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 Weekly Email Archive [August-December 2007] December 7, 2007 From the new Parish of St. Monica and St. James, I wish you a belated, blessed and happy feast of St. Nicholas! St. Nicholas was notable for the many wonderful works that he did in service to God's kingdom. Likewise, we celebrate with all of you for the wonderful works that bring us together as a new community of faith, founded in the promise of the power of the coming Christ in this holy season of Advent. I cannot understate the excitement and joy that the promise of this future represents for me! In this frame of mind, I extend a hand to all of you, both newly and long familiar to us, to walk together on this path that promises to deliver us to the fullness of our own potential as growing members of God's Creation. Many opportunities await our new community. As we keep the principal seasons of the Church Year together we will be able to learn from each other how our faith can shape our daily lives. Certainly we will all benefit from learning to know and appreciate each other. For just as we prepare ourselves to receive Jesus when he comes to be our judge, so we also learn by turning away from our own sins to appreciate and share in the presence of the Holy Spirit in those around us, appreciating God incarnate in our fellow Christians. We have come a long way in this last year. The future opens before us an adventure in faith and life, learning to make new friends while cultivating a caring community and offering to every person who comes through our doors a welcome such as we hope to receive when we approach the gate of heaven. Of course, we will discover that we are accustomed to doing things differently. So let us resolve first, foremost, and always to laugh before we do anything else. If we can keep a sense of humor and keep our hearts fixed upon God's call to us, we will surely find true joy and genuine Gospel service. At this time of year we have plenty of opportunities to share with others what God has given to us. At the end of this email, you will find a list of opportunities to shop for Christmas gifts for children and their parents who will not receive gifts other than those we are privileged to offer. Likewise, you will note a list of needed items for the Christmas care packages that our Sunday School takes to homeless persons on Christmas morning. Please do not hesitate to take responsibilities for as much of this as you possibly can. This is only an initial step along the way of coming to an understanding of what we mean when we pledge ourselves to God's service, and when we acknowledge that in the flesh of Jesus the Christ the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, acknowledging the sacredness of all human flesh. All of us will have time to learn to appreciate the distinctive qualities that we bring to this new parish community and to its mission of serving God and working for the transformation of our society and the world. If you have not taken the Inquirers Class lately, or ever, you can still participate in the one currently underway. We have a wonderful group already that would benefit from the gift of your presence. Please feel free to come this Saturday to the rectory at 8 AM were you will be greeted with donuts and coffee as well as open hearts and minds. Also following the 10 AM Mass on Saturday our seminarian will be conducting a period a program of reflection and spiritual inquiry. Please, do not hesitate to seize these opportunities! This Sunday our newly combined Vestry will be commissioned at the 10 AM High Mass. Following the Mass we will "green the Church" so that we will have the opportunity to prepare our hearts for the coming of the beautiful incarnation of God and for a deepening awareness of our close participation in the totality of the created order. Finally, let us resolve to worship regularly together and to greet and speak in some genuinely personal way with at least one person we do not yet know each week. The warmth of the Christian community demands personal relationships to make it genuine and to make its effect present to those who seek to make it their spiritual. If you have not done so already, please complete a blue contact and information card, and also please remember to wear your nametag on Sundays so that everyone can come to know you by name. Also, if you will be in the area for the Holiday Season please make every effort to attend the Christmas Eve Carol Sing at 10:30 PM followed by Mass at 11:00 PM, and the Christmas Day mass at noon. Also Sunday, December 30th will be Father Darko's last day of service in this parish before he retires. Please be sure to come to honor a man of God who has given so much in service to our community and to God's Holy Church. This comes to you with my love, Father Downing GIFT BAGS FOR THE HOMELESS We are again seeking donations of items to be included in 24 gift bags to be distributed to homeless people on Christmas morning. The items include: Needed by Dec. 16: socks (48 pr), hats (24), adult gloves or mittens (24 pr), washcloths (24), comb/brush (24), chapstick (24), tissue packs (24), Christmas/holiday gift bags 12" wide x 20" tall or larger (24), handwarmers (24), toothbrushes (24), toothpaste (24), travel-size mouthwash (24), deodorant (24), hand sanitizer (24), bar of soap (24), juice boxes (24), bottled water (24), apples or oranges (24), candy bars (24), 4 dozen cookies packaged 2 per Ziploc bag. Needed by Dec 24 (refrigerated): hearty sandwiches (24), hard-boiled eggs in shell (24) A sign-up sheet will is in the Fellowship Hall. Please indicate how many of which items you are able to provide. If you have questions, please contact Kate Bucknum (202) 547-0393. CAPITOL HILL GROUP MINISTRY ADOPT-A-FAMILY FOR CHRISTMAS PROGRAM Parent(s) Name: Letita Brent Phone: 202-427-6184 Name, Gender, Age, Article of Clothing w/size, Shoes w size, Toy, Book or Game Teron Brent: M, 14, 10 pants, Shirt-small, Shoes 4 ½, (Tennis) Game Terrell Brent: M, 15, 28 & 30 pants, Shirt - large, Shoes 6 ½, (Tennis) Game Shawn Gray: M, 16, 28 & 30 pants, Shirt - Large, Shoes 6 ½ , Game Reginald Gray: M, 17, 28 &30 pants, Shirt - Large, Shoes 6 ½ to 7, Game Parent(s) special gift (include size): Pants 3; Shoe 6; Shirts Medium Household need: Blankets, Sheets, Curtains, Towels (optional for donor) Please contact the parish office if you have any questions, if you would like to sponsor the whole family, or if would like to buy any of the gifts. Gifts need to be at the church by Dec. 16th. November 29, 2007 Dearly Beloved, Our Vestry had its second meeting of this month last night and voted on the decisions that were requisite for us to go forward with the merger. The first was to approve the petition to change the geographical area of our parish, combining our bounds with those of Saint Monica's parish. Secondly, we asked the convention of the Diocese to change our name to the Parish of Saint Monica and Saint James. (A copy of the petition to the Diocese will be available on Sunday in paper format.) The vestry adopted these resolutions unanimously, as did the Vestry of Saint Monica's, which also met this week. This clears the way for our new community to begin its life together this Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent and the first Sunday in the Church's New Year. The merger vision statement, which we have discussed in the past and which was adopted by the Vestry in September and reaffirmed in October, called for a Vestry composed of the Rector, two Wardens, and ten Vestry members -- of which each Parish coming to the merged Parish will provide one Warden and five Vestry members for a period of two years. The Wardens and Vestry that were elected in October at