Resolutions

I don’t make new year’s resolutions.  Most such resolutions are made perfunctorily, maybe with all good intention, but most often without the will to follow through; kind of like Oscar Wilde’s reflection: Resolutions are simply checks that men draw on a bank where they have no account.  But if something is truly important enough, it will be done regardless of whether a resolution is made.

 
In Matthew's birth narrative, Joseph's betrothed was found to be with child before marital relations and so he "resolved" to dismiss her quietly so as not to disgrace her.  This wasn't a new year's resolution, but an important decision that he would have followed up on if not for God's intervention to reassure him.  Joseph then “resolved” to follow, not his initial decision, but the revealed will of God.
 
For us, it means being resolute in our Baptismal mission to proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ; not just seeing words on paper that help us find the way, but integrating those words into our very being so that we make a way for God's good news to be proclaimed by our words and the example we set by how we live our lives. It means being devoted to sharing the transforming power of God's love in our lives, our communities, and our world (which, by the way, is explicitly the vision God has given St. Andrew’s).
 
It doesn't take a new year's resolution to do these things - the kind of resolution that tends to be perfunctory and quickly pass from memory or will.  Rather, like Joseph, reaching deep within, simply saying, "This is what I have resolved to do," and then doing it.  The vision God has given us in this new year is that important.
 
Marc Vance, Associate Rector

Celebrating the Incarnation

Dear friends,

A few nights ago I had the privilege of attending the Holiday Pops concert at the Ferguson Center.  The program included an audience singalong, which was well-received.  A thousand people lifted our voices in song.  Afterward the conductor thanked us and pointed out that singing together is a way of building community, of creating and sharing beauty.
 
This broken world in which we live desperately needs community and beauty, peace and reconciliation.  That is of course why God sent Jesus to us: to be with us in our messy midst and ultimately to save us.  The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14).
 
If I were God and planned to send my beloved son into this sinful world, I would have sent him as an invincible grownup, shielded behind impenetrable armor—not as a fragile infant born on the road to poor parents in occupied territory.  I would have chosen safety over community, protection over vulnerability.  But that’s not how God works.  Community and reconciliation are so important to God that he came to us as one of us.  That’s Incarnation.
 
I look forward to celebrating the Incarnation with you; and I very much hope that you will take part in one or more of our upcoming Christmas services:

Christmas Eve Family Service, December 24 at 4:30 PM with Children’s Pageant, Children’s Homily, and Candle-lighting. Plan to come at 3:45 for Cookies 'n Goodies (see below)
Christmas Eve Festive Eucharist, December 24 at 8:30 PM with Special Music and Candle-Lighting. Plan to come at 8:10 for special music and carol singing.
Christmas Day Eucharist, December 25 at 10:30 AM
Service of Lessons and Carols, Sunday, December 31st at 10:30 AM
 
As is customary here at St. Andrew’s, there will be a special Christmas offering again this year.  You may make your gift online here, or use the Christmas offering envelope you will find in your Christmas Eve/Day service bulletin.
 
Friends, as we rejoice in the precious gift of Incarnation this Christmas season, may we too dare to choose reconciliation and community, seeking ways to create and share beauty—for the sake of the world, and for Jesus’ sake.
 
Blessings and love.  -Anne

Everyone who plans to attend the 4:30 PM Christmas Eve service is invited to come at 3:45 PM for Cookies n’ Goodies in the Parish Hall. Please bring your favorite Christmas cookies to share. This will be a time for fellowship, snacking, children’s activities, and for the children to pick a pageant costume if they haven’t already done so.

23-3-2!! And thank you!

Even though I will have been on staff for 23 years, 3 months, and 2 weeks as of December 31 (I’ve been a member of St. Andrew’s for 36 years!), there are still folks who don’t know why I was hired to begin with:  Sunday bulletins and newsletters!  In these 1,210 weeks, here are some facts about what I have done.

×        38.4 miles round trip per week, which averages out to about 46,464 miles.

×        at least 2,400 bulletins – Sundays, special services, funerals, etc.

×        at least 1,100 newsletters – monthly in the beginning and then weekly

×        approximately 3,120 copies of the Sunday readings and prayers of the people sent to lay readers prior to the service

×        assembling and mailing approximately 5,730 pledge campaign packets to send to parishioners

×        somewhere between 800 and 900 staff meetings

×        at least 232,300 steps up and 232,300 steps down for an average of 5 to 6 trips to my office a day (sometimes it might have been more when I would get downstairs and forget why I had made the trip!)

×        2,400 Christmas and Easter memorial flowers letters for the Altar Guild

×        138 Wednesday 7:30 AM Lenten services

×        approximately 8,580 communion kits for Sundays, plus additional ones for special services and funerals and those handed out during covid

So what else have I done?

×        worked with the acolytes and lay readers

×        prepared the Annual Congregational Meeting booklet, which is now our Guide to Ministries

×        as chair of the Memorial Garden Team, developed the first Funeral Customary and planned and implemented the Memorial Garden; ordered and installed the leaves on the Tree of Remembrance

×        sent the memorial gift acknowledgements to the families of the deceased

×        prepared song sheets for the day school, Kairos Prison Ministry, and choir sing alongs

×        helped organize Turkey Sandwich Day (in the 30 plus years we did the sandwiches, we prepared well over 30,000 sandwiches!) and snack bags since covid

×        served as Parish Register – maintaining the “People” part of the ACS, the software system we use for church records and financial data

×        prepared membership data for the annual Parochial report

×        served as a member of our annual pledge campaign teams

×        served as “sacristan” – coordinating the 8:00 and 10:30 services, funerals, and other services

×        served as wedding consultant

×        for the weekly Wednesday services, updated the service booklet, prepared a yearly lectionary guide for the readings for these services, and prepared and printed the reading for each Wednesday

×        asked parishioners (when I didn’t forget) to bring up the communion elements at the 10:30 services

×        and other “duties” as needed or requested!

