Lenten mute button

I use the mute button on the TV remote far more than any other.  I understand the economic necessity of businesses to advertise and networks to receive advertising revenue, but the constant insipid prattle blaring from commercials (all of which seemingly are recorded at a higher volume than the actual programming) drives me crazier all the time.  It makes me want to shut the blinds, light a candle, and put on Beethoven’s String Quartets, Op. 74-75.

There is such unrest in our lives in this era.  Street violence and environmental crises; wars and political polarization; over-scheduled kids and worn out parents.  Fewer and fewer people have the experience of iconic TV shows like Andy Griffith (who purposely minimized dialog) or the Waltons (with their family meals and wishing everyone good night), both shows with characters sitting in rocking chairs on the front porch having an actual conversation!
 
With Lent making an appearance this month, a couple of items from our tradition come to mind that might serve to remind us what “the observance of a holy Lent” means (BCP p. 265):
 
Psalm 131, v. 3: I still my soul and make it quiet, like a child upon its mother’s breast; my soul is quieted within me.
 
From the Prayer Book, p. 832, prayer 59: O God of peace, who has taught us that in returning and rest we shall be saved, in quietness and in confidence shall be our strength: By the might of your Spirit lift us, we pray, to your presence, where we may be still and know that you are God. (based on Psalm 46:11)
 
This month, maybe it would be a good idea to use the “mute button” on life’s prattle and instead welcome the invitation to the observance of a holy Lent, quieting your soul within you, and in the stillness know God.
 
— Marc Vance, Associate Rector

A Lenten message from Bishop Haynes

In the Ash Wednesday Liturgy, the Celebrant says this: "I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial, and by reading and meditating on God's holy Word..." How do we accomplish this observance of a holy Lent? How do we do all those things—self-examination and repentance, prayer, fasting, self-denial, reading of Scripture? We are all certainly busy and overwhelmed with the demands of life...to add other disciplines seems impossible. 

Lent is a good time to establish new habits. Those who have studied the process of forming habits will tell you that establishing a new habit takes about six weeks. Lent, it turns out, is six weeks long! So, what new habit could you establish in the run-up to Easter? 

Earlier in our life together, my husband was an educator, at both the secondary and collegiate level. One year during Lent, he taught a Muslim student who was observing Ramadan. Since the Muslim was obligated to fast until sundown, he would come to my husband's classroom to pass the time during lunch. One day they got into a discussion about what it means to fast. The Muslim student offered that he had been taught that "one's ears should fast from gossip and one's tongue from unkind words." I am captivated by this idea! What would it be like for my ears to fast from listening to gossip and my tongue to fast from uttering any unkindness? Could I do that??!! We all know how tempting it is to listen to salacious things about others and to snap at others unkindly. Can I make a conscious decision to fast or abstain from this behavior—to bid my ears to fast from gossip and my tongue from unkind words? 

In a world fraught with division and fracture, gossip abounds; and kindness is in short supply. What if I, one day at a time, decided that when gossip approaches my hearing, I would shut it down? What if I, one day at a time, chose to speak only kind, uplifting things? What if a lot of us were to do that? How would that change the world? 

Perhaps you already have a Lenten discipline, but perhaps not. If not, I encourage you to consider the discipline of fasting and abstaining from gossip and unkindness. You can decide on a daily basis to engage this discipline. We won't be perfect at it. But we might make a little progress. And in so doing, the world will change. 

I invite you to a good and holy Lent. You continue in my prayers.

+Bishop Susan

For parish leadership, a season of reflection and goal-setting

 Dear friends,

Just as the church year follows a calendar of seasons, so too does the “business” year that guides the work of St. Andrew’s vestry.  For your parish leadership, the first few months of the year are always a season of reflection and goal-setting. 
 
We begin the January vestry meeting by agreeing on a set of norms to guide our work together.  I encourage you to read through the norms, which are listed below.  They help us as vestry members not only to be accountable to one another but, more importantly, to follow our baptismal vow to respect the dignity of every human being. 
 
