Becoming God's New Thing: In Autumn, Turning to the Harvest

Perceiving and cooperating with the good things God "is getting up to" in and around our parish.

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

The Newness of Fall

Dear Ones, 

Do you remember that invigorating sense of purpose at the start of a new school year? That mix of anticipation and anxiety stepping into a higher grade, sure it would be far more demanding than the last. And those cool, crisp evenings arriving earlier each night.

That's how I'm experiencing the many good things emerging by God's grace and the ways you're using your gifts to breathe new life into our parish.

You'll see specific instances of this new life toward the end of this post, but I want to begin with something new happening tomorrow.

The Feast of the Holy Cross  

Tomorrow, we observe the Feast of the Holy Cross, one of twelve major feasts celebrated in both the Western and Eastern Churches.

A Meditative Four-Minute Film:  What’s new is that we haven’t celebrated major feasts like this in recent years, but more than that… We’ll celebrate this Feast with a brief, meditative film to set the tone for the day. This prelude to worship appeals to the poetic and mystical faculties we all possess but may not always recognize.

The Children Will Lead: Also, tomorrow, for the Gospel reading, the children will conduct a Holy Cross liturgy with four short Gospel accounts. These brief Gospel stories invite us to reflect on how the Holy Cross is both a touchstone and an endless resource for our journey and companionship through this mortal life together.

In addition to blessing cross pendants for the children, we will also bless the most recent commission of mantel crosses based on our Altar Cross for pastoral visits.

What other New Things?

A Newly Formed Choir: Nearly twenty parishioners have responded to the invitation to share their individual creative gifts of song and chant. The generous response, combined with the skillful leadership and support of Michael Monnikendam, has created something new and beautiful. Last Sunday’s music was amazing and created a foundation for all our voices to join in glorifying God and refreshing our souls.

Our New Processional Banner:  The hand-sewn parish banner, a labor of love, led our procession and was dedicated and blessed, as were those who created this treasure. Rick Long carried the banner in today’s procession for the Consecration of our new Diocesan Bishop Philip LaBelle.

Children's Formation Every Sunday: A weekly program for children’s formation also began last Sunday and will be on full display at tomorrow’s worship.

Diane Perman, Jackie Halstead, and I have been working together to more fully incorporate children and teens into our liturgical ministries. I’ve shared with them recent research that shows a strong correlation between life-long participation in church life and the degree to which relationships across generations are fostered.

One researcher observed rather bluntly: “Is it any wonder that teenagers leave the church in their high school years? They have never had the opportunity to develop a sense of belonging and loyalty to the faith community. Teenagers don’t leave the church; the church and teens were never introduced!”

So, we are experimenting with a monthly rotation in which children participate and sometimes lead parts of our worship. 

Blessings and peace,

P.S. This post just touches on those things that touch on our Sunday Worship. Many more life-giving things are here or in the works, and you'll see more on these items in today's Companion.

Becoming God's New Thing: Eighth Edition

Perceiving and cooperating with the good things God "is getting up to" in and around our parish.

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

Introducing a New Seasonal Worship Booklet

Dear Ones,

This morning, we will be using a new worship booklet to guide us through the "Late Summer Season."  

Why the change? First, this change is a direct response to the feedback and advice of many in the parish who have expressed a desire for us to be more mindful of our resources. But in addition to reducing the material and time required to produce a booklet for each Sunday's Liturgy, this new format reflects a very intentional move to encourage a more active role for the laity in our worship and to introduce new members and reintroduce life-long Episcopalians to the rich Anglican traditions of our faith as found in the Book of Common Prayer and the 1982 Hymnal. Lastly, it offers helpful insights into the history and meaning behind many of our worship practices.   

Things Changed and Left Unchanged: Nothing has been added to or subtracted from the traditional liturgy. If you heard a recording of today's service, you would be unable to distinguish it from any other typical Sunday's Liturgy.   

Here's what has changed: 

Listening to Scripture: The lessons from Holy Scripture will be printed this Sunday as an insert. After this week, instead of reading along, we'll hear the scripture readings aloud. This ancient practice fosters a deeper connection to the Word of God within our community. Printed copies will be available for those with hearing difficulties or children learning to read. Bibles are also in the pews for reference.

Reciting the Psalms: We'll recite the Psalms together from the Book of Common Prayer, enriching our worship with the familiar and comforting language of our tradition. And for people newer to Anglicanism, this serves as a practical introduction to the Prayer Book.

Regular use of the 1982 Hymnal: In addition to their beauty and our personal history with them, the hymns contained in the 1982 Hymnal trace the church's historical journey, theological understanding, and liturgical practices. Singing these hymns connects Episcopalians to our spiritual heritage and the broader Anglican Communion. Much of what is found in the '82 Hymnal was written for particular seasons of the church year or specific occasions like baptisms, weddings, and funerals, thereby deepening our experience and understanding of the sacred events. Last but not least, these hymns are powerful tools to teach and give expression to complex theological concepts in accessible and memorable ways. We will also introduce music and hymnody of more recently published Episcopal hymnals.

Prayers of the People: We'll use one of the standard forms from the Prayer Book. The names of those requesting prayer will be listed on the back of the insert. During the Prayers of the People, the Intercessor will pause, inviting you to say aloud the name(s) on the prayer card you received with your booklet. The back of the card includes a corresponding prayer from the Book of Common Prayer. In addition to praying aloud for these folks during worship, I encourage you to incorporate them into your daily prayers. This shared practice of carrying one another in prayer will, over time, become a more natural and intentional part of our lives as members of St. John's.