A very heart-felt special thank you to all of you for allowing me these 23 years, 3 months, and 2 weeks, especially the clergy and even more especially the three women (Barbara Stafford, Rachel Roby, and Ann Turner) who had to “deal” with me on a daily basis for 23-4-2!!

Bill Wilds

The many faces of St. Nicholas

St. Nicholas Day is celebrated on the Church calendar on December 6.  All kinds of traditions and practices are associated with St. Nicholas, from Clement C Moore’s A Visit from St. Nicholas, from which we get some of our modern Santa Claus imagery and Christmas morning traditions to sipping hot chocolate and practicing the Germanic tradition of putting coins in shoes.  And there’s always Europe’s Krampus and Schmutzli to beware of!  A favorite, of course, is watching sentimental Christmas specials: Scrooge’s redemption in his declaration that “I will live in the past, present and future.  The spirits of all three shall strive within me.  I will not shut out the lessons that they teach!” and the Grinch, too, when he finally realized that perhaps Christmas doesn’t come from a store, but may mean a little bit more; and then the true meaning of Christmas shown through and his heart grew three sizes, times two.  Y’know, I love these stories, but I’m not sure how the true meaning of Christmas can come through without mentioning the birth of the infant Messiah, Jesus.  It’s like The Nicholas Center’s (https://www.stnicholascenter.org/) claim that St. Nicholas needs to be “rescued” from Santa Claus or Charlie Brown loudly lamenting from the darkened stage: “Isn’t there anyone who can tell me what Christmas is all about?!” and Linus saving the day by retelling the birth narrative from Luke’s gospel.

 
What many people seem not to know is that St. Nicholas was a real person.  From The Episcopal Church’s Lesser Feasts and Fasts we learn that Nicholas of Myra was a bishop in the early to mid-fourth century and that “very little is known about the life of Nicholas, except that he suffered torture and imprisonment during the persecution under the Emperor Diocletian.  It is probable that he was one of the bishops attending the Council of Nicaea in 325 (from which is derived our Nicene Creed).  According to popular tradition, he famously lost his temper at the council and punched the heretic Arius, but this story dates to more than 1,000 years after his death and is almost certainly apocryphal.  He was honored as a saint in Constantinople in the sixth century by the Emperor Justinian.  His veneration also became immensely popular in the West after the supposed removal of his body to Bari, Italy, in the late eleventh century.  In England, almost 400 churches were dedicated to him.  Nicholas is famed as the traditional patron of seafarers and sailors, and, more especially, of children.  Many of the accounts of Nicholas’ life recount his habit of secret gift-giving to those in need, a tradition that many Christians have felt inspired to continue in his honor.  As a bearer of gifts to children, his name was brought to America by the Dutch colonists in New York, from whom he is popularly known as Santa Claus.”
 
Whether actual history or fanciful traditions, we are grateful for the life, work, and ministry of Nicholas of Myra, for from him we have the example of self-giving as God gave of God’s self in the through the incarnation in Jesus: a Savior born, which is good news of great joy for all people.  And that’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

-- Marc Vance

Advent

Advent, from the Latin adventus meaning “coming,” in the Christian calendar is the period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ at Christmas and of the preparation for the Second Coming of Christ.  In Western churches, Advent begins on the Sunday nearest to November 30 and always ends on Christmas Eve, December 24.  Advent is the season of hope, peace, joy, and love. It is also the beginning of a new liturgical year. 

It is not known exactly when the celebration or remembrance of Advent began nor is there a credible explanation of its origin.  Throughout the centuries, popes imposed fasting, optional fasting, abstinence, and eventually a proscribed liturgy with collects, Epistles and Gospels for the Sundays preceding Christmas, with special emphasis for these liturgies to be used on Wednesdays and Fridays. 
 
Since the 13th century, the usual liturgical color for Advent has been violet or purple, replaced with black during the time of Pope Innocent III.  More recently, blue has become the accepted color, first used by the Church of Sweden.  Proponents of using blue argue that purple is traditionally associated with solemnity and somberness which is more fitting for the repentant character of Lent.  They feel blue represents a hopeful season of preparation.  While blue is now used widely within the Protestant traditions, the Roman church still uses purple.
 
There are a wide variety of local rites regarding Advent.  In England and other northern countries, there was a custom (now extinct!), for poor women to carry around the “Advent images”, two dolls dressed to represent Jesus and the Virgin Mary.  A halfpenny coin was expected from everyone to whom these were exhibited for good luck, and bad luck was thought to menace those households not visited by the doll-bearers before Christmas Eve.  In Normandy, farmers employed children under twelve to run through the fields and orchards armed with torches, setting fire to bundles of straw.  This was believed to drive out vermin likely to damage the next year’s crops.  In Italy, bagpipers would come into Rome on the last day of Advent and play before the shrines of Mary, recreating the shepherds who played their pipes when they came to the manger in Bethlehem.
 
In more recent times, traditions include using an Advent calendar, an Advent wreath, and candles in home windows.  In many countries, the first day of Advent often heralds the start of the Christmas season, with many people opting to put up their Christmas trees and decorations.
 
