Stewardship Reflection - Where All are Queens and Kings

Where All are Queens and Kings
By J. Davey Gerhard

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The Church designates the final Sunday of the Church year as the Feast of Christ the King, a day in which the united rule of Christ over all of the universe is celebrated. In many communities, it is a high feast, with altar guilds preparing white vestments, flower guilds celebrating God’s glory in elaborate displays, and hymns filled with alleluias. What a way to end the year, to celebrate stewardship, and to prepare for Advent! 

But before we get too carried away with the grandeur of it all, today’s Gospel tells a different story about kingship and leadership: It tells of service. Typical of Jesus, he begins with what we expect — in this case power and triumph – and turns it upside down and in doing so, reminds us that it is through our ministry that we increase the role of the Church in our community. True power doesn’t come through force or wealth or conquest, it is derived from generosity, charity, and love. We change the hearts and minds of our neighbors by loving them and serving them.

Throughout this stewardship season we have heard about the mission of our own churches. You have learned about the ways that your gifts impact the life of your church and your neighbors. Perhaps this year you met the challenges of a global pandemic by adapting your worship. Maybe you responded to the needs of your community by increasing your outreach or your ministry to serve your neighbors. What is certain is that you had the opportunity to express your love and your hope for the world through your annual gift to your church.

We seek and serve Christ in all people by serving our neighbors. This is the great commandment of Jesus to his followers and it is one of the promises we make at our Baptism. When we are asked by those we meet on the street or those to whom we minister in our communities if we will offer them drink when they thirst, or visit them when they are lonely, or give them food when they hunger, our answer will be yes! Through our generosity and our faith, we are called to that same royal line as Jesus, leaders in our communities. Now that is a feast worth celebrating!

J. Davey Gerhard is the Executive Director of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship, and lives and teaches his faith in San Francisco, California.

News from the Red Doors - November 20, 2020

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

This Sunday, with our hearts full of the blessings in our lives even amidst these peculiar days, we will offer the financial commitment of our pledges, at the altar with a Litany of Stewardship. Directly after the offertory and before we begin the Eucharistic Prayers, our Stewardship Chair will bring forward a big, beautiful basket with our pledge cards securely stored in a sealed envelope. We will pray the the following litany:

A Stewardship Litany
God of life and love: We are quick to accept the bounteous gifts from you, but slow to give thanks and express our gratitude.

We hold too tightly the things of this life,
giving them the allegiance we owe only to you.
Take my life and let it be consecrated,
Lord to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in ceaseless praise,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Gracious God, we admit that our lives are too often out of balance; we are more willing to receive than to share, more ready to take than to give.

Create in us grateful and generous hearts,
we pray, and restore us the joy of our salvation.
Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse thy love.
Take my feet, and let them be swift and
beautiful to thee, swift and beautiful to thee.
Merciful God, from whom comes every good and perfect gift, we praise you for your mercies:

Your goodness that has created us,
your grace that has sustained us.
Your discipline that has corrected us, your patience that has borne with us,

and your love that has redeemed us.
Take my will, and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is thine own; it shall be
thy royal throne, it shall be thy royal throne.
Help us to love you, and to be thankful for all your gifts by serving you and delighting to do your will.

Accept now, Gracious God, our offerings,
these our pledges of resources and talents for
your service, and the commitments of our lives,
through Jesus Christ, who gave his all for us.

Take my silver and my gold,
not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use every power
as thou shalt choose, every power
as thou shalt choose.

Take my love; my lord,
I pour at thy feet its treasure store,
Take myself, and I will be ever, only,
all for thee, ever, only, all for thee. Amen.

"A Stewardship Litany" by W. Alfred Tisdale, Jr., hymn stanzas by Frances Ridley Havergal from The Wilderness of God's Mercy: Litanies to Enlarge Our Prayer edited by Jeffery W. Rowthorn

My prayer for all of us is an experience of the Holy in that moment, accompanied with a reminder that we truly are blessed both individually and as a faith community. We are especially blessed in our ability to meet, both in-person and virtually, amidst this pandemic. Our health is reasonably good. We have the love of Christ. And even though our days, especially our Thanksgiving Day, may look different we know we are connected in faith and hope to a God that loves us so.

