Wednesday, July 31, 2013

OUR PRIEST SEARCH CONTINUES AT ST JOHN'S AND TRINITY EPISCOPAL CHURCHES


A Note From Senior Warden Allen Alexander of St John's

Like many of my fellow parishioners at St. John’s, I did not begin attending an Episcopal church until I was well into adulthood. I’ve often been asked why LaDonna and I (and subsequently our daughters) first came to St. John’s and then continued coming. There is not a simple answer, but one key element was the warmth of the people, who welcomed us as if they were greeting long-absent family. I still see the glow of that warmth whenever we gather, for Sunday services, Christian education, choir practice, work days, and our many ongoing outreach ministries. Another factor that attracted us was the liturgy of the services. Growing up Baptist, we had rarely experienced or understood the traditional liturgies that are prominent throughout much of the Christian world, but as we worked our way into adulthood and took on the role of nomads (because one of us stubbornly refused to quit going to graduate school), we on occasion attended churches with different liturgical traditions—Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal—and began to understand that there was value in the ritual, the practice, and the reflection that these traditions cultivate. So when we came to St. John’s, the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist was a powerful reminder to us of how much we had come to value those traditions that brought us together in prayer, song, and worship.

Another thing that I noticed early on as we began to attend church at St. John’s was how involved lay people were in the conducting of the services—as lay Eucharistic ministers, lectors, leaders of prayer, ushers, altar guild members, greeters, and counters. My first somewhat cynical thought was, “That’s a smart way to ensure that people come to church.” But upon further more mature reflection, I came to see that involving so many lay people in the services was emblematic of an important component of church—people coming together to pray, sing, and worship. And that thought brings me back to my earlier point about part of the draw of St. John’s being the warmth and openness of the people, welcoming all of us into a new and renewing family.

As we continue to live through this interim period and work toward the calling of a full-time rector, we have the opportunity to come together for both the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and for Morning Prayer. We are thankful for the supply priests who will be visiting with us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, and especially thankful for Fr. Jerry Rogers, who has served as our celebrant when he has been able. And we are also thankful for the lay people—Fred Sollars, Julie Green, Gloria Hunter, and Mary Katherine Blackburn—who have stepped forward to serve as officiants for Morning Prayer. This has been a learning experience for all of us, and another testament to how we come together as a church family, finding new ways, and re-discovering old ways, to move forward.
PRAYER FOR A RECTOR FOR ST JOHN'S AND TRINITY
 
Dear Lord, we ask your help in guiding and directing St John's and Trinity in our search for a new rector. Where there are differences, help mold us into one heart and one mind, being ever mindful of the needs of each other. Where doubts and uncertainties may arise, grant us faith and courage to ask what you would have us do. And finally Lord, give us the spirit of your wisdom to find someone who will adopt our families as part of their family, and strengthen us as faithful ministers to do your will. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
Thanks to Allen for permission to post his note in St John's Newsletter.

6 comments:

  1. 'Someone who will adopt our families as part of their family'. Wow. In these days of increasing clerical professionalism, that's not a philosophy of ministry you hear very often. I'm impressed.

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  2. I meant to add that I've served in three multi point parishes (each of them with three churches, and the second and third with long distances between the churches), totalling nearly fifteen years of my ministry. My observation is that they can work very well if (a) there is good will, and not competitiveness, between the points, and (b) folks in the various geographical communities have some familiarity with each others' communities (I.e. the parish 'hangs together' logically as a whole) and (c) the priest understands the differences between the various congregations and doesn't try to treat them all the same, and (d) the people are intentional about caring for their priest as well as being cared for by him/her. My two cents' worth!!!

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    Replies
    1. Our parish is in the deep South. I doubt that an air of formal professionalism would play well here, though that does not mean that we would not want professionalism to be part of a prospective candidate's profile.

      Thank you for the suggestions from your personal experience of serving in multi-point parishes. I will print them and pass them along to the senior warden, who may wish to share them with the Search Committee.

      We have scheduled more than one gathering of members of the two parishes, and we will continue to meet during the search process. We do realize that serving two parishes is challenging for a priest, and I hope we will be intentional about caring for the priest, if we have a successful search.

      Again, I remind my readers that the views expressed here are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views of my parish church.

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