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.
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