Friends, whether you will be safe at home or traveling to be with family this coming week, please know you are in my prayers with thankfulness and gratitude. Be blessed. Stay safe. Wear your masks. And remember God is ALWAYS in charge!

Blessings!
Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226

LIVE from St. Paul's - November 15, 2020

Stewardship Reflection - Risking Our Lives to Find Them

Risking our Lives to Find Them
By The Rev. Chris Harris

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How do I find greater meaning and purpose in my life? Why is happiness so fleeting and a lasting joy so elusive? Who am I and what am I supposed to do with the rest of my life?

These are some of the big questions of life, and many of us begin to wrestle with them as we reach middle age and beyond. The best-selling book The Second Mountain, by David Brooks, suggests that we come to these questions most urgently when the “first mountain” of our life fails us either because we discover it to be ultimately unfulfilling (such as a life focused on financial success or career goals) or when it crumbles beneath our feet (as the result of a divorce or a life-changing health crisis).

According to Brooks, most of us don’t come looking for the “second mountain” of our lives until we’ve been thrown off the first somehow. Until then, when life is still going our way, we don’t have the eyes to see or the ears to hear. But when we finally are forced off our perches, we have the chance to discover for ourselves what Jesus has tried to tell us all along — that meaning and purpose come not from our accomplishments, our perfect families, or even perfect health, but by risking all that we are and all that we have for the sake of others.

If you are someone looking for the second mountain of your life, the question at the heart of our Gospel this week offers all the directions we need:

How will I risk the gifts I’ve been given, to do the work God is calling me to do?

Notice that the story turns on risk. Playing it safe, worrying about ourselves and what others will say about us, is the first mountain all over again. And a life of tepid generosity, one that is constrained by fear and our need for control, leaves us languishing in the valley.

Unless we are willing to risk it all for the sake of others – to take a leap into a Faith-Filled Generosity – we never reach the summit of a truly abundant life.

Chris Harris is Associate Rector of Christ Church Cranbrook in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. He serves on the board of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship and the steering team for Invite-Welcome-Connect, a national evangelism ministry, and is creator of Living Wi$ley, a faith and personal finance ministry.

Mr. Thomas Konieczny Reflects on Stewardship

News from the Red Doors - November 13, 2020

This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

There's a lot going on around here in the last week or so:

• We hosted an Election Day prayer vigil. Our continued prayers for the processing of the election and for our nation overall are important. Please keep praying.

• I attended my first Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program (virtually) and started the readings.

• I attended my second Fresh Start meeting (virtually). Fresh Start is a clergy group in the Diocese for all clergy that have stepped into new roles. This is my THIRD time attending Fresh Start, and I pray it is my last time for a good long season!

• Last Tuesday my husband Joe helped our IT consultants run the wire from the Comcast modem in the sacristy to the the church office. The install is complete and I've been trained on the setup and given access to the infrastructure. Today I called Frontier to turn off the office internet. What a blessing the Technology Grant has been for us so that we pay for only one internet provider monthly now. Thank you!

• And amidst it all, we have a potential tenant for the Rectory beginning in January. I'll share more details on that once things are official.

It has been a good and faithful week or so! It's hard to believe I've been your priest for more than 6 months now. I'm so thankful for this opportunity, and for each of you. It has been an unusual time of us all getting to know each other, and I long to be able to sit at table with each of you and hear your stories. Sometimes when I walk alone into that beautiful church building I feel breathless with the privilege I have to be here, with you, and our beautiful church building. Thank you God for this opportunity.

