few things that are coming up--in the October Fieldstone Crier you'll hear more about Allison Berry, who will come to speak about REACH, our local anti-domestic violence organization, and you'll also have an introduction from Rev. Cathy, who will be stepping in for me. After this Sunday, I'll be on leave until Christmas Eve. Our wardens, Jonathan and Marcia, are on for parish-related matters; for pastoral questions, ask Rev. Cathy.
Kristina will be emailing out an announcements-only edition of this newsletter every other week.
Blessings,
Sara+
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Vocation
Thanks to everyone who came out to my installation as rector on Tuesday; it was a great service. I was a little worried that it would feel like “liturgy by the yard”—there are a lot of parts to the service!—but I think it came together well. Special thanks to the altar guild who made the church look so beautiful, and Cathy Hughes’ team of helpers (Sally, Jeanne, Paula, Janet, Marjorie, Warren, and George) who put together a delicious reception. Our organist, Stephen, wrote a wonderful anthem for the day, and St Peter’s choir offered some great pieces, too. We were joined by some of my Waltham clergy colleagues, too, with Rob Mark from the First Presbyterian and Tom Maehl from First Lutheran in Waltham. Mayor McCarthy came, too, and we saw some friends who aren’t always able to come on Sunday mornings.
God made this way of life for us—God has given us this thing to do. God has not given your ministry to anyone else to complete but you.
Coming soon—October 4, Christ Church Ministry Fair—see all the different ways there are to serve at Christ Church.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
From 9/10: Installation preparation
In addition to getting ready for the appearance of my new baby, I've also been busily planning the installation on Tuesday. I am pretty sure there won't be a baby before then, but you never know--I guess he or she will come to the service if born in time. At the service, we'll offer prayers for the church and our work, and the bishop will lead us in a covenant of mutual ministry--promises we make to join together in mission. Part of the service involves a symbolic giving and receiving of gifts, which has been one of the more fun parts to plan. I'm going to get to give a small tree to the children that we can plant together. Paula, director of our altar guild and Eucharistic visitor, will give me a bottle of oil to symbolize our work of healing, and one of my ecumenical colleagues, Rob Mark from First Presbyterian, will give me a book of songs from the Taizé community, and I'll give Sally, Cathy, and Shawn signs of our outreach to the community, diapers and food.
It's exciting to think about what to include, but also what not to do--there are suggestions for other gifts to give from the prayer book, like keys to the church and more traditional symbols of ministry like a stole. We can't include everything, so I'm having to think about what's really, really important--bread and wine, water, light. Food for us for the sacraments, food for others for giving to Grandma's Pantry. In the one case, God gives to us as we give ourselves to God at the altar--in the other, we give to others as we receive the grace of giving. Keys to the church? Considering the fact that I'd planned to give Marcia my own keys, for her to give back to me, I think we might be able to skip that one.
I am so grateful to everyone who is organizing the reception and participating in the service--close to 30, at last count--and look forward to celebrating our ministry with you on Tuesday!
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, August 28, 2009
September Events
This week, I wanted to write to let you know of some things that are going on in the diocese in September. First is the 9/11 National Day of service. The Obama administration and congress declared September 11th a day of National Service in the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, which also dramatically increased funding for service programs across the country. Now it's a way of honoring Kennedy's memory, too.
The date still sticks in my mind; I was living in New York City at the time and remember such fear and uncertainty, and also anger at the political and military response to what happened that day. But 8 years later it's past time to let go of some of the anger that "9/11" still brings up in the back of my mind, and start to move forward in a more constructive way. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said: "Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." That goes for hate toward "haters" as well. Toward that end, the Diocese of Massachusetts is joining the national movement and organizing a day of prayer, service, and reflection.
On Friday (9/11) and Saturday (9/12), there will be opportunity to volunteer at a number of service projects. St Stephen's in the South End, host of the B Safe program, Holy Spirit, Mattapan, St Mary's and St Mark's in Dorchester, and several other places are organizing ways for people to be partners in the ministry that those parishes engage in all year. (as an added connection for me, the 9/11 day is being organized by the diocesan intern program which I participated in before seminary and where Caroline Hunter, a member of our parish last year, is serving now). I hope we can get a group of people together to attend--let me know if you'd be interested, or if you'd like to help mobilize the Christ Church effort.
Another diocesan event happens on the same day as a Christ Church one--on September 26, we'll be having a yard sale here at church (Cathy Hughes is organizing donations--there will be more in next week's Fieldstone Crier about how and what to give)--but it's also the day of the annual diocesan "Resource Day," here at Bentley University. The theme is Discipleship: Being formed and sent in the power of the Spirit into the ministries of our daily lives. Resource Day has great workshops on a number of topics, lead by both regular parishioners of local congregations and diocesan staff. You'll find everything from The Spirituality of Parenting to Transformative Stewardship to Ministry with Veterans. Let me know if you'd like a detailed schedule with descriptions of all the workshops--there's also one posted on the "diocesan events" bulletin board. The cost is 15.00, but the parish can help pay if that's a barrier for you.
Hope to see you at one or all three of these events!
peace,
Sara+
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Transformation
Thanks to everyone who turned out last Sunday to hear Bob Wocjik speak about families and the prison system. I was surprised to learn that it was the first time he'd given a presentation like that to a group--it was an excellent one. This week after church, we'll meet for our final book group conversation on Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan's "The First Paul."
In very different ways, Bob and the authors of the book are emphasizing the same thing--transformation. Bob talked about how crime, like other professions, runs in families. Like father, like son--his uncle was his co-defendant in his trial, and it took a while of being away from his environment to imagine living differently. It took a while longer after that to realize that he could not just change himself, but also help change the world for the better in supporting the children of his fellow prisoners (as well as being faithful to his own kids).
Radical, personal change from what we have been to what we will be--what Borg and Crossan call "a spirit transplant." That's what the Christian life is about, and that's what Bob's experience testified to. We're accustomed to cynically dismissing the notion of change; we say that people can't change, or won't change, or can't be asked to change. But if Christ's death has any meaning, it must be that, as one person I know put it, "the future can be different from the past." That's the promise of the Gospel that Bob found in his faith, and that's what we're all looking for.
Rather than "justification" (or "salvation," or any of those other big religious words) being about something that happens in the future, Borg and Crossan talk about how it's about the ways we are changed in the here and now. The direction of that change is justice--justice on both a global and a personal scale. God's justice is what Borg and Crossan call "distributive"--not retributive, based on punishment or threat (act the right way or you go to hell), but equally given out to all, the Spirit freeing us to live new lives, and the forgiveness and love of God creating that new life in us--new life and the joy of freedom in Christ.
One of the ways this happens is baptism-as Paul wrote in the letter to the Galatians, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (2:19-20). We are freed and liberated in baptism. Of course, we renew those vows every time we welcome someone new into the community, as we did on Sunday with little Joe Leonardo's baptism. We need to remember and reaffirm our promises--we slip so easily into our old habits and bondage. The people of Israel were freed from slavery in Egypt and we're freed, too, from our own contemporary imprisonments. What do we get imprisoned by? Our desire for success, for material comfort, for power. Addiction, despair, hopelessness. For Bob, liberation happened to come when he was in prison. What gets you stuck? How does your faith help you to find freedom?
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, August 14, 2009
Back from Vacation
I had a wonderful time on vacation this summer with my family in Maine, but it is also nice to be back in the office catching up with each of you. We spent two weeks in Lubec, near the Canadian border on the Bay of Fundy, and it was beautiful. It feels odd to come back from vacation and already be getting ready for my maternity leave; the baby is due on September 28, so I plan to work up to and including Sunday the 27th (assuming he or she isn't early). I'm glad to have some time to begin the fall before handing over the reigns to the Rev. Cathy Venkatesh, who will be filling in for me until Christmas--I'll be back for our service on December 24.
