IMAGINE: Mission

By Jenny Ritter

IMAGINE: Mission

Good Morning. My name is Jenny Ritter, and I am your Parish Coordinator, and Co-Director of Christian Education and Formation. I was asked by the Stewardship Team, to spend some time reflecting on the M in imagine… “Mission”, and then share my thoughts with you.

Where do I begin? The word “mission” can lead you in many different directions. What we “Do” on our own and what we “Do” as a whole… as the members of St. Paul’s.

Everyone has a “Mission”; we are all called into the “Mission” of God in particular ways.

What area in the community do you feel called to serve?

Feeding the hungry? Do you help with the Fish & Loaves program, or with Gleaners?

Are you called to prayer? Are you a member of the DOK or Prayer Chain?

What about the Homeless and forgotten? Have you volunteered with the R.E.A.C.H. program?

Do you “Sing out you Soul” in the Choir, teach Sunday school, or lend you neighbor or stranger a helping hand?

Were you a LACASA angel, helping women and children in need? Or are you called to bring the Good News of Christ to the Lonely, Sick, and the Poor?

Have you taken communion to the sick and shut-in? Set the Altar, worked at a Boutique, English Tea, or Art fair to help those in need?

Served on the Vestry, participated in Service and Outreach projects, Search Committees, or Strategic Planning? As we work towards the future together.

Shoveled the snow, painted, swept, planted a garden, donated money to help with Building and Grounds or hosted a “Coffee Hour”? So that St. Paul’s would be a place of welcome, and hospitality, to all who walk through our doors.

St. Paul’s is a Parish that has continued to serve not only its members but the community that surrounds us, and then some.

The good news for us is that we are not alone in this “Mission”. We have the Holy Spirit guiding us, comforting us, empowering us.

And we have each other, and the Church, and together, participating, resourcing, networking, and supporting each other, we can continue to live into the “Mission” of the church.

Jesus tells the eleven disciples in the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28, to “Go” – go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

I am with you always…

The people of St. Paul’s have been answering this call for over 130years.

“Joyfully growing, giving, and serving in all ways in Christ.”

As we continue to grow Spiritually, and in community, let us remember not only our personal "Missions”, but how we as a member of the Household of God, can continue to serve in all ways, and to never be afraid, for God is with us Always.

Imagine...identity

Jeff Ellison is a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church. 

For the stewardship campaign this year, the stewardship team is asking each of us – you, me – to imagine who you want to be in your spiritual life and what it is you hope for St. Paul’s future.  What is it to imagine?  I think of imagining as looking at the world and seeing it differently than it is now.  It is hope for the future (“What would it be like if – ?”), and it also fills in things we don’t know with what we imagine them to be.  So the word “imagine” will be the topic to ponder this year.  And we’ll do it in a unique way.  We’ll look at the word “imagine” – seven letters – as an acronym that stands for seven different words.  Each Sunday, one of us – today, it’s me – will share a few things on one of the words in that acronym.  The first “I” word in “imagine” is “identity.”

So what is my identity?  How do I identify myself?  How do I imagine myself to be?  This is not something I think about often (or perhaps ever, in the conscious, deliberate way I have since being asked to speak on this).  But pondering it, the things that come easily to mind are what I am to others: I’m a father to my boys and a son to my mother.  I’m a brother.  I’m a friend and occasionally a best friend.  How I relate to others is part of my identity.  It adds to my concept of self, of who I am and who I imagine myself to be.

Part of my identity – of who I am – includes how I imagine God and how I imagine my relationship with God.  That relationship with God brings me here, to St. Paul’s.  Every one of us has a story of how we found this place.  For some, we were brought by our parents or by a friend.  For others (I count myself in this group), we just found it, this small building, sitting on a hill, that a town grew up around; I walked into this place out of curiosity, to see what goes on here, asking how is God present in this place. 

In your personal story, the reason you came here may merely be interesting history.  The person who brought or invited you may have passed away or moved on.  But you’re still here.  This reminds me of the story of Ruth, who when her husband died, was urged by her mother-in-law to go back to her own people.  But Ruth said no.  She told her mother-in-law: don’t ask me to leave you.  “For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.”  Ruth claimed as part of her identity the community she had married into, even though her husband – the one who brought her to that community – was gone. 

In the same way, we are part of St. Paul’s – it is part of our identity – even though the reason we first came through that door is not what brings us here today.  For instance, I am here not because St. Paul’s is a small building on a hill, although it is that.  I’m here searching for God and, in blessed moments, finding God.

What brought you here?  How is St. Paul’s part of your identity?  How do you look for God – how do you find God – here?

The Holiness of God

The Burning bush...

