Speaking the truth to Power and Money!

Go Down Moses!

In a few more minutes from now, we will baptize Logan and Makenna Franey. Last week, we baptized four youngsters and today we will baptize two more. If I had my way, I’d baptize as many kids and adults as I could get my hands on almost every Sunday of the Christian year. It is especially appropriate to baptize folks on Pentecost as we did last week, on All Saints Sunday in November, on the great Feast Day of the Baptism of our Lord in January, on Easter Eve and on the occasion of a visit from our Bishop.

As Pentecost celebrates the gift of the Holy Spirit to the church; a time when the Spirit of God fills our lives and thus the church is born, so now we come to the great feast day of Trinity Sunday. 

On this day we celebrate the great mystery which is in the Name of God. 

In the former instance, Moses was minding the flock of his father in law Jethro, just passing the time of day as it were, when he happened upon a mysterious sight. There before him was a burning bush and yet it was not consumed. It was on fire, yet it didn’t burn up. 

“What’s this?” Moses mused.

God answered from somewhere deep within Moses’ heart. “Take your shoes off Moses. The very land on which you are standing is holy ground. I have seen the sorrow and the suffering of my people in slavery. I want you to go and tell old Pharaoh ‘Let my people go!’”.

Moses reasoned with himself; “What then shall I tell the people? Who are YOU. What is your Name. “Every god has a name. Who then are YOU? 

God said; “I AM. That’s who I AM.”

Moses and God spoke together and began a dialogue which we continue up to this day. It is a dialogue of the inner heart. The "I am" who I am is always in conversation with the "I AM" of who God is. You see, it is a conversation of the inner heart. It is a conversation born out of the discovery of "Being" itself. I discover that I am. If I look deeply enough, I discover that God IS too. 

Yet having established the obvious is not enough. There is something to be done about the fact that God IS and so am I. God and I both have noticed that there is suffering, oppression and injustice. And when God in my inner heart notices such a thing God wants me to do something about it. God wants me to go to Pharaoh and tell him; “Let my people go.”

But, like Moses, who wouldn’t be afraid of going to Pharaoh and telling him to release the foundation stone of his economy? Who wouldn’t be afraid of going to the power holders, and the money holders of any age and telling them, “Let my people go”? Telling the truth to power and to money is a terrifying challenge. Look what happened to Jesus when he spoke to the money holders in the Temple precincts!

When God’s people suffer from the rod of oppression, my heart will not be silent. God’s heart will not be silent. And we must then be on our way to Pharaoh. We may resist doing so out of our fear. Pharaoh will resist complying with the mandate for justice. He will not give up without a fight. Power and money will resist mightily against the call for justice.

But God will make known the way and the truth and the life, there is no possible way to make your way to God if you are the agent of suffering and injustice, and somebody must be willing to say so. 

“Go down Moses; and tell old Pharaoh; ‘Let my people go!’”

That’s why God’s flames burned within the bush where Moses stood without consuming its leaves. This is why God’s flames burned over the heads of the disciples at Pentecost. This is why God’s flames of loving justice burn within our hearts today. It is to catch our attention. It is no magic trick. It is God’s heartache over the suffering of God’s people.

Does your heart not ache with God that so many suffer in the throes of warfare, poverty, unemployment, crime, natural disaster and disease? It is bad enough when we suffer from the caprice of nature. “The thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to” (Hamlet 3:1) as the Bard would say cry out to our hearts and our prayers. Yet so much suffering is caused by the print human hands. 

Do you not want to speak up to Pharaoh?  Are you looking for a place to speak your heart or God’s heart? Then follow the money. Speak to power. That will guide you to where God wants you to go. God has seen the suffering of his people. So have you. Look at inner city Philadelphia or Reading and ask yourselves; “What’s this? What is this suffering?”

Why not just give everybody in America a good job with full benefits. Surely if we can bail out banks too big to fail, we can put our own people to work...don’t you think?

Life is a prayer obviously. We’re always speaking to our own hearts and in our own hearts and to the hearts of others. God’s heart is within and among our hearts. Calling us again and again to go to Pharaoh.

My prayer is a conversation with you much like I do every Sunday. No need to bow your heads or close your eyes when you pray, especially when we pray out loud like this, or when we are alive to God and our brothers and sisters. If I were to pray in this moment I might begin to use some of the words of Richard Rohr, a Franciscan who speaks widely in ecumenical circles; a wonderful prayer for Trinity Sunday:

“O God your name is veiled in mystery, yet we dare to call you Father, your Son was begotten before all ages, yet is born among us in time, your Holy Spirit fills the whole creation, yet is poured forth now into our hearts.” ~Richard Rohr

I like that prayer for this day. You have created us. You have redeemed us. You fill us with your gifts of the spirit and fill us with your wisdom. And now you speak to us and say; “I have noticed the suffering of my people. Go to Pharaoh and tell him; ‘Let my people go’”.

When I Baptize Logan and McKenna today, I will ask them as I ask you to seek justice and to respect the dignity of every human being. You and I must go to Pharaoh to make possible the Dream of God in which we can “do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.” ~Micah 6:8

This is not just a fanciful dream. It is a fire burning in the bush, and God tells us to take the shoes we’re wearing and remove them because the very ground we’re standing on is holy ground. 

