Sermons from St. Anne's in-the-Fields: Recent Episodes
St. Anne's in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Due to confusion with Pierce Park, we are now going to hold our June 8 Parish Picnic on the St. Anne’s lawn. The 10 am service, with Baptism, will be held in the Sanctuary, preceded by a blessing of our new patio at 9:45 am, and followed by the Parish Picnic - with a Blue Ribbon BBQ buffet and ice cream sponsored by St. Anne’s.
We hope you’ll join us for a fun-filled day celebrating the gift of the Holy Spirit!
Join us for a special screening of "The Drive to Sing,” a documentary about how choirs around the country creatively continued to find their voices during the Covid Pandemic. The film features the St. Anne’s Choir in action in our own driveway. We’ll have popcorn on hand, and moviegoers are asked to bring their own beverage of choice. Friday, March 14 at 7:30 p.m., 147 Concord Road, Lincoln. All are welcome!
Find out about (most of) what’s going on at St. Anne’s during Lent by reading the Lent Good News!
Download a copy of our Lenten Booklet, a reflective tool for navigating the 40 days of Lent and contemplating the meaning of “grace.”
We’re celebrating seven weeks of Advent this season - read about why and what we’ll be doing by clicking on the image below to download a copy of the Advent Good News.
On the evening of Sunday, November 3 we will observe the feast of All Saints with the Requiem by English composer John Rutter. In this serene and beautiful work, accompanied by a chamber orchestra and beloved by singers and listeners alike, Rutter combines the traditional words of the Latin Requiem mass with those familiar from the English prayer book, setting them to peaceful, expressive music. Gather with us at 5 pm for this special musical event as we remember all the faithful departed.
Before or after you vote on Tuesday, November 5, please come to the Side Chapel for a short prayer service at 12 pm. This service will be a time to center our hearts and minds in gratitude for the gift of voting, for the responsibilities we have as citizens, and to pray for a peaceful election process. The church will be open for drop-in prayer all that day, as well as the following day, so come any time for respite, reflection, and release.
In honoring the Feast of St. Francis, the patron saint of all animals, we will hold a special Blessing of the Animals at our 10 am service on Sunday, October 6. Please bring your live pets (on a leash or in a crate please), stuffed luvvies, or in photos for our clergy to give them a short blessing. This is one of our most enjoyable services of the year, so please join us!
We began our new year together in Children's Chapel in the Library, where we set our Prayer Table and read the Summary of the Law (Mark 12:30-31).
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Then we read Todd Parr's "Love the World," which gives colorful images of loving yourself and loving the world. "Love your face, love your space...Love Yourself! Love the World!" Here are some things on the list of “what we love,” as volunteered by the students and recorded on easel paper.
Books, Trees, Yourself and Being Yourself, Doing Science, Walking, Your Pet, Your House, Languages, Vegetables Gardens, Opportunities, What You Make, The Planet and The Environment, Your Nose, Your Clothes, Slime, Family, Friends, Your Name, Your Nation, Hugs, School, Your Money…
So, this list can lead to some further thinking and conversation about what we each love– or what we each think other people might love. Although the book doesn't explain this directly, the author Parr offers things we can love about our individuality, like "Love your giggle. Love your wiggle," and how we can actively share love in our community, like "Love lending a hand. Love making a stand." The wide variety of things we can love can lend your family some guidance when thinking about prayer. If we conceive of God as the source of love, manifested in the magnificence of the natural world, in our relationships of comfort and support, in the persistence of human generosity, then spending time in prayer is as straightforward as spending time thinking about where and how we experience love.
We introduced the book to the students by saying that this is the theme of our school year together: Love the World. It seems to be a simple theme. Is it? For our children, with their natural sense of wonder, our forty minutes naming Love was simple, and also expansive and layered. Amen. May it be so!
To download a copy of our Sunday School calendar, click here.
This month’s installment of our Spiritual Farm Share (sent out yesterday; click the image below to access), centers on anxiety and the 2024 election. Coincidentally, the National Episcopal Church also announced yesterday this webinar on faithful voting which will be held tomorrow, September 18, at 1 pm EST. Bp. Michael Curry will be among the panelists, with the Episcopal Church's Office of Government Relations moderating.
So, read Joe’s Farm Share (click the image below), click here to register for the Webinar, then join us this Sunday, September 22, at 9 am for our Talk-Back Forum in Flint Hall.
Click on the image to download installment #8 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #7 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #6 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #5 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #4 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #3 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #2 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Click on the image to download installment #1 of our Summer Spiritual Farm Share series.
Organ Recital
For the past few years, Jay Lane has served as Dean of the Merrimack Valley Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. As his term comes to an end, he’s invited chapter members to St. Anne’s to give their annual Members’ Recital, so they can enjoy our newly-expanded pipe organ. This short, informal event will be on Sunday afternoon May 19 at 2 pm. Please come listen!
Pentecost Evensong at Trinity Concord
For many years, choirs from St. Anne's, St. Elizabeth's in Sudbury, Trinity in Concord, and Good Shepherd in Acton have gathered in the spring to sing together in a joint service. This tradition stopped during the recent pandemic, but will resume again in a service of Choral Evensong on Sunday, May 19, at 5 pm at Trinity at 81 Elm St. in Concord. Music sung by the combined choirs will include works by Philipp Racliffe, C. V. Stanford, and Everett Titcomb, who was for many years the musician at the Parish of St. John the Evangelist in Boston's Beacon Hill. The service is free and open to all.
See what’s going at St. Anne’s this Spring! 150th Anniversary, Bishop’s visit, Forums, and more!
In preparation for the solemn season of Lent, St. Anne’s parishioners offered their reflections on “everyday saints” for this year’s Lenten Booklet. Click here to download your own copy, and follow along during these next 40 days as we approach Holy Week in late March.
The snowstorm heading our way tonight - and lasting through tomorrow evening - has caused us to cancel February 13’s Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper. We will schedule something similar and fun after Easter.
First, come eat pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, February 13 at 5 pm in Flint Hall. A host of dedicated flippers will toss you fresh pancakes, onto which you can add fruit, chocolate, syrup, butter, whipped cream… anything you want! It’s a festival of carbs and sugar! All are welcome and no need to bring anything.
Then, at 7 pm on Wednesday, February 14, we begin the solemn season of Lent with our Ash Wednesday service in the Sanctuary. We hope you will join us for this poignant service at which time we receive ashes on our forehead to remind us to choose humility and understanding over pride and willfulness.
And, if you would like to receive a copy of our 2024 Lenten Booklet, please contact Jennie in our Parish Office. The Booklet contains 40 essays, poems, and musings on the theme of “Everyday Saints” by our parishioners, clergy, staff, and friends.
Newcomers and longtime members alike are invited to our Annual Meeting, 10 am on Sunday, February 11. The Meeting is our time to hear about events and accomplishments of 2023, examine our budgets, and look forward into our new year together. Plus we have a few surprises!
The Meeting will follow our single service of Holy Eucharist at 9 am.
We’d love for any and all to join us at 5 pm on Sunday, December 17 for our traditional Lessons & Carols service. By candlelight we sing hymns and listen to scripture lessons of the season.
Each year on the first Sunday of Advent, we hold two very special services of remembrance.
The first occurs at dusk, 4:30 pm, when we light the huge Douglas fir at the top of the church driveway in memory of those we mourn during this usually festive season. The Memorial Tree was planted in the 1980s to commemorate the tragic passing of three young parishioners, and is the centerpiece of a short, poignant service at which we switch on the beautiful lights and hang ornaments for those we wish to remember.
Our Blue Christmas service immediately follows in the St. Anne’s Sanctuary at 5 pm. For those who have lost those most beloved to them, this service allows reflection in mourning and celebration through candles, quiet, and prayers.
We welcome any and all to attend one or both of these special services. For more information, please contact the Parish Office (781.259.8834).
Fauré Requiem for All Saints’ Day, November 5On Sunday evening November 5 at 5 pm we will observe the feast of All Saints with the Requiem by French composer Gabriel Fauré, accompanied by a chamber orchestra. In this serene and beautiful work, beloved by singers and listeners alike, Fauré sets the traditional words of the Latin Requiem mass to peaceful, moving music. Join us at this special event as we gather to remember all the faithful departed.
This Sunday, October 1 at 5 pm, come and experience evensong, an Anglican liturgy of rare and mystical beauty in which the Word is illuminated by music. Our next evensong will honor Thérèse of Lisieux, known as “The Little Flower.” The choir will chant the psalms and prayers, sing the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis as set by Stanford, and offer the lovely anthem “Like as the Hart” by Herbert Howells. Join us!