On the topic of planning, I'd like your help for considering what to do for Advent. Our weeknight worship, supper, and education series will return for those 4 Tuesdays. Rev. Cathy will celebrate the Eucharist but has a toddler to put to bed, so she won't be staying for the second part of the evening. I would love to have a series where parishioners could offer their learning to each other-if you have something you might be willing to share, whether explicitly "spiritual" or not, please give me your ideas so we can put something together! We'll also need someone to coordinate the dinner part of the sessions (you won't have to cook every week; you'd just be the one to order the pizza when no one else signs up).
This Sunday, we welcome Bob Wojcik, founder of Children of Incarcerated Parents. His talk coincides with the last Sunday to bring in school supplies for CoIP's backpack program. Bob is a friend of Sue Burkart's. She wrote in her July Fieldstone Crier article, "Bob has been of great service to many of his fellow inmates and their families over the years and is living proof of how people can change with God's help." Bob was recently given parole after 15 years of incarceration. He will speak on his prison experience, the importance of prisoners maintaining family ties, and the anguish their children go through. I'll close here with our prayer book's prayer for Prisons and Correctional Institutions (BCP 826)
Lord Jesus, for our sake you were condemned as a criminal: Visit our jails and prisons with your pity and judgment. Remember all prisoners, and bring the guilty to repentanceand amendment of life according to your will, and give them hope for their future. When any are held unjustly, bring them release; forgive us, and teach us to improve our justice.Remember those who work in these institutions; keep them humane and compassionate; and save them from becoming brutal or callous. And since what we do for those in prison, O Lord, we do for you, constrain us to improve their lot. All this we ask for your mercy's sake. Amen.
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, July 17, 2009
General Convention, continued
Dear People of Christ Church,Our bishops and deputies have continued to meet in Anaheim this week, and General Convention (the every-three-year gathering of representatives from all over the Episcopal Church) ends tomorrow. The big ticket news items have, as usual, been on issues of sexuality. In 2006, General Convention voted in the controversial "BO33" resolution, which essentially initiated a moratorium on consecrating gays and lesbians as bishops. Even with that provision, though, we've continued to see the self-proclaimed "orthodox" leave the Episcopal Church and ally themselves with other provinces. At the time it was passed 3 years ago, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori spoke of BO33 in terms of a time of fasting: a fast, it had to be pointed out, only undertaken by some of our brothers and sisters. But any fast must be only for a temporary period; if you continue to fast, you starve, and with this General Convention, it has come to a close. The bishops and deputies both voted by a margin of 2:1 to officially open the ordination process at all levels, to all individuals are selected in accordance with diocesan discernment processes and the canons of the church. It also reaffirms the Episcopal Church's participation in the Anglican Communion, while acknowledging that the communion is not of one mind on this matter.
In a resolution that affects us closer to home, the House of Bishops also voted (by a 3:1 margin) that bishops, "particularly those in dioceses within civil jurisdictions where same-gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of this Church." The House of Deputies will vote later today, and will likely approve it as well. This acknowledges what is happening already, but it also gives us some breathing space to have more open discussion and reflect honestly about what we are doing and what we are about. At the next General Convention in 2012, the Church will consider rites of blessing for same gender marriages and unions and whether to have one single liturgy. As Anglicans, of course we have to have an authorized liturgy for everything!
It feels a little odd to celebrate things that have already been happening for some time, but I think the sense of breathing room is what's most important. Bonnie Anderson, the president of the House of Deputies (the body which represents lay people, priests, and deacons), said of the ordination process resolution "It's not an attempt to fly in the face of the Anglican Communion; it's an attempt to deepen relationships with the rest of the communion, because real relationships are built on authenticity."
There's also authenticity in acknowledging that even all Episcopalians aren't in the same place. Change came to the Diocese of Massachusetts first, but there can still be a wide variety of opinions nationally and locally. None of the resolutions adopted mean that any priest, parish, or bishop has to do anything. It is unfortunate that some have left the Episcopal Church, but we can't keep looking back as though it should have been (or even could have been) prevented at any cost.
As for the Anglican Communion? Interestingly, this year there are more international visitors than at any other time--a good corrective to the notion that the American Church just wants to go it alone. One commented that if more people internationally understood how decisions are made in the Episcopal Church that recent tensions might be calmer. Sometimes we pick up on a final stage and don't understand the process," said Archbishop Henri Isingoma, newly elected primate of the Anglican Church of the Congo. For more, see the links listed below and please continue to keep the Bishops and Deputies in your prayers as they wrap up their work.
Blessings,
Sara
+ps:I will be on vacation for three weeks, beginning after Church this Sunday. Please contact our wardens, Jonathan Duce and Marcia Luce, in case of an emergency. The Rev Cathy Venkatesh is on call for pastoral matters; she can be reached through the parish office or Jonathan and Marcia. The E-Crier will continue to be mailed out an announcements-only; please let Kristina know if you'd like her to include anything: office@christchurchwaltham.org.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
General Convention
Today is the first day of the national church's gathering in Anaheim, CA, of the General Convention-representatives from all over the church will gather to talk about legislation, policy, and politics from all corners of the church. The Diocese of Massachusetts sends a deputation-eight elected deputies (four priests and four lay persons, plus alternates) and three bishops. When we gather as a national church, each diocese has the opportunity to bring resolutions for consideration to the wider church. I'll re-distribute here some pieces from Tracy Sukraw, the director of communications for our diocese. For links to other news sources, see below.
Tracy writes,
The more than 300 resolutions filed to date span worship and liturgy, economic justice issues, global concerns, Anglican Communion matters, ecumenical and inter-religious relations and church governance. They include requests for rites of blessing for same-gender unions; poverty relief proposals; increased church antiracism efforts, human rights advocacy and environmental policies; continued support for the Millennium Development Goals; peacemaking efforts in world conflict areas; and requests to overturn, nullify or supersede the controversial 2006 resolution B033, which called for "restraint" in electing openly gay bishops.
What it all adds up to, according to the Rev. Jane Gould, a Massachusetts deputy and the rector of St. Stephen's Church in Lynn, is "a chance to offer a vision of who we are and how God invites us into God's mission of love and justice in the world. At our best the particularity of our experience as individual Episcopalians and Episcopal parishes feeds our communal commitments as a church, and then our broad vision inspires and sustains us to stay with the work of the kingdom at the local level." "The advantage of being both democratic and hierarchical is that we can gather the people of the church in public assembly and speak for the church," she said by e-mail.
[Ian Douglas] submitted two resolutions, one which not only restores the 0.7 percent line item in support of the Millennium Development Goals (established as a church priority in 2006 but eliminated in the current draft budget) but also ups it to 1 percent. His other resolution, in part, invites the Episcopal Church to devote Lent 2010 to penitential reflection on the brokenness of the global economic order and its reformation in the light of the Gospel.
Other Massachusetts resolutions coming before the General Convention are a request from Bishop Bud Cederholm that parishes be required to report on annual energy consumption in church properties; diocesan resolutions asking for a trial feast day for saints Andronicus and Junia; gender-neutral terminology in the church's marriage canon; and an amendment to include the category of gender identity and expression in the canon on access to the ministry discernment process. A resolution submitted by Byron Rushing [whose name you may recognize as he serves as a state representative] calls the church to support the enactment of laws prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression and treating as hate crimes any physical violence inflicted on that basis.
