#ThyKingdomCome

Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement that invites Christians around the world to pray for more people to come to know Jesus. What started in 2016 as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer.

During the 11 days of Thy Kingdom Come, it is hoped that everyone who takes part will

• Deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ
• Pray for God’s spirit to work in the lives of those they know
• Come to realise that every aspect of their life is the stuff of prayer

After the very first Ascension Day the disciples gathered with Mary, constantly devoting themselves to prayer while they waited for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Like them, our reliance on the gift of the Holy Spirit is total – on our own we can do nothing.

Through the centuries Christians have gathered at that time to pray for the coming of the Holy Spirit. ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ picks up this tradition. Over the past three years more and more worshipping communities have dedicated the days between Ascension and Pentecost to pray ‘Come Holy Spirit’.

We are praying that the Spirit would inspire and equip us to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with our friends and families, our communities and networks. It has been amazing how many varied ways there have been in which people from every tradition have taken up this challenge. The effects have been remarkable.

It is our prayer that those who have not yet heard the Good News of Jesus Christ and his love for the world will hear it for themselves, and respond and follow Him. Specifically, we again invite each and every Christian across the country to pray that God’s Spirit might work in the lives of 5 friends who have not responded with their ‘Yes’ to God’s call.

Whether you have joined in ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ before or not, we invite you to take part this year – along with churches from over 65 different denominations in 114 countries around the world.

"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses …to the ends of the earth. When he had said this…he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight…Then they returned to Jerusalem … and were constantly devoting themselves to prayer… When the day of Pentecost had come they were all together in one place... All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit... and that day about three thousand persons were added." ~ Acts 1, 2
“In praying 'Thy Kingdom Come' we all commit to playing our part in the renewal of the nations and the transformation of communities."

Archbishop Justin Welby

The Prayer for Thy Kingdom Come

[This prayer will be used in all public Thy Kingdom Come events, and you are encouraged to pray it in personal and group prayer as well]

Almighty God,
your ascended Son has sent us into the world
to preach the good news of your kingdom:
inspire us with your Spirit
and fill our hearts with the fire of your love,
that all who hear your Word
may be drawn to you,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Learn more here: https://www.thykingdomcome.global/

Ascension Day

Almighty God, whose blessed Son our Savior Jesus Christ ascended far above all heavens that he might fill all things: Mercifully give us faith to perceive that, according to his promise, he abides with his Church on earth, even to the end of the ages; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Ascension (sonnet) by Malcolm Guite

We saw his light break through the cloud of glory
Whilst we were rooted still in time and place
As earth became a part of Heaven’s story
And heaven opened to his human face.
We saw him go and yet we were not parted
He took us with him to the heart of things
The heart that broke for all the broken-hearted
Is whole and Heaven-centred now, and sings,
Sings in the strength that rises out of weakness,
Sings through the clouds that veil him from our sight,
Whilst we our selves become his clouds of witness
And sing the waning darkness into light,
His light in us, and ours in him concealed,
Which all creation waits to see revealed.

Feeling Lost – Being Found

We all have stories about being lost and found. I remember being anxious on Head Start field trips about losing one of the children. I sometimes have dreams about being terribly lost and being afraid to admit that I am lost, although I usually feel quite detached in my dreams. There are lots of jokes about men who refuse to ask for directions.

There are many ways of being lost. I was reminded of this fact many years ago preparing a sermon for the Second Sunday in Christmas. The scripture readings for that day were all about the lost and forsaken being found and restored (Jeremiah 31:7-14; Ephesians 1:3-6,15-19a; Luke 2:41-52). The reading from Jeremiah is about the exiled remnant of Israel being called home and having God as their father. From Ephesians we learn that, no matter how lost or confused or abandoned we may feel, God chose us long ago — even before we came into being — to be God’s very own. And in the Gospel we have the Holy Family being dispersed and dislocated and then reunited in the House of God.

Of course, these scriptures are about us. Like the church in Ephesus, we might not have realized we were lost until we experienced being found and reconciled. There is another kind of lostness where we know we are lost but can never find our way back on our own. No matter how much we want to find our way back, we keep making wrong turns and getting more and more lost. Even if we desperately want to find our way out, situations can be like an addiction where we become more and more lost until we finally stop trying to find our way out and instead open our lives to simply being found by the One who can truly find us and set us on the right path. Once we admit our powerlessness and our lostness and turn our lives over to God, only then can we really begin to find
our way again.

This is the kind of lostness that is the model for the second form of Reconciliation of a Penitent in the Book of Common Prayer. Among the Gospel writers, St. Luke works with this image more than any of the others. In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, Jesus tells three parables back-to back-to back that are
unique to Luke: the parables of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost (Prodigal) Son. Luke is also the only Gospel writer to tell us the story of Jesus being left behind in the Temple, without his parents even realizing it until three days had passed. This, of course, is a different kind of story about being lost and found. On the surface, it’s about a twelve year old boy who was lost and eventually found, but in the exchange at the end between Jesus and his mother, it becomes evident that the “lost” was not Jesus. The boy knows exactly who he is and where he needs to be — in his Father’s House. It’s his parents who have lost him and need the help.

