Baptism!

Last Sunday, on Pentecost Day, we baptized Kenny, a wonderful little nine-month old boy. When I picked him up to hold him for the baptism, I thought he would protest and squirm, but he was quiet and big-eyed.

In my sermon, I said that I think Kenny is a child of our church, because his mother, Liz, was a member of our church when she was a little girl. She grew up, moved away, got married, had a baby and moved back to our area. Now she's presenting her baby to be baptized at St. Antony's. What a wonderful story!

Baptisms are always delightful, but this one was special. Welcome to the household of God, Kenny!
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Bite of St. A's resumes

Last Wednesday we resumed our "Bite of St. A's" schedule. We had suspended it during Lent and Easter seasons so we could try some other scheduling, but now we're back to Wednesday night Eucharists and potluck.

I was glad to have a few people attend, and I hope the numbers will pick up. I've missed our quiet and reflective Wednesday evening Eucharist, and it felt good to get back to it.

At present we have no Wednesday evening program to follow the potluck except for choir practice. I wonder if anyone is interested in providing a program? After the bishop's visit in July, choir practice will be suspended and we'll have a program once again.
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It's Pentecost!

A friend sent me this YouTube link. It's a good reminder that the Holy Spirit came to the disciples on the Day of Pentecost to help them "break out of the box", and it can do the same thing for us.

A fresh start

On Tuesday I attended my last session of the Fresh Start program. Fresh Start is a two-year program for clergy who are entering a new parish. It's designed to help clergy make the transition into the parish successfully and smoothly. Studies have shown that it takes about two years for a clergyperson to fully enter the life of a parish, so the program is designed to help that process.

Since I've been at St. Antony's for two years, I guess that means I've successfully entered the life of the parish! I've "graduated" from Fresh Start!

Our meeting on Tuesday was held at St. Alban's Church in Edmonds. There were about twenty clergy present, and it was good to see them all. One of the benefits of Fresh Start for me has been getting to know clergy from around the diocese.

We began with a time of "check-in" where we were invited to share "what we brought in the door with us." There was a wide variety of sharing, from humorous incidents to stories of deeply engaged ministry and a few folks dealing with very difficult situations, especially burnout. It reminded me of the breadth of our diocese and our ministries.

I traveled to and from Edmonds with Kathleen Kingslight, the new rector at St. Paul's, Bremerton. Kathleen and I are forming a good friendship as we share our impressions of ministry in the Bremerton and Silverdale area.
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A life of study revealed in books

I've heard it said that you can tell a lot about a person by looking at the book titles in their bookshelf. There's probably some truth to that observation.

Today I picked up the book collection of a parishioner who is moving away from Silverdale. She's moving into an apartment in Woodinville where she can be closer to her son and she's downsizing her household. She's donated her collection of Bible study books to St. Antony's. As I look through the titles, I see her spiritual life before me.

There are many serious Bible study books, including sixteen Barclay's Study Guides on the entire New Testament, many with passages highlighted and comments in the margins. The volumes of Church Teaching Series, both the original series from the eighties and the new series from 2000, are all there. Her study Bible is included, complete with handsewn cover and notes in the margins. There are Bible atlases, Bible dictionaries, parallel Bibles, several concordances, books on church history, the saints, theology, and prayer.

When I look at these books, I think about the many hours she spent reading and studying the Bible. These books represent her life of prayer, study, and devotion, and I'm impressed by her diligence and perseverance. Through these books she came closer to God and became a holy woman.

I'm sorry to see her leave our church family, but I hope she'll be happy in her new home and find new friends and a new parish family that will embrace her and support her. May God bless her always.
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A good Sunday!

Yesterday was a lively Sunday at St. Antony's. After being gone a Sunday, it was especially good for me to see so many people and hear so many things going on:

• After the 8:00 Eucharist, a young couple met with me about baptizing their baby next week. Liz, the baby's mother, grew up in this church in the nineties. It's wonderful to know she's back in this area!
• I sat with a few parishioners briefly before the 10:00 Eucharist and caught up with them about ongoing challenges in their lives.
• The sermon, on how we might partner with the Lord's Neighborhood Diner, got a good response in the volunteer sign-up sheet.
• Many people offered blessings and thanksgivings during the Eucharist.
• The choir sang the lovely anthem, "All are welcome", which expresses our attitude so well: "Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live...all are welcome, all are welcome, all are welcome in this place."
• After the 10:00 Eucharist, we had a good meeting about planning Vacation Bible School this August. Working as a team, we agreed on a program and how to work together.
• After church, a volunteer crew of men showed up at the home of a parishioner and helped move a piano, which I was able to bless in its new location. 

It's nice to be back!

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Studying the Exile in the Old Testament

Today we're starting a new subject in the Vicar's Bible Study. Our subject is the Exile in the Old Testament.

I find this period of time in scripture fascinating because it's a time of upheaval and change, not unlike our time. In the Exile, the Jewish people were conquered, the temple was destroyed, and a good portion of the population were deported to Babylon where they lived as resident aliens.

Surprisingly, the people did not lose their faith. In fact, some of the most creative and lively expressions of faith came about during the exile. It forced the people to re-examine their identity and find new ways to remain faithful to their understanding of God. Some of the richest literature of the Bible sprung out of the time in exile.

I'm using a book by Walter Bruegemann, Cadences of Home, for this class. In it, he writes,

"The exiles experienced a loss of the structured, reliable world which gave them meaning and coherence, and they found themselves in a context where their most treasured and trusted symbols of faith were mocked, trivialized, or dismissed. Exile is not primarily geographical, but it is social, moral, and cultural."

Here's the ROSE model for our class:

Rationale – The story of the Jewish Exile in the Old Testament demonstrates how the Jewish people coped with displacement and change, and may help us as we cope with displacement and change.
Objective – To learn about the religious, historical and cultural conditions of the Jewish Exile; to understand how we are “in exile”; and to draw parallels between the Biblical story and our own story.
Strategies – Presentation on the scriptural resources about the Exile; exploration and discussion of the scripture story; sharing of our stories of “exile”; excerpts from Walter Breuggemann’s book Cadences of Home; poems; and art.
Evaluation – Discussion, short written evaluation.
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