Please join us in Flint Hall after both services for a lively Coffee Hour and chance to chat with old friends and newcomers. Representatives of our many commissions, fellowship groups, and service committees will be available to tell you about their vital work for the parish of St. Anne’s. The gathering will also feature our “Gallery of Creation” exhibit - a joyous celebration of what we all enjoyed, tried, cooked, saw, and experienced this past summer. This is also the day to bring in your filled pencil cases or supplies! We will bless the students, educators, and cases at the 10 am service. We hope you will join in all this fun as St. Anne’s kicks-off another program year!
Our Catechesis of the Good Shepherd program (preK-7th) begins with Children’s Chapel at 10:00 on September 10. We will all head to the service together for the Sign of Peace and Holy Eucharist. During the Coffee Hour, there will be a registration table for all families with CORI check updates and health/photo forms.
Our Atrium time will begin at 9:30 on September 17, with Parents of Good Shepherd (preK-1st grade) and Mustard Seed (2-4th grade) meeting in the People of God Atrium. Students in People of God (5-7th grade) will attend the 10:00 service and meet in the Sanctuary at 11:15 (after a quick snack in Coffee Hour!) for a Welcome Back and review of Acolyte poise and procedures. All Atrium groups will meet at 9:30 on September 24.
We return to our regular two-service schedule on Sunday, September 10 as part of our annual “Welcome Back! Sunday.” Please join us in Flint Hall after the 10 am service for a lively Coffee Hour and chance to chat with old friends and newcomers. A spoken Holy Eucharist will be held at 8 am that morning, with the 10 am Holy Eucharist including the return of our Choir. We hope to see you there!
Zen for Christians: A Summer Reading & Meditation Series
What is Zen Buddhism? How can Zen strengthen our connection to God/the Divine? How can Zen be practiced by Christians responsibly and respectfully, in a manner that neither appropriates Zen nor violates one's Christian commitments?
In this bi-weekly summer series, we will engage these kinds of questions as we learn about and practice Zen meditation. To do so, we will use Living Zen, Loving God by the Zen-trained Jesuit priest, Ruben Habito, a renowned expert in Christian Zen practice and inter-religious dialogue. Each meeting will be divided into two parts, with the first 35-45 minutes focused on discussing chapters from Fr. Habito's book, and the last 20-30 minutes dedicated to practicing Zen meditation together. Meetings will be hybrid (in-person at St. Anne's and on Zoom) and will meet from 6:30-7:45 pm on the following five Thursdays: June 22, July 6 and 20, August 3 and 17. If you are interested in participating, or have any questions, please email Joe.
The St. Anne’s Social Justice Commission is excited to invite you to its next Climate Justice movie night on Friday, June 2 at 7:00 in Flint Hall. The 37-minute documentary, Current Revolution, describes the challenges of converting our electricity grid from fossils fuels to renewables. Boston University Professor Nathan Phillips, a well-known climate activist, will respond to the film and discuss his work on this issue with ISO New England. A community supper will precede the film. To RSVP, please email Alex Chatfield or Dave Gronewold.
Come and experience evensong, an Anglican liturgy of rare and mystical beauty in which the Word is illuminated by music. Our next evensong (the first since the pandemic) will be offered on Sunday evening April 30 at 5:00 pm, when we will honor St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The choir will chant the psalms and prayers, sing the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis as set by Herbert Sumsion, and offer the lovely “Evening Song” by Josef Rheinberger. Join us!
Our second installment of our Speaker Series “Encountering the Divine” has been rescheduled to Thursday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. Please join us then in Flint Hall for a discussion on the historical and theological connections between Judaism and Christianity.
Encountering the Divine through Multiple Faiths
While we often associate Jesus with Christian traditions, how might we encounter Jesus, and/or the Divine more broadly, through faiths beyond Christianity? Specifically, how might traditions and practices associated with Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism aid us in encountering the Divine? In this multi-week series, three religious scholars from Boston College will lead us in an exploration of how these various faith traditions might help us engage spiritual resources, in a responsible way, beyond the traditional boundaries of Christianity. We hope you'll join us for one or more of these fascinating lectures on the Thursdays of April 13, April 27, and May 4 from 6:30 to 8 pm.
The American Red Cross will hold a blood drive in St. Anne’s Flint Hall on Wednesday, March 22, from 10 am to 3 pm. The need is great, and all donors will receive a $10 Visa gift card, as well as be entered in a $3000 Visa gift card drawing! To register, please visit RedCrossBlood.org and enter the code STANNEITF. Further details can be found by downloading this flyer. Thank you!
Please stop by the church at noon each Wednesday for a simple service of Holy Eucharist around the altar.
We entered Lent this year with new friends, renewed in-person worship, and Atrium time and special offerings. Although we think of Lent as a spiritual journey for each individual, our St. Anne’s children know Lent as the count-the-purple-Sundays in the snow season, listening to parables of Jesus about how God’s Kingdom grows with love for our neighbors and ourselves. To make tough concepts concrete memories this year, our children meet once a month in multi-age Children’s Chapel for the love lessons in The Good Samaritan, Psalm 23, and The Sower. They will have art reflections and practice being creators. They will visit The Butterfly Place to introduce one transformation example of Creation. They will have an opportunity to bake bread for Holy Eucharist, as well as make small pillar candles to receive the New Light after Easter.
In our smaller groups in the Atria, they meet in People of God (gr 5-7) to talk about family surprises and reconciliation in Abraham and Sarah’s tent, Rebekah and Isaac’s blessings of their sons, Jacob and Leah and Rachel’s ancient blended family and sibling rivalries. In Mustard Seed (gr 2-4) children wonder about the Good Shepherd and the Found Sheep, then the Found Coin and the parables of the Insistent Friend and the Ten Bridesmaids. In Good Shepherd (gr preK-1) they will hear about the Hidden Treasure, the Precious Pearl, and the Found Sheep.
Our Teen Formation students were invited to walk with families, our warden and priest, and 3,000 others a few days before Ash Wednesday in the WinterWalk Boston, to support the homeless. Teens also meet with Garrett to play games together and countinue the year’s theme of sacred spaces and reflect on how we show up in them. Some of our teens serve the parish community as the Livesteam Techs and Nursery Staff, as well, and we’re so grateful for their involvement and dedication.
And not to be missed, we will have an all-parish Game Night for everyone to play together on a Friday evening in March, hosted by the Family Engagement Commission!
Lent is here, and in community with our own families and wider parish, we learn that by taking part in our faith family at St. Anne’s, we are given new opportunities to grow and build foundational experiences as children of God and followers of Jesus.
Join us for the traditional pancake supper on the day before Ash Wednesday, Shrove Tuesday! On February 21, 5:00-7:00 we will feast on pancakes and juice and fellowship. Watch the weekly email to sign up and rsvp.
Teen Formation will walk for FamilyAid
It's a half-day mission trip and a reminder of what the homeless of our city endure - we are walking two miles in support of one of many wonderful organizations: FamilyAid. Spend a morning outside church with Garrett, our warden Anne Jones and Sarah Jennings. Click here to register for our team! or contact Garrett or Sarah via email by February 2.
Join us for one of our beautiful Christmas Eve services:
3 pm, Christmas Pageant & Holy Eucharist, with hymns and carols
5 pm, Holy Eucharist with Choir
8 pm, Holy Eucharist with Choir
Perhaps our most loved and joyful event of the season, Lessons & Carols is a service in which we tell the Christmas story through scripture and music. Prophesies, carols, anthems, Gospel readings, and prayers combine to lead us from our Advent anticipation towards the manger. Join us for this joyful service, and plan to stay afterwards for a festive reception.
The holidays can be difficult for those who miss loved ones, whether they have died, moved away, or become estranged. Our Memorial Tree service at 4:30 this Sunday, December 4, remembers the three young St. Anne’s parishioners who tragically died in a car accident many years ago, and allows the opportunity for us to mourn and honor them and all others whom we have lost. Attendees are led in reflective prayer and are invited to hang ornaments for their loved ones. As darkness surrounds us, the Tree’s lights are turned on, and we close the service in peace and hope.
Following this service, we move to the Sanctuary for Blue Christmas, a short service of candles, quiet, and prayer in which we reflect on love, grief, and joy.
We welcome everyone from all walks of life and faith to attend both services.
Please join us in Flint Hall on Sunday, November 27 for our Annual Advent Wreath-Making event immediately following the 10 am service. We have a limited number of kits available - both 12” and 10” wreath sizes with candles, candle holders, and tray - so if you cannot join us, email Jennie to reserve a kit. If you are able to join us in Flint Hall, please bring a few bundles of greenery and a pair of snippers. What a fun and joyful way to kick off Advent!
