"Suffer the little children to come."--Jesus

 January 16, 2014

I am so excited about what is happening here at All Saints.  Before our parish meeting on Sunday, I wasn't sure about what you all were thinking, and I've wrestled with how to implement the things I sense God is calling me to do as your rector.

What I heard you say is that you want for All Saints to grow. I believe that growth is the expectation of the gospel of Jesus, and that God wants that growth for his Kingdom here in the All Saints family.

Right now, we are not growing with people.  And because we are not growing, I have sensed that there must be some things that we are doing that are blocking that growth.  Like a dammed up river, we have to remove the barriers to that growth that God wants for his Kingdom. 

On Sunday, I heard you say that we need to minister to families with young children.  I agree!  Wholeheartedly, I agree.  In order to do that, we have created programs and staffed the church in ways to facilitate that vision.  In terms of a staff, that means we should have full-time and part-time program ministers, like our family life minister and perhaps a children & youth supplemental intern who have the know-how to create and implement program that engages the faith of children and youth.  I must support those ministries through my role to teach parents.

This means we have to support ministry events like Vacation Bible School, the St. Nicholas Craft Day, and others, that are specifically designed to reach out to families to invite them to All Saints.  By support, I mean, you have to participate in them.

What is keeping us from fulfilling this emphasis on children and families?  The short answer is "funding."  I have not asked for more funding for these ministries for two reasons.  The first reason is that I know many of you, in this parish, tithe.  And I've been hesitant to ask you all for more than your 10%.

But more so, the second reason I've not asked for special funding is because we already have the money.  What I have come to understand and share with your elected leaders and ministry heads is that we have the financial resources; we're just spending them in the wrong place.  We are a church of 113 average attendance.  We have an infrastructure of 30,000 sq. ft., and we staff a sexton to help maintain that infrastructure.

We have a full-time sexton, yet we do not have a full-time children's minister or youth intern.  Let me ask you, if you want to grow a church:  Do you think that families would be drawn to the church because you have a full-time sexton?  Or do you think they would be drawn to a place that creates programs for their children to learn more about Jesus?

That's why I am excited about what you said on Sunday.  You want for there to be children and youth programs.  You stated clearly that you know that is the path we must take in order to bring more people into God's family, here at All Saints.  Pray for me, and for your vestry, as we begin to make our church budget and staff reflect those core values.  Pray for yourself that God will help you embrace the changes that we will make in order to fulfill his plan for All Saints.

God bless you,
Fr. Stephen

Cats and Dogs in God's House

Like cats and dogs the rain pours down this morning.  The kids already dropped off  at school I drive to work  Along my way heavy rain creates swamps and pools of water along the ditches and fields.  The water slowly creeps into the storm sewers.  And immediately, my mind is on the church building.  Every time it rains I know what's coming.  Plip, plip, plip, plip...

I would be more shocked today if there were not leaks after every rain.  It doesn't matter where in the building.  There will be water penetrating and finding its way passed  layers of deteriorated roof decking, through insulation, and down the lines of metal joists.

Patch after patch after patch of new materials to repair existing leaks only to push the water somewhere else.


The guy that fixes the roof gives us a successful final product; his patches always work.  But the water moves along and finds a new place to penetrate through the ceiling. I can't help but laugh at our feeble efforts as gravity pulls and the water finds its way down.

So I arrive at church and begin listening for leaks.  You see, you can't see them at first, the leaks.  It takes time for the paint to bubble and sag.  When the water passes through the drywall and paint layers it comes through one droplet at a time.  So I listen for the sound.

The concrete floor covered by a thin layer of worn Berber carpet stops the water from penetrating any further. Plip, plip, plip, plip.

My frustration?  I'm trying to get over it, but it's hard.

You see, my degree from A&M was a Bachelor of Environmental Design. It's a bit of a misnomer.  Today we say "environmental;" we typically think about green things, hybrid cars, stewardship of natural resources, or solar power.  But in this case "environmental" means the human environment.  It means human spaces that we play in, sleep in, eat in, work in, these environments that we live in.

 I don't expect you to fully understand my dilemma and frustration about the roof.  You don't work here everyday.  And even if you did we each value environment differently.

We've talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and talked, and discussed.

And each time we talk, it becomes clearer and clearer that we are afraid.  Talking about it is easy.  When it comes to taking the risks for radical infrastructure change at All Saints, fear governs our thoughts and actions (really our inaction.)  More specifically, fear of failure traps our imaginations of what God is calling us to do.