Our words of our Advent hymns reflect this time of preparation:
Redeemer of the nations come…
Lo! the Lamb, so long expected, comes with pardon down from heaven…
Greet One who comes in glory, foretold in sacred story…
The King shall come when morning dawns…
O come, O come, Emmanuel … as we rejoice to celebrate this season of hope, peace, joy, and love.
 
Bill Wilds

With a Voice of Singing

God works in mysterious ways: it is perfect timing that the Net cover I’ve written lands on the week of Thanksgiving. Since it’s my last Net article of the year, I want to use it to give thanks for Bill Wilds, who is retiring December 31st.

When Bill and I (well…mostly Bill!) were organizing the choir library this summer, Bill was delighted to come across an anthem he hadn’t sung in many years: “With a Voice of Singing,” by Martin Shaw. Because Bill loves it so much and because the words embody his legacy so well, the choir (with several alumni coming in from out of town!) will be singing it on December 17th.
 
With a voice of singing declare ye this, and let it be heard, Alleluia!
Utter it even unto the ends of the earth. The Lord hath delivered His people, Alleluia!
O sing praises to the honor of His name, make His praise to be glorious.
With a voice of singing, declare ye this, and let it be heard, Alleluia!
 (Martin Shaw, 1923)
 
The phrase “with a voice of singing” sounds redundant at first glance but Martin Shaw, who is also the composer of the music, knew what he was doing. There is another layer of meaning that is added when we sing words instead of speaking them. My experience of Bill is that he understands this to the core. Bill Wilds hums non-stop. If it’s Veteran’s Day he’s humming “Eternal Father, Strong to Save.” If it’s Advent, he’s got our Advent hymns on shuffle, and often at other times of the year!  I’ve never been to his home but I imagine him humming “Bringing in the Sheaves” while he mows the lawn, or “Be Thou My Vision” at his yearly eye exam.
 
Singing, or humming, hymns is more than just an endearing habit of a unique individual. It is a way of imbuing your life with the truths of Scripture and the presence of God. It reminds you, often on a subconscious level, that God is present in the mundane as well as the profound. God is there in the good and the bad. God is there when you are making new friends, and when you are saying goodbye to old ones.
 
Bill Wilds is larger than life, and not just because of the things he has accomplished, his legions of loyal friends, or because he’s 6 foot 3. It is the humble way he lives his life: his daily faithfulness to work, his devotion to friends, and his infectious joy. And he’s humming all the way.
 
Ginny Chilton
Minister of Music

Thanks-giving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  Because of the historical nature of the national holiday, we mostly hear this only at this time of year, but it seems to me that this is something we should be doing absolutely every single day - remembering and giving thanks.  It is good and appropriate for families and friends to gather each November to enjoy company and remember with gratitude all our forebears did for us, but if we broaden it to include, not just the holiday, but daily blessings, we do just that! 

There is an obscure churchy word that we never hear, but we do every time we celebrate the Eucharist (which, by the way, is the original New Testament Greek word for giving thanks, or The Great Thanksgiving, if you look in the Prayer Book on p. 333/361): that word is “anamnesis,” which means “remembrance,” especially during the part of the Eucharist in which we remember that “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again,” and when Jesus took the bread and wine, blessed them, and shared them among his friends - a defining moment when we accept our Lord’s invitation to receive the holy food and drink of his Table.

All of these - the holiday, our weekly Eucharistic remembrance, our daily life - gives us the opportunity to remain focused on ways to give thanks for what Jesus has done for us.  And so I hope everyone has a blessed time, not only at the end of this month on our national holiday, but every single day: remembering and giving thanks.

--- Marc

Tradition and Thanks

Thanksgiving Day is just around the corner!  It’s the fourth Thursday in November and an annual observance that crosses all boundaries.  We should remember that first Thanksgiving in 1619 at Berkeley Plantation on the banks of the James River and one celebrated by in 1621 by the Pilgrims as times to remember those struggling for freedom and to express our gratitude for our many gifts and good fortune.  Let’s look at where our traditions come from.

• Thanks comes originally developed from “thought” to “kind thoughts or feeling good will” to “being grateful.”  In 1619 and 1621 it was a day devoted first the prayers and then food.
• President Lincoln issued a proclamation of October 3, 1863, that Thanksgiving would be celebrated the last Thursday of November.  The tradition began officially, therefore, in 1864.  In 1941, a congressional resolution set the date as the fourth Thursday in November for us.  The date varies in other countries.Thursday.  and finally Thur, Thunor, Thunor’s Day, Thurs-doeg, evolved to Thor comes from Scandinavian mythology and their most worshiped god, Thor.  In Old English, Thursday
• …raise the song of harvest-home, …all is safely gathered in, …gather thou thy people in.is the season when crops ripen and are gathered in and the time of remembrance is often referred to as “harvest home” – giving thanks for the crop yields so that families could enjoy hearty meals.  In the hymn, “Come, ye thankful people, come,” there are the phrases Harvest

 And from these came feast with turkey, stuffing/dressing, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. 

• The “bird” we now refer to a the turkey could at one time have been almost any bird someone saw!  Spanish conquistadors exploring returned to Europe with cargoes of newly discovered wild birds.  In 1524, Henry VIII served these for his English court.  Turkey doesn’t become an American tradition until the 1860’s, and it’s place was made secure after World War II when the poultry industry launched a full-scale marketing campaign of hybrid birds that would offer lots of meals!
• The ingredients for stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie made these traditional items on our tables because they are easily grown and harvested and therefore, once processed, accessible for our enjoyment.