Many will be paying close attention to what the church does on matters of sexuality, but as you can see from the list above, there is a lot more going on than just that. One positive sign of the wider communion "getting on with it" is a recent letter to the American Church written by Archbishop Daniel Deng Bul of the Sudan, underscoring the importance of partnership between the two churches. Archbishop Bul made headlines during last year's Lambeth conference for declaring in a press conference that Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire should resign. Despite his disagreement with American attitudes toward sexuality (which, incidentally, were not mentioned in the text), he concluded the letter with prayers of blessing for the Episcopal Church and the Church of the Sudan, and hopes for continued help in surviving the conflict there. In her opening address, Bonnie Anderson, the head of the House of Deputies (that's the house that is half lay people and half priests/deacons) quotes our own Byron Rushing as saying, "The church does not have a mission, God's mission has a Church." Thanks be to God that we are each part of that mission!
Blessings,
Sara+
General Convention Links
The official General Convention Hub from the National Episcopal Church, which has lots of articles and video, and the site from the Massachusetts Deputation both offer regular updates on goings-on, as well as Episcopal Life, which offers more traditional articles than blog entries.
For the full text of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's opening address, click here, and for for the article on Bishop Bul, click here. Finally, if you only read one thing, see the opening address from Bonnie Anderson, the President of the House of Deputies, here.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
July Pastor's Corner
Dear People of Christ Church,
This month’s issue crept up on us suddenly, and it occurred to me that last year I don’t think we even had a Fieldstone Crier in July; it’s a testament to just how much is going on that we didn’t want to skip the whole summer. The lunch program is up and running—thanks to our collaborative with other Waltham churches, free lunches are available to any child in our city under the age of 18, no questions asked, at an additional site in the city. In addition to the McDonald site where we’ve focused much of our energies, additional volunteers are also needed at the Whittemore school from July 6 to 31 during summer school (lunch is served 12-12:30; arrive 15 minutes early and stay 15 minutes later), so let me, Mike Balulescu, or Becky Phillips DeZalia know if you’d like to volunteer. There’s a lot to do—you’ll read more about B Safe on page 1 and Waltham history days below. Sarah Staley’s piece on page 3 concludes our series of “This I Believe” essays we wrote as part of our Lenten education. It’s been wonderful to hear each other’s stories as part of that series—thanks to everyone who participated.
It’s wonderful to see all of these signs of new life. I am so blessed to be the rector of such a growing church (yes, officially rector—the bishop signed the paperwork, so we are all set!). We have accomplished so much together in the last four years. I am so grateful to each of the parish leaders that have worked so hard over these last years, too, to get us where we are—I still remember what a gift it was to begin as priest in residence with Jim Hewitt and Marcia Luce as wardens back in 2005 (and to work again with Marcia as warden with Jonathan for these last 2 years). Chuck McCullough and Suzanne Hughes have managed our finances over these years with such grace and skill, and each and every vestry or committee member and pledger has been part of our success. Of course, there is still so much to do and we are not exactly on financial high ground, but we have traveled far together, and I am thankful to each of you for it. I’ve always had in the back of my mind the hope that I would be able to stay on in a more permanent way but to have it be officially settled is a great feeling. Deeper than a feeling—it’s a great vocation that we have been called into together.
Being the church isn’t so much about feelings as it is about who we are and what we do when we leave. A church I know has written in the bulletin after the dismissal, “the worship is over; the service begins.” The word “ecclesia” —Greek for “church” —means “called out.” We aren’t just called in to be church only on Sunday morning, we are called out to be the people of God in the world every day of our lives. Being a Christian is about proclaiming and practicing the truth that Jesus is Lord—not our national leaders in politics or government, not our own desire for esteem or comfort, but Jesus—the self-giving Beloved of God who lived his life in the service of peace and unconditional love for everyone.
Thanks be to God!
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, June 26, 2009
Really-Paul, Probably-not-Paul, and not-Paul: The Differences
Roughly, the letters attributed to Paul divide up into three categories: letters conclusively understood to be authentically written by him, letters on which consensus is less strong (but that Borg and Crossam believe not to be authentic), and letters which are pretty certainly not written by Paul. How do they know? They look at the manuscripts available, examine the writing style and language (Paul has a pretty distinctive style, and was well-educated), the historical context implicit in each text, and are able to puzzle out what is and isn't genuine.
If all of these letters have been part of our tradition in some form or another for 2000 years, what does it really matter whether Paul himself really wrote them? was a literary convention in the Jewish world at that time to write something and attribute it to someone else--it wasn't viewed as deceptive in the same way we assume today. What's at stake in the matter is that there are some pretty startling similarities in the letters that Paul did write, as well as some pretty clear commonalities in those that he didn't. (the ones that we aren't entirely sure about are kind of a middle ground). And those later "pseudo Paul" texts in some instances say nearly the opposite as the authentic Paul. They are still important, and they're still Scripture, but when we interpret them we look at them differently. It doesn't mean that there's no value to the non-Paul texts, but that we look at the whole picture of the Epistles. If Paul appears to say one thing in a letter we know he wrote, and then the opposite thing in a letter he didn't, we'll apply our knowledge to trying to follow the instruction of the genuine Paul.
So what's the difference between really-Paul, probably-not-Paul, and not-Paul? A lot! Borg and Crossan talk about how the real Paul was, as the title says, a "radical visionary." The first few chapters (which is as far as we've gotten) talk about social issues like slavery and gender (bottom line: equality and freedom), but later we'll learn about grace, life in community, and what it really means to "preach Christ Crucified" and take Jesus seriously as our Lord. I have a hunch it's going to turn out pretty different from being a good Roman citizen, as some of the writings attributed to Paul seem to imply. Since the book does get a little technical in parts, we'll spend some time reviewing each chapter as we meet for our group. Please don't hesitate to join in at any time--it won't be hard to catch up, and I still have 3 copies of the book left!
Blessings,
Sara+
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Poem
I'm still on vacation--look forward to being with you on Sunday! Here's a poem from Mary Oliver I read recently.
In Blackwater Woods
Look, the trees
are turning
their own bodies
into pillars
of light,
are giving off the rich
fragrance of cinnamon
and fulfillment,
the long tapers
of cattails
are bursting and floating away over
the blue shoulders
of the ponds,
and every pond,
no matter what its
name is, is
nameless now.
Every year
everything
I have ever learned
in my lifetime
leads back to this: the fires
and the black river of loss
whose other side
is salvation,
whose meaning
none of us will ever know.
To live in this worl
dyou must be able
to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it
against your bones knowing
your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go,
to let it go.
"In Blackwater Woods" by Mary Oliver, from American Primitive. © Back Bay Books, 1983.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Summer Goings-On
Our second major project is the summer lunch program. This has been in the works since way back in March, when we had an interest meeting with members of several Waltham congregations and many Christ Churchers. We will be volunteering at the McDonald spray part to serve bagged lunches Monday through Friday from June 29th to August 28th. Each weekday 3 volunteers are needed from 11:15 am to 12:45 pm which includes set up, handing out meals from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm, and clean up. First Parish UU and First Lutheran are our major partners in the project, but we're hoping that some of the other Waltham churches will also pitch in. The program is in partnership with Project Bread (who funds it), the Boys and Girls Club of Waltham (who are the major coordinators of this lunch site and several others in the city), and the Waltham schools, who prepare the lunch. The great thing about this project is that our work makes possible an additional open site, so anyone under 18 who is in need of a meal can get lunch, no questions asked, no signing up (several other of the free lunch sites require pre-registration). Many children receive free or subsidized lunches during the year, so it is really important to be able to offer it over the summer. We need to get ourselves organized SOON (the program starts in a little over 2 weeks), so Mike Balulescu is marshaling the first part of our scheduling. Yesterday a group of us including Becky Phillips Dezalia met at First Parish, so she can also answer any questions you might have. To try to simplify organizing many lunches and many volunteers, we've put together a simple form you can download at the outreach page on the Christ Church site. If you were at the March meeting, Mike will be in touch with you shortly.
