Transfiguration Preparing for Lenten Intercession

                                                            Last Epiphany B 2015

                                        2 Kings2:1-12; Ps 50; 2 Cor. 4:3-6; Mark 9:2-9

Father Adam Trambley

Feb 15, 2015 St.John’s Sharon

Today is the last Sunday before Lent.  The readings all speak of some kind of experience of the glory and presence of God made manifest to human beings.  They are a preparation for us to recognize what we are striving for during our Lenten devotions.  We, like Elisha, like Paul, like Peter, James and John, hope that we and those around us have an experience of the blinding radiance of God’s light.  When we enter Lent on Wednesday to follow Jesus to the cross, we do it with the faith that the resurrected, transfigured Lord Jesus will come to encounter us. 

In the Gospel, Jesus takes his three closest disciples, Peter, James and John up to a high mountain.  The disciples get a glimpse of Jesus arrayed in his glory.  Whether Jesus is revealed as he was in heaven or as he will be after the resurrection or both or something else is hard to say.  Mark is trying to write down something that is probably indescribable.  All he can really say is that Jesus’ clothes became whiter than anybody on earth could bleach them.  (I’ve actually thought Transfiguration Bleach would make a great fundraising product.)  Once Peter, James and John have seen Jesus transfigured, Peter babbles a bit because he doesn’t know what to say but he feels a need to say something. Then the disciples get their instructions in a voice from the cloud, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!”  They have this amazing experience of Jesus and are told to go out and do what this brilliantly radiant Son of God tells them to do, which is to be quiet about what they have seen until after the resurrection.  Implied is that after the resurrection, they should probably tell some folks. 

In the first reading, Elijah is being taken up to heaven.  He isn’t transfigured himself, but his assistant Elisha is able to see God’s heavenly radiance in the chariot that comes to take Elijah into heaven.  Elisha babbles a bit, too: “Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!” whatever that means.  But Elisha has asked for the right thing.  He told Elijah that he wants a double share of his spirit, or a double share of the Spirit of God that has come upon Elijah and given him the ability to prophecy and do other works that proclaim the power of God to his people.  No voices tell Elisha what to do, because he has already asked for the gifts needed to go out and do God’s work. 

Then in Second Corinthians, Paul is talking about how  the evils and the distractions of this world are pulling veils over the minds of people who are not able to see God’s glory in Jesus Christ.  In Paul’s time, people in the Middle East would have worn veils to protect themselves from the brightness of the sun or to keep from being seen.  Today, we might imagine sunglasses as a modern American equivalent.  Imagine Jesus standing here, transfigured, blindingly white, illuminated like the sun bouncing off all the snow and ice we have around us, with every sparkling ray not only filling our eyes with light, but also our hearts with love and our minds with truth.  Then imagine people putting on huge wrap-around sunglasses, dark and polarized, so they can look straight at Jesus and not even see anything interesting.  Their eyes are shaded from the light.  Their hearts are hardened to the love.  Their minds are oblivious to the truth.  The sunglasses can represent any number of sins, compulsions and distractions that make us oblivious to the miraculous power of God all around us.  We all have our own favorite lenses that we put on from time to time.  The goal, however, is to keep our own sunglasses off and help others remove theirs, as well.

Helping people take off their sunglasses is what Jesus wanted his disciples to do after the resurrection.  This work is what Paul spent his life doing.  This work is what Elisha begged Elijah to be able to do.  This work is our work, and it has two components.  One component is evangelism.  We are to tell people how beautiful, how brilliant, how warm, how loving is this person Jesus who is waiting for us to turn toward him.  We are to describe the miraculous work of Jesus in our lives and the lives of those around us in such compelling ways that people want to take off their sunglasses and see.  Sharing our enthusiasm and genuine excitement for seeing Jesus transfigured is the work of evangelism. 

The second component of our sunglasses-removing work is intercessory prayer.  Since we can’t go around and rip people’s sunglasses of their heads, God has to be working in and through them, as well.  In prayer we pour out our hearts in love for other people to have the kinds of experiences of God that will change their lives.  We pray that Jesus Christ will make himself present in all his glory to individuals and groups of people and communities and nations.  We pray that God will stir people’s hearts to make them bored or unsatisfied with the drabness of the world they see through their sunglasses.  We pray that rays of God’s glory will shine so brightly that their eyes will recognize shimmers of something brighter.  We pray that they will encounter those who can describe the radience of God’s world to them.  We pray that people will be willing to keep their eyes open as their lives adjust to living in the brightness of God’s light, and that they will be able to make the necessary changes in their lives.  We pray that our hearts will expand in love for people so that we see each and every person as Jesus sees them, lit up by God’s love, with any of our own shades removed.  We pray that everyone will come to see the transfigured, resurrected Lord Jesus on the mountain and want to live according to his very good instructions.