Prayer for our Country: Before the prelude, we'll join in a prayer for our country found in the Book of Common Prayer. This prayer, written nearly a century ago, speaks to timeless Christian and American values. I will offer the prayer today, but in the future, I would like members of the Vestry and parishioners who wish, to sign up to lead us in this prayer.  

I invite you to embrace these changes with curiosity and openness. Some things we try may not work as expected, while others may prove transformative to our common prayer and shared life. We can only discern this by doing. As Christians, our task is not be successful, but to be faithful, trusting the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus' teaching and life within us.

Finally, I want to express my gratitude for all of your suggestions. If you don't see all the changes you hoped for, rest assured that there will be additional changes that reflect many of your ideas in the upcoming seasonal booklet. I am especially grateful for the considerable thought, patience, and intentional work of Michael Monnikendam and Trish Tiura on this project.

Blessings and peace always,

Becoming God's New Thing: Seventh Edition

Perceiving and cooperating with the good things God "is getting up to" in and around our parish.

Do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old. I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth, do you see it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. Isaiah 43:18-19

Missed the All-Parish Gathering? This is for You!

On June 23rd, many members of St. John's gathered for lunch to discover and celebrate the musical and artistic gifts of all who attended. Knowing that not everyone could make it, I wanted to share some of the highlights from that day with you. 

Spoiler Alert: We did an exercise at the luncheon to help each of us identify the gifts we have to share in worship. We captured this information in photographs by inviting each person to stand with others who share similar gifts and the same desire to share them.

When you arrive at church tomorrow, you will see these photos on the walls of the Narthex. After you've had a chance to take them in, a familiar face will ask if you would like to have your photo taken and added to the display. Equipped with an iPhone and a tiny printer, you'll be handed your every own headshot to tape next the faces of those who share your particular gift or skill. 

A Summary of the Gathering:

Our gathering began with a delicious barbecue/hot dog lunch from Joe Kattenhorn and some light conversation. Following lunch, I presented a model for change and transition that Paula Copley, Jim Besaw, and I learned during our week-long intensive training at the College for Congregational Development. The Bridges Model (named after William Bridges) offers a way of thinking about and understanding the challenges we have faced trying to regain our footing during these past two "post-COVID" years — particularly in the area of music in worship.

Next, Michael Monnikendam shared his thoughts about the roles that music and artistic expression have played throughout our development as human beings and in our culture — and how these same forms of creative expression, when used artfully in worship, can intensify and enrich our Sunday liturgy of the Holy Eucharist. In fact, music, art, and worship are foundational for how God forms us as individual Christians and as a Christian community.

All of this was to prime the pump for a group exercise aimed at helping everyone consider the inherent nature of their musical and creative gifts — and to bring those gifts into the worship of God, thereby enhancing and helping shape our Sunday celebration of Holy Eucharist. The exercise was simple and straightforward: it required us to move our bodies to quite literally stand (or position ourselves) where our particular gifts were being invited.

Michael Monnikendam and I held up signs with a word or two that indicated a particular form of creative expression, and asked anyone who had these gifts (and might be willing to share them) to stand next to the sign — and we snapped photos.

Here are a few:  

Singing in a choir

Liturgical Dance or Movement in Worship

Poetry in Worship

(There are several more photos you can view here.)

Here are some of the things we took away:

From the presentations, we gained 

• An appreciation that the years immediately following a major catastrophe like the pandemic can actually be as hard as, if not harder than, the catastrophic event.

• An understanding that there is a period following major disruption, perfectly illustrated in the 40 years that Moses and the people wandered in the wilderness after fleeing from slavery. Namely, that we become so uncomfortable waiting to see what emerges after a major change that we do one or some combination of the following three things:

a) we so long for what was that we cling to the idea that things can simply return to normal,

b) we frantically engage in futile efforts to force a new beginning, or

c) we give up or check out.

• A sense that St. John's is remarkably resilient. Michael Monnikendam shared his initial astonishment at St. John's Sunday attendance, compared to many of the downtown Seattle parishes whose Sunday attendance has not rebounded from the pandemic.

• A sense that Michael Monnikendam answering call for him to serve as our Music Director and Organist signaled the start of a new beginning.

From the group exercise, we learned that

• Inviting members of the parish to reveal the expressive and musical gifts they desire to share creates possibilities that are not realized when we focus on what we perceive to be lacking in the parish or our ministries.

• Energy is generated and new possibilities emerge when we invite people to stand with others around shared gifts. 

• There is an abundance of creativity and energy in our parish, and that we need to find creative ways to gather and incorporate you and your gifts into those who were able to attend the gathering.  

I look forward to seeing you tomorrow and building upon the work begun on the 23rd. 

And if, for whatever reason, you are away tomorrow, we'll keep the photos up and at another time invite you to add your lovely face to the photo of those whose gifts align with your own.

Blessings and peace always,

---

Postscript. When I return from vacation on Wednesday, July 17, Michael, Trish and I are taking the morning to map out the rest of this liturgical year and beginning planning for the next. Central to our planning will be to identify where your gifts can be used to enhance our observances of the many feasts, fasts, occasions and seasons of the liturgical year. M+