The story is, of course, a foreshadowing: later Jesus and his disciples will make their way to Jerusalem, and the disciples will come away from Jerusalem thinking they have lost Jesus, and still not understanding that they are the ones who are lost. Jesus wasn’t lost on the cross but was going to his Father’s House. In Luke’s Gospel, when Jesus dies he freely offers his spirit back to God: “Father,into your hands I commend my spirit.” He does so willingly and so on the third day those who think they have lost him will find him.It is also only Luke who has the story of the two disciples on their way to Emmaus. These two disciples are going out from Jerusalem thinking they have lost Jesus, but they are the ones who are lost. They are so lost that they don’t even recognize Jesus when he joins them on the road, until he starts explaining scripture and breaking bread. The disciples on the road to Emmaus are us. We are the ones who time and time again, lost on our journey, fail to recognize Jesus when he joins us on the way. But he is the one who is seeking us, and in finding us, redeems the lost and gives us new life. We gather as Christians(explaining scripture and breaking bread) to celebrate the fact that we who were lost have been found.

Prior Aelred - St. Gregory's Abbey

from Abbey Letter Mo. 278

Thanksgivings for National Life

Prayer for the Nation

Almighty God, giver of all good things:
We thank you for the natural majesty and beauty of this land.
They restore us, though we often destroy them.
Heal us.

We thank you for the great resources of this nation. They
make us rich, though we often exploit them.
Forgive us.

We thank you for the men and women who have made this
country strong. They are models for us, though we often fall
short of them.
Inspire us.

We thank you for the torch of liberty which has been lit in
this land. It has drawn people from every nation, though we
have often hidden from its light.
Enlighten us.

We thank you for the faith we have inherited in all its rich
variety. It sustains our life, though we have been faithless
again and again.
Renew us.

Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun.
Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice,
and to abolish poverty and crime. And hasten the day when
all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will
glorify your holy Name. Amen.

Prayer for Heroic Service (Memorial Day)

O Judge of the nations, we remember before you with grateful
hearts the men and women of our country who in the day of
decision ventured much for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant
that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the
benefits of true freedom and gladly accept its disciplines. This
we ask in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Memorial Day Prayers 2019

Invocation

We give you thanks, O Lord, for all who have died that we may live, for all who endured pain that we might know joy, for all who made sacrifices that we might have plenty, for all who suffered imprisonment that we might know freedom. Turn our deep feeling now into determination, and our determination into deed, that as men and women died in service to their country for the blessings of peace, we may live into that liberty and goodwill for the sake of the Prince of Peace, even Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(based upon a prayer by Leslie D. Weatherhead)

Benediction

As we pause to lift our hearts and minds in prayer, let us be mindful of those who have laid down their lives in the service of their country. O God, we ask your strength, that we might dedicate ourselves to perfecting your kingdom of peace and justice among the nations. Let us give thanks for the many blessings of freedom which we possess, purchased at the cost of many lives and sacrifices. Fill us with courage to fulfill our tasks and in no way break faith with the fallen. We commend these fallen to your mercy and ask that you give them eternal rest. This we ask and pray in your holy name. Amen.

(based on a prayer From Refuge and Strength – Prayers for the Military and their Families, Theodore W, Edwards, Jr. Church Publishing, 2008)

An American Triduum - 3 American Feasts with Prayer

I love the idea of three days of prayer centered around 3 American Feast Days (this is often called a triduum). I think about the three Feast Days of America that are centered on summer & our lives as Americans: Memorial Day, Independence Day and Labor Day. These are appropriate prayers for each of these occasions (from the BCP):

Memorial Day

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead; We give you thanks for all your servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them your mercy and the light of your presence, that the good work which you have begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen.

Independence Day

Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the  earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Labor Day

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

Easter 5 Sermon

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you; for the honor of your Name. Amen. (BCP)

Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.”

What does it mean to live to the glory of God? How is such glory reflected in our lives?

I think it has to do with love as Jesus also said in that same passage from the Gospel of John – “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

It is in how we live our life through the love that Jesus gave.

St. Irenaeus of Lyons (a second century Bishop in France) wrote: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, through his transcendent love, became what we are, that he might bring us to be what he is himself.”

Jesus showed us the glory of God, by the love he shared in his life (with disciples, strangers, the sick, the forgotten), the sacrifices he made, in how he lived & became one of us, so that we might follow what he did and continue his ministry in the world with our lives.

St. Irenaeus also wrote: “The Glory of God is a Human Being fully alive; and the life of humanity consists in beholding God.” (Against Heresies, Book 4, 20:7) As I read Irenaeus’ writings, his notion of life, is our connection to our creator, where we discover ways of living more truly and fully. Whose fulfillment is the Word of God, that is Jesus.

That vision of God, beholding God, is what we do when we consider Jesus and what he calls us to do.

Dirk Willems was born in the Netherlands in the 16th Century and was baptized as a young man. His devotion to his Dutch Anapabtist faith (which today includes Mennonites, Brethren, and Amish) and the adult baptism of others in his house led to his arrest by the authorities. For the RC Church condemned him for his faith.

While in prison, Willems escaped using a rope, to lower himself down onto the frozen moat. A guard noticed his escape and chased him but he broke through the ice and yelled for help as he struggled in the icy water. Willems turned back to save the life of his pursuer and was recaptured. He was burned at the stake on May 16, 1569.

Dirk Willems faith compelled him to save the life of his pursuer. Out of love he acted. And I believe his life reflects the glory of God. Jesus calls us to live out of love. There may be consequences for our actions, but our conscience will be clear.

Who we are as disciples of Jesus is defined by that love we give to others.

In our first reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Peter responds to the criticism that he has begun reaching out to Gentiles, by explaining how it was that the Holy Spirit guided him to this work.