Also coming up is our summer book group! With the votes counted, Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan's book took the lead. I will order ten copies of the book, which you can pick up from Marcia Luce this Sunday. Unfortunately it's not in paperback yet, so the cost for the book is 19.50, cash or check made out to Sara Irwin (if you need a "scholarship" Marcia can just give you the book and we arrange something). For our first meeting on June 21, read Part One, "Paul: Appealing or Appalling?"
In July, Saturday, July 18 Christ Church will be participating in Waltham History Month. At 9:00, Historic Morning Prayer according to the 1792 BCP; tours of stained glass windows follow. Let me know if you'd like to help host and prepare.
I look forward to all the great things we will do together this summer.
Peace,
Sara+
Thursday, June 4, 2009
More about Pentecost
With the celebration of Pentecost on Sunday, we enter into the Season of Pentecost, too. Pentecost lasts all the way from the feast day itself to the first Sunday of Advent. It lasts half the year! In the Church year, Pentecost is "ordinary" time-"ordinary" in the sense of counted (as in ordinal numbers-the 20th Sunday after Pentecost, and so on), but also ordinary in that it's not a particular feast that we are observing. During Easter season, we focus on the event of the Resurrection for a whole 50 days. During Christmas, we celebrate Christmas for the week or two until the feast of the Epiphany. Unlike those holidays, though, we don't spend the whole 25 weeks of Pentecost celebrating one thing.
Well, maybe we do. Let me explain a little.
In a sense, we are continually observing the coming of the Holy Spirit which Pentecost represents--maybe in the second sense of the word "observe. " We are commemorating it, but we are also seeing it--seeing how the Spirit has acted in the past, and connecting that action to the present. During Pentecost, we read the Bible sequentially, and so get a feel for the narrative--the story of our faith--in a different way. This summer in June and July, we'll hear from the Books of Samuel in the Old Testament, Ephesians in the New Testament, and for the whole season, we'll be reading the Gospel of Mark. From Sunday to Sunday, we'll hear how the plot twists and turns--how Samuel anointed David to be king, how David slew the Philistine Goliath and danced in front of the ark...
I was reflecting with you last week about how the coming of the Spirit is the sign that the work of the church and the revelation of God continue into the future. The Christian life is not about wishing we could go back to those 33 years or so that Jesus actually walked the earth. The Christian life is about finding and celebrating the Spirit here, now--the Spirit who is still speaking, and speaks to us today, revealing God's desires for us and for our life together.
This Sunday, we're meeting to talk about how the last year has been with St Peter's worshipping here. It was a one year trial relationship, and our conversation will form the basis for the vestry's decision of whether to continue for another year. I hope you'll bring your concerns and ideas for the next year for new ways we might be able to minister together. A group of vestry members and others have been meeting with leaders from St Peter's periodically through the year-if you are interested in being part of that conversation for 2009/2010, please let me know--we need many ears to hear how the Spirit speaks to us and leads us in ministry. I think there is a lot of untapped potential for collaboration between our congregations, but it's hard work; we are united in our Anglicanism, but we don't see each other as often as we might wish. The apostle Thomas told Jesus, "Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?' We might not feel like we know the way, either. We have been looking for the way this past year, and we've had some good experiences together like Christingle and the parish clean up day, but we are still listening for how we can be in community with each other in meaningful ways. I hope you'll join me Sunday as the conversation continues and we listen for the Holy Spirit--listening all the way to Advent in this season of Pentecost.
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, May 29, 2009
Pentecost and Finding Comfort
This Sunday, we celebrate the feast of Pentecost--the coming of the Holy Spirit. As I mentioned in my sermon last Sunday, the time between the feast of the Ascension and Pentecost is a liminal, in-between time. Jesus has said he will send the Holy Spirit, but the Spirit has not yet arrived. Our collect for that last Sunday in Easter prays that God "not leave us comfortless"--though sometimes we have to look pretty hard around us to find that comfort. I remember hearing a sermon many years ago from a new monk about this prayer. He talked about how he'd feared having to give up his TV habit of watching the sit-com "Friends" when he entered the monastery, and how delighted-and comforted-he'd felt when he found he could watch it there, too, with his new monastic brothers! Sometimes peace comes to us in odd ways. Reaching out an arm when I couldn't sleep last night, I was comforted by noticing my husband's arm curled around our son's body. The nearness they shared was comforting to me, too, and I fell back asleep.
The word used for Holy Spirit in Greek, paraclete, means comforter, but also advocate, intercessor. As the third "person" of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit has always been sort of my favorite of the three. There is something about the mystery and movement of that image of God that speaks to me. In the Creed we say the Spirit "Spoke through the prophets." The way Jesus tells the story, he has to leave for the Spirit to come; God is incarnate in a particular place and time in the person of Jesus, but God as Spirit is entirely unconfined, going like the wind, speaking and swirling through all of us. Pentecost tells us that the promise of God's work in the church isn't in the past, as if it were all downhill after Jesus. Instead, authority and power is located IN the church, IN the people-amongst all of us. Not one person has "it"--we all have a piece (for more on this idea and a great quote about what the spaces between us create from Luce Irigaray, see http://sacraconversazione.blogspot.com).
This Sunday as we celebrate the Spirit at Pentecost, (sometimes also called the birthday of the church) we'll commission those who have been confirmed and received. We are baptized with the Spirit, all of us, all of us commissioned to take our place with the disciples in telling the wonderful story of God. Alleluia!
Blessings,
Sara+
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
How we think when we think about faith
Today is Ascension Day. The Ascension is an odd doctrine for me to get my head around. The imagery is of a three tired universe, where Jesus floats into the air and away from the gathered community. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven. I don't think of Jesus as being "out there," though, and I know he didn't go to the moon-so what to make of the Biblical worldview of those three levels of existence, heaven (up), hell (down), and here?
I'll have some time in the sermon on Sunday to share a bit more about the Ascension (weird parts as well as wonderful), but thinking "about" doctrine in this way puts me in mind of all the different ways we can think about our faith. I admit I have an ulterior motive in sharing this with you-I'm still figuring out what we might want to read for summer book group, and the choices I'm considering all represent different ways we think about our faith.
I mentioned two options in my May "Pastor's Corner" in the Fieldstone Crier, our monthly parish newsletter. The first, The Faith Club, is a story of interfaith dialogue written by a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian. They are considering their faith as their faiths relate to other faiths-not so much the intricacies of each one, but how the three "Abrahamic faiths" (those who draw their spiritual lineage back to Abraham) inter relate. They are smart and lively thinkers, and really challenge each other in interesting ways.
The second option is a novel-Out of Egypt: Christ the Lord. It's by Anne Rice. Rice, who used to just write novels about vampires, has had a Christian conversion and wants her fiction to tell the story of Jesus, to bring people near to God. Out of Egypt imagines Jesus' childhood with his family-Mary and Joseph, and his siblings, and their life together as the child Jesus begins to understand that he's "different." I've read about a hundred pages of it so far, and it's pretty historically accurate, though of course there we don't actually know anything about what Jesus' life was like when he was 7 years old. I really like the idea of it, because it is an example of someone who takes her faith so personally that she's able to imagine with it. Rice clearly doesn't just see the life of Jesus as something that's outside herself-it's personal, intimate, and she applies her creativity and sense of wonder to draw us into the world of first century Israel. Without a story like that, we couldn't otherwise get there.
