Have you seen the YouTube video of the two little pageant shepherds who use their crooks to start their own Star Wars lightsaber battle? You’ve probably seen this or another viral video, or have many stories from your own childhood or from your own children, of kids doing hilarious things at church. You know: the member of the children’s choir who sings too loud and off key, the acolyte who leads the procession in the wrong direction, the wise man whose crown obscures his vision and causes him to bump into a wall. In the moment the congregation elbows one another and chuckles. As the years go by we retell these stories, smiling and chuckling at the fond memories.St. Andrew’s is such a welcoming church for children. With welcome bags, children’s church, acolyte participation, and more, we make it clear that children are important members of our church. Perhaps you’ve heard Rev. Marc or someone else say, “Children are not just the future of the church, they are the present.”
On Sunday, February 5, our children’s church participants are singing “This Little Light of Mine” during worship. The way we receive their song will help determine how our children view themselves and their membership in our community. We are not just training them to take over one day (although that’s certainly part of it), nor are we being entertained by their adorableness (although they will certainly be adorable). Their song is a gift from them to their church family. We are here to look at them with the eyes of a loving family member because that is indeed what we are: a church family. We are here to feel strengthened in our own faith by witnessing what our children have to offer. What a blessing this is for our children, and for all of us.
Ginny Chilton
Dear friends,The clergy coach I work with texts me twice a week to check in. She sends me questions that she and I have agreed upon ahead of time, and they arrive in my phone on Tuesdays and Fridays. One of the current questions is, “What gives you hope about the future of St. Andrew’s?”
I am really enjoying working with that question. Just this past week, I was privileged to witness all kinds of things at St. Andrew’s that give me hope: our dedicated staff problem-solving and supporting one another; parishioners providing tender pastoral care, including taking a vulnerable parish friend out for lunch, washing the hair of a parishioner recovering from surgery, and delivering yet another fresh-cooked meal; loving adults leading Children’s Chapel for a growing group of youngsters (17 on a recent Sunday!); quiet, competent, faithful ministry behind the scenes by our finance folks and counters, the altar and flower guilds, our hardworking junior warden, and so many others.
Like all churches, St. Andrew’s faces many challenges in this post-Christendom society. But then again, the early church faced many challenges (including persecution and martyrdom!) in the pre-Christendom society, and look how that original, uninspiring group of 12, with Jesus’ help, changed the world.
When you get tempted to despair about the future of the Church, I encourage you to try the simple exercise of identifying the things happening here in our midst that give you hope. You’ll be glad you did.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom 15:13). That is my prayer for you, and for me.
Blessings. -Anne
As we now are fully in the midst of the Epiphany season of Light, the following is a reprint from a now out-of-print book entitled The Art of Living by Wilferd A. Peterson (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1961). In it is a chapter on The Art of Being.The art of being is the assumption that you may possess, this very minute, those qualities of spirit and attitudes of mind that make for radiant living.
It is a philosophy of being today, instead of becoming in a tomorrow that never comes.
It is recognizing that courage, joy, serenity, faith, hope and love are immediately available now, and proceeding to open yourself so these qualities can be expressed through you in everyday living.
It is following the maxim of Shakespeare: “Assume a virtue though you have it not”…knowing that the dynamic power of habit can build it into your character.
It is being great now, being forgiving now, being tolerant now, being happy now, being successful now, instead of postponing positive and constructive living to some vague and indefinite future.
It is knowing that when we move into the future it becomes the now, and that now is the appointed time! [2 Cor. 6:2]
It is facing the fact that your biggest task is not to get ahead of others, but to surpass yourself.
It is wasting not time dreaming about the rich life you may live next year, or ten years from now; it is beginning to live at your best right now, today.
It is heeding the wisdom of the ancient Chinese seer who observed: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” and it is taking that step today.
It is beginning today to be the [person] you want to be.
It is developing an awareness of the infinite possibilities in each magic moment.
It is enlarging the now by pouring into it intense creative energy.
It is immortalizing the present moment that your life may have eternal significance.
It is coming into a full realization that the Master voiced the secret of victorious being, when He declared that the Kingdom of God is not afar off, but that it is within you now! [Luke 17:21]
To this I will add a little verse that keeps me focused on the art of being:
being still
being
be
The art of being: being fully attentive to God’s Light through the remainder of the Epiphany season (and beyond).
--Marc