I sign-off this short article with a reminder that this Sunday, 11/15, we ask you to bring in your pledge cards, if you have not already done so. The good work we are doing, the people we are reaching and supporting, can not happen without YOU and your support. We are blessed to be in ministry during this time and in this place. Thank you for your support.
And if you still want to offer a donation to the Salvation Army food pantry, you have until 11/22 to do so. Please drop off or mail in a donation marked "Food Pantry" and we'll be sure to forward it on. We are blessed in so many ways, and blessed to be able to share as well.

Have a wonderful day and weekend. I hope to see you in-person or virtually on Sunday. Stay safe. Wear your mask. Say your prayers.

Blessings!Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226

LIVE from St. Paul's - November 8, 2020

Stewardship Reflection - The Gifts of Faith

The Gifts of Faith
By The Rev. Matthew Woodward

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The parable of the wise and foolish virgins brings back so many rector wedding memories. I have to say, virgins trimming wicks are few and far between in early 21st century Bay Area weddings; you are more likely to find mason jars liberally strewn around the barn venue and handwritten chalkboards offering tri-tip, which you can eat perched on a bale of hay. But the frenetic last-minute energy of things needing to be fixed is just the same today as in scripture.

If you get stuck in the anxiety, keeping company with the wedding planner and their staff, you are going to miss the point of the event.

Weddings confer the blessing of companionship. We can get stuck in the mechanics of delivery and all of the anxiety it generates. Or we can acknowledge that love is a great gift, and we should be grateful for it.

I once oversaw a wedding in which the couple forgot to get a license. I took a deep breath, made sure they had a wonderful day, and secretly remarried them a month or two later. Their love for each other was a gift. We found a way to fix the paperwork.

Faith is a gift, Christian community is a gift; worship, children’s choirs and that moment when teenagers suddenly make a profound connection with their faith: These are all gifts. We could get caught up in the anxiety of paying for it all, or we could just say thank you and write the pledge that shows how grateful we are for all we have received.

The Rev. Matthew Woodward is an Englishman on the West Coast of America and the Rector of Transfiguration Episcopal Church in San Mateo California. He is a recent puppy parent, and loves comics. He has also found stewardship ministry to be a real joy, rather than the other thing, in recent years.

News from the Red Doors - November 6, 2020

An Invitation

The nomination committee, which is comprised of Mother Michelle, myself, the senior warden and a retiring vestry member, Sue Cummings, invites anyone who is interested in being senior warden, junior warden or vestry member, to contact the committee.

The senior warden is really the connection between the parishioners and the priest. In the absence of a priest, the senior warden is the person in charge of the parish. Believe me, the position has become a whole lot easier now we have Mother Michelle!

The junior warden usually takes care of the parish buildings, in consultation with the vestry.

A vestry member is elected for a three-year term. The vestry meets once a month to review the finances and plan any events with the priest. We are currently meeting in person in the parish house, with some members attending by Zoom.

To be eligible for any position, a person must be a communicant in good standing, that is, baptized, worships regularly and supports the parish financially.

We welcome anyone who would like to serve the parish in this way. If you have any questions, please call:

• Mother Michelle, 219-575-0226

• Sandra Provan, 362-5618

• Sue Cummings, 324-5610

It really is a privilege to serve as warden or on the vestry, I encourage you to volunteer.

God bless,
Sandra Provan

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This Week at St. Paul's
Mother Michelle Walker

Dear St. Paul's Family,

Typically I compose the Friday newsletter on Thursday morning and have it all ready for electronic distribution. This week, I found myself waiting, and waiting, and waiting. Perhaps I thought I'd have more profound words to share if we had also heard the preliminary election results. Perhaps I was dreading acknowledging the discomfort and frustration of waiting for the votes to be counted, every single vote. I went to bed Thursday night saying "I'll finish in the morning."

This morning I wake to still no election results, although we expect them soon. The realization dawned on me that our Christian lives are so often about waiting for an outcome of which we're unsure. We pray and we wait. We may even fall asleep and then repeat again. We'll hear this Sunday the passage about the 10 bridesmaids who were waiting for the bridegroom and fell asleep while waiting. Waiting has always been part of our Christian journey. Waiting is hard, but NOT impossible.