Rick and Jennie climbed up into the bell tower for a thorough inspection, while Tom pulled the bell ropes from below. Boy is the bell loud! The structure - from yoke to frame to tolling hammers - looks sturdy, though the original wooden wheel definitely needs to be retired. It was great fun to see the names of those who have climbed before us from the 1950s and 1980s, and we will soon learn from a Vermont company, Church Specialties, how we can replace the wheel with stronger, more modern materials.
This week we are honored to welcome The Rev. Martha Hubbard as our guest preacher. Rev. Hubbard currently serves as the Regional Canon for the Northern and Western parts of our diocese. In this role, she focuses on developing lay leadership support in congregations; transition ministry with congregations and clergy involved in search processes for new ordained leadership; and, clergy wellness and family support. She is on the bishop’s senior leadership team. Rev. Hubbard was very involved with the Rector Search Team that eventuated in Garrett’s arrival. Please join us and extend a warm welcome to Rev. Hubbard.
This Sunday, October 23, marks the start of St. Anne’s 2023 stewardship season. With the theme, “there is no such beauty as where you belong,” the 2023 campaign asks for participation by all who consider St. Anne’s their spiritual home. Pledge packets will be available on Sunday for pick-up or will be mailed to you next week. Thank you to all who support St. Anne’s in past years and into 2023!
After the 10 am service on Sunday, October 23, we’ll hold our newly-annual AppleFest! celebration outside. All are welcome, and we invite you to bring an apple-y treat to share with the crowd. Chili and ciders will be offered, and games, crafts, and other fun things will round out the good time.
Our jam-packed issue of the Fall Good News was mailed out last week. Click here to download a digital copy.
Welcome Joe and Shoko!
Our new curate, Joe Kimmell will officially join St. Anne's staff this week, his first Sunday being July 24. We hope you will join us in the Sanctuary for 9 am worship, followed by a welcome coffee hour in Flint Hall.
Joe is originally from Chicago where he grew up in an evangelical church. After college, Joe moved to Lhasa, Tibet as an evangelical missionary. While studying at Tibet University, he met his wife Shoko who was in Tibet for her doctoral research on Tibetan Buddhism from her native Japan, where they were married in 2009. They moved together to the Chicago area in 2010, as Joe completed an M.A. in Clinical Psychology. Then, after moving to Cambridge in 2013, Joe earned an M.Div. at Harvard Divinity School, before discerning a call to ordained ministry as an Episcopal priest.
Now, while Shoko teaches colloquial Tibetan in Harvard's South Asian Studies department, Joe is completing the final year of his Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard in New Testament and Comparative Religion. In addition, he serves as an adjunct professor at Boston College, teaching introductory courses to the Bible. In their spare time, Shoko and Joe love to travel, cook (Shoko), and watch reruns of really old Law and Order episodes (Joe).
Our worship schedule shifts to a single service beginning Sunday, June 18, 2022. At 9 am each Sunday, we will hold a service of spoken Holy Eucharist in the Sanctuary and via livestream.
Our office hours will also change during the summer: we will be closed on Mondays and Fridays, and open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays at the reduced hours of 9 am to 1 pm.
As always, if you have questions, please email Jennie Cook, Parish Manager, at Jennie@stanneslincoln.org or leave her a message on the office phone line: 781.2259.8834, x 201.
We are excited to announce that we have resumed in-person worship now that the building is in the final stages of repair and reconstruction. Due to the end of Daylight Savings Time this Sunday, March 13, we will hold just one service of Holy Eucharist at 10 am; the service will also be livestreamed (to access the link, visit our Home Page).
Next week, on Sunday, March 20, we will hold an in-person spoken Holy Eucharist at 8 am, followed by a hybrid (in-person and livestream) service of Holy Eucharist at 10 am.
Once again the St. Anne’s community joined in creating a compilation of poems, readings, and reflections to guide us through the Lenten season. This year’s theme was about finding the “holiness in the ordinary,” which each submission considered in a unique way. We also included each Sunday’s particular collect. Every St. Anne’s family was mailed a hard copy of the Booklet; if you would like one, download it here or email Jennie to send you a copy.
As you know by now, a ceiling sprinkler head in the hall outside the upstairs kitchen failed the night of Sunday, January 16, resulting in substantial water damage to the core of the building on all three floors. The primary damaged areas are the interior hallways, the copier room, Jennie’s office, and the multipurpose room downstairs. Gratefully, the Sanctuary side of the building was not affected in any way; likewise, clergy offices, the library, the elevator, and other major equipment (except the copier) were unaffected.
The fire alarm system triggered the Lincoln Fire Department, which responded quickly and turned off the water; they also notified church staff. Although the water did not run for long, it was at a high volume. Our multi-talented maestro, Jay, and his wife, Jean, being the only ones able to respond immediately, went over late Sunday night and moved or covered items being dripped on (HUGE thanks to Jay and Jean!).
Insurance claims were filed right away with Church Insurance Group and ServPro’s drying equipment was up and running by Tuesday evening. The cause of the sprinkler failure is still under investigation; it was probably not due to freezing. The affected areas are now completely dried out, and all of the wet materials – carpets, insulation, ceiling tiles, wallboard – have been removed, as has the drying equipment. We expect to be able to start reconstruction very soon.
For now, the building remains closed while we relocate some staff offices and set up construction perimeters. Please assume no in-person activities for at least another week. Some previously scheduled activities may need to be relocated elsewhere in the building or re-scheduled. If you have questions or need anything, please email Jennie at parishoffice@stanneslincoln.org. This coming Sunday, January 30, we will again have one 10 am Zoom service of Morning Prayer, preceded by a 9 am zoom forum on the 2022 budget and a revision of our bylaws. We will let you know as soon as possible about the resumption of in-person services and limited in-person activities. Thank you for your patience and your good wishes!
Tom Shively & Carol Carmody, Wardens
This year’s Lenten Booklet Theme is “Holiness in the ordinary.” We typically associate holiness with our Sanctuary, the Bible, prayer and liturgy and perhaps saints. In observance of Lent and Holy Week 2022, let’s contribute our thoughts and meditations, memories, favorite poems, song lyrics about holiness outside of the church as well. Where have you encountered God? Please submit a page (250 words or less) by February 11 to jennie@stanneslincoln.org. Need help? Contact Joan Perera, Kay Peterson, or Al Rossiter.
We regret that the listing of Memorial Flowers in the Christmas Eve bulletins was incomplete. Please click here for the complete list.
Dear Families,
Was summer a time of reflection for you and your kids? Many of us have approached September by extending our palms in a “Stop! Back off! Not yet!” gesture—which is certainly not a liturgical gesture! I wonder how many students and parents remember the gesture of Epiclesis, made by priests over the bread and wine at the altar and over the font of water at baptism. What does that gesture mean? Might we try to borrow it, not in sacrament, but in contemplation, and hover our hand over Google Photos, Instagram timelines, and texts to family and friends, to locate the Holy Spirit in our life’s moments? Take your child’s hand at bedtime and ask them if they can remember special days in their past when they talked to God while on vacation, while troubled, while in St. Anne’s, when isolated at home, when celebrating a holiday or leading us in song, holding candles as acolytes, sitting in Atrium…
Every year we are growing and transforming. We look for good soil to plant ourselves in. We hope that our children are transforming even when we’re away from them. Our spiritual health is as vital to our well-being as our physical and mental health. We may be a little weary in this painful pandemic, but we can be refreshed if we faithfully extend and receive God’s comfort. Praying with others, asking questions about God and faith, and listening to the Holy Word in church services and in Sunday School are some ways we build our faith, fortitude, and our calls to action as followers of Christ. I find God in conversations with you, in seeing you on the church grounds, in reading emails about your family’s outreach involvement, and seeing photos of your happy and brave travels and everyday family activities and appreciation of God’s Creation.
Remember the appearance of God in the burning bush, in the manna, in the prophets’ declarations, in the proclamation of the Angel and the grace and resolve of Mary, in the teachings and miracles and prayers of Jesus, in the flames of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and in your own heeding of a call to attend church. Model what you want for your children as spiritual beings, as God’s children. As they grow and move into their own chosen pastures, you as parents will be fortified with the knowledge that they can recognize and find comfort in the Good Shepherd who loves them and calls them by name!
Peace and Happy New School Year,
Sarah Jennings
Join us October 3 at 5pm for an outdoor Blessing of the Animals. Animals on leashes or in carriers are warmly welcome, as are stuffed animals and photos.