And so the tradition continues with the addition of parades (begun by Gimbel’s department store in Philadelphia in 1920 – Macy’s started in 1924), football (which replaced baseball in the 1880’s), travel, and over eating!   As the hymn says, “…gather thou thy people in, free from sorrow, free from sin; …raise the glorious harvest home.”

Bill Wilds

Pledge Campaign reflection by Leslie McNiece, Oct. 22, 2023

It's the time of the year for the stewardship campaign. When I thought about what would I say to you today, I came up with the usual. Why one should contribute money to the church. Why I do. Why you should. What it means to the church. What the church means to me. But none of it sounded like anything anyone hadn't said before. So I've decided to say something else. I've decided to say thank you.

Thank you to all of you out there who have pledged whatever you could to keep St. Andrew's alive all these years. Thank you for making it possible to uphold the traditions and ceremony of the Episcopal faith. Thank you for paying for the costs of this building, whose footprint has survived through storms and changing times. Thank you for sustaining our clergy who have the heavy responsibility of holding us together. Thank you not only for the monetary contributions you've made for many years but for the hundreds of hours of your precious time you have volunteered to make sure we hold fast and see to those less fortunate, all in the name of Jesus Christ.

So yes, it's pledge time, when we the Vestry budget for the coming year. But perhaps let's do that with reflection on what we've done, as well as what there is left to do.

Leslie McNiece
Vestry member

Joy amidst insecurity

St. Francis Day was earlier this month, I know, but he is perhaps my favorite saint (St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians, notwithstanding) and so I like to use the whole month of October as an excuse to linger on his teachings. An email I received from an ecumenical organization on St. Francis Day encouraged me to

• Be small, not strong.
• Value joy over pleasure.
• Enjoy rather than avoid moments of insecurity, fear, and awkwardness.

 All three of these are behaviors that are contrary to what society values. It is difficult to resist the pull to be the smartest, the wealthiest, or the most attractive. It is really difficult to sit patiently with fear, rather than run away from it.   
 
Trying to live out St. Francis’s values produces discord not just personally but professionally for me as well. I had coffee with a church musician friend recently in which we pondered the clash between our call as ministers of the church and our training as classical musicians. As ministers in the church we are called to be gentle and humble like St. Francis (and Jesus, and….), but as classical musicians we were trained under the baton of conductors who used derision and intimidation to extract perfection from us. (Imagine that iconic portrait of Beethoven: eyes of fury, lips pursed, hair untamed. His image still dominates the world of classical music.) This, juxtaposed with the typical St. Francis statue: kind eyes, gentle hands, birds alighting on his shoulders. Which one am I? Is there a way in which I’m both? Is there a way in which I am neither, with no template to comfortably imitate, having to awkwardly forge my way as merely myself?
 
Feeling awkward…maybe I’m doing something right, after all. Thankfully, as each of us lives out our callings in our own way, we are not alone. We may be sitting with awkwardness but we are also sitting with every member of our St. Andrew’s church family: saints on earth as well as St. Andrew, St. Francis, and all the saints above. For myself and all of us, may this be our joy amidst insecurity, and our peace amidst fear. Amen.
 
Ginny Chilton
Minister of Music

The Philadelphia Eleven

On July 29, 1974, at the Church of the Advocate in Philadelphia, 11 women deacons were ordained to the priesthood by three retired bishops. It was quickly categorized as an irregular ordination, as many across the church and indeed, society at large, strongly objected to women becoming priests, as well as bishops. It is to be noted that the crucifer at that irregular ordination was none other than Barbara Harris, who much later became the first woman bishop in the church (1989).

There was a recent screening of the documentary “The Philadelphia Eleven” (at the site of history being made), ten years in the making, looking closely at not only the event, classified at the time as an act of civil disobedience, but the subsequent firestorm that raged across the church. The eleven women were harassed and received death threats. It was over two years before the General Convention agreed that it was permissible for women to become priests and bishops, and another two years before a woman was ordained under the new canon which had been narrowly approved. It puts us far behind the Methodist Protestant Church, which began ordaining women in 1880. It was not until 1992 that the Church of England voted to ordain women but allowing parishes the right not to accept women in the next year.

I was 29 years old when the Philadelphia Eleven marched into the Church of the Advocate that hot summer day to not just be ordained, but to transform the church, joined by the brave bishops who ordained them but to be participants in changing the world for the better. They accepted the challenge to say yes when called to overcome the obstacles holding them back from standing up and saying, “Here I am, send me.” I remember vividly seeing this on the news and sitting on a stool in front of our small black and white television pondering, in a slight state of shock, what this might mean for the church I loved. “60 Minutes” soon had a segment based on an interview with Carter Heyward, which hooked me completely, and I was able to see the pain and faithfulness as well as the courage in following God’s call despite the barriers. After that there was a meeting with Mr. Burke to schedule our son Joe’s baptism where I raised the topic. I offered that I fully believed a woman could be a faithful and prophetic priest, so where was my discomfort coming from?  He remarked that it was probably because I wanted my children to grow up in a world I could understand.

Later, after Mr. Burke died, Joe Buchanan who was the associate rector and a former priest in Charlotte, NC in the parish Carter Heyward had attended, thought it would be a good thing to invite her to preach at St. Andrew’s. This was before the regularization of the ordination, and she accepted. A week later she called and asked if she was to celebrate the Eucharist as well and Joe told her no. She cancelled and I remember chastising Joe for not having the courage of his convictions, being oblivious to the fact that he would very well have been deposed for allowing her to officiate at the altar.