the St. James' Annual Meeting were called to fill these positions. After careful consideration of the future and deliberations over how best to employ the talents and capabilities of our faithful lay leaders, the Vestry discerned that the following individuals will serve the newly composed Vestry going forward from Saint James': * Junior Warden: Beth Rogers; * Vestry Members: Sara Leonard, Danny Cromer, Daniel Elmer, Amanda Sweet, and Ryan Terry. You will note that the Vestry has elected Beth Rogers as the Warden from Saint James'. This decision was reached because Ryan Terry, our current Senior Warden, indicated that he would relinquish that honored position of Warden based on his intention, at some point in the new year, to resume his preparation for seeking postulancy for ordination to Holy Orders. Out of a desire to ensure that the Warden's slot be filled for an entire full term, thus leading to greater continuity and stability in the community's leadership, the Vestry approved this change. Ryan was elected to the Vestry to replace Beth Rogers and will continue to serve the community in that capacity for as long as possible. Our beloved past Junior Warden, Brion Cook, has stepped down from the office of Warden and Vestry, seeking a time for reflection and renewal away from this community. The conflict of the past year has had its costs, both emotional and spiritual, for many people, and we offer Brion our most heartfelt prayers in these upcoming months that he is not with us. Let us now turn our vision with optimism and joy to the future! We have arrived at the threshold of an extraordinary moment in the life of our church and in our own witness to God's call to be faithful servants of the Creation and to love one another. Now we can come together as the Body of Christ to greet the new Church year and rejoice in the new Parish we are creating, with God's grace, with our prayers, our presence, and our hard work. We have, as a faith community, a truly wonderful opportunity to serve God and to advance His purposes for the world in a new and more vigorous way. I am confident that the challenges of the future will be met by growing Christian hearts -- such as your own -- and there is every reason to greet with joy the coming feast of our redemption. For we will together begin to experience God's saving grace and his unlimited love for humankind and the whole Creation, the principal pledge of which is the person of Jesus the Christ, His Son and our incarnate Lord. Our new life will begin with plenty for all of us to do as we work together and learn to love one another. To this end we are tentatively planning to "green the Church" on December 9, the Second Sunday of Advent. Also, during the 10AM High Mass on that day the members of the combined Vestry, already sworn in by their individual congregations, will be commissioned in the new Parish. Don't forget that we will have forms for memorial flowers to decorate the church for Advent and Christmas. This is an important chance for us to make our beautiful worship space ready to welcome the coming Christ! Finally, during Advent, Father Darko and I will be alternating as preacher and celebrant during the 8AM and the 10AM services. We have coordinated our roles as follows for the remaining services of Advent: Advent 2 8AM -- Fr. Darko, Celebrant; Fr. Downing, Preacher 10AM -- Fr. Downing, Celebrant; Fr. Darko, Preacher Advent 3 8AM -- Fr. Downing, Celebrant; Fr. Darko, Preacher 10AM -- Fr. Darko, Celebrant; Fr. Downing, Preacher Advent 4 8AM -- Fr. Darko, Celebrant; Fr. Downing, Preacher 10AM -- Fr. Downing, Celebrant; Fr. Darko, Preacher Christmas Eve Fr. Darko, Celebrant and Preacher Christmas Day Fr. Downing, Celebrant and Preacher Christmas 1 (Fr. Darko's final day) 8AM and 10AM -- Father Darko, Celebrant and Preacher I look forward to seeing you all as we approach Advent, the traditional time in our calendar to seek to renew our lives in community. May we come together to worship the Risen Christ as One Body! The Lord be with you always. Father Downing November 1, 2007 Dearly beloved, With joy in my heart I write to you fresh from the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass keeping the Feast of All Saints. I write to remind us all of the cloud of witnesses who surround our being with their own and uphold us in their prayer. For as catholic Christians we believe that we remain intimately related with all those who have passed through the water of Baptism and who share life and immortality with the Risen Christ in heaven. This is not some simple pious thought. Instead, this is one of the pillars upon which our faith rest: that God in Christ, having risen from the dead, holds all souls in life unending, life eternal, and life pulsing with the love of God. We should try not to be overcome by the various stresses, strains, vicissitudes, or even major disappointments in this world, because we know in our inmost being that all those who have gone before us in this faith and hope continue to support us with their prayer. It was also with joy and a great sense of gratitude that I was able on Sunday to administer the oath of office to new Wardens and Vestry members. The Wardens are Ryan Terry and Brion Cook; Vestry members are Danny Cromer, Daniel Elmer, Sara Leonard, Rick Mauery, Beth Rogers, and Amanda Sweet. At this time, I would also like to offer my sincere thanks to Debby Braun and Tamber Ray whose service on the Vestry during this past cycle I greatly appreciated and whose wise council was greatly beneficial to all of us with whom they served. As we on the new Vestry and you the congregation all made our various promises during the oath of office I could feel the generations of our forbearers who worshiped in this place, and who worked so hard and so long to support its mission. I could not help but believe that these new Vestry members and Wardens carry in their hearts the same faith and the same dedication to living and proclaiming the Gospel message. I cannot thank enough all of our current saints who work, pray, and give to support our Parish life and its mission and who will lead us in the next chapter in the history of Saint James' as we move towards combining our life with that of the Church of Saint Monica, bringing with us the best of the past and fervently praying for a vigorous witness in the future. Momentous decisions and opportunities lie in our immediate future. Let us all put aside anything that might in any way deflect us from moving ahead boldly. God has given us so much for so long, how can we do less than to seize this opportunity and seek to remain faithful to what has gone before and meet the challenges that lie ahead? I hope that each person who reads these words remembers the witness of steadfastness unto death of our Patron Saint, James the Great, as well as the steadfastness in prayer and hope of Saint Monica. Through a deepening relationship with our patrons we will develop further those qualities that enable us to look at each other and the world with our hearts opened and our spirits yearning for wholeness. So sustained can we be that we could offer that fullness of love that God gives us each day as we travel together into the future, not known, but bright with promise. So let us remember tomorrow night to pray for and commemorate the dead whom we value at the All Souls' Mass at 6:30 pm in the Parish Church. It is not too late for you to add names to be prayed for, nor is it too late for you to decide to attend and raise your voice in worship of the God who has called you into being and whose love holds in life all those who dwell with him in glory. As is our custom we will also take time to pray for the souls of all those who have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan where our nation finds itself at war, thanking God for the unselfish acts of more than a thousand members of our Armed Forces who paid the ultimate price for their willingness to serve our nation and for whom our prayers are only a tiny offering. I know that the war seems so far away -- and yet so many have died there. This will be our opportunity to show our gratitude. Do not allow a lesser thing to stand in the way of your worship; this particular witness is one that our Parish has always held as important, and not every Parish does. If you are in any way concerned about the identity or the purpose of this community and its worship life, then this will be a service that you will not allow yourself to miss. Speaking of not allowing ourselves to miss, we have committed our Parish to providing 30 Thanksgiving boxes for the living who will not have the tasty dinner that all of us expect to enjoy. I will ask Darren to include the list at the end of this message. If each of us does two Thanksgiving baskets, we will easily exceed our goal and many hungry people will be fed. We will begin an Inquirers Class on Saturday, December 1 at 8 am in the rectory. This is the way for persons who have not been confirmed in the Episcopal Church to learn about our Anglican ethos and to receive preparation for the laying on of hands by the Bishop. For those who perhaps have been confirmed in some other Parish, this is their opportunity to learn about this one, to sharpen their appreciation for our Anglican way of life, and to prepare themselves for transfer to this Parish. Please do let me know if you intend to participate. I plan to serve donuts and will need to know how many dozen to purchase. As a pledge of our desire for relationship with, and a sign of respect for our brothers and sisters at Saint Monica's, we will join them for worship at 10am on the Feast of Christ the King, Sunday, November 25 at Saint Monica's. This will mark the final day of worship at St. Monica's as an Episcopal church. There will be a moving service and a fitting tribute to Father Darko who has labored in that particular portion of God's vineyard for 15 years. The Bishop will be present on that day and I am sure that we will all benefit from his presence and preaching. Mark your calendars and please plan to attend. One of the ways in which so many of our people have been able to make an offering to the larger community is by providing food for our coffee hour. If you have not done so lately this could be your first step into new life as you provide for your brothers and sisters in faith. Mildred Engram and Pat Joseph have expressed their willingness to help, but this is too much for only two persons. Step up and show your commitment to the rest of the community by signing up and providing food. The is a sign-up sheet in the Upper Parish Hall with ample spaces still available. Finally, there is being planned a community healing event that I hope you will join me in attending. This event is set tentatively for Saturday, November 17, and it is expected to include time for quiet reflection, fellowship, and a community celebration of the Eucharist. As the details sort themselves out, a schedule will made available. Please do contemplate your willingness to join others of us from within the community for this important opportunity to reconnect with each other. This comes with my love. The Lord be with you, Father Downing Thanksgiving Announcement From Capital Hill Group Ministries: Help a neighbor's family have a wonderful thanksgiving, donate a Thanksgiving Basket! Each Basket contains: -2 cans of string beans -2 cans of yams or fresh equivalent -2 boxes of stuffing -1 bag of apples -1 bag of white potatoes -1 box of bisquick or muffin mix -1 box of cake mix and frosting mix -2 cans of cranberry sauce -1 bag of rice -1 small bag of onions -1 $15 Safeway gift card to purchase meat of choice (please place in envelope and give to CHGM staff. Safeway is the most convenient grocery store for Ward 6 residents) Timeline: November 1 through 18: Purchase the items for your baskets. 1. The list is to serve as a guide; you may customize as you wish, just make sure that the amount purchased is equivalent to the amount listed. 2. Avoid perishable food - you will assemble the baskets several days prior to Thanksgiving. 3. The "basket" itself may be a decorated box, doubled grocery bags, crates, clothes basket, etc. If you'd like, you may include notes to the families wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving. Monday, November 19. Drop-off at one of the CHGM offices on Capitol Hill. (We'll let you know in advance where to deliver them.) November 24, Thanksgiving Day: Remember that your generosity means there are more families seated at the Thanksgiving table. Give thanks for the abundance you have shared! October 25, 2007 Dearly beloved, With a grateful heart I write to you today. Our Annual Meeting has come and is now history. We have newly elected Wardens and Vestry members. It will be our joy to hear them make their public commitment on Sunday to serve our community and to function together with the Rector as both leaders and as persons who set a good example for all. Please do come this Sunday, for the commitments they make are in fact commitments that involve us all. In this way, it is not unlike the matrimonial relationship where the bride and groom commit to each other, and where the church gathered with them commits to support them in their life together. These commitments are consequential and they are intended to help us as we seek to live into our own Baptismal Covenant, where we set our hearts on the truth of God and on the principal precepts and examples that we have received from the past and experience in the present. All of this manifests itself in a way that makes God and His love and grace real: fashioning our daily decision-making, our daily routine, and our daily life together -- making them congruent with the Covenant's demands. One such demand is gathering regularly in the Christian community to worship and to hear God's Word proclaimed. This reminds us that it is in the fellowship of the community of faith that we learn to give and receive forgiveness, to pattern our lives in a constant desire to repent, and to look at the world and each other in new ways. Doing so allows us to view ourselves and others with the eye and heart of God. Doing so allows us to return to God seeking forgiveness. Doing so allows us to make our speech and actions the way in which the Good News of God in Christ is made real, present, and communicated to the people around us. Since the earliest time of the Church's life one of the principal challenges for Christians has been learning to live with each other, seeking and serving Christ in all persons and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Notice the active words that are used in this distillation of the Christian pattern of life: continue, persevere, proclaim, seek, serve, and, finally, strive for justice and peace among all people and respect the dignity of every human being. One thing about the pastoral relationship is that it provides plenty of opportunity for both metanoia, that is the ability to turn back having changed one's mind, and forgiveness. It is my own fervent prayer that the remaining months of our relationship as priest and people could be marked by a sincere effort to repair the damage in personal relationships as well as to the fabric of our community. It would be a sincere shame if we were not to discover the way to right ourselves, to forgive the past, and to prepare for a future of service to ourselves, God's Holy Church, and His people. Unless we keep in the forefront of our hearts, and not only our minds, the striving