What if we take this action and no one supports us?  What if we take that action and we spend a lot of money?  Where will this money come from?


And I stand here asking the question, "What if we do nothing?"

You see I don't know the answers to those other questions.  But I do know the answer to the question that I ask.  If we do nothing, then God's house will become desolate and uninhabitable.  We will reach a point in which we will have no resources to even patch anymore.  And the future state will be worse than the current one.


When will we do something?  When will God's house be important enough for us to break through our fear of cost?  Why aren't we more afraid of paralysis and of doing nothing than doing somethin?  Like the Parable of the Talents are we more afraid of taking a risk than burying our treasure in the dirt.  Go back and look at the Lord's judgement of that servant who buried his talent in the dirt.  (Matthew 25.14-30)

We are not that Wicked Servant.

We are All Saints Episcopal Church.  We have a history of Resurrection.  We are the heirs of pioneering Christians who landed at 605 Dulles Avenue and said, "God wants a church right here."

God still wants a church right here!  And he has commissioned you to take the risks forward.  He has given you the talents that you need to invest in the future for All Saints.

On November 12 we are meeting to talk again about the future of All Saints.  No more talking! Let's make decisions. Let's make a plan and timeline for what we know God is calling us to do.  If that idea makes you afraid, don't be afraid.  For the one who has given us the vision for God's House is faithful.  He will walk us through every step of the way.   And at the end we'll hear those words we long to hear:

Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.

Great Thanksgiving!

All things come of thee O Lord,
And of thine own have we given thee.

http://graceslo.org/site/post.aspx?li=More-on-Gods-Providence

These words from the Book of Chronicles have shaped our understanding of stewardship for generations. To slow down and listen to the words is a great experience.
All---things---come---of---thee--O Lord!  It means that we are entirely reliant, our very existence is dependent, on God.  Without him we would not breath. Our hearts would not beat.  We would not have our children, our jobs, our homes, food to eat, or possessions to own.

Pick up that favorite souvenir from your last vacation, or treasured possession, and ponder what it means: God has allowed you to have it.  Think on your children or siblings.  Think on your relationships with those you love, friends and family.  God has indeed given them to you.  And they are irreplaceable.

Many people will say to themselves that through their own hard work they have earned their position and possessions.  We have a mentality in our country that says work hard and your dreams will come true.  There is of course some truth to working hard.  But there is a contrary narrative to that truism. There are other people out there, just like you, that worked equally as hard, but did not receive the same reward.  They even may have received or earned less than what you have.  How do you account for those people who worked equally as hard or faithfully but did not receive the same accolades?

There are other people out there who didn't work at all, and they have received more of a reward than those who worked.  These are the ones mentioned so frequently in the psalms.  These are the ones we are warned: Do not envy or follow their examples.

Why is there this disparity?  I believe it is because all things come from God.  And we are each challenged to do the work he has given us to do and to accept his graceful reward no matter what it is.  It does not mean we should stop working harder or less.  It means simply that we live faithfully.  Doing the things he has called us to do.  And our response is the next phrase in Chronicles:

And---of---thine---own---have---we---given---thee.
In return we speak of giving all these things back to God.  Everything that we have and everything that we are is his.  The breath and blood of life are his.  If we believe that everything comes from him, then we also trust that the portion we return to him is our faithful and obedient response to his generosity.

The reason God teaches us to give back is not so that we can run the church, pay the utilities or salaries of staff.  It is not solely for the purpose of benevolent causes.  The reason God teaches us to give back is a reminder that we are dependent upon him and we are the benefactors of his generosity.  We cannot account for the riches of his blessing based on our own works or efforts.  Even if those works and efforts are very noble.

He makes the sun to shine and the rain to fall on both the righteous and the unrighteous.  So either way we respond to his generosity with our faithfulness that he has cared for us and will continue to do so.

Let us all give great thanks to him for the blessings that he has bestowed upon us!

Blessings,
Fr. Stephen+

Committment to All Saints

We've been talking about it over a month.  I hope all of you know that our theme for this year is Commitment to All Saints.  The genesis for this theme came from a heartfelt conversation in our vestry retreat.  That is, we really want to see every family of our church declare "God has called me here, and I am committed to my All Saints Family."  And we want to help discover each person's gift and how to put it to use in the life of All Saints.