God wants us to see what he sees. He wants us to see the suffering of God’s people. He wants us to go to Pharaoh and tell him “Let my people go!”

On this Memorial Day weekend we remember those who have paid a dear price for our freedom and who had the courage to speak up to the power of an oppressor of another time. We have come to another time in our Nation’s history where more is to be done to bring justice to the poor and to the suffering. It will be a different kind of struggle. It will be a different kind of warfare. So much of the suffering of our people is now from a place that presents itself to us in many disguises.

Seems funny when even Congress notices that Apple and Google pay next to nothing in taxes. The British Parliament is beginning to catch on to the same phenomenon there. You and I pay our taxes. Why not them. Yet, it's all perfectly legal. We voted for our representatives. They voted for the tax code. Mmm! Something fishy is going on in our democracies.

But there is plenty of time for all that. For one thing I do know, someone will go for God and tell old Pharaoh to let my people go. Right now, lets get on with something to gladden our hearts. Lets baptize Logan and Makenna in the Name of God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen

Fr Paul

A Wonderful Pentecost!

What a Wonderful Day!

Pentecost 2013

This is an important day for these young people and their families. We have three baptisms this morning and another half a dozen youngsters who will receive their first full official holy communion. Also we can now say with joy that as of July 1st you will have your new rector with you: Fr David Green. And we can also say with some sadness that I, Fr. Paul will also be leaving within a few short weeks. Sad to say both Bishop Paul of the Diocese of Bethlehem and Bishop Tom of the Diocese of Massachusetts are experiencing significant health problems.

But it is still a Wonderful Day...filled with the wonders of God. By now we know that all of us are constituent parts of the Glory that is God’s. In our Baptism,  Communion, Confirmation and Ordination; each occasion marks how important each of us is in the eyes of God. We are more than equal in God’s eyes. Each one of us is infinitely precious to God. You are worthy of forgiveness; a fact that is good news indeed. But you are also of such value to God that you are worthy of eternal life! How wonderful is that!

That has been my message to you since I came here. And this is the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus. You are forgiven! You are the beloved of God who shall live forever. Your eternal life begins in your baptism. Your eternal life is nourished by the Holy Eucharist; that communion with God which we celebrate each and every Sunday in this church.

Pentecost is important to us for another reason. It is the birthday of the church. It has been fifty days since Easter. The word Pentecost means “fifty days” and it was an important feast day of the Jewish People in the Ancient Near Eastern World. The Feast marked a celebration of the giving of the Mosaic Law which of course marked the birth of the community of Israel. Thus God gives birth to that community on earth dedicated to the service of God and God's people. That community on earth will from then on organize its life around the needs of humankind.

The Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples that first Pentecost. There was a mighty rush of wind. Each disciple was filled with the Holy Spirit and then they were able to speak intelligently in languages that people from all over the world could understand.

So too in a few short weeks 10 of us will be on Pilgrimage to France and we will hear language which has quite a different sound to us; like these words from today’s Gospel;

17 l'Esprit de vérité, que le monde ne peut recevoir, parce qu'il ne le voit point et ne le connaît point; mais vous, vous le connaissez, car il demeure avec vous, et il sera en vous. 

“This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.”

Because the spirit of truth is within you, you know how important God’s Church is to all of us and especially to these children which the church blesses today with Baptism and the Holy Eucharist. 

The Church, like any family, has to be constant in its effort to reach beyond itself both in love and with something as practical and real as money. Lets face it, if your family is like mine, it always seems as if there is more month left at the end of each check. Why should it be different for the church? It always seems to be that we’re a bit short of cash just like every family I know. Why would God’s Family be any different?

That’s why we conducted what we called our Summer Effort last year. Thankfully because of your generosity we raised just over $21,000 and we were able to balance our budget at the end of last year. This after staring a $40,000 deficit in the face when I came here. How wonderful that your generosity made so much possible.

As you can well imagine we need to stretch a bit this year too. We have a deficit again, but not as daunting as last year, still, it is not to be taken lightly. Add to that, there are some improvements necessary in the Rectory to make welcome your new Rectory family. The bathrooms and the kitchen need some updating, and we can do most of the work ourselves, but there still is the cost of materials.

Taken together, we estimate that we will need another $25,000 to meet our financial requirements this year. Therefore allow me to announce our Spring and Summer Effort this year. Cindy and I have promised $500 and your Vestry has promised $5000. So we’re well on our way to our goal.

We need100% participation. If everyone kicks in something extra, we can certainly make our goal of $25,000. Some of us can afford to give more, some less, but the point is for all of us to give what we can. And remember this; It is not so much the amount of the gift that counts but the amount of love that goes into the gift.

This is a wonderful day! Pentecost! The birthday of the Church! Baptism for three babies! First Communion for half a dozen more young people! Preparing for a Pilgrimage to France! A Spring and Summer Effort to make provision for God’s Church.