“The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, `John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?"

Peter is not only talking about the faith, but about love too. The Holy Spirit helped him see that he shouldn’t be making a distinction (us vs. them), that if they [gentiles/uncircumcised] were called to receive the same gift as he has, he needed to respond in faith and love to them.

Peter’s response was to bring the glory of God to Gentiles and Jews alike.

Mary Sumner was born in England & she was married to an Anglican priest in 1848 – her life was active not only in her home, raising three children, she helped in the parish by providing music and Bible classes.

In 1876, when her eldest daughter Margaret gave birth to her child, Mary remembered how difficult she had found her own motherhood. Mary was always inspired by her mother’s faith, so she planned and publicized a meeting of mothers in the parish to offer mutual support. Her husband was very supportive: “just share your heart – God will do the rest.”

Her radical understanding of God’s glory was shown in her call to the meeting, for it called women of all social classes (rich and poor) to support one another and to see motherhood as a vocation, which was unheard of in Victorian England.

In 1885, she had an opportunity to speak at a conference at a nearby diocese and the idea of a Mother’s Union based on Mary’s plan began to spread. She said “Together, by the Grace of God… we can calm each other when we are afraid; strengthen one another when we are weak; and work together to raise our children to the glory of God. Unity is strength.”

By 1892, the Mothers’ Union grew to 28 dioceses around England and in 1897 the organization began to spread to New Zealand, Canada and India…

“She was a living example of what she preached and was not afraid to speak up on difficult issues… nor afraid to act outside the social norms, to do what she believed to be right. At a time when unmarried girls with children were condemned and cast out, she cared for and protected her niece and child.” (from the Mothers’ Union History)

Mary lived her life of faith and she shared it with love, to the glory of God.

Today, you and I are called to live such full lives, beholding God in God’s bountiful creation. To give such love, breaking down the barriers that separate us, and to share with the world the faith that enlivens us like it once did for Dirk Willems, St. Peter, and Mary Sumner.

May our lives everyday reflect such glory. Let me end with Mary Sumner’s prayer from 1876:

All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen.

Mary Sumner & the Mothers' Union

Mothers' Union is an international Christian membership movement that aims to demonstrate Christian faith through action.

We are a movement of over four million Christians in 84 countries worldwide. Mothers' Union is unique because our members work as volunteers in local communities, putting their faith into action by acts great and small, giving individuals in need a helping hand and enabling communities (of all faiths and none) to have the confidence and skills to transform their lives in a sustainable way.

The movement was started in 1876 by Mary Sumner to support mothers as they brought up their children as Christians.

Learn more here: https://www.mothersunion.org/

I encountered the Mothers' Union in Mozambique and saw first hand their wonderful ministry in the dioceses they serve.

Some prayers:
 
The Mary Sumner Prayer
All this day, O Lord, let me touch as many lives as possible for thee; and every life I touch, do thou by thy spirit quicken, whether through the word I speak, the prayer I breathe, or the life I live. Amen.

The Mothers' Union Prayer

Loving Lord, We thank you for your love so freely given to us all. We pray for families around the world. Bless the work of the Mothers' Union as we seek to share your love through the encouragement, strengthening and support of marriage and family life. Empowered by your Spirit, may we be united in prayer and worship, and in love and service reach out as your hands across the world. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Love is People

Love is People by Mr. Rogers (1975)

Love is people
Love is people needing people
Love is people caring for people
That is love

Love's a litte child sharing with another
Love's a brave man daring to liberate his brother

Love is people
Love is people needing people
Love is people caring for people
That is love

And though some have costly treasure
It never seems to measure
Up to people needing people
Caring for people
For that's love
Love is people
People love

St. Irenaeus

from Taize: Saint Irenaeus of Lyons

The Letter from Cochabamba refers in a note to words written by Irenaeus of Lyons: “Our Lord Jesus Christ, through his transcendent love, became what we are, that he might bring us to be what he is himself.” The figure of Irenaeus has a particular fascination because he brings us so close to the very first Christian believers. He was born in the second century and grew up in the town of Smyrna, on the western coast of Turkey, where he heard the elderly bishop Polycarp teach. Polycarp had been taught by the apostle John. Irenaeus later became the second bishop of Lyons, in France, not far from Taizé.

Irenaeus was one of the first teachers in the church to give his ideas systematic form. His most important surviving text, the five books Against Heresies, is difficult to read. Yet we can sense that he wanted to stress ideas that are important for us, too. At the very heart of his faith was a conviction that the unseen, unknowable God who had created everything so loved humanity that he had become a human being just like us. By becoming the human being Jesus, God wanted to share with every human person his own, eternal life in such a way that our fragile, contradictory human nature would not be overwhelmed or crushed, but fulfilled utterly. All that we are was designed from the beginning for a fullness beyond anything we could imagine, in and by communion with God.

Irenaeus wrote one very remarkable phrase, which is often quoted: “Life in man is the glory of God; the life of man is the vision of God.” Another translation says: “The glory of God is a living man; and the life of man consists in beholding God” (Against Heresies, Book 4, 20:7). What is so appealing in Irenaeus’ writings is this notion of “life,” because surely every human being wants to be truly alive and discover ways of living more truly and fully. If so many today speak of “alienation” and “absurdity” it is precisely because of an awareness that there is something essential that is missing in life, something to be looked for beyond or rather in place of the instant “satisfactions” proposed in today’s consumption-oriented societies. We are invited to share in a life that is simply the love God longs to share with all; as Brother Roger often said: “God can only give his love.”

