Rector's Rambling - December 6th, 2009

Happy St. Nicholas Day!

In the midst of the penitential season of Advent, when we are preparing ourselves, our souls and bodies, for not only the commemoration of Jesus’ nativity (Christmas) but also his coming again in glorious majesty to judge the living and the dead, there are a few Feasts in the midst of the Fast.
One of these feasts is St. Nicholas’ Day. St. Nicholas of Myra, a city in modern day Turkey. He was tortured and imprisoned for faith in Jesus Christ, and died about the year 342. His name is enrolled among the bishops who attended the Council of Nicea in 325, from which we get the Nicene Creed (recited each Sunday at Holy Communion). He is considered the patron saint of sailors, and of children. His remains were moved to Italy in the 11th century (rescued from the mohammadens who had taken over Turkey) and became a popular saint in Northern Europe. The Dutch brought his reputation to America, as well as the tradition of giving gifts to children on St. Nicholas’ Day, in his name. This has morphed into a bigger tradition, a few weeks later in the month, under his dutch name.
As an aside, the first meeting of the founding families of the parish 151 years ago was on December 6th. Instead of picking St. John’s as our name (the day we incorporated - December 27th) we could have been St. Nicholas’ Church!
Another big feast this week is the feast of the Conception of Mary on December 8th. Although no where as miraculous as our Lord’s conception (occurring by the Holy Ghost, and known as the Feast of the Annunciation), Mary’s conception by her natural parents, Anna and Joachim, has since ancient times, been honored by the Church because the Archangel Gabriel addressed Mary as “thou who are highly favored” or “full of grace’. The Church believes that from her conception God had prepared Mary for the special ministry of taking flesh from her by the Holy Ghost, and giving birth to the Son of God himself - thereby being “highly favored” or “full of grace”.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Why isn’t the Church decorated for Christmas yet? - because it isn’t Christmas yet! We are keeping Advent in Advent. The Church will be “greened” for Christmas on Sunday, December 20th, after the 10am Service for the 4th Sunday in Advent. Some ’pre-greening’ will be done the day before, but all are encouraged to stay for an hour after Church to decorate for the big celebration!

Rector's Rambling - November 29th, 2009

Happy New Church Year!

This Sunday begins the season of Advent, which means that we start the year all over again. In the course of the year we have gone through the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, Ascension, Pentecost, and Trinity-tide. Today we start it over again.
One criticism independent churches have of Anglican/Episcopal Churches is the rigidity of the liturgical calendar. Some even berate the celebration of things like Christmas at all (not the birth of Jesus, but setting a date to celebrate it).
But as human beings we live in this space and time, and the cycles of the year (winter, spring, summer and fall) are a reality. So too is the reality that the Church calendar takes this into account and helps us to order our year around different aspects of the story of our salvation through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Those without a set calendar or lectionary find themselves stuck with the whim and whimsy of the pastor’s preaching choices. Having a set year, which remains mostly unchanged in about 1900 years of Church history, frees us to cover multiple aspects of our Lord’s life and ministry. And in our unhappy sinful divisions, it is a comfort to know that we follow a like calendar with the Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and many Reformed Churches as well.
So bring on the purple vestments and hangings! It is time for us to begin by looking at the end (of time that is...our Lord’s return) as well as the preparation of the people of original covenant for the fulfillment of the coming of their Messiah in the birth of Jesus.
And just as with the secular New Year we make resolutions, perhaps the Church New Year is a good time as well. Here are some suggestions!
1] Attend Church every Sunday (great for your spiritual health AND God wills it). 2] Pray every day.
3] Read the bible every day (you can use the lectionary for the Daily Office printed on page 3 of the Chronicle as a guide).
4] Choose a Church ministry or organization to become involved in if you are not already doing so (Adult Education, Altar Guild, Ushers, Acolytes, Lay Readers, Episcopal Church Women, Daughters of the King, Armitage Men’s Club, Brotherhood of St. Andrew, Sunday School teacher, Alpha Course, Faith Alive planning committee, Coffee Hour host, etc.).
5] Help with the outreach ministries of the parish (Can a week, Christmas gift program, mitten tree, toiletry collection for Salvation Army, baby clothes and supplies for Pregnancy aid) just to name a few.