DAYS PASS and the years vanish, and we walk sightless among miracles.
God, fill our eyes with seeing and our minds with knowing;
let there be moments when Your presence, like lightning,
illumines the darkness in which we walk.
Help us to see, wherever we gaze, that the bush burns unconsumed.
And we, clay touched by God, will reach out for holiness,
and exclaim it in wonder:
How filled with awe is this place, and we did not know it!
Blessed is the Eternal One, the Holy God!

It is sometimes hard to see the awe, the burning bushes along the way sometimes. We now more than ever find it hard to trust that God will be there when we need God’s providence and presence that most. But time and time again God is there when we need God most. That was true for the people of Israel and it is true for us. Even when we complain, when we grumble and long for the way things used to be God reminds us that as we travel through the wilderness, with hunger and thirst, plagued by scorching sun and stinging insects, with all the calamities and trials of life, we are assured that God will be with us.

Beyond September 11th

Towers of Light in New York City

Speech given by The Rev. Deon Johnson  on September 11, 2011 at the Dedication of the City of Brighton's 9/11 Memorial

On a clear crisp day in September the world was turned upside down. Against the back drop of an unusually cloudless and warm day the unimaginable happened.  I was beginning my second year of seminary and started my morning on the subway, headed to St. Paul’s Chapel for an interview. As I came up from the subway the usual bustle of Manhattan seemed muted and as I got to the top of the subway stairs almost everyone was looking up. Smoke was coming from one of the World Trade Center towers. It all seemed unreal. My first thought was that a movie was being filmed, something that happens often in NYC, until I heard the sound of an airplane.  I watched in silence as the second plane crashed into the second tower of the World Trade Center, continuing to think that it was all part of a movie.

The realization that this was not some elaborate special effect hit home when pieces of the World Trade Center tower came raining down. All I could do was jump into a cab and make my way back to the seminary all the while listening to the commentary on the radio. As I arrived outside the seminary I remember hearing the bells, tolling a slow mournful toll, calling us to prayer. In the seminary chapel I joined my classmates in prayers for the nation and for the people on the planes and in the towers. Afterwards we made our way to the Westside highway, which looks directly down towards the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. We stood there as those towers collapsed.

The next day I was dispatched to Ground Zero with the rest of my seminary classmates to be chaplains to the first responders and to offer care to the families of those missing. I spent a week praying, comforting, talking and trying to make sense out of all that happened on September 11, 2001.

September 11^th 2001 is forever etched into the fabric of our common history as a day of tragedy and loss. But September 12^th is a day of shared unity and common cause. On September 12^th we were at our best, living fully into the ideal of being the shining beacon on the hill that our forefathers and mothers envisioned.

One of the images that stuck with me from the days following September 11^th was the hundreds of fire trucks, ambulances, police cruisers and other emergency vehicles lining the Westside Highway in New York City for miles. Vehicles from almost every state showing the unity found in common cause.

I spent September 12^th and after praying with those who rushed in to collapsing buildings, praying over remains that were recovered, but most of all seeing the best of who we are as many different people united as one.

It is that sense of unity, of purpose, of hope that enveloped New York City in the days afterwards that is our focus on this 10^th anniversary.  We are a nation comprised of people of many faiths and differing beliefs, but we all look to a God who calls us to hope.

On September  12^th we lived more fully into that hope that unity brings. If we dwell too much on the pain, the fear and the resentment of September 11^th and let them be a cause of division and discord then we dishonor the lives of those who died on that day.  If we dwell on what happened in NYC and Washington DC and Pennsylvania, and we use it as an occasion of separation, disconnection and conflict with each other, then those who would insight terror would have won, they would have fulfilled their cause in making us fear each other and to turn our hope into despair.

Let us instead live into the best of September 12^th while commemorating those horrific acts of September 11^th.  On this 10^th anniversary let each one of us be a testament that we as Americans, called from differences, can be the best of who we claim to be. Let us live the words of the motto of this great nation, e pluribus unum –from many one.

I will never forget that day that changed my life and has influenced my ministry and my call as an Episcopal priest. I will remember those who lost their lives, those who rushed in when instinct said run away, I will reflect always on the events of that faithful day and strive once more for the sense of unity and hope that September 12^th inspired in us all and I ask you to join me in that journey, that together we can be one united people. 

Therefore go forth into the world in peace; Be of good courage; Hold fast to that which is good. Render to no one evil for evil. Strengthen the faint hearted. Support the weak. Help the afflicted. Honor everyone. Love and serve the Lord.

And may God continue to richly bless and keep you and those you love, filling you with hope for the journey ahead and may we once more find that common bond that unites us as one.  Thank you and God’s peace. 

What's on your bucket list?

"I don't believe she died!" As I was rounding the corner in the grocery story these five words intrigued

me. Did someone have a sudden illness and died? Was there an accident? All manner of things crossed my mind. Now I went from hearing a passing statement to being an eavesdropper. "She was only 98, I can't believe she's gone." I almost didn't hear anything past 98. It seemed odd to me that there would be surprise around the death of a 98year old.