This is all God’s work. God’s work is worth doing well. This is God’s church. God’s Church is worth giving of ourselves to the fullest measure of our ability.

Speaking of God's work, I can tell you of one of the most important five minutes of my life. I had been summoned to the principal’s office. Yikes! Let me preface what I am about to say with a conversation I previously had with my guidance counsellor. I’m sure many of us can tell horror stories about such encounters. Algebra was nearly the death of me. I loved languages, but algebra! My marks were mediocre. So the guidance counselor told me to forget about college and set my sites on a trade school. Enter now the conversation with Mr Craddock, my principal. He said I understand you want to go to college. “Yes, sir”. I understand you want to be a clergyman. “Yes, sir”. Then listen to me, young man. If you promise to me that you will work as hard as you can to bring your marks up, then I’ll promise you that I’ll get you into the college of your choice in the Province of Ontario. I applied myself, and got those better marks. I got to college. A whole new world opened up to me then. That was in the winter of 1962-1963! It was because somebody believed in me that I began to believe in myself. And that has made all the difference. This is God's work!

These youngsters we bless today with Baptism and First Communion deserve more than just smiles and well deserved pride. They deserve our faith, the kind of faith that will make ample and generous provision for their continued nurture in the knowledge and love of God. They need to know we believe in them. We need to know that God believes in us. God needs to know that we love his church. So, remember to give what you can to make provision for these children and their church, these children and your church.

Thank you, Fr. Paul

God Exists! I can Prove it!

God Exists! I can Prove it!

"Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you”

I’ve never told you that I can “prove” the existence of God! But now that we are drawing near to the end time of our relationship as priest and congregation, I must tell you that I have proof that God exists.

It came to me at a clergy conference many years ago when John Coburn was our Bishop in the Diocese of Massachusetts. Bishop Coburn has a very special place in our hearts since it was during his episcopacy that Cindy and I met and fell in love and got married. He officiated at our wedding along with my first boss, The Reverend Chester Porteus. He blessed our rings and was very kind to us. Cindy was Roman Catholic at the time and Bishop Coburn assured us both that she could enjoy all the privileges and responsibilities of full membership in the Episcopal Church without actually going through the mechanics of being “received” into this branch of the church. The bishop understood large Italian families.

For example, Cindy’s mom came to my office one day during our courtship and asked me what we Episcopalians believe in anyway. I told her that we believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. She looked surprised and said; “You believe that?” I showed her the Nicene Creed in the Book of Common Prayer and explained to her that we recite the creed every week when we say Mass. That seemed to satisfy her.

Cindy’s dad was another story. I knew it bothered him that his daughter wanted to marry me. In his mind, there was only one church. So we went for a long walk one day and he was looking for the right words. Finally, he said to me, “I don’t like my daughter getting married outside the church.” I hesitated, stopped him dead in his tracks, looked him straight in the eye and said to him; “The day you start going to church is the day I’ll take your objections seriously. Until then, you have nothing to say.” That was pretty nervy on my part! While I don’t think that satisfied his reservations, he did hold his tongue on the matter, and he still doesn’t go to church. His daughter and I do, and so does at least one of his grandchildren.

But lets get back to the “proof” for the existence of God. As I say I was at a Clergy Conference in the Diocese of Massachusetts. We were in Falmouth on old Cape Cod in the off season in the early spring. There was still a chill in the air and I remember that there was a session with the bishop, and clergy morale at the time was a bit low. There was some grousing about this and that and I was growing impatient with my colleagues. Clerical “thumb sucking” as I call it is unbecoming to the church and the clergy, and I always want to scream out; “get on with the work, people!” But  I held my tongue then. 

But Bishop Coburn’s eyes twinkled and he stood in front of us smiling like the proverbial Cheshire cat and he said; “I can prove to you the existence of God”. The room felt silent. Were our ears deceiving ourselves? This is the Bishop of Massachusetts, formerly the President of the House of Deputies, the man who engineered the passage of the 1979 Book of Common Prayer and the Ordination of Women through the legislative process of the General Convention. No mean feat! And here he stood, claiming he could prove the existence of God. This should be interesting. We were all ears.

There was a long silence, when someone said; “Go on!”

The Proof

He said; “It is quite simple and quite obvious. If the wife of a priest can believe in God after all she knows about him, then, by God, you know there has to be a God!”

The room erupted with laughter. After all, the Bishop had to deal with plenty of clergy and their spouses on a regular basis. All the saints and sinners among us. All the celebrations and joys as well as those tragedies and dilemmas that confront the human condition on a regular basis. 

Cindy and I have been through plenty of life. And so it is in that same spirit just last Monday Cindy said to me; “I rewrote the prayer for the search committee this morning around 4am.” We’re both in the habit of waking up around 4am with something stirring deep inside. Cindy knows plenty about me. And still she loves me and she loves God. And, by God, she believes.

