In this issue:
A couple of weeks ago we read in the gospel the story of Jesus walking on the Sea of Galilee. It was early in the morning, the first glimmer of the sun's light just beginning to break over the eastern hills. The disciples had been battling for hours to keep their boat afloat, when through the spray they saw a ghostly figure approaching them on the lake-perhaps death itself coming to claim them.
They cried out in fear. But the voice they heard in response was a familiar one. "Lord, if it really is you," Peter replied, "tell me to come out to you on the water." Before Jesus had uttered a word, Peter was already climbing over the gunwale and walking towards him. Then he looked around and saw the impossibility of what he was doing. He was barely able to get the words out, "Lord save me!" before he began to go under. As Jesus reached out and caught him on the way down, he said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?"
It seems to me that Peter's brief experience on the water is descriptive of much of Christian discipleship. It is always a mixture of faith and doubt, although often in varying proportions. Sometimes we seem to have that faith that would move mountains and doubt seems almost non-existent. At other times we find ourselves with the desperate father at the foot of the mount of the transfiguration crying aloud, "Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!"
There are some people who claim that we should never doubt. Yet that is not something I find in Scripture. The apostle Paul reminds us that we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), like looking into a poor reflection in a dusky mirror (1 Corinthians 13:12). Even after the resurrection, with Jesus standing before them, there were some among the disciples who still doubted (Matthew 28:17).
There will always be things that cause us to question aspects of our faith. Yet those very doubts can be the means of growing stronger in faith, as we wrestle honestly with them and bring them to the Lord. They may even help us to discover areas where our faith has been misplaced.
The Bible does not condemn us for the doubts that creep into our minds. What it does condemn is hardness of heart. But that is an altogether different thing. Hardness of heart involves a deliberate decision to turn against God. From my own observation, it has little to do with the intellectual questions that can trouble our minds, although it may often use them as a foil.
In its essence, hardness of heart is a moral condition, a refusal to let God be God in any sense in my life. The danger of it is that it can lead to greater and greater hardness, until we have sealed ourselves in a virtually impenetrable shell. The classic example in Scripture is, of course, Pharaoh. Yet the prophets warned that what happened to Pharaoh could just as easily happen to the people of Israel-indeed did happen from time to time.
Praise God that he is able to turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). And when doubts do assail us, may we cling to the assurance that God is able to work all things together for our good, and that while there may be times when he seems far away, there is in reality nothing that can separate us from his love.
Responding to God's grace, we at Messiah Episcopal Church gather in worship through word and sacraments and proclaim God's message of redemption through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, we follow Jesus as he transforms the world for God's purpose.
We seek God to strengthen loyalty to the faith revealed in the Bible and cherished by the church across the ages and around the world. We are sustained by worship that is authentic, reverent, vibrant, creative, and liturgical.
We strive to grow in obedience to Christ through biblical teaching and mutual encouragement, so that we may follow our Lord in faithful and loving service to him and to one another.
We trust God to promote healing and transformation through the Holy Spirit locally and globally by engaging in outreach in our community and the wider world, and providing prayer and financial support in a variety of contexts.
We are located in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul, one block west of Snelling Avenue on Ford Parkway at Macalester Avenue, an easy commute from most places in the Twin Cities, with on-street parking.
At its July meeting Messiah's Vestry adopted an identity statement (included elsewhere in this newsletter) that has been worked on in the past year. It also mandated a minimum of $3,000 in monthly staffing cuts starting in September in response to lower-than-budgeted income during the first half of the year. Treasurer Rachael Arnott predicted based on Finance Committee examination a $25,000 year-end gap between income and expenses if current spending was maintained. Pledge income is 6.5 % below budget and loose offerings are 24 % below budget for the year. Expenses are about 1 % over budget largely due to higher-than-expected winter utility costs. Rector John Newton was authorized to implement the staffing cuts based on optimal staffing configuration given present income and circumstances with input from the wardens.
Messiah's Finance Committee recommended using the recently received Bishop Wolterstorff bequest ($174,416) in the following ways: giving 10% away; retiring some of our debt to the diocese (7 %); using 23 % for infrastructure improvement within the church; putting 60 % into the Building Fund to pay down principal and to make monthly mortgage payments. The Vestry was clear in its desire to use some of this money to improve the invitational culture of the church so that growth might occur. A final decision on allocation was tabled until September.