for justice and peace, combined with the respect for the dignity of every human being, we will not succeed in building a parish that we may all grow to love. The parish will be different after our merger with Saint Monica's. While I have hesitated to say this particular thing as directly as I will now, it has been much in my heart, in my mind, and in my prayers that the difference could be for the BETTER. We are not witness to the death of a parish. Rather, we are given the opportunity to live into the resurrected life as a merged parish. So, speaking as your priest, Rector, and fellow Christian, let me say that I believe that we -- those of you reading this message and me as your priest -- have two principal items to work on between now and the time that we end our pastoral relationship. The first is the work of reconciliation. This will require not only mutual willingness to forgive, but a mutual willingness to communicate respectfully. There is no doubt in my own mind that tremendous hurt has been experienced by us all. I think it is important to note this "all" includes me. The second item, it seems to me, is Saint James' coming to an awareness and an acceptance of its situation in life. We need the merger with St. Monica's just as much as they do. If we cannot, or will not, engage with them together, if we cannot see the future of the new parish as a coming together of human beings equally in need of each other and all the gifts, all the promise, all the opportunities that they bring, then we will be as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal, for we will not be in the place where God's love directs and rules our hearts. So let us all seize this moment to turn to look at things in a new way -- in fact, in a new life together. Let us seize this moment to seek God's help to accept the hand offered to us by Saint Monica's. And, let us embrace one another in the love of Christ, Our Savior, and, quickened by our Baptismal Covenant, seize the strength and courage to step forward. I plan on making such a step forward and hope that you will join me. To that end, I will be offering an Enquirers Class beginning on Saturday, Dec. 1st beginning at 8am. I hope that you will join me in this time of reflection together. It will include attendance at our regularly scheduled Mass at 10am, giving us all the chance to talk, to learn, and to worship with each other. This course will include twelve meetings, as has been the custom for years, and will conclude shortly before the Easter Feast. The text for the class will be "What is Anglicanism", by Urban T. Holmes and published by Morehouse Publishing Company of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Participants will need to be sure to get copies for themselves of this text, but a cursory search revealed that it is readily available via the web at online stores such as Amazon.com. This comes to you in earnest with my love. Peace be with you, Father Downing October 12, 2007 Dearly Beloved, As we approach our annual meeting, which is our yearly opportunity to assess our parish life, to reflect upon our common mission, and to elect new leadership, I have been prayerfully considering the correspondence that the Vestry issued last week regarding the matter of how we are having to change how we conduct this important community event. In fact, it is a difficult letter to read because it was conceived out of a set of conversations that required us all on the Vestry to acknowledge ongoing divisions in our community, divisions which we have hoped, over time, would simply heal. While the Vestry made clear its case, I want to share with you my own reflections on the matter of the health of our church community. I feel strongly that I need to share these insights with you all as there continue to be inaccurate accounts circulating about the governance of this church and about changes in leadership that took place at the beginning of this calendar year. There are many reasons that these details have remained unspoken, but the principal of these reasons was my own heartfelt desire that we, as a community, would move on in the mission that God calls us to pursue, putting aside our differences from the past and going forward with the hope of a promising future to guide us. However, I feel that this promising future that we all seek cannot be fulfilled until I have taken this opportunity to correct a number of untruths that continue to surface in public comments and in private conversations. I was confronted with a quandary last week in a conversation with a very good friend of the parish. I discovered that there is small group of members and friends of Saint James' Parish who have been meeting secretly to discuss both our common life and the approaching elections at the annual meeting. I understand very well that many members and friends of the community have very strong feelings about a number of decisions that we are facing, and I also appreciate that people feel a strong desire to share their views with others. It is for these reasons that we have worked to ensure that there are a significant number of opportunities to receive feedback from the entire community and, in the case of public meetings, for everyone to hear that feedback at the same time and in the same place. Despite the care the Vestry and I have taken to ensure that public forums are available, it seems that there remains a desire of certain individuals to conduct meetings held in secret and, unlike our own public meetings that are announced in advance, to invite only certain individuals to them. I had hoped that this particular pattern of behavior was behind us following the upheaval of leadership in the last year. Frankly, I had truly hoped to spare us all the public erring of any members of our community and I believed that all of us were willing to leave behind the practice of people separating themselves from the community at large in order to formulate organized responses to decisions that the Vestry has made on the basis of the community feedback the Vestry has received. Sadly that has proven not to be the case. This pattern of meeting secretly undermines the established polity of our church, as these meetings are conducted without the knowledge of the canonical Presiding Officer -- the rector -- and the members of the Vestry. I am sure you must know how improper this pattern of behavior is. And while I reiterate my strong belief that concerned persons meeting to share their thoughts should not of necessity be regarded as acting improperly, I do think that secret meetings to plan campaigns of action, communication, and conversation that in some way are intended to bias the opinions of those who are not invited to participate could be seen as a danger to the integrity and good order of our parish's deliberative process. I am asking that this behavior stop now. The principal reason for my request is that a small group, organized without knowledge of the remainder of the parish, can influence understandings of current and past history and situations that do not necessarily reflect the whole experience, or I might say, the whole truth. One rumor continues to circulate that none of the recent duly nominated and elected Senior Wardens have found that they were able or willing to complete their terms of service. Let me say nothing could be further from the truth. In my almost 32 years of service as your rector, only two Wardens have resigned without completing their full term, one for personal reasons and the other because I asked for his resignation. In the history of my tenure, every other Warden has resigned or retired at the end of his or her full term. I was also surprised to hear it said in a public meeting that this year was the first time Saint