Out in the world I hear a general mood from people saying that commitment in our culture is a thing of the past.  But I actually believe that commitment has not disappeared; it's just become fragmented.  We become committed to this organization or that organization.  We become committed to our school first or our sports team first.  We become committed to our jobs before family.  We become committed to everything else first and our commitment to God and his church falls somewhere after all that.

Commitment isn't the problem in our culture; it's prioritizing.   In the Book of Genesis when Cain and Abel brought their offerings to God Cain (a tiller of the ground) brought fruit of the ground for an offering; Abel (a shepherd) brought the first-ling of his sheep.  We are told that God looked favorably on Abel's offering but not Cain's offering.  There is debate about why God was pleased with Abel and not Cain.  But many scholars infer that Cain's offering was somehow less than Abel's because Abel brought his first (best) fruit and Cain simply brought an offering.  The New Testament also tells us that Abel's gift was given in faith while Cain's works were evil.

When God sent his Son into the world he was committed to us.  The Father sent his best and first fruit to reconcile us to him.  Jesus' birth, life, suffering, and death sums up the Father's total commitment to make you his child.  God did not offer just some sacrifice; he offered his best.  And he has faith in us to respond to him that his sacrifice would not be in vain. 

Likewise our Commitment to God is an act of faith.  We give every bit of ourselves to him and the furtherance of his Kingdom here at All Saints.  That means committing to God first.  It means giving your best to the Kingdom and to each other.  And it means that all of the other things you struggle to keep up with then find a backseat to the ideal of the Kingdom.

In our culture the reason so many people feel like they are pulled in so many directions is because they have not committed their best talents to God instead they commit to worldly things that pass away.  In order to put God first, you have to be willing to say "yes" to him and "no" to the world.  You have to be willing to make yourself a sacrifice to him.  And when you do that you'll find much of what you're distracted by was not important at all. 

Since our ministry leaders have been making their announcements we've already seen an increase (even before our Commitment Harvest Day Oct. 27) in participation and willingness to help in ministry.  If you haven't already decided what ministry you will give your time, that's okay. Keep coming and listening to the ministry leaders.  Some ministry will call your heart.

And then, knowing your commitment will help your leaders organize our resources in ways that will build on the foundations of our core values of Worship, Love, and Service.

As our facilities continue to need repair and maintenance, knowing your commitment to this Family will help your elected leadership know better where to put resources to help ministry grow not just maintain a building.

We would like to organize all aspects of the church to reflect God's calling in your life.  Our ministries, staff, budget, and campus should all reflect that values that emerge from your collective gifts.  God endows us with many gifts and he allows us to use them here.  Make sure as we approach the Oct. 26th Harvest Dinner and 27th Harvest Commitment dates that you have taken your commitment card and made your declaration and commitment to the All Saints Family.

God bless you,
Fr. Stephen+

Christ is our light and beacon for the future!

Along the white sterile walls of Methodist Hospital in Houston my mother walked side-by-side with me on a rolling gurney.  Wishing us well the nurses waved a sad “see you soon” dressed in white knee length skirts, stockings, and what I called the fortune cookie hats.  The orderlies pushed on through doorways and endless halls on the way to the operating room.  Holding my hand along-the-way, my mother cried. 

It was the summer of 1978; we had reached the conclusion of a five year struggle of what to do about my birth defect.  After years of wearing leg braces, plaster body casts, a bone graft and a partial amputation surgery we had reached a fork in the road.  We could decide to spend my adolescent years in surgery after surgery missing school and socialization trying to fix my deformed leg.  Or we could amputate the lower part of the leg, be fitted with a prosthetic leg, and be on our merry way.

Faithfully walking by my side, tears rolling down her face, I offered a question:

“Mom? Why are you crying?  They’re just going to cut off my leg.”

Words from a five-year-old boy intended to comfort probably cut deeper into the pain.  I’m so thankful that I have not had to make a similar decision for my own children.  God allowed my mother to make that difficult choice and she made it as faithfully as she could. 

Since the time I was very young, I’ve been aware that when it comes to crisis situations I frequently have had a positive outlook.  My attitude tends to reflect the old saying, “Things could be worse.”  And even though I tend to stress over change I know that God’s blessings always follow the storm.

In many ways I’ve tried to tackle problems with the idea that we can conquer anything that the world throws at us.  But our abilities are so small when compared to the power of God.