Junior Warden Charlie Clauss led a discussion about whether Messiah might request Designated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) reminding members that the number one priority is to abide in Christ and that our posture must be one of listening to God. The ensuing discussion focused on the need to look at all possibilities, the priority of discerning what God is up to here without predetermined outcomes, and the desire to keep people informed as outside events unfold. The Vestry and Rector agreed that it would be helpful to have the primary focus of the State-of-the-Parish meeting scheduled for Monday, September 22, at 7 p.m. to be from Rector John Newton on developments within the Anglican Communion.
The Vestry gathered round in prayer for Peter Johnson who had announced his resignation. Peter, his wife Katie, and daughter Lucy are moving to Grand Rapids, Michigan so that he might attend film school.
Parishioners are welcome to attend Vestry meetings as observers and at other times are encouraged to bring questions and concerns to the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry members. Complete monthly financial statements and minutes are available in the work room next to the reception area or may be obtained by emailing a.schwarz@messiahepiscopal.org.
I am several weeks removed from the music pulsing from our van one day last June. It was the classic rock tune ostensibly about school-you know, about school being out for the summer. Out forever, even. No more teachers, no more rules. My children permitted themselves to sing with windows open.
We have had this experience more than once over the years. The children abandon themselves to the notion that they are free, eat a congratulatory end-of-school-term ice cream, and then go home to parents eager to discuss Personal Goals You Have Set For Yourselves This Summer.
Happily, the Lord who desires our fellowship oversees our summer curriculum. True freedom and human flourishing, while often grounded in personal disciplines (worthy of goal-setting), most fundamentally emanate from personal relationships-with God and God's people. School, consequently, is never really out. God daily beckons, loving us and requiring our obedience as He conforms us to the image of His Son. Here are just two ways God has nurtured me over summer-term in his school for character.
"Jesus said therefore to the twelve, 'You do not want to go away also, do you?' Simon Peter answered Him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
The hard things about discipleship are finally resolved in the inestimable love Jesus shows followers with whom he longs to walk. I do not want to go away from the One who daily beckons and who will give strength to surmount the dissipating effects of discouragement.
And so it was a good summer. And as the formal school year begins, I look forward to continuing to grow in character as I learn from our Teacher and Lord.
Just as in our last newsletter I borrowed my title "Mission's Flame" from a worship song, so this time around I'd like to explore the idea of our being "Made to Worship." I think that for most people, musician or not, Christian or not, music is a very powerful thing. I'd have a hard time thinking of any teenager who wasn't adamant about his or her music of choice. Music has been at the center of much social change in America, especially in the 20th Century. I think that music has this power for a reason. Whether or not we realize it individually, we were all made to worship.
What is the most common subject of pop music? It seems that by far the most common theme of popular music is love. This could also be described as adoration, or ascribing worth to someone. That's just one step away from worship. All that is lacking is to unite that latent longing for loving relationship with its ultimate object: God.
A few years ago, my wife Libby and I experienced just how far that step from music to worship is. We were at the Winnipeg Folk Festival and one of the bands performing was playing Southern charismatic gospel music. Not only did they sing old songs about Jesus, they also encouraged the crowd to do things like raise their hands and mimic the experience of worship. In outward appearance it looked like worship, but Libby and I both had the impression that the whole thing felt "dead." The crowd sang the right words and had the right motions, but were generally not intending to praise God. They honored God with their lips, but their hearts were far from him. There seemed to be something almost grotesque to us in this pantomime of worship.
The idea of music having a power that comes from its original God-directed purpose even when we find it divorced from worship has been very important to me personally. At the time when I became a Christian late in high school I was an accomplished musician, at least by the standards of my small hometown. Before I met Jesus, music was probably the most important thing in my life and perhaps the closest thing I had to a god. Just as peoples of the ancient world had to abandon anything remotely related to idolatry when becoming Christian, there was a period of time after my conversion that I didn't do much worship music because of its connection to my former idol. Realizing the true nature and ultimate purpose of music helped me to redeem music in my life and gave me an understanding of why it is so easy to idolize and how to be free from that idolatry.