“I think it matters that Jesus gets annoyed with his disciples. The Disciples are our avatars in the narrative of the Gospels. When they behave as humans would, as you would under the circumstances, they get a clear and uncut rebuff from the Divine. I confess that my favorite readings of the Bible are when Jesus looks to his very human disciples and says, “really?” God appearing as a tempest makes a statement, sure. But side-eye? Side-eye cuts to the quick.”
Lectionary Readings:
Job 38:1-11
Psalm 107:1-3, 23-32
2 Corinthians 6:1-13
Mark 4:35-41
One Sunday morning a mother shook her son awake, telling him it was time to go to church. No effect. Ten minutes later she was back: “Get out of bed immediately and go to church.” “Mother, I don’t want to. It’s so boring. Why should I bother?” “For two reasons: You know you must go to church on a Sunday, and secondly, you are the bishop of the diocese.”
Here we are, bishops, priests, and lay people alike, having rolled out of bed and made it here this morning. Well, maybe we still have some parishioners reclining at home…
Lectionary Readings:
1 Samuel 15:34-16:13
Psalm 20
2 Corinthians 5:6-10,[11-13],14-17
Mark 4:26-34
We were joined by Dale Allison, Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary, to talk about his new book on the resurrection.
“It feels like this is something of our last Sunday of the school year, before we shift into summer mode next week with one 9am service. It’s also like we are at this societal moment of pivoting out of COVID-19 restrictions and more or less going back to normal – if there ever was such a thing. What’s been a bit disorienting for me was the radical abruptness of reopening. It was like the CDC and our civic leaders just got tired of the gray zone of semi-regulated communal life, and rather than slowly undimming the lights, they just decided to flick the switch on, and many of us, accustomed to the dark and coziness of quarantine, are squinting a little bit, trying to acclimate to the bright lights of normal.”
“Imagine a Portrait Gallery approached you and wanted to capture your image for posterity. How would you like to be portrayed? What picture of yourself would you like others to see? And do you think that picture ties up at all with the pictures others have of you? How would you be in this portrait? Where would you be? What emotion, position, look would just capture you?”
“Human beings take around 650,000,000 breaths in their lifetime;
About 25,000 a day. How many of those are we aware?
My Apple watch rings once an hour with a reminder to Breathe.
It’s kind of annoying:
What does it think I’ve been doing for the last hour?
It doesn’t give me a reminder to tell my heart to pump blood
Or to my intestines to digest food.
Why does it suppose I’ve neglected my breath?”
“I am not a priest—I just poorly play one on Facebook live. My study of the Bible is relatively recent and shallow—I didn’t find my way into regular worship until I met Gene. Sure, my childhood featured Easter Sunday services in fluffy Talbots dresses and two-weeks each summer of Vacation Bible School… but those were less an expression of my belief in God than they were my being easily bribed by flowery dresses and weeks of time at Grandma’s house.
I’m not a rector, but Iama writer. I’ve consumed a lot of stories in all sorts of different media. I love the craft of storytelling, and the tropes and tools we writers use to tell a story right. That’s why I think I love John’s gospel.”
“Our tradition provides us two holy books, two sacred texts, to shape our spiritual imaginations. The first text is Holy Scripture – the Old and the New Testaments containing the great story of salvation, providing us the teachings of Jesus, and the examples of the earliest followers. The second Sacred Text is the Book of Creation. We don’t normally think of creation as a text, but all the elements are there. There are characters (both heroes and villains), and landscapes, and family conflicts, and resolutions and more bloody conflicts. And like any text, or book, it’s there for the reader to interpret it. To try and make sense out of it. What’s it about? Can we discern a plot?”
“Bertrand Russell, the famous British philosopher, once gave a public lecture on astronomy. He described how the earth orbits around the sun and how the sun, in turn, orbits around the center of a vast collection of stars called our galaxy. At the end of the lecture, a little old lady at the back of the room got up and said, “What you have told us is rubbish. The world is really a flat plate supported on the back of a giant tortoise.” The scientist gave a superior smile before replying, “What is the tortoise standing on?” “You're very clever, young man, very clever,” said the old lady. “But it's turtles all the way down!
Two millennia ago, while the Stoics, and the Platonists, and the Aristotelians were holding forth about the motions of the planets and the stars and the observable universe, in the back of the room, a little old man stands up, and clears his throat, and says something so preposterous you’d hardly believe it: it’s love all the way down.”
“This fourth Sunday of the Easter season is awash in images of shepherds and flocks. This Gospel passage, and the 23rd psalm from which its imagery derives. The original audience listening to Rabbi Jesus would have been more than familiar with the frequent use of images of sheep and flocks in scripture and teaching.
Years ago, when I dropped out of college for a bit of time that was graciously considered by the dean of students as a “leave of absence”, I lived on a farm in the Upper Connecticut Valley in New Hampshire. This farm raised blueberries and trees and was self-sustaining for its own produce. Living there was, quite literally, living off the land. Like most New England farmers, the man who owned the farm was responsive to his neighbors’ needs. Farming in New England is not for the faint of heart and you survive in solidarity with the other resolute souls who try to earn their living out of that stony ground and frequently harsh climate. One of the neighbors kept sheep, and when he would need to leave town for a time, we took care of his sheep. It was thus that I had a very short-career as a not very capable shepherd. The Mediocre Shepherd, you might say.”
“Easter Sunday puts a pause on the world’s worries: pilgrims make their pilgrammages; choirs belt out their strong hallelujah’s; the pope says mass for thousands; preachers mock death; the adorned altar proclaims spring, and for a brief shining moment the hope of Jesus Christ risen is tangible. But then the world blinks, as it were, loses its concentration and returns its attention to other pressing matters: COVID variants in the air, a border in disarray, a boiling planet and brutal gun violence. Then it turns to look for this hope again, and it’s gone. An array of forces is approaching us led by the baddest bully of them all: death. Where is that Easter bravado today?
One week after, do you still believe in Easter? How? There was once a man who did not believe in Easter. His name was Thomas the Twin; we might call him St. Skepticus.”
Easter Sunday puts a pause on the world’s worries: pilgrims make their pilgrammages; choirs belt out their strong hallelujah’s; the pope says mass for thousands; preachers mock death; the adorned altar proclaims spring, and for a brief shining moment the hope of Jesus Christ risen is tangible. But then the world blinks, as it were, loses its concentration and returns its attention to other pressing matters: COVID variants in the air, a border in disarray, a boiling planet and brutal gun violence. Then it turns to look for this hope again, and it’s gone. An array of forces is approaching us led by the baddest bully of them all: death. Where is that Easter bravado today?
One week after, do you still believe in Easter? How? There was once a man who did not believe in Easter. His name was Thomas the Twin; we might call him St. Skepticus.
I studied Greek in college. And I have to admit I didn’t choose this major for any high or lofty reason; I have since begun to tell people that I wanted to read the New Testament in the Original; that’s not really true. We had something of a “Major’s Fair” at our Orientation Week, and all the other tables were full and bustling except for the Classics table – so I wandered over, and I was drawn in by a kindly professor and a big plate of Grape leaves. I ate 4 or 5 or maybe 12, and I signed my name on a sheet.
I’ve been thinking back on those early days recently, especially my first classes. The first Greek word I learned was the first person singular present tense indicative verb LUO. I quickly discovered it means “I loose.” You learn it on day one of the Greek class because it’s a short, regular verb that’s easy to conjugate. It’s a particularly useful verb for those who’re in the habit of tying up oxen or releasing mules. Now, as a 18 year old boy from a suburban town I didn’t have a lot of life experience to bring to sentences like “I would have loosed the oxen,” or “They are going to loose the donkeys,” let alone “I would have loosed,” “I used to loose,” and “I was going to have loosed.”
But then comes the great day when you first pick up a copy of the New Testament in its original Greek. And then you enter a new world.
Holy Saturday is often referred to Christ’s Harrowing of Hell. A harrow is a spiked implement that is drawn over plowed land to break up clods, tear up weeds, and level the ground for planting. Knowing that bit of agricultural technology gives our figurative use of the adjective harrowing an important layer of meaning. When we speak of a harrowing experience, we mean one that is hair-raising and unnerving, one that disturbs our peace and challenges our sense of security. Whatever in us remains to be broken up and rooted out so that we may be made fertile and fruitful may need to be harrowed. It is not likely to be a comfortable process.
How in the world did it come to this?
I met Daryl in a homeless shelter. Darryl was in his mid 40’s and he was fresh out of prison. He was rather open and forthcoming with me. He told his story about living on the run – drugs, and alcohol had gotten him into trouble. He told me about a life of dishonesty and duplicity, and straight-up fear – taking money from his mother, stealing his neighbor’s car. Because of this, he was always on the defense; always trying to protect something; always fearing that he was going to be found out. He was found out early in the morning after a multi-day bender. He said, “It’s never good when its your own Momma who calls the cops on you.” He was arrested and taken to County. Darryl told me something I will never forget; he said, “I sat there in my cell I was the freest I have ever been in my life. I was as free as a bird in springtime. I didn’t have to run anymore,” he told me.
