St. Paul's 2021

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...

  Triduum 2022 at St. Paul's This week we call Holy Week . It is holy in part because it has a theme of its own, and because it builds to the most solemn day of the church year. The theme generally has to do with the last week of Jesus life. In that sense it is about Jesus passion, focusing day by day on different aspects Jesus death on the cross. From the earliest days, literally from the earliest documents we have in the New Testament, namely Paul's letters, we see emphasized the centrality of the experience of the earliest Christians related to Jesus death. On the one hand it was experienced as a devastating conclusion to a ministry that had fired people up. Within days however there was a solemn sacred reversal that was understood to be the resurrection of the same one who had days before been executed. So in the church services of the week we see unfolding before us a retelling of a narrative of Jesus final days and an anticipation of the celebration of the overcomin...

  Dear friends in Christ, Dear friends in Christ, The Bishop of North Carolina has given permission for us to resume distributing the wine of the Eucharist in a common cup. For many if not most of us that is an integral part of our experience as Episcopalians. So it is with gladness that we receive the news. The bishops have also expressed a strong encouragement for several things to accompany this resumption of the common cup. One is that we ought to provide a method of intinction (dipping the wafer into the wine) for those who are uncomfortable with sipping from a common chalice. The other is a strong encouragement that we not allow intinction from the chalice by individuals. If you prefer to receive the wine by intinction you should do that at the intinction station. As a result of these directions, at the Easter Vigil this year we will resume distributing communion with the common cup (chalice). We will provide two stations for receiving the wine. One will be from a c...

  Workshop Invite, Welcome, Connect Last week I attended a digital conference of several hundred folks around the country. It was hosted by a group organized around 3 verbs that healthy churches demonstrate: Invite Welcome Connect We might see these verbs as the actions that Jesus himself did as he gathered disciples. When he met someone who was open to God’s work, he said, “Come and see.” The gospel reflect that they dropped what they were doing and followed him. As Jesus traveled, ate, and slept with his followers, he welcomed them into his movement. He listened to them and to their needs, and he met those needs, usually in surprising ways, always in deep and life-giving ways. Jesus met them and connected with them in the actual lives they lived. The digital conference gathered 100’s of examples of how churches have invited, welcomed, and connected with people over the last difficult years of pandemic. Just a smattering include: Zoom social hours, prayer time, worsh...

  One of my basic assumptions throughout almost all of my ordained ministry has been that God has some mixture of calling for each community of faith just as is true for individuals. And then together with that and assumption that God gives us all of the tools that we need to be able to do that calling. Along the way in my ministry I have come to the commitment that whatever I should do and whatever it is that the community should do we should do it with the best of our ability, making the best use of what God has given us to work with. In my monthly cycle of devotional readings, I encounter this quote from George MacDonald: “What God may hereafter require of you, you must not give yourself the least trouble about. Everything He gives you to do, you must do as well as ever you can, and that is the best possible preparation for what He may want you to do next. If people would but do what they have to do, they would always find themselves ready for what came next.” Recently I se...

  Safe Church is a vital principle for us Fr. Dale C. Hathaway In the Episcopal church a Rector or priest in charge has complete authority over the worship of that Parish. The legal expression of this is found in the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal Church and of the Diocese of North Carolina. Sec. 3 . Unless it conflicts with the law as aforesaid, the Rector, or such other member of the Vestry designated by the Rector, shall preside in all the meetings of the Vestry. (EC) The Rector or Priest-in-Charge shall have full authority and responsibility for the conduct of the worship and the spiritual jurisdiction of the Parish, subject to the Rubrics of the Book of Common Prayer, the Constitution and Canons of this Church, and the pastoral direction of the Bishop. (EC) For the purposes of the office and for the full and free discharge of all functions and duties pertaining thereto, the Rector or Priest-in-Charge shall at all times be entitled to the use and control of...

  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...

  Message to Parish Fr. Dale Jan. 13, 2022 From the Diocese As you may be aware every week the Bishop of the Diocese of North Carolina meets with clergy and other leaders over Zoom. I have said before that I am enormously impressed by the ability to stay connected with the bishop and the clergy of the diocese. It is one of those unintended and surprising consequences to our response to COVID-19. Last week was the first week since Christmas that we met. The bishop expressed some regret at the disruption that we have felt with the eruption of the Omicron variant among us. At that time, and again when he was with us for his visitation on Sunday, he emphasized that the diocese intends to support each local community as it makes decisions about how to respond with compassion and wisdom to the effects of the current spike resulting from the Omicron variant. In response to my inquiry, he reported that some parts of the diocese have continued to have in-person worship while other part...

  Rector's report I hardly know where to begin in writing a report on my place at Saint Paul's during the pandemic. The narrative doesn’t begin in any sense at all with the signing of a letter of agreement to be your interim part-time Rector in July of this year. My history with you as a congregation goes back for years now. I probably wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for my time spent with you during critical times over the last few years. In my own experience it has been primarily with St Paul’s that I have tried to figure out how to be church in the midst of pandemic. In March 20 20 I returned from Dayton Ohio expecting to continue as the recent past had been. As if overnight my teaching and my supply work at churches changed dramatically. Your lives all changed just as abruptly. My experience mirrors and is comparable to what all of us have experienced over the last few years. The highlights of my time since August with you would include the following: Making a decision...