All of this happened in concert with disputes about the revision of the prayer book, as the 1928 was still being used. Despite what I then was able to see as my resistance to change, I fell in love with the theology of the new version, primarily due to the baptismal covenant, and I was able to lessen my grip on those comfortable words I had grown up with.

St Andrew’s lost some parishioners along the way and St. Matthew’s Anglican Church became a comfortable place for people who held tight to the 1928 Book of Common Prayer. We were not on the forefront of women in the priesthood in the early years.

Last Sunday’s service with our brothers and sisters from St. George’s and St Augustine’s was a glorious experience for me, as I looked around at the joy and love that surrounds us in our shared love of Jesus Christ and his church, vibrant with change, but rooted in tradition. I can’t wait to see what happens next.

Kathy Gray

Pledge campaign reflection by John Garrett, Oct. 15, 2023

This year's Pledge theme is Reflection and Renewal.

These words are frequently used when defining why we regularly attend church.  To some extent, we each have our own definition of them. However, since they are the topic, having a common definition seems appropriate. 

 "Self-reflection is a deliberate time set aside to slow down the busyness of your life and evaluate your actions with the intent of learning from your experiences, desires and feelings."

"Renewal can be defined as changing into something new and different. Renewal in Christ means that we are made into something better."

The services in our prayer book ask us to reflect on who we are, decisions we have made, actions we have taken and the ramifications of all. Is the person that we are and have been, the person that we want to perpetuate? Or, are changes and modifications needed to help us become who we strive to be, hence our need to also focus on Renewal. 

Reflection is relatively easy when we devote the time and energy to focus to it. It's like mental gymnastics. No action is needed, just define changes desired in who we are. Stated another way, it's a plan. 

On the other hand, renewal requires action to implement the changing of our thoughts, actions and behaviors. The execution of our improvement plan following reflection is challenging, we must overcome the inertia of our old ways. We come to church for help and support, to inspire, and to support change. This is provided by our liturgy, the Biblical lessons, sermons and the participation of collective worship service.  If tenacious enough, it can occur in isolation, but worshiping together facilitates and enhances achieving Renewal. 

As each of us reflect on our individual and collective being, might our renewal process lead to us to do our part to provide St. Andrew's the financial resources to perpetuate our mission. And in doing so, please remember that inflation is up 17% since 2020. Might our offerings reflect this. 

Thank you.

John Garrett

What's in your cup?

The late and renowned Buddhist monk, Thich Nhat Hanh, asks: “You’re holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps you, making you spill your coffee everywhere.  Why did you spill the coffee?  You spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup.  Had there been tea in the cup, you would have spilled tea.  The point is whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.  Therefore, when life comes along and shakes you (which will happen), whatever is inside you will come out.  [ref. also Mt 15:11]  It's easy to fake it until you get rattled.  So we have to ask ourselves, “What’s in my cup?  When life gets tough, what spills out?”  Joy, gratefulness, peace, humility?  Or does anger, bitterness, harsh words and reactions come out?   You choose!  Today, work toward filling your cup with gratitude, forgiveness, joy, words of affirmation, kindness, gentleness, and love for others.”  [ref. also Gal 5:22-23]

I’m not always at my best when life rattles me, but the way I at least try to think about this and practice it is this: I will respond to…

• bitterness with kindness
• spite with compassion
• fury with peace
• disingenuousness with graciousness
• deceit with honesty
• betrayal with forgiveness
• maliciousness with joy
• woundedness with healing
• darkness with light

Marc Vance
Associate Rector

Pledge Campaign Reflections by Lindsey Nicolai on October 8, 2023

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble."  (Psalm 46:1)

Christian stewardship is about our identity in Jesus Christ. It’s about our trust in God’s promises. It’s about our gratitude for all God has given us. It’s about responding to God in love.

My identity in the church has been shaped over the years by experiences, by events, but most importantly by the people – the communities of faith I’ve called home – most recently – the last 13 years – here at 45 Main Street.  At St. Andrew’s there are many ongoing activities that offer opportunities for reflection and renewal – bible study, centering prayer, Easter Sunrise services – just to name a few.  But for me some of the most powerful moments have happened spontaneously, unexpectedly – waiting quietly before a choir rehearsal begins (and hearing Ginny practicing with no competing sounds or distractions) or leaving in the dark after a parish event (filled with hope and inspiration to share God’s love with the world).  What strikes me the most about those moments as I speak about them now is how easy it is to take them for granted. 

Going through the motions is simple and thoughtless, and I’m always appreciative of an opportunity to pause, step back, and appreciate those too-easily taken-for-granted experiences.  St. Andrew’s offers them, I participate in them (whether I’m aware of it in the moment or not), and this stewardship season is a chance to honor the privilege it is to be part of God’s Kingdom.  As our Mission statement reminds us, we are here, “Building God's Kingdom through Worship, Outreach, and Fellowship.”  And in further support of what we are all about in this faith community, nothing summarizes those concepts better than our vision – “Devoted to sharing the transforming power of God’s love in our lives, our communities, and our world.” 

Like me, maybe you too easily “go through the motions” in the busy-ness of everyday life.  Perhaps – and how fortuitous it is that we are experiencing this sabbatical time at this very moment – we can all pause, reflect, and renew our commitment to both our personal spiritual lives and to this place through our gifts of our talents, time, and treasure.