So this morning, there are two things certain to me:

1. Regardless of the results of the election, approximately one-half of the entire country is going to be happy and the other half sad. God loves both halves ... we must attempt to do the same.

2. Regardless of any election, our God is always in charge, always loves us, is always there to hear our prayers. Offer him your prayers, on any topic!

My friends, as we wait, let us keep these two thoughts foremost in our minds. Whether we rejoice or mourn at the election results later today, let us be sure to remember God is in charge. Let us be sure to do our best to love our neighbor as ourselves. And let us remember to continue to breathe in the Holy Spirit and breathe out our anxieties.

In the meantime, life goes on. This week I attended (virtually) the orientation session of my Wabash Pastoral Leadership Program. It was a wonderful day filled with meeting other clergy from all over the state to plan our next two years of learning together. I am honored to have been selected to participate in this prestigious program, which is funded by the Lilly Endowment. You will hear lots more about this soon.

This week our IT consultants ran the internet cabling from the Comcast installation in the church sacristy to the church office. Soon, very soon, we will have only one monthly internet bill. Praise the Lord for the Technology Grant we received that is making this possible.

This week on Election Day we held a prayer vigil in the church from 9am-4:30pm. It was a blessing to all those who participated to be able to sit quietly in our beautiful building and offer prayers for our election, ourselves, and others. My belief in many of our offerings is that the people who need to be there to encounter God are the ones that show up. Whether that is a handful of people, or a church full of people (in a non-pandemic world) - the Lord brings to his altar the ones that need it most. That certainly was true on Tuesday.

Last week I joined a group of 14 other Episcopalians from our diocese who will be engaging in a 10-session video learning series on race and faith called Sacred Ground. I will participate virtually every other Wednesday evening. I'm leaning into my discomfort about talking about race and faith, both for my own development and in hopes that we might have some of these conversations at St. Paul's in the future.

Lastly, on October 20th our vestry met (partially) in-person for the first time since my arrival at St. Paul's. We set up the camera to allow those that needed to attend via Zoom to do so. It was good to be together in this combined environment. The vestry passed the proposed revisions to the ByLaws. The document has been updated with the changes and can be found on our website here: https://www.stpaulslaporte.org/leadership (scroll down, on the right side). In that same section you will find a Vestry Packet from our October meeting including: minutes, priest report, and financials. Praise God for our faithful vestry who has stepped forward to lead our beautiful church community.
And so, we wait. We go on about our business and we wait. And we remember God is in charge, ALL OF THE TIME, even when we can't quite understand it. Stay safe. Wear your mask. Say your prayers. And this week especially, take a few deep breaths!

Blessings!Mother Michelle
priest@stpaulslaporte.org | 219-575-0226

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Diocesan Convention Address

Tonight (Friday 11/6) at 5:30pm, the Diocesan Convention opening worship and Bishop's Annual Pastoral Address will occur both on the Diocesan Facebook page and the Diocesan YouTube Channel. Please join in to hear Bishop Doug's words of hope to the diocese as we prepare to conduct the annual business meeting tomorrow.

As a side note, Mother Michelle's 'other job' is to plan for and help administer this convention each year. Your prayers for her during these next 24+ hours are greatly appreciated.

A Season of Prayer: For an Election - November 4th

Join us in our novena (9 days of prayer) for an election as found at this link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Z5lre39QHq_dBixV9yIehYZN0o-HQ1hO/view?usp=sharing

A Litany For Sound Government

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
Lord, keep this nation under your care.

To the President and members of the Cabinet, to Governors of States, Mayors of Cities, and to all in administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To Senators and Representatives, and those who make our laws in States, Cities, and Towns, give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.

And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.
For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen.

NOV 4 Pray for our own work for the common good

Almighty God our heavenly Father, you declare your glory and show forth your handiwork in the heavens and in the earth: Deliver us in our various occupations from the service of self alone, that we may do the work you give us to do in truth and beauty and for the common good; for the sake of him who came among us as one who serves, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

#seasonofprayer