Just to be clear, I'd like to say that I'm not against secular music. I listen to a wide variety of music myself, all of it holding at least some shadow or remnant of music's original purpose: to glorify and ascribe worth to God. Music was made for worship, and we were made to worship. "Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation."
I always get excited for the fall, and the kick-off to Sunday School and Youth Ministries here at Messiah. From time to time I like to share what I see as the basis for our ministry to families, the reason we do what we do. From a biblical and theological perspective, the primary responsibility for nurturing faith in Messiah's kids lives lies with the child's household (Acts 16:25-34). As heads of the household parents have the ultimate responsibility for their children's walk with God. When a child is baptized, the parents pledge the following (Book of Common Prayer p. 302).
"Will you be responsible for seeing that the child you present is brought up in the Christian faith and life?"
"Will you by your prayers and witness help this child to grow into the full stature of Christ?"
Yet parents, especially today, need help from the church to fulfill their commitment to their children. We also see some children in our ministries who have no parents in the church. With this in mind it is the church itself, the 'household of faith' that comes alongside Godly parents, or in the case where there are no parents in the church, provides Godly para-parents. In Biblical terms, the household included at least three generations of the same family, friends of the family and even aliens, or transients. To extend the metaphor we all, as a congregation, have responsibility for all our kids faith.
The way we do this formally is through creating separate generational ministries for children and youth. The way we do this informally is through relationships, offering to be present to and serve our children and youth in ministry: nursery caregiver, Children's Chapel leader, Sunday school teacher, youth leaders, special event chaperones, and so on. By simply offering one's self and one's time we become the household of faith for all our kids, whether they have family here or not. When there are parents present we assist them in their primary role. When there are no parents present we become spiritual surrogates, assisting these parents in ways they may not know or understand. In any case, those who serve our children and youth answer the question asked at Baptism:
"Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ"?
One might ask where clergy and church staff fit in this picture? It is for those discerned and called--Priests, and in our case Summer Interns--who facilitate and create structure within the church for parents to fulfill their parenting responsibilities and the congregation to fulfill their shared responsibility as the Household of Faith.
The primary responsibility of clergy in our model is to "equip the saints for the work of ministry". (Eph 4:12) We do this by coming alongside parents and offering ministries that assist them in bringing up their child in the faith, and by designing ministry opportunities that match leader's gifts to children's needs. The role of staff in equipping the saints involves envisioning, recruiting, training, nurturing, and supporting our leaders. Our ministry to our lay ministers has three sets of goals: our goals for the kids, our goals for our ministers and our goals for ourselves:
This is why we do what we do in Children's and Youth Ministries here at Messiah.
All adult youth leaders and our 412 are invited to our mini-retreat to pray and plan for the coming year: Wed, Sept 3rd, 6:30-9:30 pm in theLoft.
Sunday, Sept. 7th.
Wed, Sept. 10th, 6:30 in the Undercroft. Come meet old and welcome new friends and families. We'll introduce our youth team, and worship with our band. Last name beginning with: A-I Main Course; J-R Breads and Desert; and S-Z Dessert.
Monday, Sept. 15th, 7:00pm, in theLoft. The regular monthly meeting for the Youth Team.
Wed, Sept. 17th, 6:30 in theLoft. Come check out the New & Improved Praise & Worship Nite.
Wed. Sept. 24th, 6:30 in the youth rooms. The Road Trip continues.
Thursday Oct. 16th, State Fair Grounds
Project Home invites Messiah and our youth to Sleep Out (in a temporary dwelling, a box or a tent), Rock Out (the band Sheltered Reality will perform live) and Knock Out homelessness at our Cardboard Box City event to be held Thursday, Oct. 16 (MEA weekend) at the Minnesota State Fair Grounds. More info TBA
Get this on your calendars, Messiah's Youth and their families are invited back to Camp Crosswoods the weekend of MEA,
Oct. 17-19th. More info TBA.
Join us at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 11 in the undercroft for an International Potluck dinner. The dinner is an opportunity for members of the congregation to share dishes with each other that either reflect their heritage (not all of us are Scandinavian!) or are favorite childhood or family dishes. Cards will be provided so an explanation of your dish and its origins can be offered. Look for bulletin announcements with more information in the coming weeks.