James' Parish had ever had a Senior Warden, or Wardens, who were not elected by the annual meeting. Of course, as is well-established knowledge, upon such an eventuality occurring that a Warden were to resign midterm, the Canons of our ancient church require, for the good order and governance of its parishes, that such officers be replaced at the earliest possible opportunity by the duly elected Vestry to serve rightly, legitimately, and canonically until the next annual meeting. This has in fact been the case in our own parish governance in the two instances I mentioned above of a Warden resigning. I reiterate that I am sharing these thoughts with you because I have continued to be struck by the recent articulation of a number of views that are inconsistent with the historical facts regarding matters of parish governance. We approach the annual meeting with an opportunity to put to rest any questions about the authenticity of the Vestry that sits with full canonical authority. In my conversations with the Bishop, he has indicated a strong support for holding the annual meeting in a manner that allows there to be no misgivings about the outcome. It is thus my firm belief that the good hearts and level heads of the devoted people of Saint James' Parish will see us take a step forward as a community to put an end to these private efforts. I see us continuing to foster an open discussion that, as during these past months, your rector, wardens, and vestry have sought to make completely public and to make ensure that anyone can be a participant. I see us providing the ability of persons within the community to comment upon our future in many ways and I look forward to working with our Vestry in the coming months to ensure that all people within the community are represented equally and with integrity. These are unsettling words to put to paper, but I know that we will benefit as a community from full disclosure. Calls for transparency have made that clear to us all, and I agree that transparency of process and of community practices is imperative. I give thanks to each of you for your love of this church and for your willingness to go forward in a positive and constructive way so that we might find ourselves together in a place to celebrate the bounty of God's generosity. I also look forward to working with you each to ensure that our community is manifesting the qualities of what we believe is right to foster health and happiness. This comes to you with my love. Peace be with you, Father Downing P.S. Please remember that the Bishop will be at Saint James' this coming Wednesday at 7 pm to have a conversation with us about the merger. Please attend. October 5, 2007 Dearly Beloved, There are many things that have brought us together as the people of St. James' Parish. Whenever someone new walks through our door I think in my heart what is God doing bringing that person to us and us to that person? Many people, including myself, come here with the strong sense that this is a place where we can meet God, where we can develop with others a relationship with God, and also whatever it is we need to make it possible for that relationship to be the primary shaper of our thoughts, words, and deeds. Of course we know that it is first and foremost God's Holy Spirit working in us that brings that desire to our consciousness, and acting upon this impulse is very often simply the first of many gifts that God will provide. This makes our common life consequential for all of us. As we approach our annual parish meeting, which we have been announcing for several weeks now, I believe it important to address a feature of our common life that has come more and more to the forefront in these last months for me personally, and that is the reality of our common hurt. Many of us have hurt that is caused by the events of this past year, events in our common life. The hurt for me began last November and escalated sharply in December and January. Truly I can only characterize this experience as having broken my heart. I do not say this lightly, and I know that many other sincere people have likewise experienced the same intense pain and disappointment over this past year. As is true in so much of human life, particularly in the common life of God's Church, persons with very different perspectives, opinions, and positions, can not only vigorously espouse them, but can also, in that vigor, say and do things that others perceive as hurtful. You have only to read the Epistles, particularly those of Saint Paul, to take note of patterns and issues that deeply divided Christ's Church from its earliest days. We should not be surprised that we still require the mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God and each other. As many of you might remember, in the late 1980's and early 1990's we discovered here at Saint James' the written works of a priest named Edward Hays. One of the works many of you will recall was St. George and the Quest for the Holy Grail. For several years, as long as I could obtain this book at reasonable cost, I gave it to everyone I possibly could. It was intended as a manual for spiritual development, and I believe that it is excellent. One of the characters in the book is a five toed dragon whose name I do not recall. What I do recall is this, George is traveling (flying through the air) on the dragon's back and he looks down and notices that the internal flames that the dragons always carries with him seem to be visible through various different places on his back. George asked the dragon, "what are those places and why can he see that light in those particular places?" The dragon replied something along the lines of "those are my wounds, and they are the places where my love and God's love shine through." Please be certain that I am not in any way recommending that Christian people knowing, willingly, purposefully wound each other - I am not. What I am suggesting is that when our hearts are broken we may choose to discover something more than pain and anger. We can discover a different kind of vulnerability or an openness that could, if we allow God to use it, help us to see, appreciate, or encounter somewhere, at a deeper level within ourselves what we have in common with even those who seem bent on hurting us all the more. Recently I had a discussion with our Senior Warden about the possibility of finding commonality and love with those who hurt us. One of the means in which we thought that Christ made this possible for us, and which we recreate in the Fraction at Mass, is the way in which Jesus the Christ as a willing sacrifice is made present to us when we celebrate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That brokenness, that openness, that vulnerability, that pain which our Savior was willing to bear can be made present in us in a way that can change the direction of our will. It could, if we were receptive to its reality, help us to catch a glimpse of each other in a new light. As we receive the broken body we could understand that all of us share the same need for the breaking down of pride, or place, or self-righteousness, or vengeance, or whatever separates us by the act of our will from each other. This is one of the principal gifts of the Holy Communion, and surely we will begin to experience what I am trying to express if we open ourselves to God's Holy Spirit and welcome into our hearts not only the saving victim but the risen Christ whose continuing presence alone overcomes sin, separation and death. We are a people devoted to this sacramental mystery, all of us in some way or another have experienced in the past the healing power of which I am now speaking. This is not the time for us to abandon our faith and its power to heal and save all of