You may be interested in what she wrote. It is only slightly different from the prayer for the search committee that's we have been using now for some time. Let me read it to you:

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a rector for this parish, that we may call a faithful priest, who will care for your people; and, in turn we your people will care for our new priest and family. Together we will equip and support one another for our ministries while remembering to be open to your will and that of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

You will notice here that Cindy added several key phrases, firstly; “that the people in turn will care for our new priest and family”. And that phrase is key. This congregation is a caring congregation and sometimes it is important to remember that someone should check on the wife of a priest from time to time. Someone should wonder, how is she doing. After all, Bishop Coburn is right...if she can believe in God not only after all she know about him, but also what she knows about congregations, good God then you know that there is a God.

Cindy added another key phrase; “while remembering to be open to your will and that of the Holy Spirit.” The priesthood is a way of life. It is a calling. It is not a job. You and your priest together form what Paul calls the Priesthood of all believers. You are not hiring somebody to work for you. You and your priest together are listening to the still small voice of God within, you’re waiting on that moment when you “know” that the Holy Spirit has moved within you and then, and only then you cast your vote for a call or for any major initiative in ministry you share.

This is what your Search Committee and Vestry have done. And because they have acted in this way, God now has the possibility of working with you to support one another in your ministry together. And what a wonderful gift that is when you can discern the call of God at this particular moment in time.

The Feminine Dimension of God

There is a feminine dimension to our spirituality. God is not just “A Mighty Fortress”, God is also the Child of Mary Mild, the Mother of God as she is called in Orthodoxy. Even in creation God is said to have created us in the image of God “male and female”. And the Holy Wisdom of God “Sancta Sophia” as she is called in the Eastern Church comes to us in the feminine form.

It is interesting that in so many cases it is the Grandmother who brings a youngster to know something of God. Fathers, Mothers, and Grandfathers can do so too...but how interesting it is to me as a priest of the church to record the number of cases I’ve seen where it was the Grandmother’s nurture, the Grandmother’s love, and her fierce no nonsense discipline that formed the spiritual values, ethics, and joy of a child in knowing and loving God.

When I think of the existence of God, I cannot help but think of my Grandmother and her love for me, and my undying love for her. And so too my wife. My soul-mate. 

The Social Dimension of God

There is a social dimension to our spirituality as well. In our Baptismal Covenant we say that we will respect the dignity of every human being. compare and contrast that with current events. This week we’ve seen tragic events in which young women are treated with exquisite cruelty on Cleveland’s West Side. And even in the Air Force an officer in charge of protecting women from assault has himself been charged with the very crimes he was supposed to be protecting women from. There are, of course, other matters effecting the social well being of women. Equal pay for equal work is still a promise yet to be realized. A woman’s free right to be sovereign in her own body is even now a matter of controversy and debate. For much of the world of faith women are called to bE second class citizens or subservient.  If you think for a moment that Cindy is prepared to “submit to the authority” of her husband, then you don’t know Cindy. Our love and our life is a partnership not a hierarchy. 

If I were to wish my wife and other women a Happy Mother’s Day, it is more than sentiment, flowers, or a meal out in a nice restaurant. We are all united in the challenge to work for the deepest respect and love for all women...a respect for equal rights under the law and robust protection from those who would abuse or assault them.  We are called to respect the dignity of all human beings.

And to imagine what it was like for Mary to bring the Holy Child to birth, to nurture him, love him and even discipline him. And then at last to hold him in her arms as he is taken down from the cross, that final and ultimate love to hold your child in your arms when it is all over...and then to know she believes in God!

There it is in Michelangelo’s Pieta; one of the most heart rending sculptures in Western Art. The Mother Mild holding her son in her arms, now a lifeless form after so much hope and healing and so many miracles. Yet on the cross, he died an excruciatingly painful and shameful death. There were no miracles then, there was only the brutality of a crucifixion.

And yet somehow she believed in God even before the Resurrection! The love she bore for him in her heart is God’s Grace in Believing. On Mother’s Day or any day, it is the Grace of God’s love and our love for one another that gives us faith that our loved ones live with God both in this life and in the life to come.

So to my wife who believes in God even after all she she knows about me; and to Mary the Mother of God who even after all her sorrows believed in God and to the tireless, indefatigable love of a million moms and particularly those gathered here today; Happy Mother’s Day and thank you for believing. You are the proof that God is!

A Membership Drive!

A New Idea!

In so many ways this is a new idea for Episcopalians. We’re so used to infighting and membership loss over the past half century or so that it seems all we know how to do is loose members.

But now we have a whole new church. We are increasingly an “inclusive” church. We are taking our mission and ministry much more seriously. We’re organizing our church life more around the idea of justice and human need that ever before.

I believe it is time for a spiritual awakening for us. 

In April of 2013 I led a Clergy Conference in the Diocese of Montana for a good friend Bishop Brookhart. We had a wonderful time there and +Frank has invited me back to Montana to tour the Diocese. He wants me to share with the vestries of his diocese a lifetime of experience with Evangelism. I bring with me the idea of a "Membership Drive for the Episcopal Church". We've been wringing our hands about a loss of membership long enough. Let's try being a bit more positive about the possibilities.

The Community Context is the core of a Membership Drive. When a congregation organizes its life around the needs of its community, it will prosper and thrive. Then when that same congregation commends its faith to the community and intentionally invites its neighbors not so much to "go" to church but to "be" the church, it will enjoy a new growth in its spirituality.

