Unity, not division - Rector's Rambling for October 29, 2017

Five-hundred years ago this week the Church was damaged, seemingly irreparably.  I don’t mean the Church as in a building, but The Church as the Body of Jesus Christ himself.

On October 31, 1517, a monk nailed his Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences on the church door in his town, having also sent them to the Archbishop, and thus is marked the beginning of what is called The Reformation.

Many churches of Lutheran and other protestant persuasions will be celebrating this day as a great historical event.  But in light of our Lord’s admonition that we “all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me” (John 17:21), I think that we should give pause to celebration, and think instead about how our sad divisions, which has begat yet more and more divisions, resulting in thousands of denominations or groupings of churches within Protestantism alone, hinders our ability to convince the world that Jesus was sent by the Father and is Lord.

I am not saying the Roman Church was, and in ways is still, without faults.  Rome herself met shortly after this event (the Council of Trent) to evaluate and make many changes, although not all that Martin Luther and other Protestant leaders wanted.  England’s reformation began as a more political act of stopping Rome’s ability to tell Henry VIII he had to stay married to a woman that was previously married to his late brother, a marriage that he had been forced into for political alliance.  This led to the great theological struggle to try to find a balance between reformed principles and catholic (universally accepted) theology and organization.  A “via media”, a middle way, has been the goal of our denomination with varying degrees of success over the years.

Today, rather than celebrating division, we will pray for Christ’s Kingship over all believers.  Rather than divided, may we be brought together to make Christ known to all.

Homecoming 2017 - Rector's Rambling for October 22, 2017

A hearty welcome to all our friends and visitors here at St. John’s for Homecoming Sunday!

This tradition began in 2001 as a desire to have a Sunday outside of Christmas and Easter when we invite our former members back to worship with us and enjoy a good meal.  It has expanded and morphed into another opportunity to invite those who are not yet members of St. John’s to join us for worship.  The sharing of a good meal has remained the constant, with both visitors and old friends and members joining us as well.

Throughout most of the history of St. John’s she has been a transient parish.  Not since her earliest years has the parish been a residential neighborhood parish, surround by large homes.  Within a short time the neighborhood became more commercial and the large houses demolished to make way for “progress” or converted into shorter term rental housing.

With the changes happening in the neighborhood we are seeing more housing being built, but again it is mostly rental housing with a few condominiums interspersed in the mix.  Unlike the suburban parish with relatively stable housing ownership, St. John’s will continue to be a place where those who deeply value her will attend and even drive from a great distance to do so, as well as being a local place of introduction to the fullness of the faith to those living near here for a period of time.  We are grateful that we have this opportunity to do so.

One of my great sadnesses is to have parishioners announce they are moving away, and then to discover there is no Episcopal/Anglican church near their home that propagates the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (Jude 3)  But we continue on, ever faithful, ministering to those God draws here.  May we be faithful in attending, inviting, and sharing that which God has freely given us!

Our Lady of Walsingham - Rector's Rambling for October 15, 2017

On October 15, 1931, a wonderful occasion occurred in a small town in Norfolk, England.  Fr. Alfred Hope Patten, SSC, of the Church of England had been appointed parish priest 10 years earlier, and it was his hope that the nearby ancient shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham could be restored.  On this day, in 1931, the statue his parish had had carved based on the original was processed to the newly restored Shrine Chapel.

In 1061, Lady Richeldis de Faverches had an apparition from Mary and built a shrine of the Holy House of the Holy Family.  It soon became a place of great pilgrimage in England to honor Our Lord and His mother.  Seven kings of England, including King Henry VIII, made pilgrimages to the shrine.  It was a place of great devotion, healing, and faith.

But at the reformation the shrine was destroyed, due to the politics of the religious orders’ continued adherence to Roman Authority, the king’s need for wealth to fund his wars (the Shrine was quite wealthy in items and landholdings), and the theological leanings of some of the holders of the extremist doctrines of the continent.

By the early 20th century, the time was ripe for the restoration, and since 1931, Walsingham has again been a place of great devotion to Our Lord and His mother.  The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches have also established pilgrimage points there, and again God is glorified in this place.

Here at St. John’s we have a copy of the Walsingham Shrine in our chapel, to the left of the altar area.  Though it is not much smaller than the one in England, in the carving St. Mary is holding her Son, and this area is a place where we can pray to Jesus and ask Mary to pray with us to Him, to God’s greater honor and glory.

