Jane White gave a comprehensive report about recent productive conversations between the vestry and mission and outreach leaders, emerging conversations around creating a more broader and more transparent culture of committee chair recruitment, our continuing efforts and plans to make the building more accessible (including a little bit about how we might supplement the $530,000 currently available to fund the elevator), and ongoing work to create a master plan for landscaping, which we hope to show off in September. 

Suzanne Owayda spoke about the Diocese of Massachusetts, noting that Bishop Gates has created three positions to assist congregations and clergy (and he and Bishop Harris): regional canons. The diocese has been divided into three geographical regions, each will have its own canon. The Parish of the Epiphany is in the North-West Region. An announcement of these three appointments is expected this summer.

Suzanne Owayda also announced that Thomas Brown has been elected the chair of the board of trustees of the Church Pension Group. He has been a trustee since 2009; Thomas will become the chair in mid-July and serve for three years. In addition to Thomas, Solomon Owayda is also a trustee. At the General Convention in Austin, Texas, next month Solomon hopes to be re-elected to a second term as a trustee. In this context Suzanne spoke about the many people at the Parish of the Epiphany who serve our church beyond Winchester, describing the ways such service strengthens our entire church, locally, regionally, and globally. 

Craig Benner updated us about the assistant director of music search. , which unfortunately, is now suspended. Over the past two months the assistant director of music advisory committee has been receiving resumes and conducting interviews. After the first round of interviews Craig and the committee felt that none of the candidates were a good fit for this new position. We are now in the process of rethinking the job description so that it might be more attractive to someone who has recently retired from a church music position, or someone who doesn't want to have a weekly commitment. Thomas Brown, on behalf of Carolyn Hughes (who was teaching the confirmation class), reported on the search that is just beginning for a youth minister. The position is posted, and an advisory committee is being formed. 

Thomas gave a high-level “coming attractions report” about the Episcopal Church’s General Convention, which begins on 2 July. A handout about General Convention is available here. 

Yesterday, we celebrated Gratitude Sunday. It was an opportunity to thank folks who have volunteered their time heading up committees, teaching Sunday school, and leading Children’s Worship. We thanked Jake Athyal, our Youth Minister, who has made a difference in the lives of our youth, and we thanked Paul Shoaf Kozak, our Intern, for being our companion in worship and giving us fresh perspectives on the world and some of the most vulnerable in our midst. 

It was the official end of our program year. But more than that, it was an opportunity to celebrate and give thanks for what we have been as a community of faith, the people of God here at Epiphany. There are not many places left in our culture where you can find a caring, loving community. There are very few places where you can imbue your children and grandchildren with core values that will sustain them throughout their lives and equip them to be joy-filled, caring human beings. There are very few places where people are cared for when they are ill or grieving the loss of a loved one. There are many aspects of our common life here at Epiphany and all of them are grounded in our worship, our coming together week after week to be fed in the Eucharist, to give thanks to God for all the blessings of this life, and to ask for courage and strength to meet the challenges of daily living. Prayer and reflection, reading the Holy Scriptures and applying them to our particular life situation helps us to do the work that God has given us to do.

And then there is gratitude. Research has proven that people who live their lives with gratitude live longer and are happier. People who are ill recover more quickly. Robert Emmons, perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude, argues that gratitude has two key components, which he describes in a Greater Good essay, “Why Gratitude Is Good.” “First,” he writes, “it’s an affirmation of goodness. We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received.”

In the second part of gratitude, he explains, “we recognize that the sources of this goodness are outside of ourselves. … We acknowledge that other people—or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset—gave us many gifts, big and small, to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.” (greatergood.berkley.edu)

One of my favorite quotes on gratitude is by Albert Schweitzer: “At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” I know that I have experienced that spark from my spouse, our amazing staff with whom I have the privilege to work, and so many of you who bring such faith, commitment, and joy to everything you do. Saying “thank you” or showing our gratitude builds community and strengthens the bonds between us. It helps us look at our lives in a positive way and helps us engage the world differently.

There are many, many references in the Bible about giving thanks. Here is one from Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians: “We always give thanks to God for all of you and mention you in our prayers, constantly remembering before our God your work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.” For me that is what Gratitude Sunday is all about. Thanking each other, even for the little things, is so important. I give thanks to God for all of you!