This is a difficult day, if we let its meaning seep into our being, and into our marrow. It has come to this. Three years of preaching and teaching, comforting and confronting. Three years of mighty acts power, and small acts of kindness. Enigmatic parables, and straightforward and frightening demands. And now this. The last gathering, although most present don’t know it. A frightful wrestling with conscience, and a clear vision of what the next 24 hours would bring. Take this burden, and yet let it be according to your will.
We tend to rush through this week, in a great hurry, it would seem, to get to the end. The place we know, or hope for, or pray for, or simply wonder about. The empty tomb, the encounters, perhaps we can even hold the notion of a Crucified-Yet-Risen-One in our hearts. Yet by rushing through this week, we do the story and ourselves a disservice.
“His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written of him and had been done to him.
Don’t let this last sentence become a throw-away. It is extraordinarily important to linger on the idea that this moment of triumphal entry ultimately becomes, as the gospel tells us, an afterthought. Only we humans have the capacity to offer supplication for saving in one breath, only to scream “crucify him” in the next, and then forget, until later, that we were actually walking with God all along.
Let’s stand right here at this intersection of need, fallenness, and memory.”
“We are now nearing the end of the first month of the second year of the COVID19 pandemic lockdown. While there are glimmers of better times ahead, with vaccinations continuing in their piecemeal, stuttering roll out, we have to acknowledge that the end of this pandemic is not on our horizon.
We can continue to be numbed, or shocked, or outraged as the death count continues to climb. We can affirm that more than half a million of our fellow citizens have died of COVID19. As part of my job at the two hospitals where I now work, I hear the daily litany of new cases, transmission rates, deaths, numbers of people vaccinated, where on the queue of people waiting for vaccines we have reached. It has all become part of the way I live and work. A long, slow process of acclimation to what should have been unthinkable. And then something comes along that rouses me from the day-to-dayness, the shuffling torpor of our current way of being.A study released roughly ten days ago showed that one out of five Americans had lost someone in their family or their circle of friends to COVID19. One out of five. If you live in a community of color, that number climbs to one out of three.”
“…When I go to the grocery store, just me, I often forego getting a cart or a basket. “I can just carry it all,” I say to myself. This past week I had picked up some frozen pizza, and some ice cream, but then I realized I needed some toothpaste, and a fresh loaf of bread, and ohhh some fruit for my smoothies….both oranges and bananas, and of course I may as well get some garlic while I’m over there. I stood in the long line I’m sure drawing long glances from all the cart and basket users. And my foolishness caught up to me as my hands got cold from the frozen goods and my arms began to get weak, and I dropped the bread, and as I fumbled to retain it, I dropped the pint of Ben and Jerry’s and before I knew it the oranges were tumbling out of their bag running ahead of me. And I immediately had the thought, being the preacher that I am: ah, here is a metaphor.”
“I had the thought as I was reading this gospel of Jesus angry in the Temple that Jesus might have really benefitted from the clergy wellness day I attended a few weeks back. You know, every now and again, the diocese will offer these conversations for clergy where they will invite us in to talk about our feelings and experience of ministry. And as they go, these gatherings are very helpful. We talk about the weight of stress, and how stress often makes us act out in less than Christian ways – we get irritable, and snippy, and often our anger acts out in us. And we pick up tools from one another on how to cope with these difficult emotions. Take a deep breath. Recognize them, name them, give them space. But don’t fire off that email in the feeling state. Never send that email. Sit with your anger. Don’t act on it. Where were Rabbi wellness days in Jesus’ era?”
“The Gospel passage we hear today comes from a set of passages that are often referred to as “the hard sayings of Jesus”. These are the passages that don’t offer wonderful metaphors about the abiding and overwhelming love of the Creator of the Universe for frequently errant humanity, or stories of Good Shepherds and lost lambs being brought back to the flock, or children being welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven as particularly beloved of the Almighty. No healing miracles, no blessings, no comfortable words.
These are the stories that demanded much of the audience contained within the narrative itself, the people Rabbi Jesus is directly addressing, They demand even more of those who listen to the narrative– to those who heard the first recounting of the story, when the gospel we know as Mark was a piece of performance art declaimed in front of groups of people. It demands much from a congregation like us, hearing it two millennia later. “
We were honored to have the Reverend Dr. Robert Allan Hill kick off our Lenten Study about the Gospel of John.
““At once the Spirit drove him into the wilderness.”
I wonder: does this Holy Spirit drive us out into the wilderness? That might seem like a difficult question to consider, and anytime I come across a verse that is difficult in the English I take a peek at the Greek just to check if it can clarify or contextualize anything for me. The Greek, this morning, actually makes it worse. The word in Greek is ekballo– literally to throw something out; eject; cast out. It is the word that is used when Jesus exorcises demons. He throws them out. Well, before he can do any throwing out, he must first be thrown out.
Does the Spirit throw us out into the wilderness? It is a difficult question, not least because of how much our society can romanticize the wilderness. We give the wilderness names. We create bookshops on its edges. And we offer guided tours along paths. We load up with insect repellant, sunblock, water, and we go for hikes to get in touch with nature. And yet in every wilderness encounter, the most essential thing is to not forget your car keys. The wilderness is exciting as long as you can leave. And we mostly can. It’s hard to imagine the Holy Spirit driving us out into the wilderness; in fact, it’s just the reverse. We often drive ourselves out there.”
“I come to this season deep in my feelings. My appetite for a weekly examination and contemplation of my wretchedness is nonexistent. Frankly, I have significantly less appetite for watching otherwise comfortable people perform their wretchedness out loud because it’s the fashion of the season. The energy of the next few weeks holds so little appeal, I probably shouldn’t be the person in the pulpit today.
Today is the beginning of Lent and that means we’ve come back ‘round, full circle. A year of living in a transitioning world. We started Lent together as a congregation and ended it on Zoom. We went through the rest of the church calendar sometimes together and most of the time apart, and now here we are again, right back where we started: it’s Lent, this is Zoom, COVID is still here, the world is still broken and still wretched.”
““What world are you living in? Have you ever just wanted to blurt that question out to someone? Say when someone is just blind to those around them, say when you are watching the news – maybe even this past week? What world are you living in? I wanted to say it yesterday – I was in line at Donelan’s and the lady in front of me was on her cell phone, talking pretty loud, and even worse she was laughing loudly, like really loud…. “ma’am, we don’t laugh in public; not at a grocery store; it’s COVID. What world are you living in?”
I think the Transfiguration is that moment for Peter, when he and James and John have to reckon with the world they are living in.”
“Imagine a world where every room you step into everyone there knows your name. You show up, and people you’ve never met greet you, as if events couldn’t get started until you got there: “Hey Al,” “Hey Carol,” how’s it going? It’s a strange phenomenon, to be recognized so immediately, so personally – every room, be it 4 people, or 40. Your stock has gone public. Everyone has seen a picture of you; knows your name. Of course, I’m not talking about you becoming rich and famous, I’m simply referring to life in Zoom meeting rooms.
It’s weird to show up in a meeting for the first time, and before you’ve introduced yourself, everyone already knows you – your name is out there. “Oh look, okay Garrett’s here. Let’s get started.” “Yeah, hi everyone, I’m Garrett.” Here we are, all having tiny tastes of stardom, every day.
‘Do you not know? Have you not heard? It is the LORD who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name.’”
““He taught them as one having authority…”
A friend’s father is a university professor who begins each term in a special way. On the first day of school he wears 2 buttons one on each lapel of his blazer. The button on the left says, “I’m in charge.” The button on the right, “Always question authority.” I love the image, and I would have loved to have Professor Barker. What a healthy sense of authority. Well, I’m not sure Jesus had two buttons on his tunic the morning he stepped into the synagogue, but the people there were impressed by his authority. What we know is that his authority was unlike the scribes; what we are left to wonder and explore is what his authority was actually like.”
At 4pm on Christmas Eve, we held a drive-in service of Holy Eucharist. Many thanks to Anne Jones for sharing these photos, and many thanks to all who made this possible!
“For the present form of this world is passing away.”