Thanks be to God for Fr. Patten, and for all those who recognized that there are holy places that inspire greater holiness for the faithful.  May St. John’s also be a holy place as well.

Looking forward to a busy October - Rector's Rambling for October 8, 2017

We are now fully immersed in the busyness of the fall programming here St. John’s.

Sunday School is off to a good start, with nine children last week in the nursery and elementary school classes.  And we hope more children will be joining us soon.  When you see me dash off after the Collect of the Day near the beginning of the 10:00 AM service, it is because I am going down to talk to the children in the Sunday School.  It will be an adventure to be sure that I am back upstairs each week in time for the sermon!

The Choir season is also now in full swing.  We welcome Norene Walters as our Edwards Organ Scholar.  Norene is an accomplished musician, and we are grateful to have her on staff.  David Heinze is now at Cambridge University in England, and we are told we may see him from time to time on holiday.

Speaking of music, we really look forward to our big Community Hymn Sing on Saturday, October 21, at 5:00 PM.  It should be on your calendar to be here to participate and welcome our many guests!  And you should be inviting people to join us as well.  On the following day we have our Homecoming Sunday with one of our renowned pot-luck luncheons following the 10:00 AM service.

And before we know it, November will be here, with our Malawi Ingathering on All Saints’ Sunday, Thanksgiving Eve service and sleep-over, and Thanksgiving Day Parade, Canteen, and Pancake Breakfast.

The new narthex entrance steps and ramp are nearly done, with landscaping around the ramp, and for the back turn-around area, being accomplished this coming week or two.

Most importantly, we have our regular worship of the Living God on Sundays and weekdays.  If you have suggestions for programming, please let me know!  We are always looking for ideas and people to help implement them.

St. Michael, defend us... - Rector's Rambling for October 1, 2017

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Michael and all Angels, transferred from September 29.  It is an important Feast Day to help us to understand God’s created order, as well as the great help that St. Michael and the Holy Angels are to us.

Although most images of angels are of the warm, cuddly cherub type, in fact the image above captures the idea of who St. Michael the Archangel is from the story from the Book of The Revelation of St. John the Divine.

The word “angel” actually means “messenger”.  We generally associate this with St. Gabriel, who announced to Mary that she would be the Mother of our Lord (Luke 1:26–38).  In many other places in scripture the angels are messengers from God to man to warn them and guide them.

These heavenly beings are also known for their work in heaven by worshipping God day and night (Revelation 7:11) and joining us in worship (from the Holy Communion Service “therefore with angels, and archangels, and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name…”).

And of course, we love the idea of having a guardian angel as well. (Matthew 18:10)

But let us not forget that angels, like St. Michael, are warriors who fight for us against the assault of Satan and his legions who would seek to distract us and draw us away from the love of God!  Jesus Christ has won for us the victory over sin and death, but the devil is still causing trouble and our angels are keeping them in check.  Let us give thanks, and ask their intercession and help in the spiritual battle!

Morning Prayer as ante-communion - Rector's Rambling for September 10, 2017

As you have noticed, I am not at St. John’s today.  The family and I have dashed away for our yearly holiday, to get a chance to do some travel and to recharge for the coming ‘academic’ year.  Please keep us in your prayers as we travel and for a safe return.

Today, being the second Sunday of the month, we will be having Choral Morning Prayer as the ante-communion of our Communion Service.  What that means is that we are substituting Morning Prayer from the prayer book, with it’s Psalms, Bible readings, and canticles (sung portions of scripture as well) for what is the regular ordering of the first part of the Holy Communion Service. 

The reason for this is we are honoring a later development in Anglicanism where Morning Prayer frequently was alternated with Holy Communion, especially in the United States where there was a scarcity of clergy to celebrate the Holy Communion Service.  Now that Communion has regained it’s ancient place as the primary worship of the Church, the Choral Morning Prayer tradition has been slipping away.

This combination allows us to both continue in the Morning Prayer tradition as well as receive Holy Communion every week.

One other great aspect is that by doing this now YOU know how to do Morning Prayer as well.  Using the guide found on page 4 you should be able to pray Morning Prayer (or Evening Prayer) at home as it was intended for all members of the Church to be able to do.  I hope you will take advantage of this wonderful worship, with or without music, at home.