In early February, the vestry carries out our annual Mutual Ministry Review, working together through such questions as How does our ministry together as a vestry reflect our vision:  Devoted to sharing the transforming power of God’s love in our lives, our community, and in our world? Where have we made measurable progress, especially on the goals and expectations we have set? and Where are we stuck?
 
After candid, prayerful discussion, the 2024 vestry determined that the three main goals we set last year continue to be relevant: 
1. Nurturing children and young families
2. Enhancing and increasing communication
3. Increasing vestry knowledge and skill about parish finances
We have made progress in all three areas; and we recognize that more progress is needed. 
 
We will be talking more about these goals and also seeking your input during our quarterly congregational meetings, and of course you are welcome to talk with vestry members at any time.  The next congregational meeting will be March 10 between services.
 
Please continue to hold the vestry in your prayers as we work together to honor God and to faithfully serve God’s people.
 
Blessings.  —Anne

St. Andrew’s Vestry Norms
Unanimously adopted by the St. Andrew’s vestry at its meeting on January 24, 2023. From How we live and work together in the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia. Adopted by the Standing Committee and Executive Board of the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Virginia, 2006

• Listen attentively: Honor the ideas and concerns of others by listening with care.
• Practice courtesy: Observe relaxed courtesy in every gathering.
• Respect all opinions: Respectfully include all opinions, even when there is disagreement.
• Speak for self only: Listen and speak from an “I” position (but do not speak for anyone else).
• Model transparency: Act with honesty, openness, directness.
• Honor confidentiality: Respect private or personal confidences when appropriate.
• Share decision-making: Share the power by including all persons affected by the process of decision-making.
• Refrain from judging: Resist speculation or censure about the motives or spiritual maturity of others.
• Communicate consistently: Make careful, consistent communication a priority.
• Challenge in love: Challenge the times when we are not living up to our norms, speaking the truth in love.
• Forgive generously: Forbear and forgive each other’s failings, with God’s help.
• Admit responsibility: Be publicly accountable for errors, seeking to learn from mistakes.
• Be open to the new: Be receptive to exploring new ideas and possibilities.

I Want Jesus to Walk With Me

Author’s note: LEVAS refers to one of the Episcopal Church’s supplemental hymnals: “Lift Every Voice and Sing; An African American Hymnal”
 
February is Black History month, so it’s a perfect time to add more hymns than usual from the Black community into our regular worship. It’s also the start of Lent most years; this year, Ash Wednesday falls on February 14th. As I sift through the many spirituals and traditional songs from Black history, it has been interesting to contemplate them through the lens of Lent. We can sing “I Want Jesus to Walk with Me”(LEVAS 70)  any time of year, but it’s particularly poignant to sing as we embark into Lent, where we symbolically walk with Jesus for fifty days in the wilderness. The second stanza repeats, “In my trials, Lord, walk with me,” and in the third stanza, “In my sorrows, walk with me.” We’re walking with Jesus, and Jesus is walking with us.
 
“Give Me Jesus” (LEVAS 91) draws my mind to Ash Wednesday:
 
Dark midnight was the cry, Dark midnight was the cry: Give me Jesus.
O when I come to die, O when I come to die: Give me Jesus.
Give me Jesus! You can have all this world! Give me Jesus.
 
In Lent we’re often asked to give something up, in order that we might grow closer to Jesus. “You can have all this world!” (The impulse spending? The overconsumption? The chocolate??) Take it all– give ME Jesus!
 
“His Eye is On the Sparrow,” (LEVAS 191) a Gospel tune by Civilla Martin and Charles Gabriel, was adopted as one of the theme songs of the Civil Rights Movement. My colleague Michael Hawn encapsulated its significance in a blog post he wrote for the United Methodist Church:
 
“The themes of solace in spite of sorrow, and a profound sense of being under the watch-care of Jesus, who is a ‘constant friend,’ offered the African-American community comfort during the Civil Rights movement. The refrain seals the theme—“I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free”—words that would speak to everyone, but especially African Americans.”
 
I hope these hymns bring you closer to Jesus during Lent, and in so-doing, draw your heart into our work towards racial reconciliation: in our church, our denomination, and our country. If we walk with Jesus, it can, and will, be done. Amen!

-- Ginny Chilton, Minister of Music