The third book I was thinking about (I know-initially I'd only suggested those two, but the list of books I want to read is getting longer, so why not share them with you?) is by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan: The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radial Vision Behind the Church's Conservative Icon. Borg and Crossan are scholars of the historical Jesus. They are Christians, but they are critical, too. Using textual and historical evidence, they talk about what's in the Bible and how it got there. Their analysis seeks to find out who Paul really was, apart from 2000 years of thinking about him. Though it's kind of academic, it's not dry or hard to understand (the first chapter is entitled "Paul: Appealing or Appalling?"-of course, their answer will be that the question isn't quite so simple).
And, yes, there is a fourth. Take this Bread, by Sara Miles, is a spiritual memoir. I've met her (my sister in law used to work at her church), but admit I haven't picked up the book yet so I'm just going to paste here a summary from her website (www.saramiles.net):
The story of an unexpected and terribly inconvenient Christian conversion, told by a very unlikely convert, Take This Bread is not only a spiritual memoir but a call to action. Raised as an atheist, Sara Miles lived an enthusiastically secular life as a restaurant cook and writer. Then early one morning, for no earthly reason, she wandered into a church. "I was certainly not interested in becoming a Christian," she writes. "Or, as I thought of it rather less politely, a religious nut." But she ate a piece of bread, took a sip of wine, and found herself radically transformed...
So we have historical fiction, interfaith dialogue, historical analysis, and personal memoir-all really important ways of thinking about belief, each of which can strengthen our own faith in different ways. What appeals most to you? What comes easily, or challenges you?
You can vote for your choice on the ecrier blog page. (you could also just tell me, but if you vote on line you can see where the count is) If enough people with kids are interested in participating, we can look into trying to find childcare for the sessions-we'll meet for four or five Sundays starting June 21 after church. Now vote! Click here.
p.s. Thanks to www.boston.com for featuring the E Crier in the "from the blogs" section last Sunday-and thanks to Marcia Luce for noticing!
Blessings,
Friday, May 15, 2009
Growth
We're growing in numbers, too, and each of us continues to grow in faith. On May 30, 7 people from Christ Church will be confirmed/received into the Episcopal Church at the deanery service (the service will be at 10 AM at Redeemer in Lexington if you want to come--choir practice is at 9 AM if you want to sing). Ed and Michelle Drozd, Chris and Erin Jensen, Cindy Hutchison, Ken Johnson, Mike Balulescu, and Sarah Staley will be officially welcomed into the Episcopal Church. In the reaffirmation of their baptismal covenants and laying on of hands from the bishop, they join with the communion of saints of the historical church and mark a special time in their own spiritual lives. On Sunday, our reading from the book of Acts told the story of the apostle Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. As they drove along the road, the eunuch asked Philip, "What is to prevent me from being baptized right now?" and so he was. In that spirit, if anyone is interested in joining the party (whether you'd been planning to or not) you're welcome to join in now. (Or if I inadvertently left you off the list of people above, please tell me!) We'll have a short retreat this Saturday (May 16) from 9 to 12 for everyone who would like to be confirmed or received--just let me know so I can buy enough snacks (you are received if you had been confirmed in another tradition and confirmed if you haven't).
Yet a FOURTH thing that has me thinking about the growth of our parish is the ministry of our youth leader, Suzanne Hughes. Suzanne has led the youth group since before I arrived, and her faithfulness and care have been really remarkable. The children she started with are now young women, and have helped to welcome others into the group since they began. Children are a natural sign of the growth of all things, but it's also a sign of the grace of God that Suzanne continues to grow in her own ministry as well as she takes on new challenges (and already has, in being our treasurer for the last year and a half!).
All of us are growing in our lives--whether it's our parish welcoming another congregation, an individual deciding to make a spiritual home in a particular place, or someone putting down one ministry to attend to a new one, nothing in this life is fixed. We might sometimes wish it could just stay the same, but life is always in flux. What's different about life in Christian faith and community is that we are growing toward God and growing in the likeness of Christ. This growth has a goal--it's not just change for the sake of change. It can be challenging, and it can be tiring, but God is always there to support us and hold us, even when it seems like life just asks too much of us.
I'd like to share with you the prayer for the parish from the BCP (p. 817).
Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth, hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful, arouse the careless, and restore the penitent. Grant us all things necessary for our common life, and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Blessings,
Sara+
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Co-Creating Life
The conference was especially tailored for clergy, but I think the questions we discussed are relevant to everyone. There was a quote from the Quaker writer Parker Palmer which wove in and out of many of our discussions: "Is the live I'm living the life that wants to live in me?" Am I in alignment with God's deepest desire for my life? How is the life of my family in line with God's calling? What about my work, or my financial decision making? My health? God wants deeply to be involved in each one of these parts of our lives.
God is our Creator--but we are also creators with God in the unfolding of our lives here on earth. God invites us to be partners in creation--in making God's dream of peace and justice a reality on earth and in nurturing the life God has planted in us. We pray to know God's will, God's desire, for our lives and for our world and to make them real. And each of those prayers is a response to a conversation God started with us at our birth. (A good thought to remember around Mother's Day--our parents were certainly co-creators in helping to initiate that conversation!)
In our Gospel for this Sunday, Jesus says that God is glorified when we become his disciples, and "bear much fruit." There will, he says, be some pruning--those branches which bear no fruit, and even those which do bear fruit will be pruned to bear MORE fruit. More fruit--God is always pushing us forward to do more and to be more. It's not always easy, but we are never alone--as members of the Body of Christ we have each other, and we pray for the grace to trust in God's calling for each of us.
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, April 24, 2009
Easter continues
This week has been a busy one--I just got back from helping my mother after surgery, and I leave on Monday for "Credo," a program offered by the national church for Episcopal clergy. It's centered around vocational discernment and development, and clergy are invited to attend to meet with colleagues from across the country. I'm looking forward to it, sort of. I've just got back from my first trip away from my son, Isaiah, since he was born, and I'm not sure I'm ready to be away from him again quite so soon! And unfortunately it will mean missing another Sunday, so our friend, the Rev. Norm Faramelli will be filling in for me again on May 3. The Rev. Devin McLachlan, rector of Parish of the Messiah in Auburndale, will be on call in case of a pastoral emergency. It will still be our usual kids' service, though--Jonathan Duce will be offering a Godly Play story for everyone and Norm will invite the kids to come up and help celebrate the Eucharist. When I was in Erie, I celebrated the Eucharist at the church where I grew up--kind of surreal, but quite lovely. I was amused to find out that the altar actually IS as big as it looked to me when I was a kid--sitting behind it, I was invisible, and during the Eucharistic prayer I found myself inching up on the tips of my toes at several points. My dad is the deacon there so he preached (I said I was on vacation from preaching...), and it was neat to serve together.
And Easter season continues!
Easter lasts fifty days--it takes us a while to get the message. Some liturgical changes you might have noticed are the usual things--the service music changes with the season (different melodies for the Gloria (Glory to God), Sacntus (Holy, Holy, Holy) and the Anthem at the Breaking of the Bread)--the Eucharistic prayer changes (we're no longer praying for "this fragile earth, our island home" as Prayer "C" of the Book of Common Prayer phrases it-we're on Prayer "A" for Easter, which prays in thanksgiving for Christ, sent to "share our human nature, to live and die as one of us"). There's one bigger change, too, that you've probably noticed. During Easter season, we don't say the confession of sin.
In the early church, there was no general confession of sin at all; the understanding was that the whole action of receiving the Eucharist was absolution enough, and the prayer that consecrated the bread and wine was also a prayer of thanksgiving for God's forgiveness of our sins. Of course, it still is, and so we rest from Lent's focus on our sinfulness and brokenness, and spend the season of Easter just giving thanks with wonderful Easter hymns, blooming Easter flowers, and joy in God's unconditional love for each one of us.
Blessings!