Love, for God as for us, always means giving oneself. Therefore, for Irenaeus, Christmas was the key to the meaning of life, not simply the beautiful story of a baby being born: “It was for this end that the Word of God was made man, and He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the son of God” (Against Heresies, Book 3, 19:1). It sounds, of course, quite impossible. Every definition of “God” is bound to end up by stressing that God is completely different, other, unlike us or anything we can imagine. Likewise, every definition of what it is to be human is almost sure to stress our limitations, our poverty and fragility, and our mortality that seems to challenge every search for ultimate meaning.

Underlying Irenaeus’ thought is the very simple, utterly amazing assertion that stands at the beginning of St. John’s Gospel: “The Word became flesh.” Or as Irenaeus puts it: “The only true and steadfast Teacher, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, through his transcendent love, became what we are, that he might bring us to be what he is himself” (Against Heresies, Book 5, preface). The first Christians had a very clear understanding of the unity of everything. As humans, we are one with the whole material world. All that exists is created and kept in being by the love of God, the maker of all things. The act of bridging the immense gulf between God and the physical cosmos, drawing human beings into a life like his, was no haphazard afterthought; it had been the plan and intention of divine Love from the outset. It is as we are that we are loved, for what we can become through the communion that God offers. Sharing the light of God’s eternal love, we discover that truly we are all made for a life that we never imagined possible.

Summary of General Convention Resolutions on Abortion and Women's Reproductive Health

Posted on the Office of Government Relations for the Episcopal Church website:
Clergy throughout The Episcopal Church counsel women, men, and families who must make decisions relating to pregnancy and childbirth, adoption, family planning, and who face infertility. Our ordained and lay leaders walk alongside Episcopalians and others who struggle with this intimate and challenging aspect of human life. Over the past several decades, the General Convention has addressed the topic of abortion from a position informed by this ministry and personal lived experience of clergy and laity within their own families. As a result, the General Convention of The Episcopal Church recognizes the moral, legal, personal, and societal complexity of the issue. The diversity of views within the Church represents our common struggle to understand and discern this issue.

The Episcopal Church teaches that “all human life is sacred. Hence, it is sacred from its inception until death. The Church takes seriously its obligation to help form the consciences of its members concerning this sacredness. Human life, therefore, should be initiated only advisedly and in full accord with this understanding of the power to conceive and give birth which is bestowed by God.” Our liturgical text Enriching Our Worship calls for great pastoral sensitivity to the needs of the woman and others involved in decisions relating to “abortion, or mishaps of pregnancy and infertility.” This ministry is particularly important in situations that result in the loss of a pregnancy or inability to become pregnant and as a Church, we have experienced that all of these have “a tragic dimension.”

In a series of statements over the past decades, the Church has declared that “we emphatically oppose abortion as a means of birth control, family planning, sex selection, or any reason of mere convenience.” At the same time, since 1967, The Episcopal Church has maintained its “unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions [about the termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them.”

The Church urges dioceses and congregations “to give necessary aid and support to all pregnant women.” General Convention “commends the work and mission of pregnancy care centers which stress unconditional love and acceptance, for women and their unborn children.” We have urged support of “local pregnancy care centers” that “develop an outreach of love to pregnant women and to mothers and their children.”

At the General Convention in 2018, The Episcopal Church called for “women’s reproductive health and reproductive health procedures to be treated as all other medical procedures.” The Convention declared “that equitable access to women’s health care, including women’s reproductive health care, is an integral part of a woman’s struggle to assert her dignity and worth as a human being.”

We continue to advocate that “legislating abortions will not address the root of the problem. We therefore express our deep conviction that any proposed legislation on the part of national or state governments regarding abortions must take special care to see that the individual conscience is respected, and that the responsibility of individuals to reach informed decisions in this matter is acknowledged and honored as the position of this Church.”

The Church also sees education as an essential component of engaging with issues relating to family planning, child spacing, adoption, infertility and abortion. The global Anglican Communion, of which The Episcopal Church is a member, first supported the use of contraceptives in 1930, and as Christians we affirm responsible family planning. General Convention policy states “it is the responsibility of our congregations to assist their members in becoming informed concerning the spiritual, physiological and psychological aspects of sex and sexuality.” The Book of Common Prayer affirms that "the birth of a child is a joyous and solemn occasion in the life of a family. It is also an occasion for rejoicing in the Christian community" (p 440).
_________

General Convention Resolutions

1976-D095 - Reaffirm the 1967 General Convention Statement on Abortion
1982-B009 - Reaffirm the Church's Guidelines on the Termination of Pregnancy
1982-D016 - Reaffirm the Right to the Use of Artificial Conception Control
1982-A065 - Condemn Use of Abortion for Gender Selection and Non-serious Abnormalities
1988-D124 - Condemn Acts of Violence Against Abortion Facilities and Their Clients
1988-C047 - Adopt a Statement on Childbirth and Abortion
1988-A089 - Promote Use of Materials on Human Sexuality and Abortion for All Age Groups
1991-C037 - Oppose Legislation Requiring Parental Consent for Termination of Pregnancy
1991-A096 - Continue Discussion on the Use of Fetal Tissue for Research Use
1994-D105 - Commend the Work of Pregnancy Care Centers
1994-D091 - Deplore Practice of Forced Abortions and Sterilization in China
1994-A054 - Reaffirm General Convention Statement on Childbirth and Abortion
1994-D009 - Reaffirm Family Planning and Control of Global Population Growth
1997-D065 - Express Grave Concern Over Misuse of Partial Birth Abortion
2000-D104 - Affirm Adoption and Support Legislation on Adoption Counseling
2018-D032 - Equal Access to Health Care Regardless of Gender

