New Things

“Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21:5

Beloved friends:

Here we find ourselves right smack in the middle of the Easter season. Christ is Risen! The Lord is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Easter is a season of newness, of rebirth, and we are all invited to open our hearts and our eyes to see how God calls us into resurrection life. When we are filled with new hearts and new spirits, things change. The Easter season reminds us that by virtue of our baptisms, we have all died and then risen again with Christ, and our lives as Christians are never the same as life without Christ. It means, often, giving something up in order to gain this incredible new things:

New life means a real dying, a real letting go of something old in order for something new to come into being. It might look like parents who learn that a son or daughter is gay and let go of, empty themselves, of the hopes and dreams they had for their child [and I’d add to that, let go of their prejudices and stereotypes about gay people – SE] and allow a new relationship and new hopes to be born. It looks like a nation who does not simply bemoan the presence of violence in the world but invests in those things that make for peace—for whom military solutions are not an automatic response to conflict. It might look like a family that puts off a long anticipated vacation because they have committed to getting out of debt and living within their means.   The Rev. Sara Potter, “Tidings,” Vol. XI, Issue 5

Consider what new thing you are being invited to this Easter season. Keep your eyes peeled for a new survey of lay ministries at All Saints’ – probably some ministries you’ve never even heard of! – and start thinking about how you might want to do something that will nourish your deepest self. In particular, we need many more people involved in children’s and youth ministries – Sunday School teachers, and, even more immediately, someone to coordinate our acolytes. Keep reading your scripture for the Bible Reading Every Day program (or start now; there’s no time like the present). Continue in fellowship with the apostles and the breaking of bread, while considering how you might seek and serve Christ and also seek justice and dignity for all. It’s a new season. You are new creatures through Christ our Lord. The Lord is indeed risen. Alleluia!

Mother Sandra+

Spiritual Renewal

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”  John 12:21

“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel. . . says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. . . . they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”  Jeremiah 31:33-34

As I write this reflection we’re right in the middle of Lent, a season of spiritual disciplines, introspection, and meditation on the meaning of Jesus’ final weeks and his offering of himself to and for us. The first week of April we’ll walk through Holy Week with penitence and reverence, and then – bam! – it’s Easter, time to celebrate, rejoice, and give thanks for Jesus’ resurrection and continuing life with us. Lent and Easter certainly feel different to me, and yet they are alike in that they are special times to focus on renewal and revitalization of our “spiritual lives” (i.e. every moment from birth to death!).

Many of us notice an urge to do some spring cleaning right about now. I’ve had bursts of energy and inspiration to clean up neglected corners of my home and office, to organize papers and books, the refrigerator and desk drawers. Likewise, I long to sweep out all the messy corners of my soul and spirit, to seek out the habits and behaviors that aren’t life-giving, and to ask God to inhabit me more fully every day, hour and minute. I ask you to join me in a revival of sorts – in an intentional journey to see more clearly the Jesus who challenges us, guides us, walks with us, makes us whole, connects us to one another, and above all, loves us. I pray that God might write the law of love on our hearts, so that we all know that we are God’s people, from the least to the greatest.

Renewal of spiritual life comes through worship, prayer, scripture, service, and intentional nurturing of our spiritual lives. If you didn’t take on any particular spiritual discipline during Lent, ask God to guide you to some practices particularly suited to you. And join me at the Renovaré (pronounced Re-no-var’-ay) Conference on April 21, a one-day event “for Christians to help them attain balance in their spiritual lives.” This conference is for all ages, including programming for first- through sixth-grade kids, and includes childcare for younger children. It will be an unusual opportunity for a group of us to explore the spiritual practices and attitudes that will sustain and encourage us in our individual and corporate walk with God. Look for information in the vestibule. The deadline for registration is April 5; if you need any assistance with the $40 registration fee there’s plenty of scholarship funding available.

Have a blessed Easter, and I pray that Jeremiah’s prophecy that each of us will know the Lord in a deep and personal way is a reality at All Saints’ Church.

Mother Sandra+

Transforming Congre-gations, Neighborhoods, and Lives

In more ways than I can list in one reflection, All Saints’ is a healthy and thriving community, something I give thanks to God for every day! Your vestry works diligently with me to support ASC ministries and encourage greater health and growth. In keeping with those goals, ASC enrolled in a 6-month program called “Transforming Congrega-tions,” a Kaleidoscope Institute program set up through the Diocese of PA. A team comes fromLos Angelesmonthly – at no cost to the diocese, except for transportation costs! – to work do this important revitalization work.