I've spent a lifetime developing a model and a technology for this work. During the decade of Evangelism I wrote "User Friendly Evangelism". Now, I'm developing what is an essentially a new idea. 

A Membership Drive!

So now that I am planning to retire for yet a third time, I may be available to share a lifetime of learning with others. 

May God prosper this wonderful church we love so much. May God prosper the “Progressive Church” also embracing all human beings, also courageously facing human suffering and injustice. This is exactly what God would want to see his church doing.

Fr Paul

Violence and Salvation

The Source of Our Salvation

Paul tells us that Jesus is “the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty”, Jesus says, “I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life."

Which brings me to a story;

There once was a family traveling across the desert. They are near death from thirst. They happen to come across an oasis but they are unable to find the water. There is a child with the family whose acute sense of smell detects moisture and with considerable energy the child explores the oasis until at last, he finds a cave that leads to water. He signals to his family to follow him into the cave and there they drink to their full, they luxuriate in the plentiful supply of water. They bathe, they wash, they fill their water skins and journey on in joy and gratitude toward their destination. On their way, they leave a stone to mark the way to the spring. In succeeding centuries other families, by the hundreds and thousands come by the same oasis until eventually a great cathedral is built on the spot marking the presence of the spring. Yet the people began to forget where the source of this water was. They were preoccupied more with the building they had erected and with the life giving spring that brought that building into existence in the first place. The spring was lost to them. The cathedral was abandoned and it began to fall into disrepair. At last, more time passed another family came to the oasis and they too were near death for thirst. The child among them ventured into the cathedral and her acute sense of smell detected moisture. She found her way to the spring where the water was. She too signaled to her family. They then drank, and washed and filled their water skins and continued on. 

What then is the source of our salvation?

What is this “living water”?

For one thing it has to do with our connectedness to God. That connection centers around our ability to respond to God’s love for us by loving God in return. But there is a brokenness in that connection. Sin and Death break the bonds of love that exist between us and God. There is an of abundance Sin. We read about it daily in our newspapers or watch it unfold before our very eyes on the television. There it is in all its amazing panoply of ugliness; a veritable smorgasbord of sin. Warfare, bombings in the public square, carnage in the public schools...you name it we do it. Then there are those little private sins we commit against God and one another on a fairly regular basis. And if that isn’t enough there are all those little bad habits we develop along the way; lots of things that are just plain not good for us.

We seek those things that destroy God’s creatures, ourselves and others and God’s creation as well. We seek our own will instead of God’s. Sin, as one of my theology professors once quipped, is the only doctrine of faith we can prove. All others teaching of the church must be taken on faith. Ultimately, I am not interested in Sin. Well, maybe that’s not quite true. I think the truth is we’re all enticed by many things that we all know are not good for us. But at the deepest level of my life I thirst desperately for my Salvation. 

Because what also separates me from my God is Death. Suffering and Death and the Specter of both all too often raise a shadow upon life all too often. And there we are. Helpless it seems against the reality of our own helplessness and weakness.

Where then is my Salvation?

Where is the Spring of Water of which Jesus speaks from which I may drink so that I too may live forever within the heart of God.

I suspect that this Salvation will come from Baptism. Because once I find out where that well within rises to my joy, I will live again. I will be forgiven of all my sins, and the inevitability of suffering and death will then be set within the context of the Victory of Jesus on that Great Easter Day!

For the truth of the matter is that what breaks the barrier between me and God is the love that God bears toward us. And that love is forever. And once I find this way to God nothing in all creation can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

And even though the bonds of sin are strong the bond of forgiveness is stronger still. And God is the final Victor. God has the final say. God says we are forgiven. God says that we may come to his spring of water where we may drink freely, bathe and luxuriate in the refreshing spring of God’s love and then live forever.

So then Jesus completes the picture; don’t just love God, "Love one another". “This is how they will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another.” One member of my Bible Study group on Tuesday said as we studied these words; "That is possible only up to a point" And another worshipper at the Villa asked me "What do I do about my neighbor? I've never had a problem like this before. She is rude. She is hurtful. She is hateful. I don’t know what to do.” I told her, I suspect that the problem is within her, not you. Go on loving her the best way you know how.

Now, I confess to you before God and the Archangels Michael and Gabriel and all the other angels too, that I had a parishioner once who developed a strong dislike for me, can you imagine! She came to the 8am service and sat in the front row with her brother. The two of them looked like the two in “American Gothic” except that there was no pitchfork between them, at least none that was visible. But she was at ease in speaking unpleasantly toward me after church and I never got used to that. I finally worked up the nerve to speak back to her one day and asked her to keep a civil tongue in her head. At last she said to me on another day “I think, in view of Christian Charity, that we should agree not to speak to one another from now on”. I replied; “That my dear woman is the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me”. 

And so it goes. As it turned out the poor woman was developing a terminal heart condition, one of a physical sort, one that reflected some of the emotional heart trouble that plagued her all her life.