1. Day 1 – 10 INWARD Where is God in your life? Sun., Nov. 28 Think about the last 24 hours. What has given you joy? Name it, and give thanks. Mon., Nov. 29 Reflect on your experience of going to church. Where in the church or during   worship do you feel God’s presence? Tue., Nov. 30 Who introduced you to Jesus? How did they introduce you to Jesus? Wed., Dec. 1 Think of your life. When did you feel close to God? When did you feel far away?   What brought you home? Thu., Dec. 2 What is your favorite piece of scripture? Why do you love it? Fri., Dec. 3 Write a thank you post, note or email to someone who’s been influential in your faith life. Sat., Dec. 4 Read 1 Corinthians 12. What are your spiritual gifts? What part of the Body are you? Sun., Dec. 5 Is there someone in your life that shares your faith? Ask them a question today about their faith. Mon., Dec. 6 Is there a piece of music, art or film where you see or experience Go...

When we get to the end of November and the beginning of this December we enter a particularly sacred time for me personally. The church calendar presents with the series of holy days that over the years have had a particularly profound effect on my life. Queen Lili'uokalani -- King Kamehameha & Queen Emma: Nov. 11, Nov. 28. The first of these holy days have to do with Hawaiian royalty, and I didn't have any idea of a personal connection until 2001 when I responded to a call to do ministry there. I have 3 daughters and each of their names is associated with Hawaiian queens or princesses. The last queen died on Nov. 11 and a petition is being circulated to get her placed on the calendar of Lesser Feasts and Fasts . King Kamehameha and Queen Emma have been on the calendar for many decades. They brought the Anglican Church to the islands. Dorothy Day: Nov. 29 Dorothy Day died on Nov. 29. Her case is being pursued for sainthood in the Catholic Church. Ever since learning...

  Reflection November 22 was the day my stepfather died. None of you would know that. He was the love of my mother’s life and for many years was a father figure to me. It was also of course the day that John Kennedy was killed in 1963, an event that many of us have etched in our memories. What many people don’t realize is that it was also the day that Clive Staples Lewis died. He was more commonly known as C.S. Lewis. I first encountered Lewis’s writings when I was in junior high. One of the priest chaplains at a church summer camp gave a talk on the novel  Perelandra . He described it as a metaphor for what human life might be like without sin, or at least with sin completely redeemed. It was perhaps the first time in my life that I became aware of a piece of fiction trying to communicate the most significant things about life. I subsequently read every piece of fiction that Lewis wrote and most of his nonfiction work. He became a key figure in my own conversion to Christian ...

  To the saints at St. Paul’s, Monroe, NC I said last Sunday that we would be scheduling Christmas this past week. It has been a busy week and it will end with a virtual diocesan convention. We did, however, map out the basic schedule of worship for Advent and Christmas. Date Note Advent 1: Nov. 28 Begin consecrated wine from individual cups Advent 3: Dec. 12 8 am Eucharist Advent 3 10 am Lessons & Carols   (with communion from Reserved Sacrament) Christmas Eve 4:30 pm Music Christmas Eve Eucharist 5:00 pm Beginning with Advent, you will also receive via email a series of “thought questions.” These are intended to allow the congregation to participate in our preparation for confirmation at the Bishop’s visit in January. You will receive self-reflective questions in 4 areas: Where is God in your life? Where is God already moving? Where are the forces holding back God’s grace? What truths do you embrace and desire to vow to God? Where is God calling you to proclaim and perfo...

  November Rector Report The Rev. Dale C. Hathaway The highlight of the last month was the baptism of the Colt's grandchildren. It was a satisfying experience for me and I think for others as well. Nicci and I have slowly begun to reintroduce regular office hours. As I have continued to spend some time at the church, I've had the opportunity to meet some of the people coming and going, particularly those involved with Loaves and Fishes . I'm one of those occasions I got to meet Michael Moore who is the head of Loaves and Fishes. I am eager to learn how the ministry fits into the larger ministry of the church. One of my general concerns with the office and administrative work of the church has to do with the way in which files and technical tools are located in personal accounts rather than in the Church's own accounts. From my perspective I note the following: Sharing files in Google drive seems to be a good way to make things available to others, e.g. the vestry, and t...

As I begin writing this essay, Halloween is one day away. We’re planning to help carve pumpkins this afternoon. But I also want to make it clear at the outset that this is not an expert who is doing the writing. I am not an expert. I'm not an expert on Halloween nor anything else. In fact most of my life I have thought less of myself because I was not an expert at anything. I was never at the top of the class at something or other. In seminary one of my teachers said to me many years ago, maybe you’re meant to be a generalist instead of a specialist. It took me a long time to accept that judgment, but I’m finally getting there. I write as a generalist, as someone who thinks about things, as someone who asks questions of things, and as someone who sometimes makes connections between things. That's what I'm trying to do here. In the last week, with Halloween approaching, I have seen many posters and decorations that leave me cold. Themes of death and spooky scenes. Skulls. ...

  Baptism We're scheduled to celebrate Holy Baptism on All Saints Sunday, Nov. 7. It seemed to me that it might be useful to reflect on "baptism" in general as we approach this watershed time in the lives of Bill and Melody's grandchildren, Anna Claire Powell and Reid William Taylor. One of the songs I love to sing on that day is "When the saints go marching in." It's not because I'm a New Orleans Saints fan. It is, perhaps, because in my teens I adored the music of Louis Armstrong. For me, the inclusion of Jazz music into the liturgy brings joy to my smile. Memorably the first verse includes: Oh, when the saints go marching in Oh Lord I want to be in that number We might associate that with a future time of deliverance. The original song no doubt did. But it has always been for me a song very much about the living. Dancing, processing, with vibrancy and passion. That's the tone that the service of baptism has for me. Baptism ritual As...

  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...