Daily life in our parish

 

Since taking the job as music minister at St. Andrew’s I’ve been pondering the meaning of the word “parish.” Traditionally, a parish is a geographical space, and, within that space, there is a church that serves the people. More recently, though, “parish” is used to refer simply to a church and its members.

It has been a lofty dream of mine, since I started in music ministry twenty years ago, to eventually live, work, and worship in the same place. I wanted to put down deep roots in a specific place, make its people my people, and find a holistic sense of God’s call to my life and ministry.

Now that dream is a reality here in Newport News. With school, work, and church, James and I realized we travel on foot six, sometimes seven, days a week to the corner of River Road and Main Street. That gives me plenty of time to ponder, step by step (and, trust me, small children will stop and notice every detail on your walk, no matter how often you do it!) what God has called me to be in this slice of the world that is, in the old-fashioned sense, the “parish” that St. Andrew’s serves. As I plan music for each Sunday–a practice that is a lovely combination of prayer and artistry for me–I have in my mind the faces of friends here in the pews at St. Andrew’s, as well as the people we walk to school with, the anxious faces of parents dropping their children at school on weekday mornings, and the faces of older neighbors who stop for a rest on our benches outside. These swirling thoughts gently settled a few weeks ago when the choir sang Hymn 347, “Go forth for God; go,” by John Peacey. Each stanza speaks to ways we bring what we have received in worship to the outside world. Here is the last stanza and it is my prayer to you this week as you go about your own daily life in our “parish”-- our slice of Newport News. (The words alone do not do it justice without Erik Routley’s tune and harmonization. I encourage you to look it up on YouTube.)

Go forth for God; go to the world in joy;

To serve God’s people every day and hour,

And serving Christ, our every gift employ,

Rejoicing in the Holy Spirit’s power.

In gratitude and love,

Ginny