The International Potluck is one of several events the newly formed Fellowship & Hospitality Committee is planning. We've been given a goal of offering some kind of fellowship opportunity each month and we have ideas for well into next year. Some other upcoming events include an ice skating outing in November, Messiah's traditional hanging of the greens in December, and a "Progressive" dinner in January. Details about each event will appear in bulletin announcements and future newsletter issues.
If you have an interest in being on the Fellowship & Hospitality Committee, or an idea you'd like the committee to consider for an event, contact Samantha Tenuta at 651-645-1794 or bookworm1966@hotmail.com.
Have you ever wondered what to say to a co-worker who returns to work after a few days absence after the death of a family member? Perhaps a friend seems distant after the death of a loved one. Last Sunday John mentioned my grandmother, and I could immediately see her again -- and I was sad that I could not talk with her. Perhaps someone very special to you has died, recently or some time ago, and you feel off balance.
In the September sessions of adult education, we will consider a definition of grief. Living with grief has been compared to a journey. Together we will look at what the journey entails. Each of us has our own style of coping, and we will reflect on these various styles. The sessions will be interactive, allowing for questions or comment.
Adult education is offered on Sunday mornings from 10:45 to 11:45, concurrently with the catechesis, youth and confirmation programs.
Karen Newton has many years' experience in grief counseling and bereavement support. We are all touched by loss at various times in our lives. In these three sessions, we will define grief, reflect on our journey through it, and consider styles of coping.
Dan Taylor is professor of English at Bethel University. On the verge of the presidential election, he will help us to explore some of the qualities we should be looking for in a national leader.
For the past year we have been blessed by the presence of KaRen refugees from Burma in our midst. Who are the KaRen? What has brought them to the Twin Cities? Come and learn about their history, culture and faith in this three-week series.
Jeff Kidder & Ed Kopietz will lead us in an examination of the philosophy that underlies our worship, with specific reference to what the Bible has to say on this topic.
Jason Philbrick was born in Pakistan, spent much of his early life there, and recently worked there for a year with Shelter for Life. In this introduction to Islam he will challenge some commonly held preconceptions and help us towards a better awareness of this often-misunderstood religion.
Jack Oughton & Mike Heitz
The Bible is packed with wise counsel about your financial life. This video-based course from Crown Financial Ministries offers an opportunity to explore it and to put it into practice.
Great Adventure Camp was a fun week for all who participated. More than 51 children participated in Great Adventure Camp during the week of July 29 - August 1, learning about the fruit of the Spirit through a county fair theme. Twenty or more Messiah youth helped with music, games, crafts, snacks and even bringing out the trash each day. Thank you to house groups and all who helped decorate, provide snacks and who kept us in prayer for the week. Thank you, too, to Sheila Cina, Aaron Hoffman, Janice Dames and all the adult and youth helpers who made Great Adventure Camp such a fun and meaningful week for the kids who attended.
During the month of September, Messiah will hold its annual scholarship drive to raise support for Haitian K-6 students . A donation of $100 provides 2008-09 tuition, lunch, uniform, and school supplies at Epiphany School in L'Acul and other schools within the Ste Croix Parish Leogane area. This past spring the Messiah group visiting Haiti had the chance to visit the school and see the children who benefit from the scholarship drive. The outreach budget supplements the drive by assisting with the salaries of teachers at Epiphany. You can be part of bringing hope and literacy to children by contributing to this scholarship drive. Please make your checks payable to Messiah Episcopal Church and write Haiti Scholarship on the memo line. Mesi anpil anpil!
Look in the October issue for a more complete article about our Haiti connections.
Sunday, September 7
Following the 11 a.m. service
At Newell Park
Come for the fun, fellowship and food at Newell Park. Hot dogs, buns and paper products will be provided. Please bring a dish and beverages to share. To find Newell Park, take Fairview Avenue north until Pierce Butler Route. The park is on the right just before Pierce Butler, about 4 miles from the church, a 15 minute drive.
All are invited to prayer at Messiah the 4th Monday of every month at 7:00 p.m. These times of worship and prayer will concentrate on listening to God, asking him what we should pray for and seeking to receive from him the things we need. No prior experience necessary!
Friday, September 12
7:00 to 10:00 p.m. in the Loft
Come for a relaxing evening of diverse performers and musical styles accompanied by great coffee and treats. There will be "open mike" opportunities for music and poetry. We hope to see you there.