us. Let us hold each other in our prayers and try to find that place in ourselves where we can turn our hurt into blessings. This comes to you with my love. Father Downing P.S. This Sunday will be the Army 10-Miler. Please plan accordingly when driving to church. September 27, 2007 Dearly Beloved, Today I write hopeful that you will join the Vestry and me in prayer as we prepare to meet with the Vestry of St. Monica's tonight to discuss and decide upon our next steps in the exploration of the merger possibility. As many of you know, this has been one of the most significant concerns of our community since early this year. And likewise, I think you will agree with me that the experience of shared worship and fellowship with the people of St. Monica's was wonderful. I can see God's Holy Spirit at work in this process and in its timing. We will be providing information about the outcomes of this evening's meeting in material that we will distribute on Sunday. On another matter related to our own parish life together, the Vestry and I have had to make a difficult decision regarding the ability of our parish to continue to finance its programs. As the Treasurer made clear in his report in August, we have been grappling with an urgent financial situation, due in large part to diminished giving by members of the community. We respect everyone's willingness to give sacrificially for the work of this congregation and know that many have heeded our plea for assistance and given generously. However, the amount that we receive, as result of the prayerfully considered pledges of the people who worship here, is not sufficient to sustain our common life. Consequently we have had to evaluate our ability to pay our staff. Since early in the year, the Diocese has been paying the cost of health insurance for the Rector and staff. The willingness of the Diocese to cover the cost of that critical feature of our employment agreements has not proven sufficient to stave off the need to consider additional measures. We determined that it was too great a sacrifice to the community to forego the services of our beloved organist and music director or of our faithful parish administrator. Accordingly, we were required to call upon the Diocese again, which, starting this month, has agreed to pay my salary. This of course was very difficult for us to ask, but given the reality that the rest of the staff would have to be let go if we did not, we decided to ask. As you are no doubt aware, the fact that Saint James' is not able to meet its financial obligations means that our status as an independent parish is diminished, and while as usual things will continue to look the same on the surface, these are the stark realities of our communal life and of our stewardship of God's gifts. Recognizing the importance of keeping the community fully apprised of our financial situation, we are sharing this information with you and anticipate that details from the Treasurer's next report will bear out the extremely difficult situation in which we find ourselves. This comes to you with my love. The peace of the Lord be with you, Father Downing September 21, 2007 With joy in my heart I write to you once more to remind us all that God works in mysterious ways. Who would have thought that our near neighbor, the Church of Saint Monica, would feel called to offer Saint James' Parish an opportunity to grow in grace, to grow in number, to reinvigorate our mission, and to deepen our internal life of prayer and worship. All of these things have been offered to us by the possibility that the two parishes could merge. One outcome that we could imagine of doing so is that we, working as one community, would be in a renewed position to carry forward the traits of both parishes, such as the African-American experience of Saint Monica's and the Anglo-Catholic tradition of Saint James'. Where religion finds its cutting edge is in its application in the hearts and lives of believers. What better place to see that process at work than here in this church of ours, the spiritual birthplace of social security, where all sorts of future societal challenges can encounter the Gospel message. A combined parish could be a place where real people, with genuine lives and honest hopes for social transformation, can apply our combined experiences by remembering how our individual parishes have responded to God's calling in the past. These experiences could provide us with examples of how we can shape our society in the present and into the future. I do hope that you -- whatever your disposition toward the merger conversation -- will ask yourself how is it that God could be leading you and your faith community into new directions, new life, and new witness. What does it take for a community to see things in a new way? The process of seeking that new vision is one that we call discernment: humankind rubbing up against each other, other opinions, other perceptions, other experiences, and seeking to find in the midst of it all that living relationship with a God who gives human life meaning and the Church its mission. Of course, Anglicans have different opinions and understandings. Of course, Anglicans disagree charitably. But, of course we also know that the water of Baptism unites us into one risen body, and we value different opinions and different attitudes as one of the ways that the community uses its own life to discover God's purpose. In the discovery of God's purpose, we discern, come to appreciate, and perhaps even understand what "God's call" is to the community at large. We have as a community embarked upon that process -- some with strongly vocal passions and concerns, others noiselessly -- but each of us is showing the other how important the life and the future of Saint James' Parish is to us. Let us continue the process of hearing each other and of ensuring an open space for ongoing conversation, conversation that seeks to be respectful and optimistic and informed by the Holy Spirit at work in the church, for we all benefit from this process of doing this work together. Attending to our own parish business, let me once again announce that our annual parish meeting will be held on Sunday, 21st of October, immediately following the Solemn High Mass at 10 am. Also, don't forget that this Sunday, following the High Mass, we will again have an opportunity to listen to each other as we respond to the vision statement as it has been revised over the last two weeks. Updated copies of the vision statement will be available at Mass. Furthermore, we will be collecting the blue-colored survey response forms from all members of the community. If you have not had an opportunity to complete your form, plan to do so. As needed, the form can be downloaded from the St. James' website on the main page. Please do attend on Sunday and make an effort to participate with an open mind and an open heart. Louis Loh is beginning an Altar Guild and is looking for members. Please contact him if you are interested in providing this service to the parish. His contact details can be found in the new parish directory, copies of which are still available as you enter the church. We need servers for Sundays and alternating Thursday mornings. I would like to give thanks to Kathleen Hansen for volunteering to be a server on alternating Tuesdays. I hope to see everyone who bought baseball tickets tonight at RFK. If others would like to attend I am sure the game will not be sold out and we would love to see you there. We are all located in Sections 438 and 439. As always, this comes to you with my love. The Lord be with you, Father Downing With joy I write after a long weekend working with the Canon to the Ordinary, Paul Cooney, the merger teams from both churches, the