The real work of Holy Week

We're in the midst of Holy Week, and I'm working on preparations for our worship on Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter worship. There are a lot of details to attend to, sermons to be written, phone calls to be made, and many small items that have to be taken care of. So far it looks like everything is well in hand.

The real work of Holy Week, however, is silence and reflection. On Sunday we read the Passion Narrative that tells about the last days and hours of Jesus' life. It's such a powerful story it reverberates through the whole week and it needs time and silence to echo in our souls. I hope to have time in the busy-ness of this week to simply sit with the story and let it work on me. I hope you will, too.

Clear Creek trail photo

Another photo of my volunteer day tree planting on the Clear Creek trail. I enjoy being with these young people.

An outline of our Long Range Planning Process

This is a copy of the article I wrote for our April newsletter:

Re-starting the Long Range Planning Process

By Bill Fulton, Vicar

For many years at St. Antony’s, we’ve had a dream of building a better facility. Over the twenty five years of our existence, we’ve engaged architects and consultants, drawn up building plans, raised money, and looked for alternative sites, but we haven’t been able to accomplish the dream. I think the time has come for us to sit down together and agree on a plan we can accomplish.

I’m proposing a parish-wide process to come to some decisions on our building plans this year. Because this is a major parish decision that requires broad consensus, I think we need a comprehensive process that is transparent and inclusive. I presented a plan at the March meeting of the Bishop’s Committee to accomplish this, and they refined and endorsed the plan.

The process I’ve suggested involves three parish meetings – one to explain the process and start our research on what’s been accomplished to date; one meeting to share our findings and provide information; and one meeting to come to a decision. I envision these meetings to take place in April, July, and November. A flow chart of this process is posted in the narthex.

In the research and information phase, we’ll share what’s been done so far; look at past building plans and their price tags; and analyze our fundraising efforts to date. In the decision-making phase, we’ll come up with various alternatives and present them to the parish for a decision. All of this needs to be done quite openly and communicated clearly.

We have considerable resources to work with and impressive talent among our membership. The key is to have a well-understood process, good communication, and broad participation from our membership. I hope you’ll take the time to come to the meetings, absorb the information, and participate in the process. Our first meeting will be Monday, April 12, at 7:00 PM.

Please contact me, Bob Meith, or Heather George with your suggestions and any questions you might have. By working together with a good plan, we can have a successful outcome.

Planting trees with children

Denise teaches kids about tree planting

Yesterday I volunteered to work at the Clear Creek Field Trip for schoolchildren. At 10 AM, a big yellow school bus dropped off about 60 happily chattering fourth graders who quickly formed up in lines behind their teachers. There were four groups of about 15 each, and there were four stations for them to rotate through: fish release; tree planting, water quality; and stream bugs.

I volunteered to work with the tree-planting group. An area covered with thick canary grass had been cleared and tilled for the kids to plant trees in. Denise, our leader, asked the kids what trees do for us and what trees need. Then she patiently explained to the children how to plant a tree.

As soon as they were given the go-ahead, the kids rushed to grab a shovel and plant their tree. My job was to help each pair as they dug their hole, filled it with dirt, covered it with a square of plastic, and put mulch on the plastic. Lastly, they got to name their tree and write the name on a pink ribbon.

What fun! Children are so excited to be outdoors and learn about nature. I'm sure this learning experience will stay with them a long time. I thoroughly enjoyed being with the kids and the other volunteers. What a great way to help children learn how to protect our environment and care for the earth.

Birthday party for a nonagenarian

On  Wednesday I went to the birthday party for Mary, who is a few years over ninety (I'm not sure how many). It was a delightful occasion.Three women from our church were there, and they lovingly helped Mary celebrate another birthday. These are women who have known her for many years and have continued to visit and care for her. Not only was it a beautiful occasion, but it was a lovely example of the pastoral care we give each other at St. Antony's.