When I visited her at the hospital, she seemed to have a turn of heart then. We both shared a tear, asked a prayer, and commended ourselves both to God’s keeping and God’s love. The ice between us melted that day.

You see, it is as Sallie McFague once said: "We come from God and we return to God. In the meantime, we live in the presence of God, even when we do not know or acknowledge God. The entire universe reflects the Glory of God, each and every particular creature and thing in its own particular, concrete and unique way. Creation is a kaleidoscope of mind boggling diversity; a myriad of outrageously extravagant species who altogether make up the heart, body and mind of God. Each creature praises God by simply being itself, and by being fully alive."

No one ever promised us that being a follower of Jesus would be easy. You will remember how it all worked out for him. Yet the cross was not the final truth of Jesus. 

The final Truth of Jesus is the love of God. Therefore we are to love one another. Just Friday evening Muslims, Jews and Christians met together at the Islamic Center of Boston to make visible God’s love for us all. Imagine that! It takes courage to love God and to love one another.

But we will discover that as we do this very thing, we will be like a family that travels across the desert, near death from thirst. God will quench that thirst with this abundant fountain that leads to life; the endless and bountiful fountain of the Love of God.

Fr Paul

A Prayer for Boston

Pray for Us!

Dear friends,

Given the ongoing events in my beloved home town, I am aware now more than at any other time in my life that we are all involved as fellow combatants in a battle between good and evil.

Given the events in Texas, we are all reminded of the vulnerability of life, and that at any time, for any number of reasons, a violent and sudden end or change to our life can occur.

Thus it is that we all stand in the need of prayer.

My son David lives in Dorchester and knows of the Richards family because of his work with an inner-city non profit. The Richards family lost an 8 year old in the Patriot's Day explosion and the mom and sister are still in serious condition in a Boston hospital. Mr Richards was involved in the revitalization of a tough old section of Ashmont and Peabody Square where one of our great Anglo-Catholic congregations is located, All Saints Church.

David also knows the organist of St. Peter's Church, Cambridge. He lives in Watertown on the same street where the fire fight erupted in the early hours of Friday morning. We are all intimately connected with one another in the ongoing battle between good and evil.

Today at St. Gabriel's Mary Boggs preached a magnificent sermon on young adult ministry. She is a woman of enormous courage and spirit. She is from New England and is a runner. She had much to say about the events of the last week. I thank God for her witness to young people today.

The ancient church taught us at the outset that there are only two ways; "The way that leads to life and the way that leads to death". (The Didache or the Teachings) The events of the past week show us how important our work of inspiring our young people really is. This is what Mary is seeking to do in her ministry. The work of annual "Vocare" weekends is designed to help young people to discern their calling in life.

On the events of the past week, allow me to share these thoughts;

I have never armed myself with anything more than a Swiss Army knife. I don't even do that any more given the fact that I fly a lot and these knives are now not permitted. I have left my protection up to the local police. Obviously their ability to do their job is compromised by the ubiquity of heavy weapons of all sorts. 

My weaponry comes from scripture. I have always loved this scripture. Notice that all this armor comes from within.

"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints."

~Ephesians 6:10-18

Put on the whole armor of God.

Another resource is a beautiful Celtic Litany for Peace I have recently been using to calm myself. Allow me to share it with you.

A Celtic Litany for Peace

We have prayed for peace.

Unknowing of what we truly ask.

Peace cannot come into the house

Where love is unwelcome.

Peace cannot come into the land

Where injustice and oppression live.

Peace cannot enter or be fostered

In souls that still engage in dispute.

Peace does not come meekly and unarmed.

Peace needs the pathway of our will to change.

Peace will not come to the troubled world

Unless we first invite it under our own roof.

Peace, I am disarming myself of the need to be right;

Peace, I am disclaiming my need to feel superior;

Peace, I am dissolving my contract with fear.

Peace, I am removing my armor of anger;

Peace, I am dismantling my anxious illusions;

Peace, I am ringing down the curtain of my theatre of war;

Peace, I am undoing the locks and bolts.

Of sevenfold Peace, it is I who have kept you out:

Come in and welcome!

~from Caitlin Matthews’ Celtic Devotional.

Finally there is this thought. Tom Shaw, the Bishop of Massachusetts is in Watertown this morning. The church in Watertown is called the Church of the Good Shepherd. How appropriate that the gathering place for our church in a town beset with such violence would dedicate its church to the Good Shepherd. How appropriate that on the Sunday following these events, the Sunday in the church year comes around to Good Shepherd Sunday.

May the Good Shepherd guide, protect, and encourage us to our several callings. And may the Good Shepherd carry those home who are now no longer with us. May the Good Shepherd in all of us continue to minister to the wounds of all those maimed and bereft of their loved ones in Greater Boston and Texas. 

In the meantime; pray for us. We are all in this together.

And may God bless you.

Fr. Paul

Hope for the Church

God Needs You!

Seriously! God does need you. God's people and God's creation needs you!

There is war, violence, suffering, poverty, imprisonment, and a dying planet to save. This is serious business. My children and the host of humanity cry out for an ethical presence from both the sacred and the secular alike.

