Fourteen weeks ago, we said goodbye, for a spell, to our hard-working rector and his family, as they took some time to fulfill some of their dreams, to travel and explore, and to be together in ways that haven’t been possible in a long time.
At the same time, the parish laity took on full responsibility for running our parish church, to experience what is required to do that in 2022, to try some new things, and maybe gain some insights into what kind of parish we want to be as we move – please, God – into a post-pandemic future.
It will be exciting and revealing, in the next few months, to compare notes with Fr. Grey. What did he think about while he was gone? What new experiences widened his vision? What things did he miss, and look forward to having/doing again when he returns? What things was he hoping he would not find the same as when he left? And we will share with him our wins and our challenges: What things did we discover are sustaining, and what things have we thought better of, on reflection? The vestry and congregation will find ways to have conversations about these things.
As your senior warden, it has been my canonical duty to lead in managing the church’s property, affairs, and common life with integrity, and to see to it that we continue to care for one another, continue as witnesses of our Lord, and continue the patterns of worship that strengthen our faith and make it accessible to others.
I can tell you that my eyes have been opened to some realities these last weeks. One is that an awful lot of great stuff happens here. Our 10:30 Sunday worship soars with the talents of amazing vocal and instrumental musicians. Our children delight us as they respond to a revived Sunday School program. We have been inspired by eloquent preaching of diverse clergy from across the diocese. Every week, our newsletter has had a prayerful reflection written by a member of our laity. We have folks with the technical know-how who are tackling our most stubborn Zoom/wi-fi issues, resulting in systems with increasing functionality and reliability. Our Faith @ 8 Sunday service is growing, and its members find spiritual sustenance in its nontraditional pattern of worship. On December 3, an incredibly fun (I promise!) party is planned, to welcome Grey and family back, and this party will double as a fundraiser for the church.
Here's another observation: Even though our church is not a large one, its ambitions are large, and it contains enough people and initiatives so that something is always happening! There are work flows and projects that must be managed, pastoral needs to attend to, unexpected events in our aging buildings, unexpected events in our aging selves (!), unexpected outcomes that arise from the execution of our ministries, normal but vexing conflicts that arise because we’re all human and fallible, and unexpected developments of many kinds that are utterly beyond our control.
Running Memorial Episcopal Church is a job too big for one person. But, during the pandemic, we fell into a pattern of relying on Grey way too much. We didn’t do it out of meanness, or out of not caring about our church. We did it out of the same pandemic exhaustion that gripped nearly everyone. For most of us, getting through these nearly three years has required all of our energy just to keep ourselves, and children, and our vulnerable adults, alive and healthy. Our energies for the church have been diminished, and we fell into a pattern of letting Grey take up the slack. Dutiful servant that he is, he took on the enormous challenge, but it was not sustainable.
Along came the sabbatical, which Grey had the good sense to take in order to preserve himself, and us, for the long haul. Quite a few in our congregation stepped up to do the work that needed to be done, with joy and determination to renew our commitment to making Memorial a beacon of the justice that Christ came to earth to make manifest. By grace, the “wins” that I noted above resulted. The Holy Spirit, always waiting patiently for us to hear her call, is stirring in our hearts again.
Our task now is to renew and sustain our attention to the Spirit’s call, and not to revert to relying on our rector to do it for us. Together, with us doing our part in God’s work, we can do so much more than Grey can do on his own, amazing though he is.
I hope that we will each prayerfully consider what part we will play as we move forward, and respond with a resounding “Yes!” when Grey or a fellow parishioner come asking for the gift of our time and talent. Let us go forth, rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. Alleluia!
Bill Roberts.