We are now into the eleventh month of COVID-19 lockdown, and while there are some early signs of better days in a distant future, we know that this present way of being, this distanced Eucharist, this not sitting together and worshiping together in the same space, this separation from the ones we love and long to hold and embrace, these shuttered stores and postponed events, all this will continue on for the foreseeable future. In Fauci I trust, and he has told us that until such time as three quarters or more of the citizens of the Republic are vaccinated, accept being vaccinated, we cannot expect an end to this way of being. By the time I am next in this pulpit, after today, we can fully expect that more than a half million of our fellow citizens will have died as a result of this pandemic.
“Speak, Lord, your servant is listening. May I speak in the name of One God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Imagine staring down at a city on a clear day from atop a mountain, the highest point within 60 miles. You can see far into the horizon but only hear the sounds nearby, perhaps a chirping bird or a gust of wind. In the deep sea, the rules are reversed. Standing on a ridge several thousand feet underwater, peering out to the ocean’s abyssal plain, you would see almost nothing. But if you listened through a hydrophone, you could detect sounds from hundreds of miles away: echolocating whales, chattering fish, even the occasional energy pulse from seismic surveys for oil and gas.
I read an article back in November in the Times called, “Could listening to the deep sea help save it?” (The subtitle was what really hooked me: “in the abyss everyone can hear you scream.”)”
“It was a strange and disorienting week. One full of grief, and bewilderment, and anger, and fear….legitimate fear. The capital was stormed; lives were lost; there was mayhem and sedition, and the leader of our country was worse than silent. We thought we were leaving the craziness behind in 2020, but the first days of 2021 haven’t been very sane.
One of the beauties of gathering each week, in God’s company, is that our weeks are always brought into another context. Today, with our gospel reading, we are brought to the sandy banks of the Jordan River. Mark makes it a point to say that there were a lot of people there: “And people from the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to him.” It’s Mark’s way of saying, everyone was there. Everyone you know, your whole neighborhood, your whole street….they are there. We are there, too.”
“Startle us, O God, with your truth and open our hearts and our minds to your wondrous love. Speak your word to us; silence in us any voice but your own and be with us now as we turn our attention, our minds and our hearts, to you, in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today is the Feast of the Holy Name. And thinking back on my childhood, one thing I never doubted was that the Lord’s name was holy. Worse than saying “crud,” or “crap”, or calling my sister a “jerk,” worse than all these was saying the name of Jesus in a fit of emotion. Because I knew it was off limits, I’d say it, and then when I’d get in trouble, I’d become my own defense attorney and argue that I said “Geezes,” or “Geez it.” In my childhood, we observed the feast of the Holy Name every day.”
“Did you ever try to describe what God is like? Or to describe what the life of Jesus meant? How do you do that? Do you state some facts? Do you state history? Do you make an argument? Or do what John did, and simply sing? That is how the Gospel of John opens, with an ancient hymn. I once heard the great Presbyterian preacher Robert Cleveland Holland, at whose church I was a singer, compare this sort of scripture to Robert Frost’s poem that describes the fog coming in on little cat feet. That description says nothing about fog coming from dew points and relative humidity, but everything about what the experience of fog is like. The poetry of this gospel’s hymn is emotional more than definitional, but it conveys that humanity and eternity have encountered something immense. That feeling is like stopping to look at a star. it is a “Will you look at that!” moment in scripture.”
Startle us, O God, with your truth, that we may behold, adore, and be drawn into mystery of the Word Made Flesh.
You may have noticed that the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke feels a lot different than the Christmas story in John. Earlier this afternoon we enjoyed the annual and much beloved Christmas pageant – 20 or so of our children took their role as magi and shepherds, angels and the holy family, enacting the story as told by Matthew and Luke. This passage from Johns gospel, on the other hand, is almost impossible visualize, much less for our little ones to act out for us. Could you imagine a Christmas pageant with John 1 as the script? Where are we in this story?
As I have been reflecting on this day I can’t help but think back to Christmas morning when I was a little guy.
“Among you stands one you do not know.
Those were John the Baptist’s words as recorded in John 1:26. Of course, at that time it was literally true that a quiet carpenter’s son from the backwaters of the Roman Empire was rubbing shoulders with lots of people—including the crowds that jostled together at the banks of the Jordan River—but no one had a clue that this unimpressive-looking man was The One, The Word of God, The Logos by whom all things were created, and now made flesh. Sometimes I think that Jesus had a big halo, or a big spotlight on him, or a green arrow pointing down saying “Here is the Messiah.” There wasn’t.”
“The sermon for this morning emerged while I was sitting in a waiting room. And the inspiration for the idea came from the thought: waiting rooms are kind of awkward, and there isn’t a whole to do. There are, I counted, 7 things you can do.
You can consider picking up one of those old celebrity magazines on the coffee table. You can decide to count how many flowers are in the arrangement on the receptionist’s desk…”
““But about that day or hour no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Beware, keep alert; for you do not know when the time will come.”
Startle us, O God, with your truth, and open our hearts and minds to your word. As we begin again this Advent journey of waiting and expecting and hoping, be with us. Speak your word of hope to us. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
This passage as the first gospel reading of the Advent season burns me. My family took no vacations this summer. We did not go home to Maryland for crabs and much-needed time with far-away family. We won’t be going home for Christmas. I have consoled crestfallen relatives. I have had to look into the eyes of my boys and disappoint them after repeating over and over during the summer that “we aren’t going home now in the hopes we might be able to go home when it matters most.” I have had to pull myself together in my own lonely, homesick moments.”
“Startle us, O God, with your truth and open our hearts and our minds to your wondrous love. Speak your word to us; silence in us any voice but your own and be with us now as we turn our attention, our minds, and our hearts, to you, in Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN.
Julian of Norwich lay dying in bed in her early 30s when she was graced with a set of divine showings – mystical encounters with God. If there is one word to describe Julian’s visions it’s that she discovered the eternal God to be kind. Remember Brother Curtis’ reflections from a few weeks ago on this word kind. Its related to our word kin, or kindred. God has chosen in Jesus to become our kin, and in the kinship of incarnation, God is supremely kind. Julian lived at the height of Medieval Christianity that was very concerned with the last judgment: that moment depicted in today’s Gospel when the scroll of history is rolled up, and we stand before the Judgment Seat.”
“If you’re having a bad day, reading the poetry of Emily Dickinson may not be the best idea. The Belle of Amherst lived a lot of her life in isolation and was believed to suffer from severe anxiety. Her poetry is not an ode to joy but more like an ode to truth, to the way life really is sometimes. At one point, she wrote, “I lived on dread.” At another time, she said, “Because I could not stop for Death – He kindly stopped for me.” For Dickinson, life isn’t really about upholding morality, but it is about mortality, death and life, life and death. This is so much a part of her psyche that she says something I would have never imagined. She says, “I felt a funeral, in my brain.” Wasn’t I right that this is not early morning reading? She’s so mortal and understands our human limitations; that’s why I’m attracted to her work.”
Learn and apply a framework for understanding, identifying, and communicating about “race,” systemic racism, and white supremacy in the U.S.
With a shared vocabulary, framework, and foundation of antiracist practice, we can explore how to engage in productive and effective antiracism work.
“We continue to make our lectionary march through the parables as recounted in the Gospel of Matthew, these strange stories that Jesus uses to explain the political economy of this Kingdom of Heaven of which He speaks.
The Kingdom of Heaven – the term He uses for the radical changes in human society and human behavior he exhorts his followers to join. A Kingdom, he promises, that is very near to all of them. A kingdom, He often tells those of His followers who have done something which He finds particularly exemplary, to which they are very close.
The rules and norms of this Kingdom as demonstrated by these parables must have sounded profoundly revolutionary to a poor people subjected to the heavy hand of Roman occupation and its collaborators.”
“There’s a story that during the 1948 Texas US Senate race, a group of campaign workers for Lyndon Baines Johnson found support from some new voters – who were already dead. Johnson and his aides were out one night, illegally registering voters in a cemetery, when they came upon a worn tombstone, moss had grown up around the grave; the name was barely readable. The worker at the stone took a quick look and then moved on to the next. The leader of the expedition called out: “No, no, no, go back and register that person. He has as much right to vote as anyone else in this cemetery!”
Christians believe in the communion of the Saints, a belief that says the dead who are now with God have a right to vote. Or rather they cast their vote with the way they lived. They have cast their lot with God, and in the lives of the saints we know the love of God more clearly.”
Our annual Memorial Tree Lighting will take place on December 6 at 4:30pm. We meet by the Memorial Tree at the top of the driveway for a brief prayer service, and then we hang ornaments on the tree in memory of loved ones. Join us for this moving event.
The Blue Christmas service will take place afterwards at 5:30 via Zoom. This quiet service is for people who feel sadness during the holiday season.