Resolves of the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church

Opposition to the Human Life Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, 1981
Affirmation of the International Conference on Population and Development, 2004
Support for Women's Access to Healthcare, 2014

Prayers on Sunday Mornings

At 10 AM in the back of the Church (all are welcome to join us!), join Rev. Kurt and the Wardens in prayer.  It is based off of this article:

The Way of Love:
Community Prayer Before Worship

by Phillip Bass and (Rev.) Helen Svoboda-Barber

Inspired by the Episcopal Church's Way of Love initiative, the wardens at St Luke's have been praying for their congregation before church on Sunday.

Following the Way of Love

The Episcopal Church initiative The Way of Love encourages individuals and communities to follow Jesus as they Learn, Pray, Worship, Bless, Go, Rest, and Turn. Inspired by North Carolina Bishop Sam Rodman, Phillip Bass began to seek ways to incorporate these seven steps in his daily life. As senior warden at St Luke's, Phillip felt called to integrate these practices with his parish leadership role. Together, Phillip and Junior Warden Amy Kiser invited their community into a time of prayer with them, with hopes that the act of prayer would shape their community, and that others would also choose to incoporate the Way of Love practices into their daily lives. In the paragraphs below, Phillip reflects on their process.

Time for Community Prayer 

We gather each week before our main worship service. The first few weeks, we gathered in a side room, so as to be out of the way. Quickly we realized that we wanted our prayers to be more visible and present in the worship space. Our choir rehearses in the worship space between services, so we spoke with Music Director Kaye Saunders about our idea of moving the Wardens' Prayer Time into our worship space. Kaye was confident our praying would not interfere with their rehearsal, and we were hopeful that their rehearsal would not negatively impact our prayer. We moved into the side chapel in our main sanctuary, and it feels "just right." When people walk into the sanctuary, they see us in prayer and are curious or simply thankful. As we pray, we see and hear the life of our congregation as we prepare for worship, and that enriches our prayer time.

We pray using a modified Anglican rosary (prayer beads) that our Rector, Helen Svoboda-Barber created to fit our needs. When we gather, some people bring their own Anglican Rosaries and we also have a pile to borrow. One of us holds a large poster board rosary, and points to each bead as we recite our prayer.  This helps any newcomer, as well as those of us who need the reminder! Another member introduces the prayer and leads us. Together, we say the Lord's Prayer and our Mission Statement. Our leader introduces one topic on each Cruciform Bead, and then we go round-robin style on the week beads praying for specific people or intentions. We say a final closing together, along with our Mission Statement and the Lord's Prayer. We hand out this outline, and some people take it home and pray it during the week.

Where Two or Three Are Gathered

Some weeks, we are literally "where two or three are gathered" and other weeks we are pushing double digits. It is a small group that participates in these prayers, but this small group really does make a difference. Others see and know that these prayers are going on, and are encouraged by this. Both greeters and choir members have stopped us as we gather and ask for us to pray for someone.
Even though these parishioners are engaged in other duties as we pray, this prayer time is also a vehicle for their prayers. We have shared on Facebook that we do this, and friends of parishioners have seen it and asked us to pray for them during this time. So this has become a bit of "accidental evangelism," helping others get to know and participate in the life of St. Luke's even when they are not physically present. Our rector has felt strengthened and encouraged by the prayers offered during our prayer time, and she reports being able to engage more courageously in her work throughout the week because of these prayers.

Pray Turn Bless

Phillip says, “Without a doubt it has strengthened my experience of worship. I feel comforted and more peaceful as we move into worship time. It has also helped in my role as Sr. Warden. Due to the inevitable conflicts that arise within a congregation, stopping to pray for the ministries and individuals that can be challenging has helped me immensely. It has reminded me that worship is not just for me, but also about my role in the service. Praying for others, and especially for our leaders, reminds me of my responsibility as a member or StL and the body of Christ.”

A Poem in your Pocket

I saw this on the Grow Christians blog, and wanted to share it:

Poems, Prophecy, and Pockets by Melody Wilson Shobe

A few weeks ago it was “Poem in Your Pocket Day” at my kindergartener’s school. This is a day when each student is asked to bring a poem to school to share with her classmates. They can either memorize the poem or print it out and bring it in with them to read. In theory, I am completely supportive of this idea. I’ve loved poetry since I was in high school; my personal collection of poetry books is quite extensive. And I’ve read all about the benefits of children reading and memorizing poetry. So I should be all over this.

Except, of course, it was the end of the school year and between Holy Week and Easter, dance recitals, choir performances, year-end parties, and my daughter’s spring birthday, I was maxed out. I completely forgot the poem assignment until the night before (after my daughter was in bed), so all I could do was set one of the children’s poetry books on the counter and ask my husband to help Adelaide choose a poem in the morning while I attended an early meeting.

I set out the book, gave my husband the assignment, and then promptly forgot about it. Until I picked up Adelaide from school the next day. At that point, she excitedly showed me the colored paper and string “pocket” necklace she had created for her poem. And then she stood up proudly with joy in her sparkling eyes and said, “Mama, I choose the Bible poem as my choice!”

“Huh?” was my oh-so-eloquent response.