Faithfully,

Pentecost is here! Whose got the Spirit?! We do! I am not one to overuse emphatic punctuation in my writing. However, if there is one time of year when the use of exclamation points should be embraced, it would now during Pentecost. The Holy Spirit is not only one part of the Holy Trinity. She is that divine spark that resides in our hearts and consciences inspiring us to manifest God’s Kingdom here and now. This truth about our faith must be exclaimed not only within our churches, but also to our fractured and fragmented world that cries out for healing and redemption. Every year to conclude Easter, we testify that God is still with us and that we are a Spirit filled people.

I love Pentecost, and I don’t just mean to say that I love bright, red pants and blinding orange shirts. I love being intentionally reminded in our liturgy and lectionary that we are living into our covenantal relationship with God. In John’s Gospel, Jesus tells his disciples that he must go so that the Spirit, the Advocate, will come. He even adds that the Spirit will always be with us.

Is the Spirit not in our community or what?

We felt the Spirit on May 13^th, which was both Mother’s Day and Youth Sunday. She was present in the singing of our children and the preaching of our young adults. The Holy Spirit is present when we witness outside of the ICE facilities in Burlington and Boston. She has compelled us to be a part of the sanctuary movement, which heeds the biblical mandate to welcome the immigrant. The Holy Spirit is both embedded in our doing and our discerning.

She is operative in prayer and silence when we seek to listen to the new ways in which God is calling us to be Church. When we walk with the Spirit, our hearts stay open to what God might have in store for us, which is always something bigger than we could have initially imagined. The Holy Spirit empowers us to embody joy and awe and wonder. May we pray with hopeful hearts that the Holy Spirit, the reason for Pentecost, accompany us in our daily living!

Paul Shoaf-Kozak,
Intern

Decoration Day is what we used to call today; a day originally set aside to honor those who died in the Civil War. But when the first World War came, and went, the sentiments of Decoration Day broadened so that our nation honored all deceased military personnel. It wasn’t until 1971 that the last Monday of the month was declared a federal holiday, and its official title was given: Memorial Day.

In the Letter to the Romans St. Paul writes, “…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.” Romans 5:1-5.

On this Memorial Day maybe you’ll be helped to remember that St. Paul is not glorifying suffering, but asserting that in a grace-filled world we have all the resources we need to grow through the challenges of life. We are not victims, but actors and artists in the transformation of our lives and the world. In our walk with the Lord character is everything, and our character is grounded in moment by moment choices to look beyond our self-interest to embrace the well-being of others.

We’re living in a political time, at least from how I see things, when the greatest good many people seek are the lofty goals of paying fewer taxes, making more money, and doing exactly what we want with our money and our property.

Today, Memorial Day, issues a call: to balance self-interest with the larger community and planetary interests, to let go of our ego so that our families, neighborhoods, and houses of worship thrive. When that happens so will our nation, and ultimately I believe, so will the world.

The soldiers whom we remember today did not die just for us to pay fewer taxes, or make more money. In truth they died for a dream—a dream still partly unrealized in our nation—of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people in our community; the dream of liberty and justice for all; and to secure a place of refuge for the hungry, persecuted, and oppressed. Living by these values is how we honor those who have sacrificed on our behalf.

Our Prayer Book includes official collects (prayers) for Labor Day, Independence Day, and Thanksgiving Day, but not for Memorial Day. Interesting to me is that the 1928 Prayer Book did have a designated prayer for today. The architects of our current Prayer Book embedded it in the several prayers for burial. I wish it were otherwise, that we had retained a prayer for this national holiday, but we can still steal a moment at some point today to say this prayer (p. 488 of the Prayer Book). It’s in the old-fashioned idiom of the 1928 Prayer Book, with its thees and thous, and it was composed when today really was known as Decoration Day:

Almighty God, our heavenly Father, in whose hands are the living and the dead: We give thee thanks for all thy servants who have laid down their lives in the service of our country. Grant to them thy mercy and the light of thy presence; and give us such lively sense of thy righteous will, that the work which thou hast begun in them may be perfected; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord. Amen.

Decorate yourselves with a character that produces hope…because God’s love has been poured into your heart!

Faithfully in Christ

This Sunday we’ll baptize three young people, two infants, Hope and Brooks, and a four year old, Reeve. 