There is an emerging church out there willing to organize its life around the real needs of human beings and around the care of the planet we live on. Just this week I presented at a clergy conference in the Episcopal Diocese of Montana.

If you ever make your way to an Episcopal Church, chances are you will find a remarkable cast of characters there. The clergy are very intelligent as a rule, they are kind and quite caring of people and their sense of ethics includes concerns about American militarism, poverty, and the created order. Unlike so many of the right wing church, the Episcopal Clergy love science. The congregations they serve are also a cast of characters and often reflect this sense of care for the communities in which they find themselves planted.

It was wonderful to be in the Diocese of Montana with +Frank Brookheart and the clergy there. They are an extraordinary group of people whose commitment to the poor, the prisoner, the created order and to the host of other human needs is a marvel. Not to mention the sheer beauty of the place.

They are clearly committed to organizing the church's life around the needs of the people and the planet. This is a church worth saving and building up in strength.

I love the Episcopal Church and the "Emerging Progressive Church". The Right Wing Evangelical Church has been growing in strength for some years and we in the mainstream have been in the decline. I think it is time to reverse that trend and build up this church once again.

There is a sacred presence in the hearts of many who are becoming impatient with greed and power. 

Many of my friends in the secular world are rightly suspicious of the Church. Many recoil at the word "Christian". It evokes images of the Civic Religion of Rome before the fall when faith was wrapped in national symbols, wealth, power, and exclusive judgmentalism. American Civic Religion is seen as belligerent, bellicose and judgmental. It wraps itself in the flag and calls itself patriotic. It wraps itslef in militarism. Its God is the Almighty Dollar. There is a growing base of the unchurched who feel alienated and hostile to the world of institutional faith. Rome has often betrayed the trust of many.

My purpose in going to this clergy conference was to help make clear how we might better develop and strengthen the church's ministry.

I began with a recollection that the Celtic Church which, many forget, organized itself around the needs the people they lived among. The early monks of Aidan at Holy Island (Lindisfarne) focused their energies on a very practical set of realities.

"Do you have a loved one dying? Bring them here and we'll take care of them"

"Is there illness in the family? Bring them here and we'll tend to them"

"Are you hungry, we will feed you."

"Do you hunger for learning? We are among the best scholars in the world. Learn with us."

"Are you a weary and frightened traveller? We will provide you with safe lodging and hospitality"

"Are you burdened and saddened with life's drudgery and toil? Come here for cheer and merriment"

"Most importantly, are you Baptized? Do you know life has a purpose? Do you know that forgiveness and eternal life begin now? When you come to the waters of Baptism, you come to a wellspring of joy and life. When you come to the Table of Jesus, you come to a banquet which is but a foretaste of the Eternal Banquet?"

The Celts began with the most practical and basic of human needs and worked their way up to the greatest need of all; Forgiveness and Eternal Life. Baptized in water and fed by the Eucharist people came to know God and they in turn began to minister to the real needs of others. And the cycle turns over and over again until the world is filled with the fullness of God.

We remembered these things in Montana.

We celebrated the things being done by the church here now.

And now I challenge the church to recruit the people of God to do the work of God.

For most of my professional ministry I have been studying congregational development and evangelism. But when I bring people to Jesus, I bring them to serve people. Loving God and loving people are one and the same thing.

We face so many dangers:
Militarism, poverty, ecological degradation, and the concentration of wealth just to name a few.
What we need is a strong ethical presence in this world. The emerging Progressive Church can be just such an ethical presence. I am talking much more than personal moral agency. I am talking about the social ethic.

In many ways I find myself more allied with secular humanism than with the far Right Wing or with the Roman church. I am hopeful that Pope Francis will at least look out for the poor. That would be enormous, and probably the best we can hope for now.

For us in the Episcopal Church and in the Emerging Progressive Church there are no distinctions according to race, ethnicity, class, gender or orientation. For us Jesus spent his time recruiting the very same folks who had been "cut off" from the Temple. We're doing our best to fling wide the door so that the church can be "A House of Prayer for ALL People". We are doing our level best at embracing the teachings of Jesus.

So now, how do we build such a church? How do we strengthen it?

Now I shift into my "priest" role. I believe in the priesthood of all believers and let me just highlight some of the work I've been doing to strengthen the church in places I've served. My special thanks to the folks at St. Gabriel's Church in Douglassville, PA who have been a "laboratory" for some of these ministry efforts. The essence of what I presented in Montana is as follows.

The Mechanics of a Membership Drive as an annual congregational effort which doesn't end in the fall but is a continuing year long effort. Frankly when we use the word "Stewardship" we reflexively resist because it is all going to come down to the wallet.

The focus of a Membership Drive is to encourage all to work and pray and give for the spread of the Kingdom of God. This language is drawn directly out of the church's catechism.

The work of the church is much as I have spoke about above; to serve the needs of humankind.