Rector's Rambling - November 22nd, 2009

7418 baptisms, 3402 weddings, and 5276 burials later, St. John's Church in Detroit begins her second 150 years of ministry (God willing). What a great celebration we had on Tuesday night as we gathered in the Chapel to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the first services held in that same building. The building was nearly full, and we sang Evensong in traditional Anglican fashion, as is not only our foundation but our present as well. Our diocesan Bishop was present, as the Bishop of Michigan was on that first day, and he was suitably impressed by the attendance on a Tuesday night as well as with the worship. We had many guests, including former parishioners, far-away parishioners, government officials, and clergy and members of surrounding congregations.
Such a landmark occasion makes one look both backward and forward. Backward to the past as a reminder of who we were founded to be and how God has blessed us in so many ways in good and hard times. From the parishes foundation until the late 1920’s St. John’s quickly became the largest Episcopal congregation west of the Allegheny mountains. From the 1930’s to the 1990’s St. John’s experienced a precipitous decline, bottoming out at an Average Sunday Attendance of less than 50 people on Sunday. In the past 9 years we have seen several spouts of growth, to our current levels, give or take 10 or so.
But as we begin our next 150 years, we must be challenged to be renewed in heart and mind in order to take up that mantle of ministry left to us by those who have gone before us.
This past year or so has been one of great malaise. It has been hard to get people motivated to go deeper and wider in their spiritual life. Many ‘regular’ attenders miss Sunday worship for minor secular reasons. Getting volunteers for ministries and other opportunities around the parish, until recently an easy task, has become much tougher. And this week we also had to postpone our FAITH ALIVE WEEKEND in February because we could not get people to volunteer to sign up to head committees in order to organize it.
Is it the general malaise of society in this economic downturn? Fears and depression over the theological state of the Episcopal Church and its possible impact on our existence? Poor discipleship?
As we move forward ,solutions to all the things above start with prayer and intercession, and then getting up and getting into action to the greater glory of God. We cannot rest on our laurels. Rather, we must build on it until the day Jesus returns!

Rector's Rambling - November 15, 2009

This Sunday, 150th years ago, must have been one of great anticipation. A century and a half ago on this weekend a group of Episcopalians worshipped at St. Paul’s, Christ Church, and the Mariner’s Church for the last time. The Senior Warden of St. Paul’s resigned his position as head of the Vestry of that original Detroit parish. Others resigned vestry positions, as well as membership in various guilds and organizations, in their current parishes.
They did this not in protest or disagreement with their parishes, but in anticipation of what was to come! On that third Sunday in November 1859 they would be worshipping in their parishes for the last time because the following week, on the 17th, they would gather out in the country, on the corner of Woodward Avenue and High Street, for the first service at the newly built St. John’s Chapel. The Bishop of Michigan was to be there to consecrate the new building, something that can only be done if it is free of encumbrances. Being no debt or mortgage on the new parish, the building would be dedicated for use to the greater glory of God at two services that day.
The former St. Paul’s Senior Warden, Henry Porter Baldwin, dreamed of founding a new parish outside of town, and nearer to his country home. He had purchased the land and had a church and chapel designed before ever pitching it to his neighbors the previous December.
Since then subscriptions were secured, the building constructed, a priest hired, and a boys choir trained for just this moment.
There must have been some sadness for those folks leaving to be a part of this new venture. But little could they imagine that within another week not only would the new parish be a ‘success’, but would be too large for the 125 seat Chapel they had built! Plans for a larger Church, seating over 1000 people had been planned for several years down the road. It now had to be constructed immediately! But that is a story for another day.

Rector's Rambling - November 1, 2009

Today we deviate once again from the “Sundays after Trinity” in order to celebrate a grand holy day. Today is the Feast of All Saints. On this day we celebrate with great liturgical and musical solemnity all those holy women and men who have gone before us and are now in the presence of God.

The Roman Catholic Church has a very formal process for proclaiming someone a ‘saint’. It involves collecting materials and testimonies, miracles attributed to the deceased’s intercession, and a process from venerable, to blessed, to saint. This process was codified over time to assure the faithful of the holiness of the person being remembered, and to avoid the over-excitement about that holy person developed in local cultus around him or her.

The Anglican Church, particularly our American Episcopal Church, recognizes those early saints of the early church, as well as those recognized by the East and West in more recent times. We also have a ‘process’ to add someone to our calendar to be remembered, usually on the anniversary of their death (their heavenly birthday). This roll of people is commemorated in the Book Lesser Feasts and Fasts. The deceased are proposed to a committee established by the General Convention for investigation, possibly added to the calendar for trial use, and the approved by the Convention itself. Some additions in recent years have, unfortunately been added for political motivation rather than the person’s holiness of life. God is sorting that out.