This Lent, as a parish, we are sharing a tool to help us to pray in this way.  The booklet, Seek God for the City, provides a number of ways for us to focus our prayers from Ash Wednesday to Palm Sunday to help people remove their glasses, open their eyes, and experience the fullness of Christ’s radiance.  Everyone should have received a booklet in the mail, but if you didn’t or if you need another, there are some at the tables near the doors.  You can also download a smartphone app for 99 cents that has the booklet and other resources, including an alarm you can set to remind you to pray. 

I’d like to highlight a few ways to use the booklet.  First each week has a special theme, and each day has a focus within that theme.  There are two short scripture passages for each theme – one from the Old Testament and one from the Gospels.  After those readings are some specific prayers.  Going through these passages and prayer themes is similar to other Lenten booklets with short meditations and prayers that we have used in the past.  The only difference is that these prayers guide us toward the coming of Christ as King on Palm Sunday with ourselves and all people experiencing the glory of God in that encounter.  Weekly themes include the revival of God’s people, the awakening of lost and broken people (or helping them take off their sunglasses and open their eyes), transformation of our communities, evangelization of every people, and reconciliation among the peoples.         

We can also pray for every nation in the world to experience Jesus’ radiance and glory with this resource.  In the corner each day is a list of countries to pray for.  Praying daily will take us through every country in the world during these forty days.  If you download the app, you can also click on each country to learn more about them and what specific prayer needs they have.  These prayers could also be opportunities as a family or group to learn something about countries being prayed for that week.

Along the sides of the pages are also a specific group of people that can be prayed for, such as men, government leaders, children, gangs, business people, prisoners, or physically disabled people.  These include a short scripture verse that can be used to pray for the group, and a great Lenten discipline would be to memorize these verses each day and then be able to use them to pray whenever is appropriate.  A few specific prayer requests for each group follow.  Then finally we are given some ideas for praying for that group while prayerwalking.  Prayerwalking is probably not our priority when it is below zero, but we’ll talk more about it in the coming weeks as things thaw out. 

If you have questions or want to pray through these items with others, please let me or Deacon Randy know.  This Lent, we hope that everyone in this parish has a deep experience of the radiance of the risen and transfigured Lord Jesus, and we hope that our prayers bring that experience to others in our community and throughout our world.

A Day in the Life of Jesus: Mark 1

                                                               Epiphany 5B 2015

                                 Isaiah 40:21-31;Psalm 147; 1 Cor 9:16-23; Mark 1:29-39

Father Adam Trambley

February 8, 2015 St.John’s Sharon

Today’s gospel provides us with what we might call “A Day in the Life of Jesus.”  Walking through the day with him offers us insight into how we might follow him in the various aspects of our own lives. 

We start today with a summary pointing backwards to what we read last week.  Jesus spent the first part of the day in the synagogue teaching.  Then a man with an unclean spirit showed up, and Jesus cast out the spirit and healed the man.  What an unclean spirit is doing in a synagogue, or in a church, is a sermon for another time, but today we start by recognizing that when it was time for synagogue, Jesus showed up and offered his gifts.  Sometimes the use of these gifts was planned, like his teachings might have been.  Sometimes the use of these gifts was unplanned, like when someone showed up with significant needs who demanded attention whether Jesus or anyone else was ready to help. 

Now most of you could probably write the next paragraph of the sermon yourself as you think about implications for us today.  As much fun as it might be, though, I won’t randomly call on people to preach a sentence or two, but I’ll just offer a few reflections.  If we want to follow Jesus, we need to come and join our faith community for worship.  Now it probably didn’t snow six inches with an inch of sheer ice underneath it in Capernaum that morning, and, since God made freezing rain, I’m sure he understands that sometimes we don’t make it.  On those days we can reading the Bible and saying some prayers.  In general, however, we as a parish need people present offering their gifts in ways both planned and especially unplanned.  Everybody has some role to play in keeping the life of our parish going, whether in worship, in social events, in outreach, in prayer, in generosity, in music, or in any number of others ways.  The body of Christ needs all its members engaged or it can’t function properly in the same ways that our bodies can’t function properly if our heart is bad, or our kidneys are weak, or our arm is broken, or our eyes are closed. 

