Rector's Report 2012: St. John's Episcopal Church

Rector’s Report- 2012

Twenty Twelve has been a blessed year for us at St. John’s. We had six baptisms and four confirmations, and our average Sunday attendance stood at just over 103. Those numbers are well within the average parameters of the years since 2005. But numbers without interpretation are seldom helpful in evaluating who we are, where we have been, or where we are going. And so I offer some other measures which help to round out the picture of life here at St. John’s.
Our finances ended the year in the black.
Average attendance at our weekly Christian Formation events runs in the upper twenties.
We are a regular presence in three nursing facilities and two jails.
Our cooperative meals missions with St. Paul’s Logan involves about 15 parishioners each time.
We give to local pantries and distribute household supplies through the drug court.
We support local schools through job training placement for students and providing cheerleaders a place to practice.
AA and Alanon meet in our undercroft every week.
We participate in community-building activities sponsored by the Mayor’s office, Family Services, and the Fairfield Medical Center.
The Art Walk, community recitals, and the Candlelight Tour allow us to support our community.
Episcopal Parish Health Ministries offers a monthly program here, including a fellowship meal with a speaker, and free blood pressure screening.
We offer three services of Holy Communion and one of Choral Evensong each week, in forms which span the breadth of our Anglican heritage.
Daughters of the King offered a ladies retreat and summer morning prayer in the garden.
Lay readers, altar guild, lectors, ushers, and choristers provide incredible and reliable support for all of our worship services.
Our vestry runs by consensus and votes only where expenditure of funds or canon law requires a recorded vote.
The addition of a Deacon and Licensed Lay Preacher to our preaching rotation has significantly deepened our opportunities to understand the Bible.
Our Vestry does a commendable job staying on budget and planning ahead for the needs of our parish.
Six parishioners from St. John’s participate regularly in Diocesan events and ministries.
We support financially and in prayer several members of parish families who serve as missionaries around the world.
We give regularly to many missions and agencies at home and abroad.
Our office volunteers bring a sense of professionalism and efficiency to our parish operations.
Four members of our parish are actively considering some type of Christian Vocation.
We are one of the few churches in central and southeastern Ohio who worship in the English choral tradition.
We continue to maintain St. John’s building and grounds in a way which shows forth the glory of God and respects the historic nature of Square Thirteen.
We strive to reach out to our community through our website and the rector’s blog.
We remind all who come here of our commitment to Christian unity by welcoming all of the baptized, regardless of denomination, to Holy Communion.
Our parish participates regularly in Deanery and ecumenical activities.
Our youth group meets regularly and has consistent attendance.
You enable me to continue my professional development through annual attendance at “Mere Anglicanism” in Charleston, membership in the Society of St. Alban and St. Sergius, membership in the Communion Partner Rectors, and through regular retreats at the Community of the Transfiguration, an Episcopal Convent in Cincinnati.                                 
We pay all Diocesan asessments in full and on time.
It is my prayer that in the year to come, we might continue to build on this heritage of worship and service, to the glory of God, and to the extension of his kingdom. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bill+

The End? Or The Beginning?

Jesus Christ- Our King and Saviour, My Lord

Rector's Rambling: November AD MMXII

I can't say that I was stunned- perhaps saddened and sickened would be better words.  I had logged on to check my e-mail and the Anglican news servers before going to our October Vestry meeting.  What I had dreaded had at last happened.  My friends in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina had left the Episcopal Church.  In the words of one of their own officers:

"October 17, 2012

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On Monday, October 15, 2012, Bishop Lawrence was notified by the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, that on September 18, 2012 the Disciplinary Board for Bishops had certified his abandonment of The Episcopal Church. This action triggered two pre-existing corporate resolutions of the Diocese made on November 1, 2011 and October 2, 2012, which simultaneously disaffiliated the Diocese from The Episcopal Church and called a Special Convention. That Convention will be held at St. Philip’s Church, Charleston, on Saturday, November 17, 2012.

The clergy of the Diocese are consequently called to gather for a special Clergy Day this Friday, October 19th at St. Paul’s, Summerville. Our meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. and conclude by 4:00 p.m. The clergy of the Diocese are asked to RSVP electronically...