In our baptism we become a part of something special; baptism isn’t an escape from some nasty peril. Jesus is plain and straightforward when instructing us on baptism. He picks two simple verbs: “GO” and “DO” and he tells those who follow him to baptize. It’s really an invitation to a whole new look at life, one that takes seriously our part within the community of all Christians around the world.

Try not to think small. When we baptize, we baptize into the whole Christian Church on earth. Hope’s, Brooks’s, and Reeve’s baptisms may happen inside the Church of the Epiphany, but it’s not baptism into a parish community. It’s not even baptism into the Episcopal Church. The way I think about it, Jesus probably wouldn’t be much interested in us thinking so locally or narrowly. 

Think about the awe some reality that on the same day when you or your children are baptized, so are other people in places like Tallin, Estonia; Cleveland, Ohio, and Provincetown, Massachusetts, and they’re receiving the same blessing. That’s a tremendous joy to celebrate. Baptized Christians call each other brothers and sisters because we share a common life.

Remember: We “do it” because Jesus said to do it. That’s reason enough to baptize. It has to be more than an act we engage in to please the grandparents, or to land a photo op for the scrapbook. It’s certainly more than avoiding hell. Jesus did not spend time speculating on the temperature of hell or offer clever means to avoid it. Instead, he preached a way of life that amounted to unswerving allegiance to God, our eternal hope.

You only get baptized once in life. It’s a permanent arrangement between you and God that gets renewed every morning. Your baptism walks with you for the entirety of your life regardless of how many personal ups and downs you experience. The trick is to live your baptism, or claim its strength, in a daily way. Here is a hint for understanding baptism: The act of getting baptized happens on a particular day. The day has an eventful character to it. You select a date with the church and show up. Your wider family and friends appear. The baptism takes place. Cameras record the after-service joy. A big family meal typically follows.

Living as a baptized person happens every day after the actual baptism. Upon awaking each morning, we get to decide how we’re going to live that day. Will it be lived with some of the jealousy, poor judgment, self-centeredness, or resentment that may have informed parts of yesterday? Or will it be lived with the invigorating sense that we rely on God’s embrace, and are powered by the Lord’s desire to help us be the best we can be? How we live each day determines whether our baptism means something to us or very little at all. 

Three weeks ago I told a story to a group of Epiphanyites. It was about something that happened on Sunday, 13 December 1970, when I wasn’t yet three months old. Water was poured over my head, prayers were said, the Trinity was summoned, and afterwards, some cake was served. Of course I remember nothing of that snowy morning, but in the memory of God it was the most important day of my life. I once was dead, and now because of that day, I am alive. My job now is to live its truth, and that happens best with your help and guidance.  

Faithfully,  

Okay, I will begin by saying that I am not going to try to answer this question here but am writing this article to start off this conversation. As the Director of Family Formation, I actually have the word “formation” in my job description so I should be the expert, right? Having ministered to adults, youth, and children, teaching, mentoring, facilitating, and just hanging out at church for many years, one would think so. There have been times in my ministry when if you asked me the question, “What is Christian formation?” I would answer definitively. But I confess recently that there are many times when I have no idea, the world is changing so quickly it is hard to figure out beyond worship what we need to deepen and maintain a Christian spiritual life in such a busy, fast moving world.

I am coming to realize that formation looks different for different people and it even looks different for people at different stages of their lives. To be formed in a Christian community as a disciple of Jesus is a very dynamic process, our spiritual needs change as we experience life’s transitions, responsibilities, struggles, pain, and joy. What feeds us when we are young does not necessarily feed us as we age. Formation that nourishes some might not nourish others. Yet, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we promise during every baptism as a congregation to support each other in each unique life in Christ. We are called to be in relationship with those already here and those just crossing our threshold, meeting them where they are in their faith journeys, and helping each other form into Christians, respecting each other’s path to becoming His disciples.

So I get back to my original question, what is Christian formation to you? What do you need to deepen and keep a balanced healthy spiritual life? What support do you need to deepen your relationship with God and each other? What has been offered here at Epiphany that has fed your soul? In answering the question of Christian formation, I imagine many different answers; however, the more important question is why this formation is important to you because I believe the “why” is what brings us together. I look forward to hearing from you.

Love,

Last week as I drove back and forth from Charlestown to Winchester, I heard several stories on NPR with similar themes.  The first was a report on British Prime Minister Theresa May’s newly appointed Minister of Loneliness.  The story told of people who were connected to others electronically, but had difficulty finding meaningful relationships.  Amazingly enough, this new position was created to help busy people find community.  