Mind you I know people live w

ell pass 100 these days but still. It made me think of how our culture treats death. We live in a society that tells us in subtle (and not so subtle) ways that we will live forever. Turn on the television on any given night and there are commercials for everything from facial cream to luxury cars that proclaim that by owning them we will somehow live forever.

But we know deep down that death is a part of life. We know that we too will one day shuffle off the mortal coil. And yet we deny. As Christians we are well aware that death is a part of life. We do not fear death (or at least we shouldn't), but yet we live our lives in many ways as if we will never face death.

In the movie The Bucket List the main characters decide to live out their dreams once they realize that they are dying. They live their lives as if every day was a wonderful gift with a new adventure around every turn. They became nicer and more loving, valued the people they loved as they tried to truly live each of their last remaining days. I have to wonder if that isn't our call as Christians.

We know that we will eventually die, but do we really live? Does it take a life threatening event or illness to get our attention that "life is short and we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those we love or those who travel this way with us?"

We cannot deny death but we can live the life that God has given us.

2 Corinthians 4:16--5:8

We do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day. For this slight momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure, because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen; for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling-- if indeed, when we have taken it off we will not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.

Internetting God....

This past week the internet went out at our offices. For almost three days we had no connection to the world wide web or anything that goes with being online. This was not a week to be internet-less; three services, a major wedding, multiple meetings and messy church, not to mention getting our regular office work done. Needless to say it was a frantic week.

But being without the internet, a setback though it was, was a much needed deep breath in an otherwise busy-making summer schedule. I found myself outside watering the plants, catching up on some much needed reading and getting around to making a parish video that I have been putting off for a while (that video can be viewed here). Looking back at those three days of not being "connected" I think I was even more connected, connected to my immediate surroundings and the things that have been left to temporary neglect.

I don't want to say or suggest that God caused our internet to go out, God has more important things to do than fry our router, but it was a God given opportunity to realize that sometimes the things most important are not always out there somewhere but right in front of your face.

In reflecting on this past week I thought of the many times in the Bible that God had to get the attention of someone called to ministry. God often has to get our attention and it is not usually with lightening or burning bushes but in simple, subtle ways.

How many subtle nudges from God do we miss in our drive to be productive? In the age of smart phones, ipads and wireless everything how difficult would it be for us to disconnect from these devices and listen for the voice of God? At the risk of being accused of being anti-technology I suggest a time to "disconnected".

With luck, my goal is to take Thursday afternoons as my "technology blackout". To take time to turn off the computer, put away my phone and to listen to where God is calling.

I invite you to take some time to let the technology rest. You may find yourself surprised.

‘Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’ Isaiah 41:10

Finding God in Tomatoes

I have to begin with a confession: I do not like tomatoes. I don't mean I tolerate, or if given the choice of eating tomatoes or not I just choose not to eat them, I mean I go out of my way to avoid anything that remotely looks like a tomato! I have a healthy dislike for tomatoes!

Having said that this summer I planted an organic garden in my limited backyard for the first time to get my hands dirty. This was not a difficult task since Home Depot sells a "grow kit" with instructions no less. So I diligently followed the instructions, connecting part A

to part B and screwing in part C. etc. I even bought seedlings that came with instructions: plant x inches apart, water daily, provide lots of sun. Tomatoes were on sale and I know they are a staple of any garden, even though I don't like them one bit. But into the ground they went. I thought I did a pretty good job.

Until the tomatoes started growing, and growing and growing some more. I realized that my tomato plants were mutants, the flora version of the Frankenstein monster! They took over the garden! The little tomato plants that were supposed to be no higher than 24" are twice that size. The poor egg plant, pepper, rosemary and oregano plants are barely hanging on with the little space they have left. And it would appear that ever branch of the tomato plant (bush? tree? shrub? not sure) has blossomed, so instead of a few tomatoes that I could pawn off to a few friends I can possibly start my own pasta sauce cannery.

I expected a few tomatoes, I got a few hundred tomatoes (well not yet but soon enough). So you are wondering where is God in all this? Well I suspect that God is a lot like my mutant tomato plants. We expect just enough from God but instead we are richly blessed with more

than we can conceive. I find that God shows up in the unexpected and God is always surprising me in ways I would never imagine.

If only we as people of faith could be a lot more like my tomatoes, surprising others with our generosity, with our love, with our abundance. We tend to think that there is always a limited supply but the reality is that with God there is more than enough, much, much, much more than enough.

We serve a God of abundance, not of scarcity, maybe it's time we started living like it.

Care for a tomato?

Matthew 13:1-8 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the lake. ²Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. ³And he told them many things in parables, saying: ‘Listen! A sower went out to sow. ⁴And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. ⁵Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. ⁶But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. ⁷Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. ⁸Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.