--- Lindsey Nicolai

God of the sparrow, God of the whale

One of my favorite hymns, though it isn’t in our hymnal, is God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale, written in 1983 by Varoslav J. Vajda.  Varoslav’s father was a Lutheran pastor, having once served in Emporia, Virginia.  He received musical training at an early age and began translating Slovak poetry at the age of 15.  Ordained a Lutheran pastor in 1944, Varoslav left the ministry in 1963 to become an editor at Concordia Publishing.  He wrote his first hymn at the age of 49, which was followed by over 200 more before his death at the age of 89. 

 
God of the Sparrow, God of the Whale is basically a Sunday School lesson, teaching children and adults that God is the center of everything.  Each verse follows this theme: 1-creation (awe and wonder); 2-nature (woe); 3-divine initiative (grace); 4-humanity (care), 5-community (love), 6-God is ever near (joy).  This hymn, one of the six most favorite hymns written in the late 1980’s, is often sung at funerals, the Eucharist, and confirmation.
 
[If you would like to hear a very meaningful rendition, go to the You Tube recording by the First Plymouth Church of Lincoln, Nebraska.]
 
God of the sparrow God of the whale God of the swirling stars
How does the creature say Awe  How does the creature say Praise
 
God of the earthquake God of the storm God of the trumpet blast
How does the creature say Woe  How does the creature cry Save
 
God of the rainbow God of the cross God of the empty grave
How does the creature say Grace  How does the creature say Thanks
 
God of the hungry God of the sick God of the prodigal
How does the creature say Care  How does the creature say Life
 
God of the neighbor God of the foe God of the pruning hook
How does the creature say Love  How does the creature say Peace
 
God of the ages God of near at hand God of the loving heart
How do your children say Joy  How do your children say Home
 
May we be in awe of the grace, care, love, and joy we receive being at home with God.
 
Bill Wilds

Pledge Campaign reflections by the Rev. Canon Bernard Young on Sunday, Oct. 1

 I am a Gladys Knight fan.  One of my favorite songs begins, “I’ve had my share of life’s ups and down.”  Truth be told, my downs have been many, not few.  Yet, today, as I reflect on those ups and downs, I say, “To God be the Glory!”

I was six years and two months old when I went home from Mass and told my mother that I was going to be a priest.  I was channeled from that day towards priesthood.  I entered seminary as a teenager.  I was ordained a deacon at age twenty-three; the date of my priesthood was set when it was discovered that I was not old enough to be priested.  So I waited six months, and was ordained a priest twelve days after my twenty-fourth birthday.

At age twenty-three, I began ordained ministry, in my native Guyana, assisting an older priest with five churches and two grammar schools.  We then started to build another building to house a school and a church.  From end to end, the parish was about thirty miles.  At age twenty-six, I was on my own and in charge of two yoked parishes of five churches, two grammar schools, a hospital and a boys’ reform school.  From end to end about thirty-five miles.  My trusty motorcycle got me along those desolate dirt roads, in all kinds of weather, and at all hours.  God kept me safe as I road those roads, many with rice fields and sugar cane fields, on either side.

Two things should be said at this point.  Firstly, I give thanks to my father for teaching me my faith, what it means to be a Christian and how one develops a relationship with God.  The other thing is that when I first thought of ordained ministry, I thought of a monastery and being a missionary.  The reason that I mention this second is that in my youthful days in seminary, I realized that I needed to have a companion for life.  In God’s time and in His way, I did become a missionary as I preached and taught in many parts of Asia, while still running my own Parish and administering thirty-two others as an Archdeacon.  He also eventually gave me a good and wise companion in Debbie, who has journeyed with me so far for forty-two of these fifty-three years.

In the course of my life and ministry, I have learnt that the words of St. John are absolutely true; “In the dark night of the soul, bright flows the river of God.”  Ever since my father taught me to pray, I have been aware of the Presence of God in my life.  But, when you have had Gethsemane experiences in your life, you are even more deeply aware of the Power of God and of your dependence on God.  The Mystics are correct when they tell us that there is no crown without a cross.

The mistake that we sometimes make is that we forget that Jesus never promised us that if we believe in Him He will keep the storms of life away; His promise is to be present with us in the storms.  Debbie and I have often spoken about an experience we had.  Beginning Saturday, August 23, 2008, through the end of December 2010, we had 29 deaths of family members, or persons who were considered family members.  Actually the first was the father of our ‘sister’ who was with us in Aruba with her husband and children when she received the phone call.  A few hours later we received a call that Debbie’s aunt had died.  We all flew back to the US that day, after only 30 hours of vacation.  Those 29 deaths included Debbie’s mom, my older brother, and our 27-year-old who was shot and killed by a police officer.  I mention this because, if we did know God to be our Father, our Abba, and if we did not have a relationship with Him, we would never have survived.  But God is good.  We felt His Presence.  Faith and Love gave us strength and hope to survive, and to look beyond the moment and the experience. I know that God does not abandon us.  God will never abandon us.  He is my God and my Abba.  He loves me as much as He loves His Divine Son who is my Brother.  He does not love Jesus more than He loves anyone of us.  This is my faith.

I show my love for Him, and my gratitude, by my positive act of pledging to the support of His work in whatever Parish I find myself.  Debbie and I actually pledge to three parishes.  Ministry must continue, the Gospel must be proclaimed so that the love and mercy of God could be made known to those who still have not heard it, as well as to those who always need to be reminded of it.