Later, there was a story from the Netherlands, where government workers were being paid to take music to lonely seniors.  Sometimes this meant getting groups of people together in one place so that they could listen to music and interact with each other. In other instances, it meant sharing recordings with housebound people one on one.  This included one 93 year-old woman who loved to ballroom dance with her weekly visitor, something she and her late husband had enjoyed doing for many years.

Finally, there was a story from Japan that told of young people who had done something that brought shame on their family.  One man had failed to pass the law school entrance exam, and, as a result, he had ostracized himself from almost everyone.  Believe it or not,  this is a big enough group that there is an actual name for them in Japanese.  Hikikomori are defined as reclusive people who haven’t left their homes or interacted with anyone for at least six months.  The story went on to tell of a 33 year-old who had gotten a group of Hikikomori together to write about their stories in the form of a newspaper.  In all of these stories, finding meaningful community was mentally and physically healing for all involved. 

For some reason, these stories stuck with me.  In a world where we seem to interact directly with people less and less, our need for real connections with others grows.  As  I began to think about the community of people in my own life who are most important to me, I began to realize that the overwhelming common denominator in those relationships  was church.  My closest childhood friends are from my church youth group.  I met my husband singing in a church choir, and our dearest friends, who over the years have become like family members, are all people whom we met at church. 

I have no doubt that this is true for many of you as well.  I have been at Epiphany for a year now, and during that time there is one thing that has impressed me.  This is a community that deeply cares for others.  Epiphany Visitors work to make sure that those who can’t join us at church are still part of our community.  People meet regularly to pray for others in need.  Some of us make prayer shawls in an effort to enfold others in our warmth and love.  Lay Eucharist Visitors take communion to people.  Friends in Deed provide meals to those need them.  Flowers are delivered to people regularly.  Parents and toddlers gather weekly to make connections and support each other.  Choir members work together to provide music and in the process form valuable friendships.  And most importantly, we all greet and welcome new people who come through our doors each week.

I have already come to value this community and I know that there are many others out there who will find what they are looking for here as well.  What we are doing is important work, and I know that we can make a difference in many peoples lives. The best part is that they will make a difference in our own lives in the process.

Beloved Community,

Travelling to Italy with Lisa during Holy Week and Easter was a delight. It was part pilgrimage, part vacation. Every moment of it, including our travel through Heathrow Airport, afforded us opportunities to glimpse God’s people, the wonder of nature, and the glory of our faith that is shared across language and culture, class and centuries.

Our time away allowed us to be unplugged from our devices, keeping us focused on each moment, whether it was an encounter with a stranger offering directions, a friendly guide on a trolley, or the front desk attendants at our hotel, eagerly offering directions or restaurant suggestions.

Rome has many ancient churches and basilicas, and we found ourselves praying in each one we visited. Mary was featured in all of them, as were many beloved Italian saints. Each day of Holy Week, I found myself thinking about all of you and wondering what your path of Holy Week was like. We attended Mass on Palm Sunday at the Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, designed by Michelangelo and built in the 16th century. Even though we knew very little Italian, the liturgy was familiar to us. The priest blessed and handed out olive branches instead of palms, as is the custom in Italy. Those in attendance were older and were very devout in their prayers. As we left, an older woman sat on the stone floor at the doorway holding a rosary in her arthritic hand, begging for coins and blessing us as we passed by.

Everywhere we walked, God showed up in the people – from tattooed twenty-somethings with their fashionable clothes, young women pushing baby strollers, international tourists with their digital cameras, young African men peddling hand-carved bowls, selfie-sticks, or phone chargers; waiters in local restaurants graciously explaining the Italian on menus; families enjoying the hot springs in Saturnia; two young women having a moment at the Trevi Fountain as one proposed to the other.

Each day I found myself brought to tears at least once – overcome by the beauty of the people, the architecture, and the sweeping vistas in the mountains. And of course, there was music. On Palm Sunday evening we walked to St. Paul’s Within the Walls, the convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe, and the oldest Protestant Church in Rome. We listened to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, beautifully performed by St. Paul’s Choir, Camerata, Chamber Singers and various soloists. Again, I was brought to tears by the sheer beauty of the music, the time and place, and feeling connected to God’s people throughout the centuries who had worshipped at St. Paul’s and all who had glimpsed the divine in the exquisite music of Bach.