vestry, our excellent consultant Father Bob Gallagher, and of course many of you who came to our meeting this past Sunday. Thank you very much for your initial responses to the vision statement. Please remember that you should have been given a survey form regarding a proposed vision statement. If you did not receive a survey, or if you require an additional copy of the merger vision, please go to the St. James' website and both items are available for download from the main page. We hope that you will read the vision statement, pray about it, and then fill out and return the survey. The purpose of this survey is to allow us all to think and respond in a prayerful, open-hearted Christian manner, which I know you will do. Few of us can relate fully to the heartbreak that this step must bring to the faithful people of Saint Monica's Parish who must give up everything that they have known in terms of their building and common life. Many of you may not be aware of how close Saint James' came to that same situation in the mid-1990's. Thank God we can be here today to offer to the people of Saint Monica's what we in those desperate times could have well have been searching for ourselves. And thank God that Saint Monica's can offer us, at a moment in our life when we are once again particularly vulnerable, the possibility, even promise of a continued life and invigorated mission as a combined parish. Let us not fail to open our hearts and minds to God's offer of our continued life and an invigorated mission, which have been a hallmark of both parishes in the past. Together we could offer this vigorous parish life and mission to our neighborhood and to the world. Please send in your survey or bring it with you to church on Sunday so that we may have the information that your prayerful discernment leads you to offer. As you know the vision, like the merger itself, is a work in progress, and we will be refining it for some time. Speaking of refining, we will be signing a wonderful hymn in the course of September and October, the time of the Church year when we remind ourselves of the ministries of the Holy Angels and their work together with God in Christ on our behalf. The entry right for the next few Sundays will be hymn #453, an old English carol, that is put to the tune named Jacob's Ladder, an old English folk melody. As we sing this hymn during the upcoming weeks perhaps it will become a prayer of our hearts keeping foremost in our minds the sentiment expressed in the fourth stanza: And when we arrive at the haven of rest, we shall hear the glad words, "Come to me all the blest, here are regions of light, here are mansions of bliss,' Who would not want to climb such a ladder as this: Alleluia to Jesus, who died on the tree and has raised up a ladder of mercy for me, and has raised up a ladder of mercy for me. It is important for us to remember that our spiritual journey through this life and onto heaven lasts forever. It is never too late for us to accept and respond to the saving love of Jesus the Christ who desires to draw each of us into his heart and whose all-embracing love expressed in our lives can be the means whereby the whole creation is made new. Come regularly to worship with your parish family and discover those ways in which all of us can be renewed, reenergized, refocused, and even repentant, which as we know means to look at things in a new way, looking at them through God's eyes, seeking to look at the world and others as we anticipate, expect, and depend upon God's looking at us. Just a few housekeeping items. We need a server for the Saturday, 10 am Mass. Paul Crego, after several years of serving on that day, has retired. Likewise, Paul Jenks, who has served several years at the Tuesday 6:30 evening Mass, wishes to begin to alternate. Can you offer your help on these days at these times? David Baker has stepped up and agreed to become the server scheduler, again accepting one of the ministries that was ably and carefully undertaken by Paul Crego. Paul deserves our thanks, and David deserves our cooperation. Please, if you have ever thought of serving at Mass, particularly on Sundays and on special feasts during the week, let David or me know. I would be happy to train you and you might find that accepting this opportunity could enrich your spiritual life. Finally, Louis Loh is very interested in beginning an altar guild here at Saint James'. This work, while all behind the scenes, can be very rewarding. If it appeals to you in anyway please contact him. As always, this comes to you with my love. The Lord be with you, Father Downing With joy I write in anticipation of a very busy weekend. I fervently hope that all of us will keep our hearts and minds focused in prayer in support of the merger exploration teams and the vestries of both Saint James' and Saint Monica's. One of the themes of the readings appointed for this Sunday is about making choices that will align our lives with God's love and purpose. That is what Saint James' and Saint Monica's will be testing in these next weeks and months. One thing is sure, if we wish to express our faith in our lives we must make God's love the primary focus of our decision making process. This means that we cannot allow fear, pride, or inertia stand in the way of our community taking its next step forward boldly. I am sure that all of us are aware of the precarious place in which both Saint James' and Saint Monica's find themselves. Let us not refuse to accept, or at least examine with open minds and hearts, an opportunity that could be the way that God has provided for both Saint James' and Saint Monica's to move forward in faith and strength in this new century, allowing us to begin a wonderful new chapter in worship and service to God and humankind. Please make every effort to attend the 10 AM High Mass this Sunday and the parish meeting that will follow. As always, this comes to you with my love. The Lord be with you, Father Downing With joy in my hearts I write to you today the morning after our very informative and well presented discussion on our parish's financial situation. Let me begin by thanking all of those who used their time and energy to attend what was a well organized and carefully presented set of facts and figures placed in the context of a three year period. All of us owe our dedicated treasurer, Rick Mauery, a great debt of gratitude. He has worked consistently and diligently to provide us with complete financial details. He was able to present us a clear and complete picture of our financial status and had prepared answers to the questions that were raised in the July survey. Than you Rick for a job well done and thank all of you who honored his work by coming to receive its benefit. It became clear to us last night that we have a committed core of worshiping and pledging persons who continue to give generously to our common mission. We give our great thanks to those who have made their pledges and who have remained consistent in their giving. At this time in our parish life we are particularly thankful because our finances are very tight. What was also made clear last night is that we must urge all those members of our community who have not yet pledged to make a formal financial commitment to our parish life. I urge all individuals in the parish to pray about their financial giving and to remember that our money belongs to God, and everyone who worships here receives the benefit of the offerings of everyone else. It is truly a community which witnesses to the co-inherence of God and humankind. For those of you who were not able to attend the presentation, copies of Rick's PowerPoint presentation will be available in the Church on Sunday, along with other financial data which has been available