“I picked the Bible poem! The one about loving kindness!”

Still not completely sure what she was talking about, I said, “That’s great, do you remember it?”

“I forgot all of it. But I remember that it’s about God telling us to love kindness. That’s why I picked it. It was my favorite.”

“Is it this one, ‘God has told you what is good: to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.’?”

“Yes!!!” She exclaimed brightly. “You know it too!”

Adelaide then flounced off to the playground, poem forgotten. But I sat there on my heels for a moment, stopped in my tracks. The poetry book that I’d left on the table had many options: silly story-poems by Shel Silverstein, familiar nursery rhymes like Humpty Dumpty, whimsical verses about fairies and dragons and princesses. But nestled in between them was Micah 6:7-8,

God has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

And, my husband later told me, without prompting or direction, without hesitation, my daughter choose the prophet Micah.

I’m not sure why, really. Maybe because it was short, or she liked the picture. Maybe because those words sounded comforting and familiar because she’s heard them before. Maybe because she thought it would please her priest parents, that she choose something from the Bible. I don’t know why she chose it, but she did. And her choice humbles and astounds me.

Because here’s the thing, the secret that I’m ashamed to share. I don’t know that I would have even considered Micah, if it were my choice. I don’t really think of the prophets as poetry; as a priest who reads them regularly, I suppose they are made mundane by familiarity. And a poem about books or dragons would have seemed more fun, more something I’d want to share if it were my choice and my friends.

But my daughter chose the prophet Micah, and her choice teaches me. It reminds me that prophecy is poetry. It teaches me that the Bible is the most beautiful book ever written, that it stands the test of time, it echoes through the ages, and still appeals to even the smallest children. It tells me that the familiarity of biblical narrative matters, that it sinks into our bones and becomes a part of us in powerful, surprising ways. And, it challenges me. Because I can’t think of anything better to carry in my pocket every day than a little snippet of scripture, held close, echoing through my day, through my mind, through my heart.

I wonder: what poem would you choose, to carry in your pocket?

I wonder: what snippet of scripture can you hold close today?

Easter 4 Sermon

Be present, be present, O Jesus, our great High Priest, as you were present with your disciples, and be known to us in the breaking of bread and in the scriptures; who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and for ever. Amen.

“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

St. John of the Cross, a Spanish RC priest, who lived during the Spanish Inquisition, and friend of St. Theresa of Avila, wrote those words sometime in the mid 16th century.

We will be judged on love alone…

That’s quite a statement in the midst of the inquisition and yet it is what Jesus preached and lived.

We see that love in the life of Tabitha (or in the Greek (Dorcas)) from our first reading.

She was a disciple of Jesus and a pillar of her faith community in Joppa. We are told of her charity and good works. Many felt her love and care. She fell ill and died. Her body was lovingly prepared to rest.

Disciples in Joppa learned Peter was nearby and asked him to come at once. Peter learned from the widows of the good works & charity of Tabitha, the tunics & clothing she made for widows. Peter puts them all outside the room where they beautifully laid their beloved Tabitha.

He prays and says Tabitha, get up and she does! An Easter miracle.

Tabitha who loved and was known for her love was raised by God, because of her good works & charity.

“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

This week, we celebrated the feast day of Dame Julian of Norwich. She lived in the 14th Century and was attached to a church in England. Her most famous book, Revelations of Divine Life, is the earliest surviving book in the English language to be written by a woman.

In one of her most famous passages, she wrote:

“I desired frequently to understand what our Lord’s meaning was, and more than fifteen years afterward I was answered by a spiritual understanding that said, ‘Do you want to understand your Lord’s meaning in this experience? Understand it well: love was his meaning. Who showed it to you? Love. What did he show you? Love. Why did he show it? For love. Hold yourself in this truth and you shall understand and know more in the same vein. And you will never know or understand anything else in it forever.’

Thus was I taught that love is our Lord’s meaning. And I saw most certainly in this and in everything that before God made us he loved us, and this love never slackened and never shall. In this love he has done all his works, in this love he has made all things profitable for us, and in this love our life is everlasting. In our creation we had a beginning, but the love by which he made us was in him from without beginning, and in this love we have our beginning. And all this we shall see in God without end.”

Love is the meaning, from beginning to end. She also writes…

“God that made all things for love, by the same love keeps them, and shall keep them without end. God is all that is good, as to my sight, and the goodness that each thing has, it is God.”

Tabitha lived that love. Dame Julian wrote about that love.

Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing, heard that call to love. She was born in 1820 to a wealthy English family, and as a young woman, she wrote to a friend: “God called me in the morning and asked me would I do good for him alone without reputation.”

In other words, would she love without counting the cost…which she did, during the Crimean War.

Nightingale and her team of nurses cut a hospital’s death rate almost to zero mostly by introducing sanitary reforms, and insisting that patients required personal care, and she roamed the hallways at night with a lantern, speaking with the wounded and eventually becoming known as the “Lady with the Lamp.”

Charity & Good Works shown in the Love is what we are called to do with the gifts we have, Tabitha in the tunics and clothing she made for others, Julian in the wisdom she gave from her place in the church, Florence in the gift of healing as a nurse…Love is what we give others.

“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

In June 1990, Kate’s friend Larry lay in a coma, dying of HIV/AIDS. When she came to visit, she didn’t know what to say or do, so she found herself doing what she did when faced with any difficult situation.

She sang.