Join the "Christ Church Waltham" group on facebook! [you can also be our "fan," but to be honest I'm less certain about that helps to create community] We'll be able to post pictures and link up with one another online. After you're logged in on facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=189394425594&ref=mf. It's free and anyone can join, so if you don't have an account and you'd like to, you can make one.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Reviewing Holy Week
This week, the Rev. Norm Faramelli will be our celebrant. My mother had hip replacement surgery (thankfully, successful) and so I am going back to Erie, Pennsylvania, to help her in settling back home. I will just be away Friday-Monday, so your wardens, Marcia and Jonathan, will be able to handle anything that comes up. I will be back for our vestry meeting at 7:15 on Monday night.
Blessings,
Sara+
For our Lent series we talked about our cherished beliefs-- now listen to people who've had to give up their formerly cherished beliefs. On the radio show This American Life this week: "This I used to believe." On WBUR (90.9) Saturday at 3:00.
Join the "Christ Church Waltham" group on facebook! [you can also be our "fan," but to be honest I'm less certain about that helps to create community] We'll be able to post pictures and link up with one another online. After you're logged in on facebook, visit http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=189394425594&ref=mf. It's free and anyone can join, so if you don't have an account and you'd like to, you can make one.
Rest in Peace, Sarah Lefebvre, 1914-2009. Services for Sarah will be held Monday, April 20,at 1:00 at Christ Church, the Rev. Patricia DeBeer, Celebrant. Please keep her husband Norman and their children in your prayers.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
From April 9
This evening, I'm just about to go into our Maundy Thursday service (I hope you're already on your way!). I'm passing on the Easter message our bishops sent to us. I think it applies well to each one of us. With them, I hope that all God's blessings will be yours this Holy Week and Easter.
Your bishops hold you and those you serve deep within our hearts and prayers during these most sacred and holy days. God thanks you for your faithful, loving, and inspired leadership. While we are with only a few of you in the next few days, we carry all of you with us with gratefulness for all you do for the spiritual nurture and formation of those God gives you and for God's mission and kingdom on earth.
As you journey with Christ these days, may you receive Christ's blessings poured out from the cross and Christ's power and transforming love through his resurrection and abiding presence with you. In these hard times God has blessed us and this diocese with gifts to bring healing, hope, and peace to those who suffer and struggle, near and far away.
We are blessed, honored, and privileged to be among you and with you as servants and disciples of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior.
May you, those you love and those you serve know the peace and joy of the Resurrection in these days and in the season ahead.
Tom, Bud, Gayle
Friday, April 3, 2009
The Vigil of Easter
Dear Church,
You'll hear more about it in the Fieldstone Crier, our monthly newsletter, but before I delve more into Good Friday (the third part of our series on the services of Holy Week), I wanted to share a little about how excited I am about the Easter Vigil. It's been celebrated at Christ Church before, but not for a while--and it's such a wonderful service that I am very pleased we're bringing it back this year. The Easter Vigil is just that--a Vigil--we enter a darkened church, after lighting the pascal candle from a fire outside the church (a small fire, admittedly-we'll be on the stone front steps of the church with plenty of extinguishers in hand) and then we process in singing, and hear the stories of our salvation from the Hebrew Scriptures. Halfway through the service, Easter begins!--we ring in our celebration with bells and more light (each of us will have to bring our own bell to ring). The service continues with a festive Eucharist, with incense and wonderful Easter hymns. The alleluias will be back! (speaking of familiar music, for the Easter season we're moving back to the service music settings from the Hymnal 1982). The Easter Vigil is at 7 pm on Saturday, April 11. I hope to see you all there.
The Vigil is the third part of what is technically one service of the "Triduum," or "Three Days." Part One is Maundy Thursday, with the washing of feet, celebration of the Eucharist, and stripping of the altar. Part Two is Good Friday. For Good Friday at Christ Church, we follow the liturgy in the Book of Common Prayer. It differs in some significant ways from the regular Eucharist we celebrate on Sundays. Instead of the Prayers of the People, we hear a series of collects (aptly named "the Solemn Collects) that offer prayers for the church and the world, for those who suffer and those who seek faith. After the collects comes the central moment, the entrance of the cross. The cross we use is not an elaborate one--it's not made of nice wood, or stained a beautiful color. It's two rough sticks, bound together, that Paula, the director of our altar guild, found in the woods. After the cross enters, we are all invited to reverence--to bow, to kiss, to kneel, or just to stand and wonder at the mystery of that symbol, an object of shame and violence transformed into life and love. On Good Friday we don't celebrate the Eucharist. The preacher Barbara Brown Taylor has said that Good Friday is the quietest day of the year--part of that silence is not celebrating the sacrament. In recognition of our need to be fed, however, we do share communion (the bread and wine having been consecrated at the service on Maundy Thursday). The service ends after a final prayer--as with Maundy Thursday, there is no dismissal, as the service has not, technically, ended. That only happens after the Great Vigil the next day.
Holy Week is, spiritually and theologically, the high point and center of the whole church year. Having gone through the journey of Maundy Thursday, the depths of Good Friday, the watching and waiting of the Vigil, the celebration of the Easter resurrection is that much more powerful--and honest. Our liturgies remind us of the truth of the human experience. On Maundy Thursday we enter Christ's care for each of us and the way we embody Christ to each other. On Good Friday we ponder the mystery of how the cross saves us--beyond our imagining, but a deep truth each one of us knows. And at Easter? We taste the joy we've been longing and longing for.
Blessings,
Sara+
Thanks to all who made last Sundays' ministry fair a great success, especially our organizers, Marcia Luce and Shawn Russell!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Upcoming Events and Maundy Thursday
This week I'll continue our exploration of the Holy Week services, and talk a bit more about Maundy Thursday. The word "Maundy" comes from the Latin, mandatum, which means commandment-we commemorate the Last Supper, when Jesus washed his disciples' feet and gave "a new commandment."
I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:35)
In the liturgy, we wash each others' feet-we are each others' servants. Men and women, older and younger-we are all called to serve each other. Is it awkward? Of course. It's a level of nearness we don't frequently experience with our friends, much less the person you sit behind in church. But is it holy? Absolutely. The disciples didn't understand what Jesus was doing at first, either. When Jesus kneels at Peter's feet, he says, "You will never wash my feet." Jesus answered, "Unless I wash you, you have no share with me." Peter is confused-an act of submission by his Lord? No way. Jesus says, "You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand." Does Peter get it, later? Much later, he does-after the crucifixion, after the resurrection, he understands just how different a Lord Jesus was. Not one who wants domination and power, a Lord who wants to be on the floor, kneeling in front of us, comforting and consoling. A Lord whose only commandment is love. One who invites us to kneel there, too, to continue his work for each other. We are his Body, now in the world. It's time to get down on the floor.
The foot washing takes place between the sermon and the prayers of the people. The liturgy continues with Communion. After Communion, we strip the altar. All the hangings, all the chairs, all the cushions and candles come out of the sanctuary. We do this to prepare for Good Friday, to remind ourselves of the abandonment of Christ, and the utter absence and desolation of that day. Everyone who is present in the church is invited to help strip the altar-it's not just a performance by the clergy or leaders of the service; it's shared by us all.
The great "Triduum," or "Three Days" of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil are, technically, one service-there's no final blessing or dismissal until the end of the Great Vigil. Wednesday is a bit of a prelude to the "big event" of those three days.
Next week: The mysteries of Good Friday.
Blessings,
Sara+
Friday, March 20, 2009
From March 19: Holy Week Services
This week, I've started getting ready for our Holy Week services at Christ Church. I know there are a lot of folks who are new to the Episcopal Church (and those of us who aren't can always use a reminder), so for the next few weeks leading up to Holy Week, I'm going to dedicate part of this space to talking about the services. As Ed put it at vestry this week: "Maybe you should actually say what it means to strip the altar? It gets really uncomfortable without those kneelers!" (that happens on Maundy Thursday, which is the topic of next week's email...)