Our time will be spent discussing the significance of the actions taken by the Episcopal Church, our response as a Diocese and the plans for the immediate future. You may read related documents [on the diocesan website].

In Christ,

--(The Rev. Canon) Jim Lewis, Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina"

 

 

The event, so long anticipated with dread, now seems to have been eclipsed by a strange sense of calm.  In the midst of that calm, I picked up Love's Redeeming Work:The Anglican Quest for Holiness, edited by Geoffrey Rowell, Kenneth Stevenson, and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and published by Oxford University Press in 2001.  I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit led me to this 788 page anthology of Anglican spiritual writings through the ages.  As I read, the question began to take shape in my mind, "what is the church, what is the real nature of Christian community?"  For me, this is not just about South Carolina.  It is about friends and family members who have followed their consciences (and I believe the leading of the Holy Spirit) to the Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches.  I will never again be able to receive Holy Communion with them.  It is about friends and family members who have left Anglicanism to attend Evangelical or Fundamentalist churches.  (I believe that they too are following God's leading in their lives.)  Never again will we share that wonderful sense of awe and unity of Spirit which has so often flowed from prayer book worship in antient buildings dedicated to God.  And as the general introduction to the cited work points out, what of those neighbors and friends and others who seek God with their hearts, minds, souls, and strength who have been alienated from formal church structure by the behaviour of us who bear the name of Christ? 

 

I do not believe that "The Church" can be defineed as any mere denominational structure- particularly if that structure can only manage to draw a bit over a half million people on any given Sunday morning for worship.  But such structures may well be localized expressions of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and without organizational and institutional structures, it does not take long until the "faith received" develops into mere folk religion and good intentions.  It first ceases to be catholic, and the loss of orthodoxy, order, and loving unity is usually not long in coming. 

 

And so what am I to do?  What are we to do at Saint John's?  I don't have all of the answers, but here are a few things which cross my mind:

1. I will continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that all who are reconciled to the Father receive that gift by his grace.  I will define the terms of this foundational belief in the terms set in Scripture and in the three historic creeds of the Church.

2. I will order my moral life, with God's help and to the best of my ability, after the example and teaching of Holy Scripture, and of our holy Mother the Church.

3. I will worship according to the forms and traditions of The Book of Common Prayer.

4. I will accept and affirm as fellow Christians all who exhibit in their profession of faith the threefold Johannine test (from the First Letter of St. John) of belief in Christ as defined in Scripture and Holy Tradition (the test of Doctrine), of godly behaviour as defined by Scripture (the test of Obedience), and  of mutual love- which is modeled for us by Christ and his saints in Scripture and Holy Tradition (the test of Love).

5. I will honour and respect the decisions of those Christians who believe that our sacramental fellowship and interchangability of orders must be limited for reasons of doctrine or conscience, and at the same tiime, I will maintain our open sacramental ministry at St. John's to all who have been baptised in the Name of the Holy and Blessed Trinity.

6. I will work to remain friends with adherents of other Christian denominations and non-christian faith groups, whatever events may occur, and whatever organizations to which we belong may decide to do.

7. I will not participate in or condone any actions, conversations, or gatherings public or private which exacerbate the divisions which plague the people of God.  If I find myself in a place where such things are going on, I will physically leave the gathering without any expression of anger, and will pray for all those involved in the situation, myself included.

 

Honestly, I don't know what else to do.  The Church will prosper and accomplish the mission given her by Christ, but she looks less and less like the beautiful church I once embraced.  That brings me some real sadness, but it also calls me to see real opportunity for the Bride of Christ to engage the world in new and exciting ways in a new millenium.  I pray for strength to make the transition to what will be, in the full knowledge that Christ is Victorious.  But I will always treasure in my heart the vision of what might have been.

 

To Christ- the true King!

Bill+

 

 

Why I Love Being A Priest

The Most Beautiful Bird In America?
 

That time of year is upon us again. Friday morning, Chuck and I embarked with Fat Leo the Labrador on our first shoot of the season at Federal Valley Pheasant Farm, outside Amesville, Ohio.  We went five for five, and unfortunately, there was no one there to witness the feat.  Since everyone would naturally assume that Chuck and I would lie for each other in all things sporting, the wonderful claim falls into the same category as a golfing hole in one scored when one is playing alone.  But it was a good day, and Leo settled in pretty fast and gave yoeman's service on the lanes.

