Room for Transitions

When talking with one of my wisdom friends recently (wisdom friend means someone with more grey hair than me) they talked about how we often don’t make room in our lives for times of transition; we don’t consciously acknowledge and attend to the emotional space of life changes, be they hopeful changes such as a new job or new opportunity or tough changes such as the loss of someone or the physical or cognitive changes in ourselves or those we love. Too often, they said, we tend to expect the same of ourselves in these moments as we do in other periods of our life. Too often we don’t find ways to mark and face openly that which our guts are registering quite clearly. -- Todd Donatelli, Father of the Bride blog entry at Episcopal Cafe

Though discussing the upcoming marriage of his daughter, Dean Donatelli makes an excellent point about making "room in our lives for times of transition." However, when I think of transition I think about the last year of my own life and the life of this congregation. My family and I had the transition of moving to temporary housing in San Carlos a year ago and then moving again to the Rectory in September. While we are profoundly grateful for a wonderful house and it is wonderful to be able to simply walk across the parking lot to and from work, this has certainly been a year of multiple transitions for our family. Of course, St. Edward's has been in transition for more than 18 months since my predecessor and others departed. We've spent the almost the entirety of my time here attempting to live into our identity as "ransomed, healed, restored, [and] forgiven" people, and we're making progress in that effort. When I look back on the last year, I can hardly believe all of the changes that have occurred!

So, it is perhaps past time to give ourselves a little room to settle in to this transitional period. The first "room" will be our combined All Hallows Eve/All Saints Day service at 9 a.m. a week from this coming Sunday, on October 31. We will gather, we will celebrate, we will take a breath, and we will liturgically and literally break bread together at the Eucharist and potluck, respectively. The second opportunity for "room" will be a four-week series on "Being the Church in the 21st Century" that will be on Wednesday evenings during Advent (December 1, 8, 15, and 22) from 7:30 to 9 p.m. in Hallstead Hall. We'll look at the various cultural shifts occurring in the world and how we as a church might not only survive but position ourselves to thrive in such a culture. More information to follow, and other opportunities for "room" will be announced as they occur.

Losing Heart and Praying Always

Jesus told his disciples a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. - Luke 18:1

As we move through October as a parish, we come to the annual time in which we, once again, focus on God's call to us as a parish and make an appeal for resources (both time and money) to enable St. Edward's to fulfill that calling: The Fall Pledge Campaign. This is no mere exercise in strategic planning, nor is it a PBS-like fund-raising appeal (we don't even have thank-you gifts!), but rather, at its best, it is a careful and prayerful discernment of the realities of ministry in our mission context (West San Jose) and who God is calling us to be and what God is calling us to do within that context.

We have already articulated a four-fold mission: Welcome all. Worship fully. Witness to God's grace. Walk the way of Christ. That has been discerned by the Vestry and affirmed by the congregation. Now that big question: How exactly to we live that mission out?

The disciples were no strangers to discouragement. Over and over again, Jesus turned their world upside-down and shattered their expectations about what following Jesus should be like. Jesus refused to be limited by people's preconceptions (and misconceptions) about what being a Christ-follower should entail. The passage quoted above is a part of the Gospel reading for this coming Sunday. It is a reminder to us, yet again, that we do not accomplish the ministry to which God has called us in isolation. In fact, mistakenly believing that we can do things on our own causes us to "lose heart"--to lose the drive and the passion to do the work that God has given us to do. The solution? Pray always. Remind ourselves that rather that being cast into the world to fend for ourselves, we are instead full partners with God in the work of God in the world.

I don't know about you, but I find that I am frequently disheartened these days. The world is a mess, the economy is only sluggishly improving, and  people are hardly flocking to churches in droves. It is a difficult time in which to live, and even more difficult to live out one's Christian faith authentically--there is so much to distract and dishearten! Yet God's call to us is undiminished in either its applicability or its urgency--and we are made to respond to that call, and to do so joyfully!

So as we as a parish refine and recommit to our calling from God, I invite members and friends of St. Edward's to consider you own involvement in, and financial support of, God's mission and ministry in this place. Please pray always as we anticipate together what God would have us do in partnership with God.

Whose Kingdom Are We Building?

One of the best experiences I've had recently was a two-conference trip I took to Seattle several weeks ago. I began with a group of entrepreneurial Episcopal Church clergy that were gathered to talk about leadership in the Episcopal Church of the twenty-first century. Originally convened by retired Bishop Claude Payne (author of Reclaiming the Great Commission), the group was a collection of priests and bishops from across the country who were focused on a hopeful future for the Episcopal Church and not, for once, focused on the ongoing sexuality disputes that seem to come up whenever two or three are gathered, to paraphrase a biblical passage. We talked with each other, learned from each other, laughed with (and occasionally at) each other, and pretty much encouraged one another. There was no real "expert" who guided us along but simply a handful of colleagues sharing some of their own journey.

