Rose Sunday - Rector's Rambling for March 30, 2025

Happy Lætáre Sunday!  This Sunday is also known as Rose Sunday (take a look at the vestments and hangings today to figure out this title), and in our mother Church of England it is known as Mothering Sunday (like our Mother’s day in May).

Still a Sunday in Lent, this Sunday is a mid-point when we “lighten up” a bit.  The deep penitential purple vestments are replaced with the lighter rose.  The Latin title gives us a hint as to this lightening up of the day.  Lætáre is the opening word of the liturgy in Latin, on which our liturgy is based.  The first word of the Introit, sung by the choir at the 10:00 AM service, is “REJOICE”.

Although a penitential season, on this Sunday we rejoice that we have passed the half-way point of Lent.  We rejoice because Passiontide (the last two weeks before Easter) and Holy Week are in sight.  We rejoice because Easter is just around the corner.  We rejoice because, to date, we have kept a good Lent, OR because we still have a chance to have a good Lent starting today.  But above all we rejoice because we have a Saviour, Jesus Christ, who paid the price of our sins.  We rejoice that in Jesus Christ we have forgiveness of those sins and are reconciled unto the Father through His blood.

So if you haven’t started “keeping Lent” there is still time to give something up, and to take some things on like extra prayer at home or attending special services here at St. John’s.  And, of course, Fr. Kelly and Fr. Bedford are available to hear your confessions.

 
 

St. Patrick - Rector's Rambling for March 23, 2025

     
Thank you for everyone’s kind notes, emails, and texts of condolences on the death of my father in law Jim Cook.  It was shocking to discover him deceased in his workshop a week ago Saturday shortly before a family gathering.  His Requiem Mass and Interment was last Friday at St. John’s Church in Sturgis, Michigan, where he served regularly as Junior Warden, Vestryman, and volunteer there and in the community.  I am grateful to have had him as a father in law. 

Today we have our annual St. Patrick’s Day Potluck.  Corned Beef is one of my favorite dishes, and of course it is made even better by the good company of the people of St. John’s.  Thank you to everyone who brought a dish to pass, and to Chris Golembiewski for picking up the corned beef and all those who pitched in to cook it. 

As a guy who is ‘mostly Irish’ in heritage, I love the hagiography and lore surrounding the life of St. Patrick, and the effect of his evangelism in Ireland.  Originally brought there as a slave from northwest Brittan, he escaped and then was later ordained and returned as a missionary, converting his former captives and later many great Irish Kings to faith in Jesus Christ. 

Thomas Cahil, in his book, How the Irish Saved Civilization had this to say

“In becoming an Irishman, Patrick wedded his world to theirs, his faith to their life…Patrick found a way of swimming down to the depths of the Irish psyche and warming and transforming Irish imagination – making it more humane and more noble while keeping it Irish.” (p. 161)”

Today on the ministry center flag pole flies the Saltire of St. Patrick, the flag of the Church of Ireland.

 

Covid reflections 5 years later - Rector's Rambling for March 16, 2025

     Five years ago this week I started my Rector’s Rambling with this statement.  “This has been the worst Lent for me, ever.  Every year I look forward to Lent; the disciplines, classes, and extra worship opportunities are things I love!”

The reason for my proclamation is that the week before we were informed by the bishops of the 4 Episcopal Dioceses in Michigan that in order to “flatten the curve” (which later became “stop the spread”) we were not permitted to have public worship or gatherings at St. John’s.

“In addition to continuing to forgo all public, in-person worship services, we direct you to cease all other Sunday, Saturday and weekday in-person gatherings, including weddings, funerals, memorial services, bible studies, prayer meetings, and non-emergency baptisms, and place all of the groups that gather at your congregation on hiatus for the CDC’s recommended eight weeks, or until May 10th, including both Holy Week and Easter.”

In a few weeks that was extended to the building being closed completely and that we weren’t even allowed to livestream Masses or worship from an empty building.  The closure was extended to July 1st, when other denominations returned in May, and here in the city of Detroit we were the ONLY parish of the diocese to open and have public worship for a full year, and did so with no spread or outbreak.

At first we were all acting out of an abundance of caution.  Masses continued livestreamed from here and then from my house.  I started the Daily Morning Mediation series to stay in contact with parishioners and  are still making them daily, over 1,750 days later.  Some of us started new hobbies or fitness routines (I started rowing again, eating keto). 

After we reopened we had to navigate various precautions and rules set down for us like social distancing and only receiving Communion in one kind in the Host but not the chalice.  And at one point the parishes  were restricted back to “9 people plus the priests” at services (in our 800 seat church) so we had 10 Saturday and Sunday Services every week for 4 over months.

One of the positive results of the shutdowns was the expansion of livestreaming, which we had started experimenting with a few months beforehand.  This has expanded the reach of St. John’s Church via the internet, and I received emails and phone messages from people around the United States and in England, thanking us for our broadcasts.