Equally important, however, is our presence for those unplanned needs that arise.  Probably the most powerful opportunities for ministry, and the times when miracles flow most freely, is when people just show up and demand our love.  The more of us that can say a kind work, can offer a prayer, can get someone a cup of coffee, can give somebody a ride to where they need to be, or can stop and actually listen to them, the more people will experience the love of God here, and for some of them that may be the first time they will have experienced that love in a long time.  Our prayers to touch lives are being answered – people are showing up to be transformed on many different levels – but we need to be present to offer whatever gifts we have if we want to reach the number of people God wants us to love.

From the synagogue, Jesus goes home with Simon and Andrew.  Simon’s mother-in-law was sick with a fever, so Jesus heals her, and then she gives them dinner.  This miracle is a little bit funny – if you want dinner, heal the cook’s fever.  But this passage has two take-aways for us. 

Most importantly, when we are home, we are still ministering.  Granted, Jesus isn’t with his parents, but we can imagine this is his best friends’ house that is like a second home to Jesus.  Jesus is in the personal sphere where he should be able to eat, rest, let his hair down, wash his feet, and kick-back.  But if somebody needs him, he loves them and does what they need.  Personally, I think this is one of the hardest examples of Jesus to follow.  He doesn’t wait until after he’s had a snack, or after his show is over, or after he’s checked his email.  He finds out she’s sick “at once”, and he goes and heals her.  When we get home, is our thought, “at once,” to see what the needs are of those around us and meet them? 

The other piece worth mentioning is that Jesus allows Simon’s mother-in-law to serve everybody after she is healed.  Even though we need to start off by reaching out to others, love and loving service is reciprocal.  We need one another.  Even Jesus doesn’t do everything for everybody that night.  Those people who don’t have a hard time focusing on others first need to remember that they need to stop sometimes and be ministered to, as well.  Receiving love can be a loving act.  We all need to love and serve, but we also all need to be loved and to be served sometimes.              

At sundown, when the Sabbath is over and people were allowed to go about their business again, the whole town comes to Jesus to be healed and to have their demons cast out.  Jesus is offering us an example here for how we act in our more public lives.  For some of us this is work, for some it is school, for some it might be the shopping mall or senior center, for some it might be the table at Panera or McDonalds or Tic Toc when everyone gathers for their morning coffee and to solve the world’s problems before lunch.  Here again, we see Jesus ministering.  Since he is out and about interacting with people, he is interacting with them in love.  Interestingly enough, these aren’t people he expects to be disciples.  These crowds he is healing aren’t made up of folks he who will fund his next ministry, or read his next book, buy his next CD.  They aren’t going to come to church with him.  But he loves them anyway, and his impulse is to reach out in love to them.  Everyone in those crowds experiences Jesus, even if they don’t understand who he is or do anything else with that experience. 

In our public encounters with people, we are also called to let people experience the love of Jesus through us, regardless of whether or not they will really understand, or even care.  As Christians, as followers of Jesus, we are called to do things like build loving relationships and meet people’s basic needs, and to give people a true sense of how Christians love and care for others.  Sometimes this means that we are focusing more about meeting people’s needs than about getting the best deal, or making the most money, or being the center of attention, or any of the other things that our ego likes us to worry about.  Instead, we want people to find healing, or freedom, or love, or an experience of God because they interacted with us, even in those instances where the folks involved make it difficult for us to love them, and you all probably get to interact with some of those folks from time to time.   We want everyone who meets a Christian to walk away better for the experience, just like everyone who met Jesus that night was blessed by him.

Artwork by Elizabeth Wang

Finally, Jesus goes out very early in the morning, at oh-dark-thirty, to a deserted place to pray.  Why does he have to get up so early to pray?  Because there is too much to do and people won’t leave him alone otherwise.  In the midst of all of his responsibilities, and as Savior of the world his responsibilities were fairly considerable, he not only takes, but he makes the time to connect with his Father.  He needs to spread the good news that the Kingdom of God is at hand.  Crowds want to be healed and have demons cast out and to be fed.  His disciples are hunting him down because they have the crowds asking them for help and they want don’t want to disappoint all their friends and neighbors.  But Jesus knows that he can’t do what he needs to do if he doesn’t go and pray, and he knows the demands of being the Messiah well enough to know that if he doesn’t go pray before everyone else gets up, then he isn’t going to get the chance. 

