Come Holy Ghost! - Rector's Rambling for May 31, 2020

Come Holy Ghost, our souls inspire!

Those are the opening words of my favorite hymn for Pentecost.  It calls for the gifts of the Holy Ghost, which for the past nine day we have been praying.

As it was for Lent, then Easter, then Ascension, and is now for Pentecost, we find ourselves still under the Michigan Governor’s and bishops’ order to not gather for public worship.  And the bishops have stated that we will get a ten-day warning before we can open, so as of the writing of this Rambling, I am now assuming we will be exiled for Trinity Sunday as well.

Every day at Holy Communion, as well as during the Daily Office, I have been praying for our government and church leaders as they make decisions for an expedient and prudent re-opening of the churches.  Expedient in that they do not unnecessarily delay, while being prudent in when and how we will do it.

One thing we can be thankful for as other churches have already opened, is that we can see their example of being able to safely open, and perhaps use the science of what they are doing to update the phase-in plan that has been released for the Episcopal Churches in Michigan.  It contains many good ideas and direction, and already we have begun planning, acquiring hand-sanitizer stations, and putting up CDC posters for hand-washing, mask-wearing, and general instruction on the prevention of the spread of the virus.

A headline in The Economist recently announced, “The virus is accelerating dechurching in America”, predicting that the those who attend church could fall to 20% after this shut down.  God forbid that this is true!  This is something for us to pray about, that we be aided by the Holy Ghost, so that we will not lose our motivation to participate in the public worship of the church.

Come Holy Ghost and protect your Church!

Novena in Quarantine - Rector's Rambling for May 24, 2020

We are in the midst of our Great Novena, nine days, between the Feast of the Ascension and Whitsunday/Pentecost.  During the time after Jesus ascended into heaven, and when the Holy Ghost poured out onto the disciples, Jesus’ followers spent these days in prayer in preparation for the gift of the Paraclete, and the mission that they were about to embark upon.  We are doing the same.

This year everything is different as we continue our Stay-at-Home orders.  Even though we cannot meet at the Prayer Wall, we are still participating remotely in the Thy Kingdom Come by having Evening Prayer and the Holy Ghost Novena every day during Ascensiontide.  It is an important thing that we are doing!

Until March 15, the Prayer Wall was prayed at every Sunday after the 10:00 AM service, and this is a great public witness to those going to the sporting and theatre events around us.  This is why, in former years, we have had our Thy Kingdom Come prayer services outside at the Prayer Wall.  It can be intimidating to try to bring people into this massive stone structure to join us for prayer!  Being outside allows people to observe, say a quick prayer on their own as they pass, and occasionally folks join us for a portion of the service as well.  But everyone who does pass by sees that we are a people at prayer!  This witness is important for increasing our “noticeability” in the neighborhood.  And most importantly, we are PRAYING – always a good thing!

God willing, we will have more opportunities in the near future to pray in our building and witness outside of it as well.

Rogation in quarantine - Rector's Rambling for May 17, 2020

Today we celebrate Rogation Sunday, which any other year would mean we take a walk around the church perimeter as a representation of the walking the boundaries of our parish, asking God to bless us with the fruits of the field as the crops begin to be planted.  Although we are not an agricultural parish (with the exception of some community gardens), it is good to be reminded of our dependence upon God to give the blessing of the fields in cooperation with human labor.

Rogation Sunday is also a good reminder that we are sowing seed (of the Word of God), tending fields (by loving our neighbors as ourselves), and harvesting for the Kingdom of God (bringing people to Jesus).

And Rogation Sunday is also usually the signal that our observance of the Holy Ghost Novena and Thy Kingdom Come is just around the corner.  But we will have to arrange for that differently this year too.

As of the writing of this column it has been announced that the Roman Catholic Archdiocese will begin having public services on May 19, with all the parishes up and running by May 29.  A local Missouri Synod Lutheran and Independent Anglican parish have informed me that they are planning on opening for public worship on May 31, Whitsunday (the Feast of Pentecost).