Perhaps one of the most profound questions I heard at that gathering is this one: "Whose kingdom are we building?" Those of us who work in and for the church tend to focus on survival of the institution--that desire to grow so that we preserve what is here for the future. Yet nowhere in the early church does there seem to be any similar emphasis. Most often, Jesus refers to the "Kingdom of God" and, in fact, in the Lord's Prayer we pray "thy/your Kingdom come." Even in the definition of church membership, it says nothing about the church as such. A member of the Episcopal Church is defined as someone who "works, prays, and gives for the spread of the Kingdom of God." So the question must always be asked: Are we building and spreading the Kingdom of God, or some substitute Kingdom?

After three days there, I then attended the Catalyst One Day conference in Seattle. At that conference, much more evangelically-based,  I heard Pastor Greg Groeschel of LifeChurch speak. Among other things he and other pastors talked about--guess what--building the Kingdom of God rather than building up individual churches! I also felt something I've rarely felt in such an evangelical gathering--a genuine welcome and acceptance of the variety of ways of doing and being church. I'm fairly certain that they would not agree with any number of theological positions that the Episcopal Church holds, but I heard not a word of condemnation or competition--just encouragement to build the Kingdom of God. How cool is that?!

Several days ago, as if to reinforce the message, I ran across following video from last year's multi-day Catalyst 2009 Conference:




What a great statement, and a great reminder, from two different and distinct voices: it's all about the Kingdom of God.

I pray that is what we are building here at St. Edward's as we have people come and, God willing, join us. I hope and pray that we are building the Kingdom of God, not the Kingdom of St. Edward's or, God forbid, the Kingdom of (Fr.) Tom. As we focus on our four-fold mission to welcome all, worship fully, witness to God's grace, and walk the way of Christ, I pray that others will be eager to join us on this journey.

See you Sunday---and bring a friend!

Two-Service Schedule has cleared the tower!

With only minor glitches, we officially began the two-service schedule mentioned numerous times on this blog last Sunday, September 5. For those who are unaware, the schedule is as follows:

8:30 a.m. Rite I - Elizabethian Language (thee, thou...) Service with Hymns
10 am. Rite II - Modern Language (you, your...) Service with Contemporary Music

Jacob Perez, our newly-hired Worship Minister, made his official debut last Sunday and did very well!

This coming Sunday, September 12 is our official "Grand Opening" and kick-off to our new services and program year. Several of our neighbors recently received the postcard pictured here, inviting them to attend one of our new services. So, whether you are a veteran member, relative newcomer, or curious seeker, come join us this coming Sunday as we continue to launch this new enterprise!

Counting down to launch

We are now a little over a month away from our new service schedule. On September 5 we will have a "soft launch" where we will debut our 8:30 a.m. Rite I traditional language and hymnody service and our 10 a.m. Rite II contemporary language and music service. On September 12 we will have our public "launch" of the new service schedule as we formally begin our program year. We are now in the final stages of preparation, including searching for one or more worship leader(s), and filling the normal roles of Crucifer/Server, Lector (lesson reader), Altar Guild member, etc... Exciting times, so tune in as we begin the buildup to "launch day!"

The Old Shall See Visions and Young Shall Dream Dreams

'In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. (Acts 2:17)

I'm in the last days of a week-long retreat entitled CREDO, which is a week-long retreat which gives some space for people to reflect, dream, and plan for the future--spiritually, relationally, vocationally, and financially. As I've done such reflection, one of the things I've come to realize is what a great opportunity we have at St. Edward's to really think about what we want the new St. Edward's to be. There is no longer a "way we've always done it" anymore. That is a great gift! It means that we can choose our own adventure, seek after God's vision, and move forward confidently into the future.

We're in the midst of doing that, and I've blogged about this before, but I ran across the following presentation recently done for the Episcopal Diocese of Northern California. It talks about radical welcome and what that might look like.....



Bishop's Conference Keynote Presentation by Stephanie Spellers from Episcopal Diocese of Northern Ca on Vimeo.


We have the opportunity to essentially rebuild our church from the ground up with a core value of radical welcome. Our first Core Value is that desire to welcome all. What would that mean for us? How do we build a church of radical welcome? Something to think and talk about in the coming weeks. I look forward to that conversation!

Craving Church

In a recent blog entry on Sojourners Online, the blogger interviewed Julia Duin, author of Quitting Church: Why the Faithful are Fleeing and What to do about It. One of the most interesting quotes from that post occurs at the end, when Ms. Duin says

You go to church today and people just sit there like they’re going to a movie. People will crave church when the Holy Spirit is so evident in the body. The praying church in the 1970s is when the Holy Spirit really moved. They didn’t care whether you were single or married or what. You had churches like St. Paul’s in Darien, Connecticut, that just went on for like three hours and you didn’t care because God was moving in incredible ways.

As we begin the days "after Pentecost" in the church calendar and continue the hundreds of thousands of days since the first Pentecost, it is worth asking: Do we crave church? Do we come to church expecting that the Holy Spirit will not only show up, but will stir our hearts and minds? Do we, as we invite the Holy Spirit to bless bread and wine and make them the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ also invite, encourage, and expect the Holy Spirit to bless us with both power and direction? If we do not, why not? If we do, can anyone tell by looking at us?