Again, you all probably know where I’m going.  If Jesus is the Son of God who is without sin and loves everybody and he needs to go and pray, how much more do all of us need to take time to be with God in prayer if we have any hope to live a life that isn’t a selfish disaster with emotional, physical and spiritual wreckage piled up in our wake.  Prayer isn’t any easier for us than it was for Jesus – we have plenty of duties and distractions to pull as away.  But God still calls out to us to have the intimate relationship of prayer with him, and he longs for us to respond to him.  We need to sit down with our calendars and block out the time, in ink, or we need to set our alarms and our coffee pots twenty minutes earlier, or we need to set an appointment with a family member or friend to meet frequently to pray together.  If we just pray when we feel like it, we’ll miss praying when we most need it, and if we can’t find a way to pray when we are tired, a lot of our prayer time will be God watching us sleep.  God is alpha and omega, not A for awake while we Z-zzzzzzzzzzzzz.

So come to church.  Get involved and use your gifts to build up the Body of Christ in expected ways, and always be ready to make a difference in someone’s life unexpectedly.  Love and serve those in your home with your first efforts, and then be willing to be loved and served, as well.  Ensure that everyone you meet encounters Christ and his healing and his love through your actions.  Then make time to spend with God in prayer, which strengthens us to accomplish all of the other works which God has given us to walk in.  So have a good day – a Jesus’ good day.  

Annual Rector's Report 2015

                                                               Epiphany 3A 2015

                                     Jonah3:1-5,10; Ps 62; 1 Cor 7:29-31; Mark 1:14-30

Father Adam Trambley

January 25, 2015 St.John’s Sharon

Annual Meeting Report

This morning’s first reading from Jonah describes the amazing transformation of Nineveh based on one day of good preaching.  This part of the story takes place after God told Jonah to go to Nineveh and Jonah said “No” and hopped a boat going in the other direction. Then God sent a storm that almost sank the boat, the sailors threw Jonah overboard, he got eaten by a huge fish, and lived in the fish’s belly for three days before being spit out onto the beach.  That is the part of the Jonah story we tend to remember.  The important part, however, is that after all of that, Jonah finally did what God told him to do, went to this huge city filled with every kind of evil and wickedness, proclaimed that God was fed up with them and going to destroy their city, and the people repented, changed their lives, and God spared them. 

Thinking about this story in light of our annual parish meeting today, this question arose for me:  If one person, doing what God called him to do, could make such a huge impact on an enormous, wicked city, how much of a difference could one church, doing what God calls us to do, make throughout the Shenango Valley and even in other parts of the world?   We may not be living in Nineveh, and most of us, at least, are probably not called to walk around with signs reading “Repent! The End is Near!”  But we have a sense of what God is calling us to do, and if we do it faithfully and prayerfully and effectively, the impact we can make is beyond anything we could ask or imagine, and is limited only by the power of God.

We have a pretty good idea of what God is calling us to do.  A few years ago we distilled God’s call to St. John’s throughout our history in our purpose statement: Worship God.  Care for People.  Grow as Christians.  The strategic directions we discerned at that time are still valid paths that God is calling us to work in: worshipping God in creative, passionate and beautiful ways; building authentic, loving relationships; strengthening youth and families; meeting people’s basic needs; supporting the revitalization of our wider community.  Our guiding principles also describe how we carry out our work when we are at our best: asking for God’s guidance and power; developing loving relationships through our work; being hospitable and welcoming so that we invite newcomers and strangers to join us while engaging the wider community; doing what we do well for the glory of God; and enjoying our work together and having fun while we do it. 

As we focus on these activities in these ways, we live into the ministry that God is calling us to do, and we trust that God will bless our efforts and allow us to bear greater and greater fruit for his kingdom.  More than that, we have experienced God’s blessing on our work, and seen numerous of transformations in the lives of individuals and our community.  Even amid the struggles of being church in a declining area at a time when church participation is generally declining, I doubt a week goes by when I don’t see at least one small miracle occurring through the ministry of those at St. John’s.  One of the joys of being your rector is the opportunity to share so many incredible moments of God working in people’s lives, both with those inside the congregation and with those outside the congregation whose lives have been touched by the ministry and prayer and generosity of so many here.

Last year at this time, I laid out six different areas that I expected the parish to focus on in 2014 beyond our on-going ministries of regular Sunday Worship, the Episcopal Community Services food pantry, our Saturday lunches, our Sunday School and Youth Group, and the work of the Episcopal Church Women.  Before providing an update on those, and looking at some areas of focus for 2015, I want to note a few things that fall outside of those areas.