PRAY, PRAY, PRAY for the leadership of the three Episcopal Church dioceses in Michigan as they have to make the decision when we can reopen for public worship.  And even when we do so it will be with some restrictions as to congregation size, seating, and type of service that can be done.  And even then it is expected that those who are high risk will continue to participate from home via livestream.

Of course we want everyone to be safe, but being faithful, prayerful, and worshipful together is also important.

Being charitable in the time of crisis - Rector's Rambling for May 10,2020

Although much is in limbo because of COVID-19, a committee of the parish has continued its important work.

In 2014, when we signed our new lease arrangement with Olympia, there was a strong feeling that just as we as individuals are expected to tithe of God’s provision to us, so too the parish should be tithing of the provision of God’s blessing to the parish through the new lease arrangement.

Former parish treasurer Cathy Morgan took the lead in our newly formed Outreach Committee.  Basing it on a program in her daughter’s parish in New Jersey (where Cathy has since moved), we solicited various organizations in the neighborhood, asking them to apply for program-specific grant requests.  We have had some sort of parish affiliation with some of these organizations over the years, such as the Episcopal Diocese-related Crossroads and Mariners Inn.  Other organizations were recommended to us by parishioners with whom they had an affiliation and where they volunteered their time.

Over the years, and along with today’s groups, we have given money to support hunger abatement initiatives, which include feeding and community gardening, job training and computer support, community social work, autism awareness and support, crisis pregnancy, human trafficking rescue, educational initiatives, the arts, youth ministry, and a seminary of the Episcopal Church.

This year we are awarding grants to Crossroads, Mariners Inn,                              Elli’s House, Georgia Street Community Collective, Jack’s Place for Autism Foundation, Pregnancy Aid of Eastern Wayne County, Shakespeare in Detroit, Vista Maria, Youth Works Detroit, The NOAH Project, and Nashotah House Theological Seminary.

In this time of crisis the need is great and we are grateful for the opportunity to help ministries making an impact both in our neighborhood and beyond.

Thank you to the committee members who met in person and then on Zoom to do their work.

Jesus is present everywhere, but.... - Rector's Rambling for May 3, 2020

Our Eastertide this year is beginning to feel a bit like an off-kilter Advent.

If you remember, Advent is the season of waiting and Anticipation, for both the coming of the Christmas celebration as well as Jesus’ return again in glorious majesty to judge the quick and the dead.

But this Eastertide, the 40 days after Easter, we are in this awkward time of waiting once again.  This time we are waiting for the return to the public worship of the church as the state and country begins to reopen, in phases, after our Stay Home Order from the governor and the bishops in the state of Michigan.

As I write this, the timeline of the phasing out of the Stay Home Order has not been revealed.  It is assumed it will be in small steps.  In fact, the Episcopal Church bishops have already said we are not open for public worship until May 10, no matter what the governor or legislature begins to unveil.

But I hope that a part of the unveiling will include the ability for us to return to live-streaming from our own buildings.  As much as the Holy Communion Service is certainly validly done from the temporary chapel in my house, there is a yearning to return to the place where the prayers of the faithful have been offered up on this corner of Woodward Avenue since 1859, and inside these walls that have been saturated by those prayers (as well as decades of candle wax and incense).

Jesus is certainly present in all places, and His particular presence in the Blessed Sacrament is not confined to The Mass being offered in a specific space.  But this space is one that we share with generations and generations of faithful Christians, and the space itself helps us to lift up our hearts and minds to the greater glory of God.

At first I am guessing that we will be permitted to return to live-streaming in this sacred space, and then slowly allow for parishioners to join in the public worship.  The logistics of that is still to be worked out in cooperation with the diocese.  But know this: your parish priest is anxious to help you to end your externally imposed fast from the reception of the Blessed Sacrament.

Keep praying and being faithful, and I look forward to our being together soon.