Our team is unique among the 10 or so participating parishes. We have formed a joint team withSt. Augustine’s inNorristown;  we want to foster stronger relationships between us and our brothers and sisters atSt. Augustine’s and, at the same time, consider possibilities for more joint ministry.

While the ASC members and the St. A’s members will undoubtedly learn of valuable ideas and resources for church growth and sustainability specific to each individual congregation, our primary goal is exploration of join ministry at all levels.

ASC team members include John Errington, Kathryn Gallagher, Jay Petel, and Mother Sandra; Ron Bryant, Jesse Davis, Hossein Gharavi, Stephenie Smith and Fr. Andy Kline comprise the St. Augustine’s members. In addition to five-hour meetings one Sunday a month, we get together weekly for a “Kaleidoscope Bible Study,” using a format very similar to traditional monastic “lectio divina” – meditative reading of Biblical passages (in this case, the Gospel for the following week), consisting of three readings of the same Gospel passage, each reading followed by a different question for the participants to consider.

As you can see, team members agree to a significant time commitment, but I believe all of us agree that the potential for growth and exciting partnership makes our commitment worthwhile. You’ll hear more about Transforming Congregations as time passes. Most immediately, one of our assignments involves all of you – we’ll ask for your input to help us get a better idea of the “terrain” of our community and then map out our future together.

With God’s help and guidance, the generosity of the Kaleidoscope Institute, and our joint commitment withSt. Augustine’s to grow and thrive together, my prayer is that we complete this program with stronger relationships, concrete ideas, and an increased conviction that God’s spirit hovers over us, filling us with holy inspiration!

Mother Sandra+

They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love

“Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.“

1 John 4:7-9

This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day – a holiday in which we put great emphasis on eros, that form of love emphasizing passion, desire and longing. I’m always conflicted about holidays that exclude large numbers of people, and Valentine’s Day is one of those days that can leave singles feeling left out. Think of poor Charlie Brown: in “A Charlie Brown Valentine” (the 2002 sequel to the original 1978 version), Charlie says to the cashier at the candy store: “Hi, ma’am. I’d like to buy a box of candy for a girl who doesn’t know I exist. Nothing too expensive – I’ll never have the nerve to give it to her anyway.”

It’s a good thing the Greeks knew that there are several kinds of love: philia means friendship or affectionate love; storge is that kind of natural affection we have for family, the kind of love that can put up with a lot without diminishing. Agape is uncon-ditional love, deeper than the superficial attraction of eros. This word, agape, was used by Christians to mean God’s unconditional love. I pray that everyone – good ol’ Charlie Brown and singles includes – realizes, as the old song says, “What the world needs now is love, sweet love” – but the love comes in many forms besides eros.

Besides Valentine’s Day, of course, Lent begins in February. We will, together, walk with Christ through “the valley of the shadow of death,” all the while knowing that God’s love is always present to sustain us and build up the entire church with agape love.

In order to build relationships among members of All Saints’, and in order for me to get to know people a little better, my husband, Magi, and I will be hosting monthly dinners at the rectory. We will provide a main dish, and ask those who come to bring a side dish, salad, dessert, etc. – something simple. We can accommodate 8 people at each dinner (in addition to the two of us), so we’ll be doing these for awhile! If you receive an invitation, please be clear: these dinners are meant to foster both philia and agape love among and between us at All Saints’. There’s no other agenda – this certainly isn’t any kind of pledge drive or capital campaign. (I know that sometimes an invitation like this is to prime people for a financial appeal, but that’s not the case here.) I do hope when you get your invitation, you’ll say yes!  The dinners are on Wednesday evenings, and we only plan for a few hours so that everybody can get home at a reasonable time.

And throughout February, keep this in mind:  “Let us love one another, for love is from God. . . . God IS love.”

Mother Sandra+

Small Steps

In the October edition of the tabloid AARP Bulletin, an article entitled “Small Steps, Big Dividends,” began by asking, “Dismayed by Washington? Disappointed? Disgusted? Take your pick.” A clever tag line said, “How can you help trim the national debt? Skip the cookies.” Yes, the writer says, there’s a $14.3 trillion national debt. But each one of us can help reduce that debt; we’re offered a “do-it-yourself kit bag of small steps” that would actually have an impact on the federal deficit – none of which involved direct political action. These steps are:

1. Cut 150 calories a day from your diet.

2. Pay your debts.

3. Walk a mile a day.

4. Work an extra year or two.

5. Give Uncle Sam a gift  (i.e. pay your taxes).

The bottom line: when we take responsibility for our health and finances, the government saves lots of money.