Todd Frazier's Rally Starting Home Run

On Thursday, I traveled to the Queen City to see the Reds close their last home stand of the year against the Brewers.  With two down in the bottom of the ninth, the Reds rallied to tie and then win the game.  The game had all the excitement of one of those devotional movie closings when the good guys come from behind to win, and it was great to be there in the flesh with my friends from St. John's to experience the jubilatioin of seeing the team I followed in my youth carry the day.

But the weekend was not all play.  I married a young couple from our parish and felt the joy of their decision to begin their life with each other in Christ.  I gave last rites to a dear friend, really more a sister, who is a longtime member of our parish.  I was priviledged to baptize a little boy whose father has just returned from an active duty deployment with the Ohio Army National Guard.  I had the opportunity to preach twice on our responsibilities as a parish to the children and the new Christians in our midst, and to lead a discussion on the difficult passages of the Bible and how sometimes it is hard to understand how God's character and person is revealed in those passages.  Later in the afternoon I was priviledged to bless a basset, three westies, a springer, a yorkie, a rat terrier, and a beagle at our annual animal blessing.  Along the way I had the opportunity to help a couple of folks with very real physical needs and to lend a listening ear to a handful more.  Oh yes, I also renewed a couple of old friendships and welcomed two families who spend half of the year somewhere else back to St. John's for County Fair week. 

Our Little Girls

But of all the happy and inspiring times of the weekend, the one which perhaps moved me the most was being able to spend time with my grand-daughters.  We laughed and played and fed the chickens and read books and just loved each other.  It is good to have them back in Ohio again.

Surely, life is a mixture of the wonderful and the difficult, of the inspiring and the discouraging, but I am so very thankful that God has immersed me in it as a Priest of His Church.  Someone asked me recently what I would be doing if I was not the priest at St. John's.  I really couldn't give them an answer, because I couldn't imagine doing anything else.  God has blessed me so richly in this place, and for that I am grateful.

Mid-winter Musings

Fairfield County is now firmly in the grips of winter.  The truck thermometer read 22 degrees Fahrenheit when I did my chores this morning at the barn.  A light dusting of snow covers the ground, and the horses are very glad to be out of their stalls now that the ground is frozen (they tear up too much pasture when things are muddy and therefore have to stay in the barn until the ground is frozen.)  Just last weekend, Tristan, Chuck, Leo the fat Labrador and I were shooting pheasants in fifty degree weather at Federal Valley.  We bagged six birds, missed two embarrassingly easy shots, and watched one beautiful cock bird glide into the treeline when Leo got excited and galumphed out of range.  It was a good day with lunch at the local ma and pop restaurant, Cardhu, and Dominicanas.  The slower pace of mid-winter life in the countryside always calls me to consider those things that are truly important, and this year is no departure from that rule.

Monday night, Kathy Heim (our organist) conspired with me to offer evensong at the church.  It is a fitting service for the countryside in mid-winter.  After the sentences and confession, we proceeded directly to Phos hilaron by Robert Bridges and Louis Bourgeois, The lessons from the Feast of the Circumcision were answered by Crotch's Mag and Whitneys's paraphrase of the Nunc set to Orlando Gibbons' Song 1.  There was enough plainsong, simplified Anglican chant, and incense for even me, but the most amazing thing about this lovely service was its spontaneity.  I was in the throes of laryngitis, and so was unable to sing or read my accustomed parts.  Kathy chanted, Ivan led the canticles, Frankie and Ann read the lessons, Ivan and Kathy offered thoughts on the lessons, Paul led the state and church prayers,  Ivan offered those prayers requested by members of our congregation, and I merely received the gift of worship from my friends.  I was helpless in a sense, but through my friends, I met God.  The liturgy was truly the work of the people here at Saint John's, and the experience got me thinking about what might be.

Imagine a place where the Holy Communion was the basis of our life together.  What would it be like for the ancient devotional societies of the church to cooperate in prayer with the more functional modern mission agencies which labour in our parish?  Could it be possible that evangelical commitment to study God's Word might be blended with the devotional practices of the church catholic such as confession and stations?  Could the personal devotional practices of the modern west be coupled with fasting and the disciplines of another age and another part of the world?  And could God, would God, work through such a mix to send his people out in the power of the Holy Spirit to 'preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.' (Isaiah lxi. I)? 