For two and half hours she sang for her friend. Her music was a comfort both to Larry and to Kate herself. That was the beginning of the Threshold Choir: singers who gather to sing for the dying. The first Threshold Choir was formed by Kate and 14 friends in El Cerrito, California. Within the next year, Kate had established four other choirs. Today, there are over 200 Threshold Choirs in the United States and around the world.

Threshold Choirs are made up of three or four singers who go to hospices and hospitals to sing for the chronically ill and dying. Sometimes the singers find themselves singing a soul into eternity. Their acapella repertoire includes songs like Amazing Grace and Simple Gifts, but also includes short, uncomplicated pieces written especially for the choir, like “Hold this family in your heart” and “Rest easy, let every trouble drift away.”

A music therapist at a hospice in Nashville believes that the choir’s music is a transformative experience for the dying: “Music has the power to reach people on a deeper level than any type of verbalization or even sometimes touch can . . . Whether the patient has dementia and can’t remember his or her own name or their daughter’s name, they may remember the song their mother used to sing to them as a child. Taking memories from your past life and being able to experience them as you’re dying is a wonderful thing.”

Singing in such an emotional environment takes practice and the sensitivity to realize that this is a service, not a performance. While their soft harmonies can be very comforting to the dying, the Threshold Choir’s very presence can bring the immediacy of death to struggling families sitting nearby. As one veteran Threshold Singer says of their work, “We sing in a circle of love. In music we are joined.” This is “holy ground,” another singer notes. “The music literally puts its arms around you.” [The Boston Globe, April 18, 2019; The Washington Post, May 5, 2018; NPR, August 14, 2014.]

Jesus said, ““‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

“In the evening of life, we will be judged on love alone.”

Let us endeavor to love one another & all that our God has created. Amen.

Love was his meaning

This week, the church remembers, St. Julian of Norwich. In Chapter 86 of Revelations of Divine Love, Julian reflects on the meaning of her entire written work:

“This book has been begun by God’s gift and his grace, but it has not yet been completed, as I see it. We all pray together to God for charity, thanking, trusting and rejoicing by the working of God. This is how our good Lord wills that we pray to him, according to the understanding I drew from all of what he intended us to learn and from the sweet words he spoke most cheerfully, ‘I am the ground of your beseeching.’

For I saw and understood truly from what our Lord intended that he showed it because he wills to have it known better than it is. In this knowing he wills to give us grace to love him and cleave to him. He beholds his heavenly treasure with such great love on earth that he wills to give us more light and solace in heavenly joy, drawing our hearts from the sorrow and darkness they are in.

From the time of the showing, I desired frequently to understand what our Lord’s meaning was, and more than fifteen years afterward I was answered by a spiritual understanding that said, ‘Do you want to understand your Lord’s meaning in this experience? Understand it well: love was his meaning. Who showed it to you? Love. What did he show you? Love. Why did he show it? For love. Hold yourself in this truth and you shall understand and know more in the same vein. And you will never know or understand anything else in it forever.’

Thus was I taught that love is our Lord’s meaning. And I saw most certainly in this and in everything that before God made us he loved us, and this love never slackened and never shall. In this love he has done all his works, in this love he has made all things profitable for us, and in this love our life is everlasting. In our creation we had a beginning, but the love by which he made us was in him from without beginning, and in this love we have our beginning. And all this we shall see in God without end.”

Rachel Held Evans & Jean Vanier, RIP

Two people I admired, one younger & one older, died this past week...

Rachel Held Evans, 37

Read an Obituary here

Read her importance here and here.

Rachel wrote in Searching for Sunday:

The purpose of the church, and of the sacraments, is to give the world a glimpse of the kingdom, to point in its direction. When we put a kingdom-spin on ordinary things--water, wine, leadership, marriage, friendship, feasting, sickness, forgiveness--we see that they can be holy, they can point us to something greater than ourselves, a fantastic mystery that brings meaning to everything. We make something sacramental when we make it like the kingdom. Marriage is sacramental when it is characterized by mutual love and submission. A meal is sacramental when the rich and poor, powerful and marginalized, sinners and saints share equal status around the table. A local church is sacramental when it is a place where the last are first and the first are last and those who hunger and thirst are fed. And the church universal is sacramental when it knows no geographic boundaries, no political parties, no single language or culture, and when it advances not through power and might, but through acts of love, joy, and peace and missions of mercy, kindness, and humility.

Jean Vanier, 90

Read on Obituary here.

Read his importance here and here and here.

Jean's 10 rules for life:

1. Accept the reality of your body
2. Talk about your emotions and difficulties
3. Don’t be afraid of not being successful
4. In a relationship, take the time to ask: “How are you?”
5. Stop looking at your phone. Be present!
6. Ask people: “What is your story?”
7. Be aware of your own story
8. Stop prejudice: meet people
9. Listen to your deepest desire and follow it
10. Remember that you will die one day

(source: https://millennialjournal.com/2018/09/20/10-rules-for-life-by-jean-vanier/ )

A Prayer for a Married Couple

O God, our Heavenly Father, protect and bless us. Deepen and strengthen our love for each other day by day. Grant that by Thy mercy neither of us ever say one unkind word to the other.

Forgive and correct our faults, and make us constantly to forgive one another should one of us unconsciously hurt the other. Make us and keep us sound and well in body, alert in mind, tender in heart, devout in spirit. O Lord, grant us each to rise to the other's best. Then we pray Thee add to our common life such virtues as only Thou canst give. And so, O Father, consecrate our life and our love completely to Thy worship, and to the service of all about us, especially those whom Thou has appointed us to serve, that we may always stand before Thee in happiness and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This beautiful prayer was written by Bishop Slattery, soon after his marriage, to be used each day in their family devotions at home in Boston, Massachusetts.