It may be of interest to note that in our register of services we have the signatures of several American Episcopal “saints”. Bishop Jackson Kemper of Wisconsin consecrated our first Rector here at St. John’s to be his successor. Fr. James Lloyd Breck, founder of 3 seminaries (only Nashotah House remains) and countless parishes, preached and celebrated here, and Fr. James DeKoven, twice elected and then overturned to be a bishop, (for being too traditional) preached our first rector’s funeral here as well. And I would also guess, known to God alone, that many saints have sat in our pews this past 150 years, and some are sitting here now.

Rector's Rambling - October 25, 2009

Yesterday was the 175th Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan. The Diocese officially came into being 25 years before St. John’s was founded, with a small number of parishes that were being cared for by Canadian bishops who traveled across the Detroit River from Windsor. St. Paul’s, then located on Woodward near the river (now located at Woodward and Warren in their 3rd structure) is considered the mother church of our diocese. It was the long-time Junior Warden of that parish, recently elevated to Senior Warden, who called for a meeting of neighbors living ‘out in the country’ near his new house to found a new parish, St. John’s.

18 months after the parish was founded, and 7 months after the Chapel was opened, the Convention itself met for an special afternoon session to help with the laying of the cornerstone of our Church. In there was placed a document from the Rector, Wardens and Vestrymen of the parish while included this…

“We are conscious and confident that we are building that which will outlast ourselves; and we rejoice in the hope that, within the walls we are permitted to raise, thousands, in successive generations, will worship GOD, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; and confess our LORD and Saviour JESUS CHRIST, in the sacraments and ordinances of His Gospel; and partake of all the blessings of membership in His Church, which are precious to our souls today. As Christians and Churchman, we thank GOD for our strong assurance and conviction, drawn from past history, that the Protestant Episcopal Church, for whose communion this building will be reared, is so grounded on the one foundation, Jesus Christ, so true to Him, in the ministry, the doctrine, the Liturgy, the sacred year, the entire system which she inherited; so careful of His complete Gospel, holding each and every part thereof, in its own due proportion and harmony; that however we and those who shall follow us may prove unworthy of her and of her LORD, among all the changes and chances of this world, she will remain, in all essential things unchanged.”

Although St. John’s remains “in all essential things unchanged” concerning the faith and worship of The Church, I wish I could report that yesterday’s Diocesan Convention does the same. (ie...legislation supporting funding of ministries at odds with biblical lifestyle choices, calling for action on climate change based on bogus research for 'global warming', and worship not at all in accord with Anglican Prayer Book worship) I would venture that The Episcopal Church 2009 is little that Henry Porter Baldwin and the other founders of our parish would recognize.

Rector's Rambling - October 18

Welcome to all who are joining us today for our Homecoming celebration.

Begun in 2001, Homecoming Sunday is a chance to invite our friends, family, and regular visitors to join us for an extra festive Sunday of worship and fellowship. It is a “fall” opportunity to gather, just as many visit for “winter” (Christmas) and “spring” (Easter). This year we have added a “summer” opportunity with Founders Sunday in July.

As you have experienced, the worship at St. John’s is a great grace filled act of love and gratitude to the good God who loves us beyond comprehension. The richly symbolic liturgy, combined with sublime music, lifts our hearts and minds to greater and bigger things. Our participation is our offering to God, however imperfect we (and it) may be, because it our bounden duty and joy.
And the fellowship at St. John’s is certainly warm and inviting. Add to that a potluck luncheon and all the excitement of the Detroit Marathon and Detroit Lions game happening nearby and we have a glorious day all around.

In 1926 St. John’s was the largest parish west of the Allegheny mountains. Easter that year saw over 2500 communicants at seven Sunday Services! By the 1930’s attendance began to slide. A long-time member told me that a predecessor as Rector from 1932 to 1962, Rev. I.C. Johnson, told him that he was encouraged to come to St. John’s to stop the downward slide. Only in 2001 did we start increasing, building from 45 average Sunday attendance to over 200 in 2006. Things have backslid a bit since then, dropping to 196 last year.

In the coming months we will be having a Faith Alive weekend. I hope that it will be a chance for us to recharge and move forward once again. And from this recharged congregation more and more people will be brought into our fellowship through that renewal and evangelism.
Everyone here today is most welcome, and encouraged, to become a part of this renewal. “Get in on the ground floor” as we grow once again toward a full church many times over.