Here, our observance of Holy Week begins on Wednesday, with a service of healing and reconciliation. Technically, the services of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Easter Vigil are ONE service, called the Triduum-one long meditation on the events of Christ's Passion and resurrection. It's an intense experience, and helps us to approach the heart of what we believe as Christians. I find that the Wednesday service helps us to draw near to those services that observe Christ's passion with (if you'll excuse the expression), our spiritual ducks in a row. The service consists of a regular Holy Eucharist, but instead of doing the general confession like we do on Sundays, we do the rite of Reconciliation (sometimes called Confession) all together. In the time when the penitent is invited to confess particular sins, we have time for silence.
The rite of reconciliation has a distinctive place in Anglican/Episcopal tradition quite unlike its place in the Roman Catholic Church, where people are more familiar with it. It's not ever required of anyone-the absolution we receive all together as part of the regular Sunday service is sufficient-but doing the rite can be especially healing if there are particular sins and sorrows on your heart. The rite consists of prayers to enlighten us to acknowledge and remember what we have to confess. The penitent promises to forgive others as s/he accepts God's forgiveness. The rite concludes with the absolution and these words: Now there is rejoicing in heaven; for you were lost, and are found; you were dead, and are now alive in Christ Jesus our Lord. Abide in peace. The Lord has put away all your sins.
In our Wednesday service, the reconciliation of the penitent is followed by a litany of prayers for healing. After the litany, individuals who desire special prayers for healing (for you or for someone else) come to the altar rail. The Celebrant makes the sign of the cross on the person's forehead as they kneel at the altar rail, and whoever is present is invited to come up and lay a hand on their shoulder. Healing services have become quite common in the Church; some parishes do them regularly even on Sundays. The rite reminds us that God is never far away, though we sometimes need special assurance of God's presence and grace.
After prayers for healing, we celebrate the Eucharist. We are re-membered as the Body of Christ, nourished and sent out in God's grace. We meet next for the liturgy of Maundy Thursday, which you'll learn more about in next week's email!
Blessings,
Sara+
In the Wider Church and Community
Saturday, April 25: The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts Parish Historians' Society. Held at Christ Church, Quincy. Registration at 8:30 a.m., Opening Remarks at 9:30 a.m. Topics include researching slavery in the history of your parish.
Safety for Kids Event
This comes to us from Michelle Hache-- at the American Legion, Waverly Oaks Rd on March 29, 10-2. With police dog demo, karate demo and assorted booths. The Masons offer a child ID kit which include dental imprints, DNA, fingerprint, and a video--the parents keep the kit, but have the information in case it's needed. Michelle has found in the past that showing up a bit later means that the lines aren't quite so long, so you can still come
From March 12: Lent
Of course, in the church, Easter always follows Lent-in the Gospels Jesus never talks about his suffering and death without talking about his resurrection. That can be harder for us to remember, though, in the midst of our darkest times, when even the ordinary days of Pentecost seem an impossibility, much less the joy of Easter. As he called from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" I think that was probably Jesus' experience as well. He knows what it feels like.
Where are you in your Lent?
Is it feeling like Lent to you, or like Advent, or just like an ordinary time? The church year brings our attention to certain aspects of human life, but our own spirits aren't necessarily always there. Noah's and my honeymoon ended up being in Lent, and I assure you that it was not what I would call penitential. But this year I am feeling like Lent. It seems like everyone in my house has been sick since Christmas. It's cold. Even the dog is pitiful, since he was neutered this week and isn't allowed to run around. As I pray my Lenten discipline of being mindful of my time, I'm all too aware of how little time it seems that there is. It is definitely Lent.
But Easter is coming. We get glimpses of it here and there. At our book group on Tuesday, we had a wonderful discussion about belief, and mystery, and what Helen Keller, who wrote about how faith is a state of mind, might say to Penn Jillette, whose essay was about how there is no God. In the liturgy on Sundays we receive the Body of Christ-we are reminded that we are the Body of Christ. We are nourished, though, not just for ourselves, but for what it enables us to do. One of my favorite lines in all the prayer book comes from the Eucharistic prayer we're using now--Deliver us from the presumption of coming to this Table for solace only, and not for strength; for pardon only, and not for renewal. The grace of God isn't given us just to make us feel better; coming to church on Sunday isn't just a spiritual "pick-me-up." We are forgiven to empower us to live freer, more generous lives; we are fed to enable us to feed others.
Blessings,
Sara+
In the Wider Community
Hearts Alive! Gulf Coast Benefit Art Show
Artist Lori Gordon: March 27-28 Trinity Church, Boston: Proceeds support St Anna's Episcopal Church's Medical Van in New Orleans. Click Here.
Spaghetti Dinner and Raffle
Saturday, March 28, 5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Fundraiser for Community Day Center of Waltham, a day shelter supporting homeless and low-income adults. Hosted by First Evangelical Lutheran Church, 6 Eddy St., Waltham. Adults $7, children $5 in advance or at door. email director@communitydaycenter.org
From March 4: Our Broken Parts
We met Tuesday night for our first Lenten adult ed series, on the essay collection "This I Believe." I admit I chose the book a little impulsively-I'd enjoyed the essays they broadcast on the radio, and thought it would be a nice break from the slightly heavier stuff we did last fall with the "Commit" series. Yesterday we listened to an essay from a college student, Colin Bates, who works as a health aide for his "bosses," two developmentally disabled men. He talked about how our society values us for what we can do, not who we are. He writes,
Most of the people I know are embarrassed by what they can't do. They see it as a sign of weakness and consequently walk around with burdened hearts. For my generation the notion that success equals fulfillment has been pounded into our brains as if it was the truth. My generation is being told that if you can't do something alone, if you're not smart enough or capable enough, then you've failed. So far, the turning points in my life have not been the times I succeeded at something, but the times I've whispered, "I'm lost," or, "Help me," or, "I need a friend." In becoming helpless, I've allowed myself to be shaped and supported by those who love me-which makes helplessness a gift. And I have my bosses to thank for it. We've discovered the joy of helping and being helped. I believe sometimes our vulnerability is our strength.
Lent invites us to examine our more broken parts-the faces we don't always show the world. We're asked to be honest about the things in life that are hard-not just the ways we don't "measure up" to our own expectations, but the ways we're unfaithful to God. The thing is, we aren't just called to be faithful to God as if God were "out there" someplace-we are called to be faithful to the image of God in which we ourselves were created. One of the tasks of the Christian life is finding out who we really are-not just what we can do or where we live or who our parents are, but who we, genuinely and in our souls, are created to be. Not what we can do, but who we are.
When it comes to Lent our vulnerability really is our strength, because when we ask God for God's help always receive it. Thanks be to God!
From Feb. 26: The Invitation of Lent
I'd like to share a poem (of sorts) that I mailed out last year as well--I'm not sure where it comes from. A friend sent it to me and I thought it captured well the invitation of Lent. You'll be receiving the Fieldstone Crier soon, with more news from Christ Church and thoughts about the season.
This Lent...
Fast from suspicion and feast on trust
Fast from complaining and feast on appreciation
Fast from judging others and feast on Christ within others
Fast from idle gossip and feast on purposeful silence.
Fast from bitter anger and feast on forgiveness.
Fast from discouragement and feast on hope
Fast from worry and feast on trusting God
Fast from unrelenting pressures and feast on prayer that sustains.
Fast from lethargy and feast on enthusiasm.
Fast from emphasizing the differences and feast on the unity of life.
Fast from thoughts of illness and feast on the healing power of God.