3rd Sunday of Easter Sermon

I arise today, summoned by the sun. I give thanks for this particular new day. I arise today, called by Christ, to love as we have been loved. I arise today, invited by Jesus, to claim abundant, eternal life, as promised. Today. Amen. (Bishop Nedi Rivera)

Follow me.

It was what Jesus said when he first invited them to be his disciples. And it is what he says at the end of the Gospel of John, again to the disciples, after the resurrection.

Follow me.

After that first Easter, the disciples returned to their old haunts, their old ways. Even after Jesus came into that locked room twice, they did not go as they were sent.

Instead some spent a night fishing and catching nothing. But in that third encounter with Jesus, they head through the water to shore and share a meal, with the Lord.

Through the waters and meal – communion again with Jesus is realized in these acts. Baptism & Eucharist in water & a meal – is what Jesus does to reconnect with them again.

And after Jesus gets Peter to think about his love, how he is called to feed the sheep, he says to all of them

Follow me.

The third century author and church father, Tertullian, tells us, “But we little fish, who are so named in the image of (our ichthys) Jesus Christ, are born in water and only by staying in the water are we saved.”

That water is our baptism. That water is what Peter swam through to get to Jesus. In that water is the great catch that the disciples had. That water of baptism, is our life and faith, something we grow into and live out of.

That baptismal water is what will be poured over Violet Jane Panoli this morning. It is to their baptism, that our four confirmands yesterday reaffirmed their vows; taking on what their parents and Godparents said on their behalf at their baptisms.

For as Tertullian once said in a sermon, “Christians are made, not born. Christianity does not come naturally…you get Christians out of the baptismal font.”

Our faith is made in that holy water. It is that baptism that guides our faith forward to follow Jesus.

But to sustain our faith, it must be done with intention and love.

And it will not always be an easy journey to live out our faith.

Among the horrors of the Nazi regime during World War II was a plan to euthanize all mentally and physically challenged children and adults throughout Germany and its occupied territories. Bishop Clemens August von Galen in the Rhineland exhorted the people of the region to take into their homes or find hiding places in their barns for all the exceptional children and adults being cared for by Church-related schools and institutions - and then dared the government to try to find them.

In a sermon preached in his cathedral on July 20, 1941, Bishop von Galen called all to resistance.

"At this moment we are the anvil rather than the hammer. Other men, strangers, renegades, are hammering us . . . Ask the blacksmith and hear what he says. The object which is forged on the anvil receives its form not alone from the hammer but also from the anvil. The anvil cannot and need not strike back: it must only be firm, only be hard! However hard the hammer strikes, the anvil stands firmly and silently in place and will long continue to shape the objects forged upon it. If it is sufficiently tough and firm and hard, the anvil will last longer than the hammer. The anvil represents those who are unjustly imprisoned, those who are driven out and banished for no fault of their own."

Our discipleship often calls us to be the anvil: to sacrifice our own safety and security to absorb the blows directed at the poor, the vulnerable, the powerless.

The disciples at first resisted. They feared. They held back. Jesus would visit them three times, to encourage them, guide them, push them onwards in their ministry. It is why he asked Peter 3 times – do you love me? Feed my sheep. Be the anvil.

In resisting injustice, in remaining constant in seeking what is right, we are shaped in the spirit of Jesus' servanthood and formed in his Gospel of justice and mercy. To be an authentic disciple of Jesus, living out of our baptism, means to put ourselves in the humble, demanding anvil-strong role of servant to others, to intentionally seek the happiness and fulfillment of those we love, regardless of the cost to ourselves. For Jesus says to you and me from our baptism:

Come follow me.

Today, we join Violet, her loving parents & godparents, our 4 recently confirmand members of this parish, wherever we are, church or school, work or play, driving or resting – the question – Do you love me? Is the same.

In the words of the great Anglican & Abolitionist, William Wilberforce: “It makes no sense to take the name of Christian and not cling to Christ. Jesus is not some magic charm to wear like a piece of jewelry we think will give us good luck. He is the Lord. His name is to be written on our hearts in such a powerful way that it creates within us a profound experience of His peace and a heart that is filled with His praise.”

And with the Lord in our hearts: in what we say & do we have the work of Christ to do in our world today. Let us hear his words for each of us today:

Follow me. Amen.

#ManyVoicesOnePrayer

We the people are many voices, faiths, identities. When white nationalists attack one of us, they threaten all of us. We will replace their hate with love, their fear with solidarity. We rise as one.
#ManyVoicesOnePrayer 

www.bendthearc.us/oneprayer

Our prayer for America:

Listen, America.
Out of many voices,
We rise as one.
We mourn with one voice those lost.
We grieve the white nationalism that threatens us all.
We the people of many faiths shall join together;
With prayer anchored to action and linked to the hope of a country
Rising out of the many to become ONE.
We have been created so that we may know one another.
Let us be healers of the wound that history has formed
Truth tellers of our nation’s sins.
Let us be healers of the wound our present is forming
Truth tellers of the unholy alliance of
Hate and power
Married to pain and alienation.
Let us be healers of the wound our future cannot afford
Truth tellers of tragedy, but never prophets of despair.
We pray.
We kneel.
We bow.
We dance.
And, By God we rise
As One.