Rector's Rambling - October 4

Thank you to all who made yesterday’s Community Flea Market a success! If not for the good planning work of many people involved in the process, as well as all who pitched in on the big day, we wouldn’t have been able to accomplish this. We not only made some money for the operating expenses of the parish, but we also made a good impression on the many vendors and neighbors who participated and enjoyed the day.

Today we are celebrating the Solemnity of St. Michael and All Angels. The feast day actually occurs on September 29th, but it is an important enough feast that it has an “octave” assigned to it - which means that it can be celebrated for 8 days! We are celebrating it on the Sunday within the octave.

It is an important feast day because there is a lot of misunderstanding about the ministry of angels and who they are in their created order. Keeping this feast day allows us to give thanks to God for their creation and their ministry, as well as be informed about who they are and what they do (and who they aren’t and what they don’t do) so we can dispel the myths and mis-information surrounding them.

Today, being October 4th, is also the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. St. Francis lived in the 13th century in Italy. The son of a middle class cloth merchant, “Frenchy” chased after military glory in hopes of elevating his and his families status by earning knighthood. Instead God used him to renew the Church.

After a conversion experience in which Jesus told him to ‘rebuild my Church’ Francis embraced absolute poverty in order to preach the gospel without being attached to property concerns. Many others were attracted to his way of life and joined him. Three modern religious orders are the fruit of his call - The First Order Franciscan (brown robed friars), Second Order semi-enclosed nuns (the Poor Clares) and Third Order men and women following a rule of life but living in the world and their families.

Although the rule of life has changed over the years, the charism (‘spirit”) lives on in the Franciscan vocation. More info? www.fodc.net

An opinion on the recent Anglican/Roman news

There is much buzz about the recent pronouncement from Rome setting up a pathway for en masse Anglican defections to the Roman Catholic Church. In many ways this mirrors a similar program already in effect in the USA only, allowing for re-ordination of married Anglican clergy and for parishes to continue to use Anglican Prayer Book worship while Roman Catholic (there are several in Texas, Massachusetts, and I believe Virginia already). This would now be available world-wide with the additional caveat that they would be able to set up parishes and have their own hierarchy without depending upon local RC bishops to give permission (a stumbling block in some places). What has not changed is that Anglicans still have to convert to Roman Catholicism and clergy have to be re-ordained (not have their orders recognized as valid).

Impact in the USA? Minimal to ECUSA I would think. Many who have been leaning Rome-ward have already jumped. It might be an attractive option to some of the alphabet soup of continuing churches who have already separated from The Episcopal Church, particularly those who separated in the 1970's and are of a more Catholic Anglican understanding. I would also speculate that only a minority of those who are recently separated into the Anglican Church in North America will be interested since most involved are of the Evangelical Party, and have adopted non-catholic understanding of Holy Orders (not to underestimate the long-standing animousity by evangelicals toward Rome). Those from the more Anglo-catholic dioceses of Ft. Worth, San Joaquin, and Quincy, as well as those under the new ACNA Bishop Ilgenfritz from Forward in Faith would have a better fit with Rome than the ACNA in the long run.

Impact on the Anglican Communion? This could be devastating to the Catholic Anglican movement in the Church of England, which has been pushed to the edge over recent legislation to introduce women into the Episcopate.

This could also gain steam in Australia and Catholic Anglican pockets in Africa.

And the formal document itself has not been released in full, so details are scarce at this time.

My biggest disappointment is that it will further weaken the witness of the Catholic position in the Anglican Communion.

So, what about St. John's on all this?
1) We are still a parish of the Episcopal Diocese of Michigan in good standing.
2) There are no plans for St. John’s to investigate this option.
3) I have a hard time believing Anglican Orders are "utterly null and completely void" as Leo XIII promulgated about us (or something to that effect). As the USA option currently stands, I am not eligible for re-ordination because I was confirmed as a child in the Roman Catholic Church. There is no hint by Rome that this would be changed.

We have had a small number of parishioners leave St. John's in recent years and convert to Rome, and we have also had former and lapsed Roman Catholics join us. Ultimately God is in charge and we remain faithful to the 'faith once delivered to the saints' as a parish, and as a priest, in The Episcopal Church. This puts us at odds with Rome (being in the Episcopal Church), and most of ECUSA (the faith once delivered to the saints).

May God help us all.

The Flea Market is coming!