The Rev. Canon Bernard Young

I choose love

Have you taken a gander at the church calendar for October? You probably noticed a theme among the guest preachers and Adult Forum topics. As part of our sabbatical journey, we’re doing a deep dive into racial reconciliation– not only what it is, but what it means for us here at St. Andrew’s. In honor of that, I chose a choir anthem for the second Sunday in October called “I Choose Love.” This anthem was written in memory of the victims of the 2015 mass shooting at Emanuel AME Church, Charleston, by a white supremacist during the church’s weekday Bible study. Lindy Thompson, the lyricist (who is white), and Mark Miller, the composer (who is black), wrote the song while reflecting on this tragedy and where it leaves us as people of faith.

I Choose Love

In the midst of pain, I choose love.

In the midst of pain, I choose love.

In the midst of pain, sorrow falling down like rain,

I await the sun again, I choose love.

 

In the midst of war, I choose peace.

In the midst of war, I choose peace.

In the midst of war, hate and anger keeping score,

I will seek the good once more, I choose peace.

 

When my world falls down, I will rise.

When my world falls down, I will rise.

When my world falls down, explanations can’t be found,

I will climb to holy ground, I will rise.

 

In the midst of pain, I choose love.

In the midst of pain, I choose love.

In the midst of pain, sorrow falling down like rain,

I await the sun again, I choose love.

 

I choose love.

 

Ginny Chilton

Minister of Music

Today, did I love?

The single most important word in the Christian faith is love (Mt. 22:36-39, Jn 13:34, Mt 5:43-44, I Cor 13:13, I Jn 4:8).  The basis for every atrocity throughout human history?  Dehumanization.  It is the first rule of warfare, the basis of American slavery, the genocide of our Indigenous Peoples, the European holocaust.  It distorts the imago dei (the image of God in which we were created) that devalues and justifies harm.  But the literal translation of the word “gospel” is “good news”.  I know of no one who takes as good news being made afraid or shamed for being who they are or dehumanized.

The gospel means good news, love is most important, and dehumanization is rampant.  But you can’t dehumanize someone and claim Christlike love at the same time.  So what do we do?  In the end, no one is going to question how much money you made, how much stuff you accumulated, how much time you spent in the office.  But you might very well be asked who you nurtured, who sacrificed for, who you stood next to when forces of greed and dehumanization and violence threaten to define the world we live in.  So what do we do?  What we do is quote Henri Nouwen; or even better, we live Henri Nouwen.

Did I offer peace today?
Did I bring a smile to someone's face?
Did I say words of healing?
Did I let go of my anger and resentment?
Did I forgive?
Did I love?  Today, did I love?

-- Marc

Beauty in brokenness

In graduate school I had a good friend who was known for her unconventional sermons. I always looked forward to sitting with her in the lunchroom to hear about the shocking, but always moving, sermons she delivered in her little Methodist Church. My favorite was one in which she propped up a sizable piece of glass, then hurled a huge rock through it. She then retrieved several of the larger pieces and held them up to a stained glass window. The point she made was that God makes beauty out of brokenness. God does not put our pristine sheet of glass back together, as if nothing happened. He takes our imperfection, our pain and grief, and makes something beautiful out of it, something through which God’s love can shine through onto everyone present.

One of our new choir tenors, Eli Tatum, recently shared a poem he wrote on this exact subject. Like many of us, Eli has experienced profound grief and loss. But through the power of God’s presence in his life he has begun to experience wholeness again. It inspired him to write a poem. Here is an excerpt:

When I’m alone you walk beside me

When I’m crying you hold me

When I’m screaming from my past

You remind me that you’re there

The strength you give me

The hope that you bring me

Reminds me that I’m here

I’m stronger now

Than I ever was before

As the years have passed

And I’ve gotten older

I look back

At all the things that I’ve done

Some are good,

Others bad

And for the past that made me sad

You’ve helped me overcome

All of my demons

My trials and tribulations

You stood by me through it all.

You brought me back to life

I’m whole now forever.

I’m always so moved when someone is able to be vulnerable enough to share their faith story. Even more so when they express their experience by creating a beautiful work of art, and when that artist is a member of our own faith community. It disarms me in a way that allows me to see God, too, and to trust that God will continue to make beauty out of brokenness in my own life, here, right now, just the way I am. I hope it does the same for you.

Ginny Chilton
Minister of Music

Sabbaticals!

Dear friends,

Our sabbaticals are just around the corner!  I hope you are as excited as I am!  I am so grateful for the folks who have worked and are working so hard on St. Andrew’s sabbatical:  the original visioning team of Ann Lee, Dawn Edquist, and David Lilley; and the current organizing and oversight team:  Dawn Edquist, David Lilley, and Marc Vance. 
 
You may well be wondering about the purpose of our sabbaticals.  Here’s how I explained it in St. Andrew’s application for the Lilly grant that we received:  The intended benefits for me include better spiritual, physical, and emotional health, along with the development of new habits and skills to help me retain that health; strengthened relationships, especially with God and with my husband; fresh perspectives about God, myself, pilgrimage, faith, racism, and the world around me; restorative rest; the lived reminder that I am more than my role; and the replenishment of soul and spirit for the next phase of my journey with the people of St. Andrew’s, wherever that path leads. The intended benefits for the congregation include a deepened understanding of life as a holy pilgrimage in which change is inevitable and God is always at work; a consequent lessening of anxiety; strengthened relationships with one another; renewed commitment to social justice; and a refreshed priest!
 
You and I will be on similar pilgrimages in the coming months, deepening our relationship with God through learning, prayer, retreat, and walking—you on labyrinths, me on the Camino in Spain.  What a blessing for all of us to have this opportunity! 
 
