Beginning an interim ministry

-

 

Time of pandemic

Martin Luther, writing during the Bubonic plague of the 1500’s, seemed to be talking directly to us today.

“I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I will fumigate, purify the air, administer medicine, and take medicine. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order to not become contaminated, and thus perchance inflict and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person, but will go freely. This is a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy, and does not tempt God.”

Nostalgia and Hopes

At our monthly diocesan interim’s meeting, some of the conversation prompted me to observe how things that we remember as the “way things used to be”, things which may appear to be nostalgia, are really hopes and longing. Longing, perhaps, not for what was but for what might be.

September Sunday schedule

For September we will move gingerly in the direction of expanding our scheduling. I have decided to build on the scaffold of a Sunday worship schedule that we used in August. For August we had a mix of 2 services, at 8 and 10, and 1 service at 10. For September we will plan to have 2 services each of the Sundays.

In August there was a mix of Morning Prayer and Eucharist. I learned in conversations these past weeks that there is a history at St. Paul’s of regular, even daily, morning prayer. It’s a part of what seems so strong about this faith community. We ought not lose that tradition.

Nevertheless, we will plan, at least for September, to have Eucharist at both times. My hope is not so much to respond to nostalgia as to meet some legitimate longings and hopes.

  1. Sunday worship at an early morning time
  2. Eucharist that is contemplative in tone and theme

I have told the altar guild that I could celebrate the Eucharist if at least 1 person volunteers to read and assist at the altar. There will be somewhat more tasks for the altar guild, but it should be possible to schedule that flexibly.

I have thought that there are other concerns we might one day try to meet with our worship schedules. Things such as:

  1. Healing service
  2. Evening service, e.g. Sunday or Saturday, or perhaps weekday
  3. Taizé style service

The opening words of one of the major documents of Vatican 2 still inspire me:

The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts…


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Projects at St. Paul's

-
Image
  Tasks at St. Paul's Fr. Dale I've been trying to keep up with a list I began several months ago. It was apparent that there was more around St. Paul's that needed doing than there were people to accomplish them. But I figured we needed to get in front of us a comprehensive list of the things that needed to be tended to. I am submitting this list now at the beginning of a calendar year, a time when some corners have been turned, a time when we want some of the burdens of the past several years to be lifted, a time when the pandemic is dragging on and on, and a time when most of us are just tired. You are probably familiar with the "Eisenhower matrix" for prioritizing and moving towards getting things done. I mentioned it in a sermon last fall. You can read up on it here . Here is a graphic to illustrate it, taken from another website . As a part of our planning process and moving towards getting done what is important, it seems to me that we can at least pla
Read more

Questions about Healing

-
  Questions about healing. Even before we moved to Monroe, I began asking parishioners at St. Paul's, "How can I help?" This was modeled after a TV series that Mary Pat and I enjoy where the head of a hospital regularly responds to people who come to him with problems, "How can I help?" Again and again I would hear the response, "We need healing." Healing . I have long known that the word and concept of healing was not as simple as it sounds. I wonder to myself what does even the word mean? What does the person using the word mean? It means a myriad different things, depending on the person and the circumstance. Dictionary meanings include: cure, fix, mend, rehabilitate . One line of thought would have it that healing is essentially "transcending suffering." I have heard preachers and teachers over the years emphasize that healing and wholeness are related; so the word would mean "becoming whole." Healing and wholeness are bo
Read more

Farewell Letter, 2022

-
Goodbyes This is not an easy letter for me to write. It's not just that "goodbyes" are often difficult. When one has loved and given of oneself, it is saying goodbye to a part of what makes us who we are. I have said "Goodbye" to St. Paul's on two previous times. The first was in 2017 when you were seeking a rector the last time. When you chose him, I said "goodbye" with the full understanding that Mary Pat and I would be back to visit. We had laughed together and prayed together, two activities that I think bind persons together. When Fr. Jim got sick we returned to fill in while he took a leave of absence. Then Covid happened. When he returned, even in the midst of pandemic, Mary Pat and I said "goodbye" again. As is all too recent in our memory, Fr. Jim didn't get well. We accepted the invitation to be a "part-time, interim" priest in charge. We moved to Monroe. Now, under somewhat different circumstances we say it aga
Read more