Fast from discontent; feast on gratitude.
Fast from hostility; feast on nonviolence.
Fast from self-absorption; feast on compassion.
Blessings, Sara+
From Feb. 11: Mortality
With our new administrator, we've been looking through the files and cleaning up some of the old. I was just going through one cabinet and found the living will of someone who had probably died more than ten years ago-strangely poignant, to lean through time and hear about her desires for care. Mortality is much on my mind, preparing for Ash Wednesday on the 25th-and we buried George Wilkes this morning, too. The words from our burial service, "Even at the grave we make our song, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia" echo in my mind. The prayer book has some of the best poetry I know in it, and the rite for burial must be the best of it.
George was not terribly old-he was 71-and died gently in his sleep at home. He'd suffered from dementia for some time, and so his wife, Louise, who has long been part of this community, arranged for caretakers to come when she was at work or doing errands. This didn't leave for much time to come to church, so I'd bring her communion once in a while. Whenever I arrived, George was always sitting in the easy chair in the living room. He'd show me his joke calendar and tell me the joke for the day, and then Louise and I would go into the kitchen and talk.
It's really hard to take care of someone who is sick-I don't think Louise will feel singled out for me mentioning her in this email, because it's an experience that a lot of us have had. Toward the end of her life, my grandmother stayed with us for a while, and it was hard-a strain for the whole family, certainly, but I'm not sure how it could have been any other way at that time. Families take care of each other; it's what we do.
"It's what we do"-it's what we do, but it's still hard. I've been listening to a CD of the teachings of the Tibetan Buddhist writer Pema Chodron, and she talks about how the difficulty of our life is just more food for our spiritual growth. Buddhism teaches that through accepting suffering and "making friends" with it, we are able to grow and change.
Acceptance is certainly important (the alternative, after all, is not very productive), but the Christian take on things is pretty different. We pray to meet everything as an opportunity to serve Christ-"when you did it to the least of these, you did it to me" (Matthew 25:40). That entails acceptance, but also something deeper. One of the most beautiful eulogies I've ever heard was at the funeral for Jasmine Noel Corliss (her grandmother is a member here), who died last fall. She was just 2 years old, and had severe disabilities throughout her life. The person who spoke talked about how much life and love she had called out of her siblings and parents and family members-how they had grown because of her. Though her death was tragic, the mystery of life is such that God is with us even in the most difficult times. God is able to bring us near in those times. Not just to "get through it" but to serve Christ. And so the care-taker and the cared-for both give glory to God in their own way.
Compassionate God, support and strengthen all those who reach out in love, concern, and prayer for the sick and distressed. In their acts of compassion, may they know that they are your instruments. In their concerns and fears may they know your peace. In their prayer may they know your steadfast love. May they not grow weary or faint-hearted, for your mercy's sake. Amen.
Donations in George Wilkes' memory may be made to Grandma's Pantry here at Christ Church or to the Alzheimer's Foundation in Watertown.
Next week, I'll be on retreat with the Sisters of Saint Anne in Arlington. Since Monday is a holiday, I'll be off the computer (and out of the office) starting this Sunday afternoon (the 15th). I'll be back to it by the 22nd, so I won't be missing a Sunday. Of course if there is a serious emergency, I can be contacted at home. Our new parish administrator, Kristina DeFrancesco, will be holding down the fort during our regular hours, from 10 to 2 Tues-Friday.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
I’ve been thinking lately about the feeding of the five thousand.
Every three or four weeks, I meet with a monk, a Jesuit, with whom I talk about my prayer and spiritual life. About a month ago, I mentioned to him that I wanted a more personal relationship with God. Sensations of God’s vastness and transcendence come pretty easily to me, but it’s harder for me to feel the particularity of God’s presence in my own personal daily life—washing the dishes, responding to email, listening to others. That day, I was longing to feel taken care of. Being a good, Scripturally minded monk and priest, he asked me what Bible stories came to mind when I think of Jesus being especially caring. The first that came to mind was the scene in the feeding of the five thousand—not just the feeding part, but the part when Jesus tells everyone to sit down.
Since then, I’ve been spending a lot of time with that passage (not just the sitting part, either). It’s a scene that is repeated in all four Gospels—the details are a little different in each, but in all four, the people have followed Jesus out into the middle of nowhere. They are hungry, and it’s late, and the disciples are worried. In the Gospel of John, there’s just one little boy who has some food with him. And Jesus makes them all sit down, and the food is distributed, “and all ate and were filled.”
The people sit down—they stop milling around, stop shouting for their kids, stop looking around for something to eat. They sit. And all are filled, and there are twelve baskets left over. A second miracle, one which isn’t named in the Gospels, is that all the people ate together—in a society so governed by ritual purity, the chances that those 5000 would consent to eat together in any other circumstance was pretty much zero. The miracle was that they were together—not just that they were fed (we talked about that in our “Connect” class last year—thanks to Dylan Brewer for the point).
We’ve been talking a lot in vestry about how to manage the constant use of our building—four congregations worship here on Sundays, and we are about as different as they come. Our church walls hear French, Spanish, Luganda, English, the “thee’s” of Rite One and the “You’s” of Rite Two. It’s a lot. As I mentioned in my annual report, some of our building use is motivated by the need for income, but a lot of it is for the sake of hospitality. We share a special relationship with St Peter’s because we share the heritage of the Anglican Church, and it’s with us that the Diocese of Massachusetts connects to St Peter’s. But how do we balance being welcoming to others and being faithful to the needs of our own ministries? How do we help each congregation respect the other? It’s not as simple as writing down some times of day on a calendar.
And all ate and were filled. God has a dream of abundance that is far greater than anything we can imagine, but it can be so hard to see it. Whenever I pray that story I am always amazed at the sheer quantity of human bodies that must have been present. There were five thousand people! The Gospel of Luke says they sat down in groups of fifties. That’s as many as we had in church last Sunday--multiply that by one hundred.
The story begins—Jesus had compassion on them. Jesus has compassion for us—even when you are one out of a crowd of five thousand people, that compassion and feeding is there, enough for everyone—enough not just for “everyone,” a crowd of faceless people, but enough for you and me, too. Put yourself in the story—what is it like when you sit down at Jesus’ invitation? Who are you sitting with? Is it cloudy or warm? What is it like to be filled? Let’s pray for the grace to eat that bread of compassion and to drink the wine of kindness.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Parallel Texts of the Feeding of the Five Thousand
Matthew 14:13-21
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’ Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Mark 6:30-44
The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. And all ate and were filled; and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.
Luke 9:10-17
On their return the apostles told Jesus all they had done. He took them with him and withdrew privately to a city called Bethsaida. When the crowds found out about it, they followed him; and he welcomed them, and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed to be cured.
The day was drawing to a close, and the twelve came to him and said, ‘Send the crowd away, so that they may go into the surrounding villages and countryside, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a deserted place.’ But he said to them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said, ‘We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.’ For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, ‘Make them sit down in groups of about fifty each.’ They did so and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were filled. What was left over was gathered up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
John 6:1-14
After this Jesus went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, also called the Sea of Tiberias. A large crowd kept following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing for the sick. Jesus went up the mountain and sat down there with his disciples. Now the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near. When he looked up and saw a large crowd coming towards him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?’ He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, ‘Six months’ wages would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little.’ One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’ Jesus said, ‘Make the people sit down.’ Now there was a great deal of grass in the place; so they sat down, about five thousand in all. Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted. When they were satisfied, he told his disciples, ‘Gather up the fragments left over, so that nothing may be lost.’ So they gathered them up, and from the fragments of the five barley loaves, left by those who had eaten, they filled twelve baskets. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, ‘This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.’
[New Revised Standard Version, Copyright 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.