as well. Please pick up a copy. As you know our conversations with Saint Monica's have been very positive. I must admit having them worship with us has been a treat and I had a very good time preaching there in the month of August. I thank and applaud those members of our community who made the effort to worship at Saint Monica's this past month. Remember that the weekend of September 8th and 9th will be both significant and busy. There are calendars which outline the ongoing merger process for the upcoming month posted on the website and copies will be made available with the bulletin this Sunday. As always, this comes to you with my love. The Lord be with you, Father Downing August Dearly Beloved, As you many of you are already aware, the subtlety of Anglican Parish life is complicated, even delicate, and not readily understood by those unwilling to engage their hearts and minds at a level that reaches below the surface. Thank God then that so many of you are willing to expend the time and energy that is required to create meaningful community life, and also willing to learn the things required to keep a Parish community functioning in a healthy way. With that attitude in mind, last night our Vestry worked diligently, and with the utmost care and sensitivity, to utilize the feedback that you all provided in the questionnaires that many of you filled out in July. The feedback we received was invaluable and much of our meeting last night was spent by putting into written form the essence of our common ethos so that we can identity aspects that we believe will need to be present in the vision of a new Parish that might be formed as a consequence of a merger between Saint James' and Saint Monica's. I cannot begin to convey to you all what a wonderful, hard-working, and committed Vestry God has chosen to lead our congregation during this crucial moment in our Parish's history. Sometimes Vestries do not gel and simply cannot learn to work together comfortably and productively. That is not true of the nine people God has called to be the Rector, Wardens, and Vestry of St. James' Parish. Please remember them all in your thoughts and prayers as they continue to discern God's call in our community's life. Of course both Saint James' and Saint Monica's, each more than 100 years old, have deep roots and many patterns of behavior which have become ingrained into its community's life. These patterns are often left unspoken, are not seriously thought about by the community -- and are interpreted differently by different members of the community -- yet they exert influence and control over their respective community's life. Therefore, it is essential that we approach each other with open hearts and a willingness to look deeply at what we value most while seeking to listen with our hearts to what God is calling both of our communities to do while remembering God's own words, "behold I am doing a new thing…" If we cannot open our hearts to the constant newness of God's purpose and call, then truly we are as clanging cymbals and nosy gongs who are not willing to play the costly role God offers to those who put themselves at His service for the transformation of His creation. This willingness to put ourselves at God's service by being open to His new call is the unchanging purpose of every Christian community. We have made available to you on the St. James' website a calendar of events for the upcoming month. We will also be sharing this calendar on paper at the upcoming 10am Mass at St. Monica's and at our first High Mass back at St. James' on September 2. From the calendar information, you will see that our next step in the merger conversation will be a very intensive weekend on the 8th and 9th of September. During this weekend we will be joined by our wonderful merger consultant, Father Bob Gallagher. Father Gallagher has worked with Saint James' Parish for almost 20 years and we owe him much. Under his thoughtful and experienced leadership our two Merger Exploratory Committees will come together seeking to cultivate that attitude of mind and heart combined with purpose and energy that will enable us to envision, and in some way capture in writing, a plan for the life of a new and vigorous Parish here on Capitol Hill: a Parish that will incorporate the gifts of both of our communities and their history so as to shape a future that will accomplish important work for the advancement of God's Kingdom. This may sound impossible, or even out of touch with reality. If we believe that, however, then we are out of touch with God's presence and have not challenged ourselves to embrace and accept the first requirement of Christian life, which is to trust in God's never-failing love and care. So if you are tempted to think that we cannot align our hearts and community with God's purpose, let that thought go and simply take the step forward, putting your hand into the hand of the risen Christ, trusting in His power to save and His call to us to serve. Yesterday I had the pleasure of spending some very valuable time with our gifted and talented choirmaster and organist, Dan Elmer. One of my principal joys as the Rector of Saint James' Parish has been the close collaboration with Dan in the crafting, development, and celebration of our common worship -- that delicate, constantly-changing, deeply-rooted lifeline between our hearts and God's abiding presence. Our worship has been the source of purpose, energy, and life-changing experience, which has brought everyone who has devoted themselves to it into depths of relationship with God and each other that make our common life a reflection of God's presence, mercy, and love. Here is the place that we, with hearts and minds open, can catch a glimmer of God's face and the spark of the Holy Spirit that can fill our everyday lives with new meaning, deeper purpose, and true joy. As usual, this time of year we will change our worship somewhat to prepare us for the continuation of the teaching season as well as for the conclusion of the Church year. So beginning September the 9th our entry rite will be hymn 453 "Alleluia to Jesus." Many of you will remember this hymn from just a few years ago when we used it in this same place in preparation for the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels as well as for the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. We will also change the tone to which we sing the Psalm; the Sanctus will be S125; we will begin to sing the Memorial Acclimation in the Prayer of Consecration at S133 in the Hymnal; and the Fraction Anthem will be S169. I know that we will all encounter this opportunity to enrich our worship with the same open hearts and minds with which we approach our Lord and Savior's call. Finally, with joy I announce our Annual Parish Meeting will take place on Sunday, October 21, immediately following the conclusion of the High Mass in the Upper Parish Hall. More about this meeting will be provided, but simply know that ordinarily we would have had it on the Sunday closest to the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. However, this year that date is Columbus Day weekend and I know many will be traveling. Additionally, it is the weekend of the Army 10-Miler, which poses additional travel constraints on many parishioners. The next Sunday, October 14, will be the day following our proposed Fall fundraising event. Many of you will no doubt recall how low our attendance was last year following our fundraiser. Therefore, in order to ensure the best opportunity for the greatest number of parishioners to attend, we settled on October 21st. As always, this comes to you with my love and affection. The Lord be with you, Father Downing |
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