One of the negative results of the shut-downs is also partially to blame on livestreaming.  People fell out of the habit of weekly worship.  Those joining via livestream weren’t single-focused participating in the worship online, and of course not able to receive the Blessed Sacrament.  Some people never came back. 

A few weeks ago I identified that only a small number of people in the pews at 8 AM and 10 AM were here when I arrived 24 years ago.  People have moved or passed away over the years, many more have joined us.  Another interesting survey would be to see how many people have joined here since covid. 

One family started attending because we had sensible rules and were actually open for worship.  Another came from another parish in the city because they didn’t reopen for another year after we did.  And many others have discovered us since then. 

Some people stayed for a few months because we were open, and I remember that first Sunday we were allowed to have coffee hour again I was shocked to see that one of the newcomers had a moustache!  I had never seen him with his mask off.  Up until then I was delivering the Sacrament to people in the pews (coming up to the rail violated the 6 foot separation rule) and he never put down his mask until I moved on to the next person.

So many twists and turns, and unknowns, confronted us while trying to figure out the ‘New Normal’.  Re-constituting the choir was a task, even with them singing with masks.  Convincing people it was safe, and VITAL that they come back to public worship was a chore!  When Coffee Hour was shut down again for a period of time, but restaurants were open, we moved our Valentine’s Day Coffee hour to a friend of mine’s bar down the street!  And thankfully we still had no outbreaks in or from the congregation. 

What started out as an ‘abundance of caution’ to keep people safe from infection morphed into a struggle to find common sense and real science.  Things we are told was settled truth changed, or was discarded, over time. 

I am convinced that the devil took the best of our intentions and twisted it into an irrational fear in order to keep people out of church, away from the Blessed Sacrament, and to draw them away from Jesus.  Church attendance around the city, state and country, is still down from pre-covid numbers in most places.  Several already struggling parishes in the diocese closed as a result.

5 years was a long time ago, and yet seems in some ways like just yesterday.  We still livestream and have a great deal of connection with people beyond Metro Detroit because of it.  New people continue to join the parish and didn’t have any experience of the shifting rules and regulation imposed for us to stay open for worship.  And I am so grateful for the many members of the parish who pivoted as necessary, were flexible through the changes, and have continued faithful to our Lord in his parish on this corner of Woodward Avenue and I-75

May we never in our lifetimes have such a virus affect us.  We have learned much in hindsight from the experience.  May we never again be tempted to think that withholding the Sacrament or public worship is the solution.

 

 

Happy Lent - Rector's Rambling for March 9, 2025

     

    I saw a t-shirt for sale that said “have a miserable Lent”.  I want people to have a “happy” Lent, and in fact have wished people just that.

It sounds like an oxymoron – “happy” and “Lent”, but if we remember that the word for happy comes from the same root word as “blessed”, then it certainly is the right greeting!

Lent is a great blessing, even if it is hard and time consuming.  It is supposed to be.  But even more so, it is an opportunity for us to be honest with ourselves about the state of our souls so that we can make inroads toward true blessedness.  True blessedness leads to holiness.  Lent is only miserable because sin doesn’t want us to let go of our habits, and also doesn’t like to be disciplined.  But knowing that it is good for us, and is making us better, can help us go into it and through it with a good attitude.

Please take advantage of the many extra opportunities at St. John’s this Lent, especially our Friday lunchtime offerings.  Additionally, much of the Lenten discipline done by you in the secret of your house and heart.  Be sure to refer to our brochure The Observance of an Holy Lent.

Most popular, of course, is “giving something up for Lent”.  In recent years we have had a spate of “but Sunday’s don’t count as Lent” so they can have/do what they have given up.  But I promise you, giving it up from now until Easter, including Sundays, is the idea of the matter, not some sort of parsing of the law.  You will see the difference this sense of accomplishment achieves.

Also, remember that if it is something sinful in your life, you shouldn’t be “giving it up for Lent”, you should be giving it up altogether!  Remember that giving it up for Lent is about giving up something that you like or enjoy in order to be reminded that you can live without it, that you have control over your body and passions, and to give you a greater appreciation for what it is that you have and God has blessed for you.  The goal is to be reminded of your ability to say no to the good and the bad if it is for the glory of God.

Let us be serious about the training of our hearts and souls this Lent, that we may become the saints that Jesus wants us to be!

NOTE—Be sure to participate in this year’s St. John’s Lenten Bingo!  How many Lenten things will you be able to check off this year?

 

24 years as Rector - Rector's Rambling for February 23, 2025

     Twenty-four years ago this weekend I stepped up to the altar, and into the pulpit, for the first time as the Rector of St. John’s Church.  What an blessing and adventure these 24 years have been.

The opening of Comerica Park occurred the spring before I arrived.  The change in the neighborhood with the new stadium, the increase of the revenues of the parish from baseball parking income, and the installation of a new bishop for the diocese who was willing to allow St. John’s to continue as a traditional Anglican parish all came together with God whispering to me that I was finished in my last parish and should be open to a new call.  On January 5th, 2001 the Vestry formally offered me the call to be your rector and my family moved here 7 weeks later to begin this ministry.

