The Plan

Rector’s Address 2013
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Epiphany/CEpi3_RCL.html


“Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works…”

Today’s readings are filled with the power given to us to proclaim Christ’s Good News. “Do not be grieved, for the LORD is your strength.” “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” So let’s celebrate the richness and the mission given us! This is not a day to remember old sorrows, but to delight in one another and in God and in our calling.

One year ago we began a year of renewal we called “kindling.” Kindling sets sparks to try and start a fire. We took a chance on God and one another—on God, that God was not done with Saints Peter and Paul and could bring new life among us; on one another, that we could have new conversations and move from quiet despair to new faith and new hope.

And the fire was kindled! There is a new spirit among us, there is a new electricity and a renewed sense of Christ’s presence on Sundays and at other times. We have paid close attention to reviving vital elements of our common life like fellowship and hospitality, music and worship. This has not been without effort and cost. The bishop gave us some funds to begin renewal. We used part to fund the new hospitality coordinator’s position. The rest we use to fund the Rev. Karen Ward’s time as “missioner.” We added significant funds from our own reserves to Karen’s honorarium. The results of this investment are reflected in the long list of “what we did” in your report. I think it was money well-spent. Others of us worked hard to accomplish all that as well.

We have welcomed newcomers this past year that have brought joy and enthusiasm and new energy to us. Among these are Kathy Fitzgerald and Brian Fitzgerald, Aaron and Anna-Lisa Miller, Aaron Kelly and Amber Stewart, Stephanya Portucalian, Brian and Kelly and Abigail and Luke Petersen, and Greg Eicher. We have welcomed a new Music Minister, Mak Kastelic, who has re-energized interest and engagement with our music and who has already helped us deepen and broaden it.

Growth is hard and real growth means change. A few long-term members have chosen to leave us in the last couple of years. I grieve for that, but I have learned that when new life emerges not everyone chooses to participate. I pray them peace and I thank them for all they have shared of themselves. We are still searching for new ways to carry out traditional leadership roles like Vestry and Treasurer while keeping things simple so that new energy can grow unimpeded. We need, by the way, to release faithful Alice from her long and wonderful tenure as Treasurer and welcome ways and energy to do that. Perennial issues like finances still follow us. But a good friend of mine asked me, “How are things going?” and hearing my response, he smiled and said, “So things are going great! You just have budget problems.”

The Spanish-speaking Misa community does nothing but grow, and we welcomed a Vestry member from that congregation. There is a sense of maturing at the Misa as they go about ordering their life. In two weeks some of the members are offering a tamale fund-raiser in order to help support the church.

These areas of growth in our shared life empower us to do what the Bible and today’s Collect ask us to do. We are not here for ourselves alone. We are here for the larger community and world. A new conversation has opened about outreach to the poor as well as “in-reach” to our own members especially the homebound. We organized ourselves to better welcome and care for the homeless and mentally ill who join us on Sundays. Meanwhile, we are taking responsibility to care for our own, especially our elderly.

Someone recently asked me, “What’s your plan?”

Well, my “plan” has been to stay open to the Spirit. This past year has held many surprises and we needed to be ready to trim our sails. But this is what I have heard and seen God doing among us, and so this is my “plan”:

We will keep exploring what “renewal” means for us. We learned this past year that no one has much energy for speaking abstractly about “renewal”, but a lot of energy came from doing concrete things. We’ll keep doing things that we feel are Spirit-led and we will reflect on the results. We will also stop doing things that do not involve proclaiming the Gospel or where energy is not present. The bishop told us recently, “Do less, but go deeper.”

We will follow through with our mission goal of re-establishing a Children’s Formation program, open to using our resources to hire a Children and youth Ministry Coordinator.*

We will deepen our involvement with the life and concerns of Montavilla. Contacts with the neighborhood and engaging common concerns puts flesh and bones on the Gospel’s call to love our neighbors.

We will deepen our knowledge and experience of Anglo-Catholic spirituality through learning a new way to talk about liturgy together. We shall begin doing this during Lent. The Celtic voice will be more active in worship as it is today, as the Celtic inspiration has attracted some fine new membership since we began exploring it. We will also choose carefully and plan carefully for the times when the two language groups among us meet for common worship.

We will develop music as outreach and hospitality. On April 20 we are hosting a concert of the Portland Chamber Group, which we will offer as a gift to our neighbors and as a way to raise money for outreach. This is a start to opening our lives and our building to sharing in music with the larger neighborhood.

We will put our building at the service of the Gospel and of our neighbors. Since the preschool’s closure we have an empty, quiet building most of the week. It is bad stewardship to spend resources maintaining buildings we only use for a few hours each week. They need to be busy. Partnerships with the neighborhood, or with service agencies, or as means to generate revenue, or all of the above needs to be accomplished by next Fall.

We will explore new ways of ministering and doing mission with several of the parishes of the East Side. The joint Shrove Tuesday will be only the beginning of seeking ways to develop a real shared life among our churches.

How are those for “plans”?

I am realistic about how parish priesthood is changing for those of us serving vibrant but financially challenged settings. I was a hospital chaplain even before I was an Episcopal priest, and I am returning to my older trade through an internship at Good Sam hospital. I am realistic about my need to supplement my household income with additional ministry outside the parish. Most of our neighbor churches are experiencing similar things. Life is nothing but change, and church is not where we take refuge from change. Church is where we entrust ourselves to Jesus Christ who is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in whom we can trust while we engage the inevitable “changes and chances of this mortal life” as a Collect says. Christ is in charge, and in the end we do well not by resisting what he is doing in the world and in our midst, but by surrendering in faith and trusting that Christ knows what he is about. After all, if the servants of Christ do not really trust in him, then who will?

*not included in submitted written text at Annual Meeting, but added verbally