November 15: Episcopal Relief & Development November 22: Places in the Heart — Belonging (Jon Small and Mike Balin) November 29: Places in the Heart — Hope (Tricia Crockett, Walter Colsman, and Deb Howe) December 6: Moth Radio Hour (Gary Poisson)) December 13: Moth Radio Hour (Gary) December 20: Places in the Heart — Light (Mary Kitses, Carole Enright, and Elizabeth Cherniak)
This year’s stewardship theme builds on last year’s: Go Together. In these trying times we are reminded how important community, commitment, and connected-ness to our church and our shared faith journey really are.
We hope this moment can be a celebration of what St. Anne’s has done in this challenging time as well as a recommitment to our shared hopes and dreams for the days ahead. We don’t know exactly what the coming months will look like, but we know we need St. Anne’s. We know the world needs St. Anne’s. And we know how much St. Anne’s needs each and every one of you.
Our annual Advent Wreath-Making event will certainly be different this year. Instead of gathering in Flint Hall during Coffee Hour, staff has prepared take-home kits for parishioners to pick up at designated times before the first Sunday in Advent. Kits will contain a wreath form, three purple candles, one pink candle, candle holders, a tray… and a special surprise! You need only to collect greens from your own yard to complete your Advent wreath.
This fall, we offered St. Stephen’s Youth Programs (SSYP) individual school supply kits for B-READY, the homework club on site at St. Stephen’s. Thanks to all who generously gave pens, markers, scissors, and special-addition-this-year: earbuds. Additionally, we are participating in the new groceries gifts program serving SSYP families on Fridays, named B-LOVE. As always, your thoughtful contributions to the families in the South End and Blackstone Elementary neighborhood of St. Stephen’s are appreciated!
We have all experienced the frustration of not being able to hear someone who is speaking. Our reliance these days on technology for moments of connection raises the stakes, making any sound quality or volume issues not only a frustration but a loss. St. Anne’s has a team working to ensure consistent, clear sound on Sunday mornings, but it will never be perfect. There are simply too many factors involved.
So here are some things we can try at home if we are experiencing sound issues.
A familiar prayer can be a great comfort, but it can also become rote, so familiar that we do it without bringing our heart or mind to the task. I have been guilty of this lately, so I borrowed Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s An African Prayer Bookfrom our library. The book is separated into the traditional types of prayer, but I preferred to open it randomly and read whatever I found there.
St. Anne’s Reopening Task Force has continued to meet several times a month to consider all aspects of outdoor and indoor gatherings. Much of our attention has been focused on embellishing the outdoor services begun last summer by offering communion at 8am and adding an occasional Sunday afternoon service, complete with fire pit. The first of these was held October 18 and the next is planned for November 22. It may become a regular offering.
I’ve been very busy recently, and I’m delighted to report that we now have a working audio system that allows the choir to sing, and make recordings, from their cars! We celebrated the feast of All Saints on November 1st with perhaps the first Drive-In Evensong in the entire Anglican Communion, and we were featured in the Boston Globe: see the article here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/11/01/metro/choir-learns-sing-one-once-more/ We owe a tremendous debt of thanks to Tom Vollaro, who not only supervised the purchasing of the equipment, but also put it all together. He has even attended every one of our our events to run the new sound system. Thank you, Tom!
The Christmas Pageant filming is in production, and our cast will be ready to proclaim the Good News on Christmas Eve to you and your extended family and friends. We tell this story every year, and our St. Anne’s students are sharing their creativity and willingness to say “Yes!” to new invitations to come together in new ways.
Looking Back
Students came to visit St. Anne’s in five different outdoor fellowship events this fall, as well as two Pageant filming afternoons. Atrium groups of grades K-8 meditated in a labyrinth and painted their own for everyone to walk, shared in more chalk art, painted fall trees and votives, hunted for mini pumpkins, learned about the history of voting and wrote postcards to voters, prayed with Garrett, played Bible Pictionary in teen teams, gathered for s’mores, and wrote greeting cards to parishioners. At home, they were offered Sunday School Zooms with presentations, prayer table, and breakout room discussions. All of our kids are working hard in their complicated school lives, so please hold them in your prayers. St. Anne’s will gather them in, at home or in the snowy yard, this winter.
Come one, come all, bring the family….for a “BYOC” fall clean-up day at St Anne’s on Saturday, November 21 at 9am. Nothing is quite the same this year, but know this: There will be an ample supply of Fall grounds clean-up tasks to go with your coffee! And what a nice way to get outdoors and make a difference…..
Of course, our fall focus is leaf clean up at both the Church and the Rectory. But there is a role for ANYONE who wants to participate, regardless of age, skills, physical ability, or energy level. While we hope to have some leaf blowers and chain saw aficionados, cleaning up gardens with rakes and tarps will also be needed.
I was talking to a wise spiritual friend recently and we were sharing the ups and downs of the present moment, particularly how this second wave of loneliness and stress and all the rest is somehow different than the first wave of sickness. You can follow the first wave (read first wave as physical illness) in the newspaper; the second is more subtle, more particular to each person, and, while less physically harmful, so much more soul-depleting. This wise friend said something, well, wise.
The year 2020 has us all registered in the same course, one we might call Impermanence. None of us thought we’d be in this class, but here we are, face to face with change, fragility, and life’s impermanence.
We are living in the midst of what has been called the Twindemic — Covid-19 and also the racial injustices that have been brought to light following the death of George Floyd. In some ways as we are moving closer to the presidential election, you may say we are shifting towards a Tridemic.
How can we survive this moment? What are the lessons this season has for us? How might our traditions of faith and spirituality help ground us in this shaken time? Our Forum series is meant to help us survive this course.
“Love God with all your heart soul and mind. And love your neighbor as yourself. On these hang all the law and the prophets.
The Pharisees come at Jesus with a question about which commandment is the greatest. They are trying to trap Jesus. It’s actually a lawyer that asks the nitpicky question. It’s interesting to note that at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry he had 3 temptations put to him by the devil. Now a few days before his execution, at the end of Matthew’s gospel, in the last 3 weeks of readings, he has 3 tests offered by the religious authorities.”
“Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s. Or in the more familiar language: render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s.
From its beginnings as a minority religious community in the midst of Roman military rule to its status today as a majority faith in a secular American democracy, the church and state are like the odd old crotchety couple who have been in the neighborhood forever. It’s not at all clear that they should have gotten together in the first place, and it’s very difficult to tell what is really going on in the relationship, but given they’ve been seen together for so long, it’s awfully hard to imagine them not occupying the same space.
Full disclosure that when I looked at the lesson for this Sunday, I immediately made plans to preach the Exodus reading. It is one of my absolute favorite readings, and I’ll say a brief word about it later on, but after being in our Bible studies this week, and hearing the different perspectives on the church and politics I can’t resist the minefield.”
“The Gospel today is one of the harder, or perhaps harsher, ones in our lectionary, and many preachers choose to address it by preaching from the Epistle instead, with its familiar and comforting turns of phrase that seem to be part of the very air we breathe. Peace that passes all understanding. Truth, honor, justice, purity, and excellence as human attributes. We can settle into those words like a comfortable old sweater, or a down comforter on one of these cold mornings.”
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11)
“Those words of Jesus in this morning’s Gospel reading are surely among the most comforting in the entire Bible. Lord knows, they hit me somewhere deep—because my burden this morning is a heavy one.
As your preacher this morning, I’m afraid I’m not here to offer comforting words. Rather, I’m here to tell the truth, as hard as it may be to hear. Because that’s what I owe each and every one of you. Because there is no such thing as any real comfort without facing the truth. I think the Gospel teaches us that.”
I remember a talk offered by a therapist in my first-year orientation to seminary, and I think the talk was something like, “How do I know if therapy is for me?” I really don’t remember what the therapist said – I was too busy sizing up the room, thinking about these, my future classmates, and also doing my own diagnostics. Scanning the room, everyone was so fit and sharp looking, everyone’s Nalgene had the coolest stickers. I thought to myself, “No way any of you need therapy.” Again, I don’t remember anything the therapist said but I do remember her response a question I asked her. Trying to appear like I was really engaged, and also psychologically subtle, I said, “I struggle distinguishing between what I need and what I want. I often feel like I need recognition, but when I get it, it’s not as satisfying as I want it to be.”
“In his 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College “This is Water,” David Foster Wallace highlights the difficulty of giving attention and care to the most obvious, matter-of-fact, unmistakable aspects of our lives. He begins this address with a comical little parable about two fish. There were these two fish who are swimming along in the ocean, when a wise old fish swims by and shouts, “Morning boys, how’s the water?” The two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes, “What the heck is water?” Wallace’s speech, which I commend to you, is about the singular challenge raised by these two young fish: how do we as people gain the awareness, the attention to see and notice that most obvious and essential of things – the water in which we are immersed. For Wallace, it takes practice, prayer, and attention to gain the miracle of sight, to be able to see what is right in front you, and say, “This is water. This is water.”