Our week in Tuscany showed us God’s grandeur in the sweeping vistas, the ancient villages on the sides of mountains, acre upon acre of olive trees and grape vines, and local flowers beginning to bloom. Our explorations led us to some “off the tourist path” treasures that were less-travelled. Leaving the gilded basilicas behind, I found refuge in two simple abbeys. Centuries old and simply designed, these places of worship revealed beautiful frescoes depicting the life of Christ, the saints, and of course, the beauty of nature. Gregorian chant filtered through these simple houses of prayer as we stopped to pray and felt so connected to our faith and to those who have gone before us.

Returning home and to Epiphany, I am filled with gratitude for our time away. My first week back reminded me how Epiphany reflects the love of God I felt so deeply while we were travelling. In the midst of such grief over the death of our dear friend Rick Marks, this Parish came together in so many ways to surround Rick’s family and friends with so much love and care. The compassion of the risen Christ was made manifest by the Choir, the Altar Guild, the Flower Guild, our Staff, and so many of you who attended to Eileen, Henry, Philip, and Rick’s family. What happened on that Saturday was such an outpouring of love – our coming together as a Parish family to commend to God one of our dearly beloved members.

God’s love cannot be contained. Not in this life or in death. I have seen it and felt it here and in our travels. God’s love is real – I’ve seen it in the faces of strangers and I see it every time I greet one of you.

Faithfully,

Truman Capote, an avowed secularist, once wrote that he heard voices coming from other rooms, meaning that he was beginning to perceive realities greater than the one in which he lived. St. Paul, quite a lot different from Mr. Capote, once said that if we only hope for this life, we are to be pitied (1 Corinthians 15:19). In other words, there is more!

The Epiphany Elders group, a community of men and women who meet regularly to discuss aging, the second half of life, and how faith informs life recently invited me to visit them to speak about, wait for it: resurrection! Big topic. We traced some of its scriptural bases in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, but quickly turned to what we each believe. I confessed that any number of preachers, myself included, have committed the heresy of preaching Easter sermons that equate resurrection with heaven. You know the type: “Because Jesus lives we are all going to heaven, and what a day of rejoicing it will be!” 

Well, that was like a quarter in a juke box for me, and before long I was prattling on about the glory of the Prayer Book’s burial rites, and how I prefer the phraseology of its title, “Burial of the Dead” rather than the more culturally popular (and I think somewhat vapid) words, “celebration of life.” Every good funeral is a celebration of life, and there’s no need to avoid the words death or burial. We’re not gnostics who declare the “body bad” and the “soul good.” Body and soul—together—are good because God made us, Christ redeemed us, and the Holy Spirit guides us. 

The Prayer Book’s burial service—a typical Episcopal funeral—expresses so much hope! We believe that the next life is full of hope, and the words in that rite declare that whatever the next life is it will be rooted in God’s goodness. We even proclaim that in the next life there shall be a dynamic in which we might go from strength to strength. C.S. Lewis, when he spoke about the next life, put it this way: “If it’s not true, then something better will be.”

For me, whatever is beyond this life has to be related to the here and now. My faithfulness is dependent upon building a foundation on Jesus Christ. The questions I ask myself include: “Is my life reflecting as much of Christ’s life as possible? How am I asking you and other companions to help me?” Whenever I wonder what eternal life with God will look like I’m reminded of my silliness in indulging such a notion. Eternal life doesn’t start sometime or at some place. It includes all time and all places. To see eternal life is to take a deep breath right now, and to look around. Surely this life is part of eternal life! 

Lesley McCloghrie is a friend and a priest. She grew up in England, and is now retired in Northern California. Years ago, over a festive Eastertide lunch in the Big Four Restaurant on Nob Hill in San Francisco, I was speaking about the previous Easter Sunday, and how glorious it had been. Lesley said, “Thomas it’s not Easter Sunday, it’s Easter Day. Remember that Easter is every Sunday, and that Eastertide is 50 whole days!”

Lesley’s right, and we’re now just two weeks into this wondrous season. Your church, along with every other Christian community, will keep proclaiming, “Alleluia! Christ is Risen” not because we’ve mixed up resurrection with heaven. We’ll keep singing “Alleluia” because of our ongoing responsibility to bring new life to others, going from strength to strength.