Mary is a gracious southern lady who received the occasion with her customary grace and charm. She seemed quite happy to have this low-key celebration of her birth. I'm so thankful to be part of a church that is such a caring and supportive community.

Confusion at the Communion Table

At the beginning of the season of Lent, we changed the arrangement of chairs in our worship space. Nearly everyone has approved of the change because it gives us a more central focus and allows better access to chairs. But it has thrown us for a loop when it comes to taking Communion -- at least in the 10:00 Eucharist.

The confusion comes from figuring out how we go up to the altar rail and how we come back to our seat. With this new configuration, the flow of people to and from the altar rail has not been obvious.

Last Sunday we decided to ask the left side of the church (as seen from the congregation) to come up to the altar rail after the choir is finished, and to return by the middle aisle, or by the left side aisle if possible. This seemed to help a little. The problem is that there isn't enough room for people to go up and return in the same aisle at the same time.

Then we repeated the instructions for the two middle sections so that it was more clear to everyone. We asked them to come up the middle aisle. People from the left section move to the left, filling the altar rail starting at the window and wrapping around to the "Chi Rho" sign on the front of the altar. People from the right section move to the right, filling the altar rail starting at the "Chi Rho" and wrapping around to the window on the right. Everyone returns to their seats by the side aisles in a circular route.

I think it helped to take a little time to explain just how it works. Everybody wants to know what they're supposed to do so they don't feel embarrassed. This is perfectly natural. I'm sure that as time goes on, we'll feel completely comfortable with the new arrangement, and we'll think it's always been this way!

Results of the BC Retreat

It's been a week since we had our Bishop's Committee Retreat, and I've had sometime to reflect on it.

We held our retreat at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Bainbridge Island. The Rector, The Rev. Dennis Tierney, was gracious enough to let us use "A Room with a View", a cozy room that was just right for our needs. Our retreat was led by Sue Clary, a trained facilitator for the Diocese of Olympia and a member of the faculty of the College for Congregational Development.

Sue led us in a number of team-building exercises that helped us loosen up and get a sense of who we are as a team. She had us line up across the room according to how long we've been at St. Antony's; how long we've been Episcopalians; and how long we've been BC members. Then she asked us to sort ourselves into the four corners of the room according to how we think we fit into these criteria: Action, Meaning, Structure, and Caring. It was fascinating to perceive how we see ourselves, and I think we learned a lot.

Sue asked us all to read the Vicar's Annual Report that came out in January, and we began our discussion on the topics raised in it, especially the need for re-structuring. After much discussion about the purpose and mission of our church and how to accomplish them, we came up with the idea that we'll have a "Transition Year" to help us move from Commissions to Teams.

At present we have a number of Commissions, each of which is headed by a BC member. We want to move to a Team approach, so that each Commission becomes a Team which has team members from the congregation and is led by a congregation member. BC members will still function with the team, but not necessarily as the head of the team. The idea is to have more grass-roots participation. We hope to have teams of people that meet as needed to work together.

Here are the teams we came up with:

• Welcoming Team (formerly the Evangelism Commission) - responsible for evangelism, greeters, bulletins, reader board, advertising, new members.
• Support Team (formerly the Finance and Administration Commission) - responsible for administration, stewardship, office, fundraising, and team support. The Vicars and Wardens are part of this team.
• Environmental team - responsible for building and grounds
• Worship Team (formerly the Worship, Liturgy, and Music Commission) - to act as support and advice to the Vicar
• Parish Life Team - same responsibilities as the Parish Life Commission
• Youth Team - same as Youth Commission
• Faith Formation Team - responsible for Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and Adult Ed offerings
• Outreach Team - same responsibility as the Outreach Commission

At our next meeting on March 18, we'll talk more about how we'll implement these changes and clarify just what each team is supposed to do. Then we'll present our plans to the congregation and get feedback.

I think it was a very productive retreat and we generated a lot of excitement. We said, "Wow, we've got some good ideas that honor the past and help us invite more participation by the congregation. Great!"

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