These are great suggestions, not just for bailing the government out, but for “kingdom living” – those intentional  practices of putting our lives and thinking under the rules of the Kingdom of God rather than the tyranny of our own wants and desires. Certainly a well-cared-for body is more conducive to prayer and service; hard work, simplified lives and personal fiscal responsibility are also spiritual virtues, while their opposites often impede our spiritual growth.  Create a divide between what we say and what we do as Christians in the modern world.

Are you sometimes dismayed, disappointed or disgusted by the state of the world? Do you ever wish that things looked more like the Kingdom of God that Jesus promised was among us? Consider what kind of “do-it-yourself toolkit” you might assemble to create a healthier church and a healthier world. The dawning of a new year is a perfect time to seek ways we can keep ourselves spiritually fit and healthy in a variety of ways in 2012.

Here’s my own list:

1. Pray. Whether by engaging in all the various forms of prayer, such as praise, intercession, thanksgiving, and repentance; simply sitting in silence (as I do in my Centering Prayer practice); or even by using online prayer resources, I will seek to strengthen my connection to God as I rely on day-by-day guidance of Divine wisdom.

2. Read scripture. This year the Diocese of Pennsylvania passed a resolution encouraging everyone in our diocese to read through the Bible in 2012. All Saints’ will be encouraging such a joint effort (see our Adult Forum descriptions on page 2, and the article by Craig and Mary Beth on page 5), and I hope many of you will join us! I also want to engage in honest dialogue about the tough parts of scripture: how do I understand them? how can I live out what our scriptures instruct? what about sections of scripture that seem either unbelievable or just plain wrong? And of course, we’ll share and compare favorite scriptures, those where God seems to speak to us in particular, the stories that we may not have heard since childhood, etc.

3. Love my neighbors. As a result of #s 1 and 2, I have a better idea of how to love my neighbor; with the Holy Spirit dwelling in my heart (as promised by virtue of my baptism and my ongoing commitment), what am I called to do right now? How can I serve my neighbors (including everyone from my husband to the stranger on the street corner)? Am I sharing God’s love when I speak to others? Am I giving time and energy to reach out to those who desperately need love and care? Am I as concerned about the “least of these” in our society as I am with my own wants and needs?

4. Take care of my “temple.” The Bible calls our bodies temples of God. I can care for my physical health in ways such as exercising, eating healthy food, even by more closely monitoring what goes in and what comes out: what am I watching on TV? how much time do I spend messing around on my computer? Do I get enough rest and water and good nutrition to keep myself a strong, healthy worker for God’s kingdom?

Well, that’s a start. Perhaps your list looks a little different. But the New Year is always a good time to look at our lives and tweak them a little here, a little there – in our case, not so much for our own benefit, but for the benefit of all people.

Come join us on January 1 at an informal forum after church, where we can eat some special goodies and share with each other how we’d like 2012 to bring us to greater spiritual fitness.

Happy New Year – may it be a year of great blessings for all of us.

Mother Sandra+

Advent 2011

Dear friends and family of All Saints’,

Today we begin a new year in our Christian life, and in just another month it will be another new calendar year as well. With each new year there is change – we’re all a little older, new faces grace our pews, some of us have lost members of our families, and some have gained new ones. Our leadership changes every year as well, and quite soon Jennie Donovan, Nick Durante, Adrian Griffin, and Deb Porcelli will complete their three-year vestry terms at our annual meeting on February 12, 2012. I am deeply grateful to these beloved people for sharing their time and their gifts with us. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to thank them properly, and I hope each of you will also express your thanks as well.