This past year we have been blessed with the addition of two part time staff.  Samantha Zicardi came on as our nursery attendant and has been a great addition to our Sunday mornings.  More recently, Fred Dickman joined us as our new Sexton.  Throughout the year, between Ed’s leaving and Fred’s arrival, a number of people have helped for a time, and we are grateful to Juan Zamora and Mike Zuhosky for their work, and to Rick Marzulo and especially to Mike Mackalia for his incredible volunteer efforts.  Samantha and Fred join a hard-working, dedicated, professional staff.  I am very grateful, and we are truly blessed, for all the work done by Tina, Ron, Diana and Deacon Randy. 

Our Allen Hall entrance received a thorough overhaul, with color, art, and ambiance.  Quite a few folks spent some time on ladders or otherwise helping out, and I’m grateful for all your work.  St. John’s has a great tradition of people stepping up to make things better, and I am grateful to everyone who has helped keep our buildings and our grounds welcoming and hospitable.  I especially want to thank Bob Verholic for his yeoman’s service in almost every aspect of our building work. All of your volunteer help makes an important difference.

The Episcopal Church Women transitioned their 3 C’s into St. John’s Winterfest, with a slightly different focus that allowed them to still raise money to give away while reducing some of their workload.  We are all grateful for the many ways the ECW supports our parish.  After many years, Glen and Virginia Hull are preparing to turn over the semi-annual rummage sales.  The efforts of them and their family have raised thousands of dollars for our ministries while providing a ministry.  Thank you to them.  If anyone is interested in helping with the rummage sales going forward, please let me know.

Last year, I noted that we had seven weddings in 2013, in addition to some parishioners being married in other places.  This year, we have faced a number of tragic deaths in our parish, of people dying suddenly or much too young.  We remember them all with a moment of silence during our annual meeting, and we recognize that part of what we do as a church is encourage each other as we hold onto the hope of the resurrection.   

Turning to last year’s goals, the first was our Capital Campaign.  We put together a list of $350,000 worth of items that included needed building maintenance, air conditioning in the church, and work in the basement to prepare it for new ministries.  At this point, we have 51 pledges accounting for about $195,000, with a number of pledges still pending.  We should raise the $200,000 that we expect to cover the needed building maintenance costs and any campaign expenses.  I want to thank everyone for their generosity toward the campaign.  You are allowing us to keep our buildings in shape, so that we can continue our work for the next generation.  I’d also like to thank Randy and Jacque Beck, Nick and Missy Baron, Ron and Madge Tamber, Bob King, Laura Peretic, and Donna and Angelo Stamoolis for overseeing the campaign.  I especially want to thank Donna, whose dedication and vision were the driving force that enabled this campaign to succeed.

The second priority was our Natural Church Development work with passionate spirituality.  Natural Church Development is a process for church health and growth that looks at eight different characteristics of every church and helps a church grow by focusing on their minimum factor, or the weakest link that is holding them back.  At St. John’s, that factor was passionate spirituality, particularly in terms of a passion for private devotions and daily prayer.  To work on this minimum factor, a group looked at various ideas and decided to do a Bible study on The Story, which we are doing every Sunday at 9:00am, and to begin a spiritual trainers class where folks could learn about prayer and be able to pass on what they learn.  Both of these classes have had some success, and if you are interested in learning more about them, please let me know.

The third 2014 priority was our healing and prayer ministries’ development of special services for the community.  We held a number of healing prayer, soaking prayer and Taize services, ranging from about twelve to about thirty people.  That group, led by Deacon Randy, is looking on possibilities for the coming year, as well, and is beginning with a Groundhog’s Day Taize service on February 2.

The fourth priority was deeping partnerships.  2013 saw growth with our community lunch partners, a great worship service with the Ballet Theatre Shenango Valley, and both Waterfire and Christmas photos done with the Laurel Technical Institute.  In 2014, we are still working with LTI and had dancers join us for two services, including our family Christmas service.  We continued partnering with St. Jude’s for our Easter Vigil, Christmas morning, and Thanksgiving services. Additionally, we now have three AA meetings a week, and both the model club and a behavioral health initiative are regularly meeting at St. John’s.  This year has also brought Cana’s Corner coffee-house to our lounge two Fridays each month, bringing in 30-50 people for music and fellowship.  Thanks to David Peretic for enthusiastically inviting Robyn Ruth to St. John’s and helping to make that connection. 

The fifth priority was Christian Formation.  Beyond the spirituality classes, we also had a sermon series this summer on the baptismal covenant and classes about the history and work of St. John’s and the wider church.