Jesus’ parable for us this morning is like an icy splash of water onto his disciples faces – and he’s trying to shake them awake to recognize the water that is the Kingdom of God.”
“I have to say, after six months of a global pandemic, I'm in better physical shape than I've been in the last decade.
Like many people, I’ve been working from home on a fairly strange schedule. For most of the spring, I'd usually get up around 6:30 in the morning, drink a cup of coffee and answer emails or work on my laptop until around 8:30, then spend a couple of hours with Murray while Alice was in class. We spent the rainy month of April trading off between wandering around outside and logging on to Zoom. With libraries, coffee shops, and playgrounds closed, going for a run together was one of the few leisure activities we had left, other than playing with the grass clippings outside the Harvard observatory. And so Alice, Murray, and I spent most of the spring running from place to place with our stroller, discovering that a two-year-old makes an inspiring, albeit rude, track coach: “I want you to run faster!” “
“In my second sermon here—way back in September of 2018—I preached about my two pet turtles, the Song of Songs, and love. It was a pretty good sermon. I re-read that sermon a few weeks ago, because I wanted to know if anything had changed. I wanted to know much these two years of ministry alongside you had changed what I thought, had changed who I was.
Not very much, it turns out. And unimaginably.”
“There seems to me only one way to begin – and that is talking about what for me has become a parable of this strange and wacky year. I am referring to the drive-in movie screen. Want to know what 2020 has been like? Look no further.”
How comforting to write these words from my office chair! Looking over these last six months, so much of my work has been done away from my big, broad desk here in the Parish Office, and it’s nice to be back among my scrawl-labeled file folders, jumbled bulletin board (whose Kalendar is still on April!), and hidden stash of smokehouse almonds.
I have been “on-campus” quite a bit, though – when we closed St. Anne’s in March, the painting of the exterior of the building had just begun.
In mid-June, 30+ parishioners gathered to form the Racial Justice Allies (RJA) group with the intention of exploring ways to take action at St. Anne’s to address racial injustice. The group has developed a vision statement to articulate our goals:
Racial Justice Allies Vision Statement
· We acknowledge the white supremacism on which our society and economy are built, rooted in 400 years of violence, indifference, and inaction.
· We believe in love, respect, repentance, and opening our hearts and minds to our fellow human beings.
· We commit to:
o Listen, look, and reflect more deeply in order to take responsibility for liberating ourselves from our own biases.
o Create opportunities to connect to, learn from and celebrate with communities of color.
o Identify, support, and take actions to promote racial justice through social, economic, and environmental policy.
I’ve been busy adapting to our strange new world—and I’ve learned how to make and edit videos! Each week I record a prelude and postlude; Jean and I record a hymn; and I also provide something for the anthem, which can be a newly-recorded solo, a recording from past years, or a “virtual choir” piece. This last option, where each singer appears in a box, is very labor-intensive: first I make a video that the singers sing along to as they record themselves, then I combine all the individual videos into one big movie. This complicated process really does give listeners the feeling that we are singing together, and so we gladly do the extra work—we want to keep our community happy and healthy while we tune in from home, looking forward to the day when we can be together again safely.
Your generous online giving through the St. Anne’s website is so heartwarming! If you are a new (or newer, or would-be) online donor, here are some aspects you may not know about.
Also, SSYP Pandemic Relief Fund is no longer accepting gifts for help for St. Stephen’s families suffering from the economic effects of the pandemic. If you have recently made a gift to St. Anne’s for the benefit of the SSYP Pandemic Relief Fund, your gift will be forwarded to St. Stephen’s for their ongoing mission to support their local families and children.
Out of all the church staff, COVID has changed my job the least: our communications already were sent via email, our website, Facebook, and Instagram. A big change for me is that with Greg's departure, I'll be doing tech for the 10am Sunday online service. I've had some practice runs, and I find it both comforting to be in our sanctuary and sad to not have happy voices greeting each other.
We are in the season of Pentecost. “Where has the Holy Spirit appeared in your life this summer?” is a question I have often asked our kids at the start of a new year. I do know a little bit about how we offered our time and attention to one another as a church family. Immediately after our online Pentecost celebration, which included photographs, recorded readings, an offertory anthem, and a sermon all given by students of St. Anne’s, we saw the fire of the Holy Spirit driving protestors into the streets across the nation.
What a year it’s been! It feels like it was just yesterday that Katie and I (and Hank) pulled up to the rectory and began unloading and unpacking and making this place our new home. We were so warmly welcomed, and from the start I had (and still have) an overwhelming sense of being where God wants me to be.
It’s hard to believe that the season is shifting from summer to fall, and as hard to believe that after six months, we are still needing to safely manage and navigate COVID 19 risk in all that we do as individuals and as a faith community. This has been a difficult time for all of us….
But I will go on to say that I feel proud that St. Anne’s has been able to slowly and successfully move forward over the past six months, and I would like to point to a few of our blessings.
Not long into quarantine a friend on a school board shared something she heard the head of school say as they were thinking about re-opening procedures: “We are living at the nexus of persistence and patience as we do our best to plan ahead.” I have very much felt to be at the intersection of persistence and patience. This is a challenging tension to live into – personally, I am much better at persistence. I love a good challenge, or a new opportunity for adaptive thinking. Patience is much more difficult, especially when life throws you into Patience’s classroom and you have no idea when class lets out.
Sicut cervus — G. P. da Palestrina (1525-1594) Translation: Like as the hart desireth the water-brooks: so longeth my soul after thee, O God. —Psalm 42:1
As Christ’s body, we have been given the good work of raising up leaders and empowering them to serve in new ways and in new places. It’s always been a great sign of the life and Spirit present in our community that we do this — forming, equipping, and sending out leaders – and it’s been one of the key ways St. Anne’s in-the-Fields continues to serve our diocese. With this in mind, it’s something of bittersweet news that Greg has accepted a call to serve the people of St. John’s in Charlestown.
“Many people find comfort in the ideas of a divine plan or of the prosperity gospel. It’s comforting for many people to imagine that God must have a plan for everything. It’s comforting for many people to imagine that if they just stay strong and keep their faith, everything will be okay. It’s comforting, at least, until someone else uses these ideas to try to wipe away your pain. Hence the bittersweet title of Kate Bowler’s book: ‘Everything Happens for a Reason: And Other Lies I’ve Loved.’”
“If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to Get out of the Boat. That was the title, some years back, of a popular book written by John Ortberg. And the title reflects what is surely the most common take on this story. Peter had the right idea getting out of the boat, and stepping out on faith…Like Peter, we must heed this invitation, find the courage needed to swing our legs out over the boat’s side, and then step out into the waters…But something tells me this won’t do.”
In mid-June, 30+ parishioners gathered to form the Racial Justice Allies (RJA) group with the intention of exploring ways to take action at St. Anne’s to address racial injustice. Various activities are already underway, and we recently crafted a vision statement to articulate what we acknowledge, what we believe, and what we commit to doing.
"This Joyful Eastertide," arr. Philip Ledger, one of our virtual choir projects from the spring.
Hymn 544 in the 1982 Episcopal Hymnal—our first virtual choir project during the pandemic.
“Like every founding myth, in other words, Hamilton tells us at least as much about how we imagine ourselves today as it does about what happened years ago. And so I find it completely delightful that this bizarre tale from Genesis is how the Bible tells the story of the founding of the people of God. Because the moment when Jacob wrestles with God is like the Bible’s equivalent of the Declaration of Independence: it’s one of a handful of turning points in the relationship between God and humankind.“
“Back in late February and the first week of March, as we all made a few last trips to the grocery store, people stocked up on what they imagined to be the essentials. Some people filled their broom closets with toilet paper. I bought about 300 diapers. And all across America, yeast and flour disappeared from the grocery-store shelves.”
“Well, you have never seen such pathetic vegetables in your life. Tiny lettuce plants shriveled up even smaller than the seedlings we’d bought from the store. Bulbous zucchini two inches long and covered in tiny squirrel chew-marks. The only things that really grew well were the herbs, and that just meant I was trying to add mint to everything until Alice finally got sick of it sometime in mid-July. But the tomatoes were a different story.”
While we will begin offering an 8am outdoor service, our principal worship offering continues to be online at 10am through Facebook and our website. The 10am online service – as well as our other online programming – will continue to be offered throughout the summer and into the fall; whether you are at your summer home, battling a cold, or just being cautious about public safety, please feel encouraged to continue to join us online at 10am.