In the first months of my arrival a large stone fell off the building, forcing us to do a $380,000  ‘deferred maintenance’ project of facade and roof repairs.  Since then we have had several large renovation projects which included heating upgrades, new signage, awnings and ironwork, landscaping, stained glass restoration and protection, and complete rebuild of the ministry center and undercroft.  In between we have had many other small and medium sized projects as well!  The building always needs attention and upgrades to be used to the greater glory of God!

Ministry opportunities continue to  present themselves in the neighborhood, especially through our Outreach Committee’s work with organizations in the community.  What a blessing this has been to us.

We have also had the spiritual challenges that came along with the attack on 9/11, the housing-financial crisis of 2008, City of Detroit Bankruptcy in 2013 and more recently the challenges of Covid lockdown and the spiritual damage done as a result. 

I am humbled to have the opportunity in 24 years to baptize, marry, and administer the burial prayers for so many.  Since my arrival we have had 271 baptisms, 96 weddings, and 132 burials.  Over 7,000 times on Sundays and weekdays the Holy Communion has been consecrated and distributed. 

God willing I look forward to many more milestones here on the corner of Woodward and I-75!

 

Septuagesima Sunday - Rector's Rambling for 2/16/2025

     As human beings constrained to time and space, we are “calendar” people.  In other words, we are people who keep time.  The Church Year helps us to do that.  We started with Advent and then had Christmastide and Epiphanytide, and now have yet another new season, known as the Gesimas.

This is the Pre-Lenten season, which you can read more about in the teaching notes on page 4.  We are using three weeks to ease into the full-on onslaught of Lent.

At first thought I would say that I don’t want to be scheduled, but in reality I crave having a set framework to work within.  The looseness of scheduling of pastoral needs and emergencies is guided by the firm scheduling of the Daily Offices and Daily Holy Communion Service.  Having the regularity of the later helps to form and inform the former.  I do that part of my vocation better because I am regular about prayer.

And even though life can be hectic, and unexpected surprises can throw one for a loop
, the regularity of the calendar keeps me focused on the big picture, and well as all the little things contained in it.

The Pre-Lent, Lent, and Passiontide seasons are a perfect example of this.  We know that Easter is April 20 this year.  Ash Wednesday is March 5.  We have from now until Ash Wednesday to prepare for Lent, the first five weeks of Lent to be thorough about our devotion and self-evaluation, and then it gets ramped up another notch when we get into Passiontide (the two weeks before Easter).  And then we have the uber-intensity of the Sacrum Triduum (three Holy Days of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday) to take us to the finish line!

In the coming weeks the liturgy will reflect these different stages: purple vestments, disappearance at different stages of the “alleluias”, the Glory be to God on High, choir and server surplices and cottas, and flowers on the altar.  Eventually the “Gloria be to the Father…” goes away and we are faced with the starkness of those last days.  Be ready to follow along as we head toward the Resurrection!

 

Absalom Jones - Rector's Rambling for February 9, 2025

     On Thursday we celebrate Absalom Jones, the first black American ordained priest in the Episcopal Church.  Following is a biography of  him, cobbled together from www.satucket.com and 1997 Lesser Feasts and Fasts.

"In 1786 the membership of St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia included both blacks and whites. However, the white members met that year and decided that thereafter black members should sit only in the balcony. Two black Sunday worshippers, Absalom Jones (1746-1818) and Richard Allen (1760-1831), whose enthusiasm for the Methodist Church had brought many blacks into the congregation, learned of the decision only when, on the following Sunday, ushers tapped them on the shoulder during the opening prayers, and demanded that they move to the balcony without waiting for the end of the prayer. They walked out, followed by the other black members. 

     Absalom Jones conferred with William White, Episcopal Bishop of Philadelphia, who agreed to accept the group as an Episcopal parish. Jones would serve as lay reader, and, after a period of study, would be ordained a deacon (1795) and a priest (1802) and serve as rector. Allen wanted the group to remain Methodist, and in 1793 he left to form a Methodist congregation. In 1816 he left the Methodists to form a new denomination, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME).

 Jones was an earnest preacher.  He denounced slavery, and warrned the oppressors to “clean their hands of slaves.”  To him, God was the Father who always acted on “behalf of the oppressed and distressed.”  But it was his constant visiting and mild manner that made him beloved by his own flock and by the community.  St. Thomas Church grew to over 500 members during its first year. . . Jones was an example of persistent faith in God and in the Church as God’s instrument."

 St. Thomas African Episcopal Church continues to this day as a congregation in Philadelphia, their website being  www.aecst.org.  Today (February 9) at 4 PM Christ Church in Detroit is hosting the diocesan Absalom Jones celebration and all are invited.