The prayer of the church is to gather week by week as a community and to express our love of God as well as our love of all human beings. We gather at Christ's Holy Table and rejoice in the Risen Christ and his victory over sin and death. (By the way sin is seeking our own will instead of the will of God. And God's will is for the greatest good for the greatest number, to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God)

The gifts we give are in proportion to what God gives us. The biblical tithe is 10%. Some give more, some give less. But giving in proportion to what we receive is part of what it is to be a member of the church.

Thus Membership is not about pledging alone. It is about salvaging what we can of our lives and the lives of those we love, and the communities in which we live. It is about salvaging what we can of the planet we live on.

This is a matter of great urgency.

In the context of this presentation I did share this model for New Member Ministry. This is a new idea for many in the mainstream or emerging church. But I believe we need to become more intentional and systematic about our efforts. And we need to sustain these efforts over time. Many churches use this model or variants of it. Here are just a few highlights of the idea.

New Member Ministry is a five step process:
     Visibility: Increase the congregation's visibility though signage, Every Door Direct Mailings, Web pages, blogs etc. God knows I've done all the above and more at all my churches and the efforts result in a flurry of interest.
     Greeting: Fine tune the congregation's greeting skills. Practice good hospitality. Get the names and addresses and make a same day contact by telephone and ask how their fist visit was to the church. See if you can set an appointment to have a cup of coffee and have some conversation.
     Orientation: Help guide folks into the life of the congregation. The Membership Task Force of a Congregation should plan follow up and help establish relationships between newcomers and folks who are already members. You may want to provide classes for newcomers.
     Incorporation: There is a right time and a wrong time to invite folks to consider membership. Some will be clear about that right away. Others will want time to "explore". Give this some thoughtful prayer.
     Apostolic Call: As a general rule you have six months from the first visit to help folks find and involvement mode in the congregation. It can be as simple as ushering or choir, but there is plenty of work to be done. Lots of folks will be attracted to a church that has feeding programs for the poor and the like and they will often want to help out. Encourage that.

In all the church's I've served there has been significant growth. We've also tended to the needs of the young and the old, the poor and the hungry, the homeless or even battered women and their families. The church is not here to "survive". The church is here to serve. St Gabriel's, Douglassville, where I currently serve as interim is a case in point.

I want to thank Bishop Franklin Brookhart and the clergy of the Diocese of Montana for their kind hospitality over the past few days. I hope that what I have shared will help. I only wish all God's churches could awaken to the new hope of servant ministry.

I will end by saying that having been nurtured by the Episcopal Church, I believe we are a very well kept secret...too well kept. By publishing this article, I hope to bring the church to the attention of many. I plan to write some more on this subject. And I stand ready and able to share by learnings with others.

The folks here in Montana told me to tell you; "You had us eating out of your hand!"

Peace be with you,
Fr. Paul

A Close and Holy Darkness

A Close and Holy Darkness

How can the Spirit speak unless I give it voice?

With what words shall I whisper to this close and holy darkness?

Altar-wise by Owl-light?

The hour sleeps itself away for some

For many work and worry rule the heart

And precious souls suffer long

While mindless greed and power has its day

And seldom sleeps for war and weaponry

There is a dream of Hope and Peace and Love

In The Heart that beats within 

And the Spirit wonders who will to give it voice?

Here in the close and holy darkness?

Altar-wise by Owl-light?

We will awaken to fear and courage

And the war will wage on in all our struggles.

And the Spirit wonders who will give it voice?

Here is the close and holy darkness 

Altar-wise by Owl-light?

And then when we waken

Who will give it voice?

NB Dylan Thomas, Welsh poet, 1914-1953 has used these phrases before. "close and holy darkness" and "Altar-wise by Owl-light". They are used here with gratitude to his spirit moving still.

Hope and Peace and Love

Fr. Paul

Shhhh!!! Peace, be still!!!

Shhhh!!! Peace, Be With You!!!

Story time with the children! How I love the time with them. Wide eyed, innocent, rambunctious children. We begin with a song to shake out our sillies. "Father Abraham"...some of the children have taken to call me Father Abraham. We all laugh together.

Today there was the story of Easter of course. They told me of their encounters with the Easter Bunny and their new shoes and new clothes. I asked them if they knew what happened to Jesus on Good Friday and Easter. And of course they did.

Then I told them to put on their listening ears and told them of that day when Jesus came among them and said;

"Shhhh! Peace be with you!!!"

I don't know why I added the hushed "Shhhh", but I did. And when I said that the children fell absolutely silent.

I repeated it, like Jesus did.

"Shhhh! Peace be with you!!!"

The silence grew deeper and I found myself amazed by the spirituality of the children and how much they seemed to appreciate the moment. And so I pushed my luck just as Jesus did and so a third time, I quoted Jesus;

"Shhhh! Peace be with you!!!"

It was as if we were all transported to the Upper Room with Jesus and his followers and we were there with them all and with Jesus in our midst.

The children and I were one with Jesus then, if even for just the moment. We were there! And Jesus was here!

The Peace that passes all understanding was there in our midst.

We sang an Easter song then.

I blessed the children and they made their way back to the Day Care classes.

I repeated the exercise for the next class.

Give the children credit. 

They never cease to amaze me with their hunger for God.

Happy Easter,

Fr. Paul