This week the Flea Market Committee will meet one last time, after the 10am Service, to make sure we are on track for our big fundraiser on October 3rd.
Originally conceived last spring to be a ride carnival, unfortunately the ride company was not able to squeeze us on their schedule for this fall. But by mid-summer we realized that rather than wait an entire year we need to have a fundraiser this fall as well. The Community Flea Market is the fruit of that desire.
There are several reasons I think this event is important. First, it is a community event. Various Churches, ministries, and other vendors will be participating. We are the hosts and in addition to selling our wares, we will also be selling food concessions and 50/50 tickets. It is a chance to gather various groups in our community together for a day.
Secondly, it is a chance for us to be ‘visible’ in the neighborhood. Our big building is hard to miss, but many pass by without ever seeing anyone come and go. This event in the parking lot is a chance for us to be seen by our neighbors who will (hopefully) be coming in to browse the items, meet parishioners, and hopefully develop a favorable opinion of us, opening up an opportunity to develop a relationship with each other and hopefully with them and the Lord.
And of course, it is a fundraiser. In our hard-pressed economic times, we cannot use any reserve funds because their value has been greatly depleted by the stock-market downturn, and the lack of growth and income in the account. Parishioners have been very generous in supporting St. John’s - this is a chance for others to have the opportunity to come to the Flea Market and to help us to cover our expenses.
Be sure you will be here Saturday during the Flea Market hours to volunteer AND welcome our many guests!
-----------------------------------------------
Sunday School got off to a good start last week, as did Adult Education, but there are still children and adults in the parish (and in metro Detroit for that matter) who need to be involved for their sake and for the good of the parish!

Rector's Rambling on Sunday School

Today we get back into the swing of the education program at St. John’s.

A few years ago there was a public service announcements that ended with the tag-line “never stop learning”. This is certainly true when it comes to our life of faith!

Most of us know that Sunday School is an important element of a parish church. ALL CHILDREN IN THE PARISH should be participating in Sunday School! We certainly would be shocked if a parent decided not to have their child educated by not sending them to school or arranging to homeschool them. And yet some in the body of Christ who faithfully do the secular requirements of education do not have the same vigilance to have their children educated in the things that have ETERNAL consequences. In Sunday School the children not only learn the facts of the scriptures, but also learn to love them because they point us to Jesus. As they grow they need this foundation of faith to fight against the temptations of the world, the flesh, and the devil. What are we saying to our children when me make a great effort to get them to school Monday through Friday, but Sunday School (or God forbid Sunday Worship) can be put aside for other matters? Children absorb their parents’/grandparents’/guardians’ priorities.

What is true for the children in Sunday School is also true for adults. We also need to continue to learn more and more about our Lord and His Church. Reading and studying the Scriptures at home is a great start! Being involved in Adult Education at St. John’s is another great place to be! The Alpha Course is yet another great opportunity, as are other programs put on in this parish. And in the coming months we hope to branch out into small group ministry where people can gather together during the week to study the Word of God together.

Children and adults alike are called to keep learning! Let us do so to His greater honor and glory!

More on Sunday School

This morning, as we resume our Sunday School and Adult Education programs, I thought it might be of interest to look at some of the things recorded in the history of St. John’s about the Sunday School program. Our 50th Anniversary book has this to say -

In the afternoon of the same day, November 20, 1859 , a Sunday School was organized. Its first enrollment, preserved for us by Mr. Charles H. Vernor (son of the inventor of Vernors Ginger Ale), who was one of those participating in the organizing, was of 28 officers and teachers, and 136 scholars. Mr. Henry Porter Baldwin was made Superintendent….

Later the book goes on to note

The Sunday School, which as we have seen began with 28 teachers and officers and 136 scholars, grew rapidly; in June 1861 it reported 451 enrolled, in 1866, 727.

The Annual Report for 1926 shows that St. John’s, once a country parish, had undergone some radical changes to the neighborhood. Surrounded by commercial rather than primarily residential properties, the make-up of the congregation had changed. Although the parish had 2430 baptized members, the author of the report laments

It is often asked whether it is difficult to keep a Church School going in a downtown parish. It is difficult...Our aim is to have as large a school as possible; but regardless of its size we try to make it the best.

In 1926 this enrollment was 180 children in Sunday School and 80 adults participating in the bible classes. That is less than 8% of the baptized membership in Sunday School and less than 4% of the baptized membership involved in the Sunday bible classes in 1926. Currently we have about 6% of our baptized membership participating in Sunday School/Children’s Chapel, and about 4% participating in Sunday Adult Education.

We can, and must do better by having members participate, and including new members as well.