Please keep me in your prayers in the coming months, and know that you will be in mine.  I look forward to reconnecting in December and hearing all about your sabbatical experience.  Meanwhile, every blessing.
 
 –Anne

(Photo: Anne wearing the shirt with congregation autographs that she will wear while away on sabbatical.)

Our Sabbatical Prayer

Holy God, we are so grateful for the gift of sabbatical and for these three months of spiritual pilgrimage.  Just as you walked alongside your disciples in the Holy Land, please walk with us and with Anne.  Open our eyes and ears and hearts that we may encounter you anew along the Way.  May our sabbatical and Anne’s be a season of refreshment and renewal, new understandings and deepened faith.  Amen.

Anne's sabbatical plans with brief explanations

Just prior to sabbatical, John and I will spend a week decompressing at a resort in Williamsburg.

On Sept 4, we fly to Spain and will spend 18 days touring, visiting Granada, Seville, Cordoba, Madrid, Valencia, and Barcelona.  (Because I didn’t marry until I was 47, I often traveled on my own and sometimes found it very lonely. Exploring the world with John is a source of great delight for me, a chance to savor the blessing of having a life partner.  We will celebrate our 10th anniversary on Sept 7.) On Sept 23, John will return to the US.

From Sept 24 to Nov 4, I will walk the 500-mile Camino Frances, from St. Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago, Spain.  (This is the heart of my sabbatical—walking as a pilgrim on this ancient route with God as my companion. I know from traveling in the Holy Land what it feels like to encounter God viscerally on a holy path so many others have also trod. I anticipate the same on the Camino. We need sustained time together, God and I, for me to work on repairing my side of our relationship, which (embarrassingly often) gets short shrift in my busy working days. Walking the Camino will give me time for confession and repentance; time for seeking, finding, and rejoicing in God’s presence everywhere; time for rebuilding my trust in God’s love for me; and time for holy listening.)

From Nov 8 to 16, John and I will drive south, visiting sites on the US Civil Rights trail:  the International Civil Rights Center and Museum in Greensboro, NC; the Birmingham, AL Civil Rights Institute; The Legacy Museum, Rosa Parks Museum, Freedom Rides Museum, and National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, AL (where we will also worship at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church); and the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute and Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma.  (Despite years of anti-racism training and leadership, I am acutely aware that I still have much inner work to do to combat racism within myself and within our society.  This part of my sabbatical will equip and inspire me for that challenging task.) 

From Nov 17 to 21 I’ll be on retreat at a retreat center near San Antonio, TX.

From Nov 22 to 27, John and I will be with dear friends in San Antonio.  We fly home Nov 28, and the sabbatical ends on Nov 30.  

St. Andrew's Sabbatical Prayer

Holy God, we are so grateful for the gift of sabbatical and for these three months of spiritual pilgrimage.  Just as you walked alongside your disciples in the Holy Land, please walk with us and with Anne.  Open our eyes and ears and hearts that we may encounter you anew along the Way.  May our sabbatical and Anne’s be a season of refreshment and renewal, new understandings and deepened faith.  Amen.

If it's not...!

There is a saying that pops up on Facebook every now and then, attributed to the Dalai Lama or with no attribution at all.  Regardless, it rings true: The issue we have to deal with today is that people were made to be loved and things were made to be used, but now things are loved and people are being used.  It is reminiscent of what Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has often said: If it’s not about love, it’s not about God!

With summer break almost over and all aspects of the church and society getting back into the routine of the academic year, the increased busyness can lead us to forget what all the activity is supposed to be about in the first place.  Too often the gospel is used for political or personal gain rather than for its inherent purpose: the proclamation of the good news of God in Christ Jesus; the love of God and neighbor as self.  The fall gets awfully busy.  Life piles on.  Regardless of what swirls around us, I hope the simplicity of the gospel message grounds us in love, because if it is not about that, it is not about God!
 
-Marc

Let it be.

When I was a child, summer was a vast country with infinite possibilities, and it lasted a very long time. Endless days, some full of activity, some spent in a tree with a book, some walking from Hilton Pier to the Lions Bridge, a crab net in my hands and a bushel basket trailing behind me, tied with a rope cinched around my waist. In those days, low tide yielded a bounty of crabs. We walked in the water and lunged with the net, scooping them up and then flipping them back into the bushel basket. it was summertime, and the living was really easy.

I'm writing this as the clock strikes midnight, and suddenly it's August first. I haven't walked on the beach, I haven't read a book for the pure pleasure of a good story, and it feels like Memorial Day was a couple of weeks ago.

Is time moving faster? Are the days shorter? Where has this season, my lifetime favorite, gone? Can I make something different of August?

All of scripture invites us to live in the moment, to be fully present tothe here and now, and my failure to do that is where my summer has gone. As an adult, I am sometimes torn between the incompleteness of each day as I reflect on it (what has been left undone), and trying to make a plan for the next day, or the next week. The times I feel fully present are when I am with my patients as they share their thoughts and feelings, joys and sorrows, with me. My interior life is the one that races, meanders, and takes me down the rabbit hole of regret and/or anxiety. This is where my summer has gone.

There is a prayer in the New Zealand prayer book that I am incorporating into my evenings from this day on:
Lord, it is night.
The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.
it is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done; let it be.
The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness of the 
world and of our own lives rest in you.
The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,
and all dear to us,
and all who have no peace.
The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys, new possibilities.
In your name we pray.
Amen..

And so, my brothers and sisters, may August be a long month, filled with peace, quietness, joy and possibility for each of us. That should slow time down a bit. Let it be.

---Kathy Gray