We’ve done some important ministry this year: while we started with a $55,000 deficit, we whittled it down to around $20,000 (many thanks to Kathryn Gallagher, our treasurer; as an “officer” of the church, she attends all the meetings and works very closely with me; I am always astounded at her organization and her grasp of both the bigger financial picture and the minute details!); ideas such as the Labor Day picnic, October Fall Fest and a proposed July 4 festival often originate in vestry meetings; Deb Porcelli first suggested and began coordinating meals for our sexton Ernie after his surgery at a vestry meeting; the most major  recent decision has been the six-month trial of Saturday dinners for the hungry of Norristown (see page 2).  These are all issues discussed and prayed about by your vestry. The vestry discerns and articulates the congregation’s mission and engages in short- and long-range planning; the vestry also shepherds the resources and stewardship of the church, and communicates with the church and the community. Vestry members work closely with me in providing spiritual leadership to the congregation, helping discern the needs of our members and the directions our ministries take. On December 3 the vestry will spend a day doing “strategic planning” – a process of establishing our mission and setting specific goals. The departing vestry members will participate in this process as well, leaving us with a final gift of their discernment for our community.

Often the outgoing members of the vestry act as a nominating committee to identify new vestry members, and I hope to work with that committee closely.  Their task is to identify a minimum of three members of All Saints’ to be nominated as vestry members.

When Jesus called disciples those who answered displayed some common characteristics: faith, the ability to work with others, willingness to take risks, and hard work. Those are fundamental to the “job description” of a vestry member. In addition, our bylaws require that any vestry member be a “communicant in good standing” – someone who is baptized, worships regularly, gives financially, is involved in the life of the congregation, and is at least 21 years old. We also try to find a balance of ages, interests, and skills. Twenty-first century churches are being challenged to respond to the needs of multiple generations, each seeking something different from worship and the church, and leadership has thus become more complicated and yet even more critical with each passing year.

If you are asked to contemplate vestry service, please give it your prayerful consideration; an important part of this process is seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit. We look for those who have a sense of hope for the future and who are willing to seek what God wants for our church. We may see your potential for spiritual leadership, and you also might find, as have many other people in the life of the church, that you have untapped gifts and leadership qualities. If you feel called to serve but haven’t been approached, please speak with me. All nominations must be announced by the Sunday services on January 29, 2012.

Please hold the vestry and the nominating committee in your prayers. As we expectantly await the coming of the Christ child in our annual reenactment of our Story as God’s people, I also look forward with great anticipation to those whom God will call to lead our congregation.

Blessings,

Mother Sandra+

Dancing With the Stars of All Saints’ Church

I have a confession to make: this year, I’ve gotten hooked on “Dancing With the Stars.” I never saw a single episode for the first six years, but this year my household has been watching a lot of dancing! Unlike some of the “reality” shows – most of which have no correlation to reality as you and I know it – participants of “Dancing” need a little talent and a lot of stamina: it’s hard work! It has been fun getting familiar with the participants, rooting for all of them, watching them grow, feeling a little sad at the disqualifications each week. Best of all, participants cheer heartily for their “opponents,” and why not? Only they know how much effort and willpower are required each week!

It’s a far cry from the “survival of the fittest” mode of many reality shows, where contestants get “voted off the island,” or, in some of the “Bachelor”-type shows, get strung along until the very end, when they are heartlessly dumped for some other person (I was going to say “love-interest,” but these shows have little to do with love!).

When Jesus talked preached unusual concepts like loving enemies and giving away shirts and the endless, beyond-all-reason love God has for us, when he promoted kingdom values over cultural values, he might have been talking about our own society, which promotes survival-of-the-fittest mentality, looking out for Number One, distrust of others . . . we know the picture. We live in this culture.

Many people claim to prefer spirituality in solitude, and that’s no surprise to me! Just add one person to your spiritual community, and all of a sudden there’s the potential, maybe even guarantee, of conflict. But . . . add one more person to your spiritual community, and suddenly there’s also the potential for love and compassion, for loving even when disagreeing, for respecting, caring, and changing hearts and souls and minds.

As my one-year anniversary at All Saints’ has come and gone, I feel grateful for the loving community that makes up this group of people. I feel grateful to my predecessors in ministry who have cultivated a loving, connected fellowship of Christian people, especially to the Rev. Robert Coble, my immediate predecessor (who’s coming to ASC on Nov. 6!). Fr. Bob  guided this church so that rather than survival of the fittest, or “my way or the highway,” attitudes, you work together, care for one another, root for each other instead of “voting people off the island.”

Above all, I’m grateful to my own dancing partners: each and every one of you. You are a blessing to me, and a beacon of light in a world that often seems overwhelmed by darkness. I look forward to another year together, experiencing God’s love as it is demonstrated by such a community of saints.

Mother Sandra+