Finally, last year we hosted a very successful Diocesan Convention in Sharon.    People from the Diocese felt very welcome, things went smoothly, and folks at St. John’s had an opportunity to see more of how the Diocese works.  Thank you to everyone who worked on the Convention.

For 2015, I want to highlight six areas that, in addition to our on-going ministries, our development of strategic partnerships, and our outreach to the community, I think will help us live into our calling over the next year. 

St. John's Pot Luck Dinner (1964)

First, in 2016, St. John’s turns 150 years old.  I think this calls for a party, and not a small one.  So in 2015, I’d like to start to plan what should be a year of great celebrations.  In some initial discussions, people have expressed a desire for a deeper look at our history, for opportunities to invite back extended family and friends from the past, and for a community wide party.  We could do some great things that would not only look back, but also launch us forward, so let’s spend a year planning and dreaming and praying and having a great time putting together some very special anniversary pieces.

Second, we will be starting the actual maintenance work that our Believe and Prepare capital campaign is raising money for.  That work will begin with repointing of the brick on the lounge building, and move forward from there.  As a congregation, we will also be making payments on our pledges so that this work can continue.

Third, we will work further on our Natural Church Development process.  In May, when The Story study and the spiritual trainers courses are done, we will evaluate how to continue those pieces, and see where to look at next.  We will also do another Natural Church Development survey to see if our minimum factor has changed. 

Fourth, we are planning to have a number of people confirmed in the fall.  Due to some rescheduling at the Diocesan level, those confirmations will take place in September instead of May as in the past.  Our two-year confirmation cycle of youth classes will be complete and we expect to confirm six youth.  Additionally, I would expect that a number of adults who are new to St. John’s may wish to be confirmed or received, and we will offer adult preparation classes in the late spring and summer.  Last year we had two adults received into the Episcopal Church, Ron Gracilla and Tony Kropp, and we are grateful for their decision.  I also want to thank Pastor Joie Baker, who has agreed to teach our confirmation students, and for the work Lisa Zamora and Christian Lowery have done over the past eighteen months. 

Fifth, I want to tell you a bit about two development opportunities for me that you are also a part of.  The first is a three-month sabbatical that I plan to take sometime between August and November of this year.  Sabbaticals have been written into the agreements between every rector and parish since Bishop Sean became bishop.  The research shows that if priests in churches with only one priest do not get sabbaticals, they tend to get stuck in their ideas and ministry and move to different churches to get unstuck.  Sabbaticals help clergy stay fresh and be effective in the same parish.  I was supposed to take a sabbatical last year after five years, but wanted to see the capital campaign through.  I was strongly encouraged to take the sabbatical this year, so I am making plans.  I am tentatively planning to attend a couple of leadership development opportunities, take a retreat, and hopefully do an international mission with those working with people groups that have not yet received the gospel in either Northern India or Southeast Asia.  As part of planning for the Sabbatical, I will ensure that we have clergy coverage for all needed Sundays and other emergencies, as well as offering opportunities for the parish to learn about some of what I am experiencing as I go through it.  As the year goes on, I will share more details.  A sabbatical is a great gift, and I hope it will be beneficial both to me and to our common ministry.

I have also just begun a Doctor of Ministry degree with a two week residency at Virginia Theological Seminary.  This Doctor of Ministry is focused on ministry development, both for me as a priest and for the parish around me.  Practically, the degree has nine weeks of residency on campus over a three-year period, and then a thesis that consists of a project that is carried out and then written up and evaluated.  The first major component of the program is a congregation study that I will be working on over the next eight months.  This comprehensive look at the parish will include some interviews, surveys and other work which should provide some insight for helpful next steps in mission and ministry.  I will be asking some people for help with various parts of this study, but, in the end, I’ll get to write the paper.      

Finally, I want to mention our need to continue to pray and be open to new or unexpected opportunities.  Over the past two months, I had a number of people mention an interest by some Spanish speakers in the area to have a mass in Spanish.  I and some others in the parish put out feelers, and I don’t know if anything will happen or not.  Such opportunities to reach people who aren’t currently being reached by other churches are likely to be an essential part of our future ministry and growth, even when those opportunities might not be how we traditionally have done things.  Yet, these opportunities might perfectly fit our guiding principles and strategic directions, and God may want to open some unexpected doors for our work to bear fruit.

So together in 2015 let us continue to worship God, care for people, and grow as Christians.  As we live into God’s call to us, we will also notice how God is using us as individuals and as a parish to make positive differences, and even miracles, in the lives of those around us.