These are the sorts of things I think about in mid-winter.  Perhaps in the days to come, God will unite our hearts to see such a miraculous fulfillment of the prophesies of Isaiah.

Parish News and Upcoming Events

Rector’s Rambling- January 2012

As I sit down to write my first Rector’s Rambling of the new year, It doesn’t feel much like winter. The weather has been in the low fifties, and the rain has cancelled my pheasant hunt with Bill Young and Sadie the Retriever. The horses are a bit cranky about being in through the rains, and I must say that I’d much rather have them out eating grass than standing inside eating hay and oats. But that is December in Ohio. On the flip side of the coin, there is much for which I am thankful as the new year opens. Having Tristan home for Christmas is something I will never take for granted. I suppose Oxford, Ohio has as much potential for accident as anywhere in the world, but it is very unlikely that anyone there is shooting at my son and his friends. I am still rejoicing at Matthew’s ordination in “the California.” The short opportunity to share in his joy, and to see Ashley and the girls refreshed my soul.

 We had a wonderful visit with Bishop Price.  He has been a faithful and long time frind of our parish, and he will officially retire as our Suffragan Bishop with the coming of the new year.  Our's was his last official visit in the Diocese before his retirement. It was good to see so many brothers and sisters officially affiliate with our parish, and the reception in the undercroft was wonderful. This coming Sunday, we will baptize yet another daughter of Eve into Christ’s One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

I have been very gratified by the response to the “Essential 100 Bible Reading Plan” http://e100challenge.com   I do believe with all my heart that if the people of God here or anywhere can increase their Bible literacy, spiritual renewal will follow. The Word of God is indeed sharper than a two edged sword, just as the Bible tells us. To read and study the Bible prayerfully, and with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, is to open ourselves to know the very character of God, revealed in Jesus Christ who said “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

In January, I will be traveling again to Charleston for the “Mere Anglicanism” Conference www.mereanglicanism.com . Believe it or not, the topics and speakers are really quite exciting for a traditionalist priest, and I am looking forward to the trip to hear:

The Rev'd Dr. Richard Turnbull, Principal, Wycliffe Hall, Oxford
Anglicanism In Full Flower: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
The Rt. Rev'd Richard Chartes, Bishop of London
Missionary Visionary: Bishop Henry Compton
Dr. John McCardell, Vice Chancellor, the University of the South
Anglicanism on Fire in South Carolina: The Great Beaufort Revival of 1831
The Rt. Rev'd Michal Nazir-Ali
Amnesia and Anamnesis: How we lost our way
The Rt. Rev'd Mark J. Lawrence, Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina
A More Excellent Way: Shaping the Future of Anglicanism
The Very Rev'd Dr. Justyn Terry, Dean, Trinity School for Ministry
Recovering the Christian Mind: Educating the Anglican Ministry Today
The Most Rev'd Benjamin Kwashi, Diocese of Jos
Recovering a Dynamic Anglican Missiology
I do appreciate the good people of St. John’s making continuing education a part of my package, and hope that the challenge and refreshment I find at St. Philip’s Charleston will invigorate my ministry among you.

On the fifth of January, the clergy of the Hocking Valley Deanery will be meeting with Canon Anne Reed, the Diocesan Staff Member Bishop Breidenthal has appointed to help us develop and implement strategies for creative ministry. We will be discussing how we might cooperate in mission along the route 33/ Hocking River corridor, and especially how we might work together to insure that our brothers and sisters in some of the small churches and preaching stations of our Deanery might have Holy Communion more regularly. In addition to our established missions and parishes, we have sacramental, preaching, and teaching missions in jails, prisons, and retirement homes all up and down the river. I believe God is doing great things in our midst, and hopefully we will strengthen our existing ministries and discern new ways that God might call us to proclaim the Good News to all people.

This Ramble has been more newsy than inspirational, but I hope it will help us all as we seek to discern what God would have us to do in this coming year. Resolutions can be very good things, and I hope that a greater awareness of the opportunities around us might help us to open our hearts to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we seek to live for God in the months to come.

Faithfully,

Bill+