When we know Jesus that power and optimism is amplified infinitely.  When he spoke to his disciples saying, how hard it would be for a rich man to enter heaven they didn’t understand what he meant.  They believed wealth was a sign of God’s favor toward someone.  They believed that someone who was poor or sick had received divine punishment, and therefore was less likely to enter heaven.  They were confused and asked how this is possible.  And he said to them, “with man it is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

St. Paul shares a similar sentiment after suffering through arrests, stoning, floggings, shipwrecks, snake bites, and all manner of perils for the sake of proclaiming the Good News of Jesus, he wrote, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

I like to apply this way of thinking to our life together in the All Saints family.  As we continue to focus on knowing our gifts and encouraging each other to live the Good News of Jesus in the world we can be confronted with set backs.  There will be things that discourage you at work or at home.  People can rub you the wrong way, you can get sick, there are so many ways that the world can try to distract you from believing that you overcome and conquer with the Love of Christ.

But really I want you to think differently.  Indeed it is not you who conquers.  But it is Christ living in you that conquers these struggles.  And because of that we have nothing to fear.  Looking to him for strength in each moment of the day will help you to overcome those hurdles and live fully into the Kingdom that he is preparing us for.

As All Saints continue to discover how we are called to bring more people into our fellowship we will be confronted with barriers that keep us from fulfilling God’s will for us.  There will be hiccups, difficulties, struggles, tension because our selves will get in the way of his plan.  But he wants for us to be a thriving branch that bears much fruit in his Kingdom.  And to do that we must look to Jesus.  Jesus is our lighthouse on a rocky shore, shining light in the dangerous areas and guiding our way saying to us, “Do not cry; do not be afraid. I am with you.”

All Aboard the All Saints Mission!

Left of Center is our Cruise ship

On our recent excursion to Alaska we sailed the inside passage along coastlines of snow capped mountains, glaciers, and icebergs.  Viewing the landscape and wildlife God made it clear to us that he makes beautiful things.

Happily I discovered there was a chapel on board our ship. Since I brought my prayerbook and daily office readings, it seemed good to take advantage of a quiet place to say morning prayer each day.


One morning I grabbed my book and set out to find the chapel. Passing casinos, occasional piano bars, gift shops with an assortment of alluring booze, and night clubs, I found what I was looking for.

Tucked away but clearly marked on the port side amidship sat the quiet sanctuary.  An elegant set of double doors with a pointed arch communicated that this is the chapel.  The ante-room floor was adorned simplistically with a rose pattern mosaic tile and nothing on the walls to distract.  Entering the chapel I wondered if I would be the only one in attendance.  I was.  I sat down to the traditional office and read my prayers and readings as I do in the chapel in church.  This chapel hosts on-board weddings for guests is adorned with some non-descriptive stain-glass windows. The false windows had the look of shepherds in an attempt at traditional religious imagery.

The wondering eye also fell on chintzy frescoes of naked cherubs and something that looked like a Greek god with dragonfly wings.  Some of the design was comical but looked like a sincere attempt to cover all the religious bases.  I appreciated the attempt.  After all, the ship designers could choose not to have a chapel at all.  On a cruise ship whose primary purpose is to make money every square foot counts.

Although it was quiet, the chapel was not spiritually moving, so the next few days I opted to say the Daily Office on the balcony of our room.  Each morning I grabbed my prayerbook and made way five feet from the bed to the deck chair.  Proximity makes getting up for prayer very easy.  I looked out over the sea and watched as we passed those snow capped mountains and valleys carved by glaciers.  I took note of the occasional whale rolling across the surface of the water.  As I prayed one of my family would come out, sit in the other chair, and listen as I recited  the prayers.

Surrounded by the beauty of creation and hearing the Scriptures I felt God's presence.  Thinking on these three things: the Scriptures, the ancient prayers, and God's creation, I had this clear sense of the vastness and timelessness of it all.  These three things were here before me and will be here after me.

I stopped to consider that these glaciers are living ice sheets constantly being formed and eroded; you can't tell how old they are.  But for thousands of years they rub back and forth on the mountain valleys that they chisel out.  They are the handiwork of God.

As Kate and I watched one humpback whale in the distance splashing his fin over and over again on the water, I asked "What is he doing?"  I could only think that he looked to be playing.  What a life he leads.  He worries not about what he will eat, what he wears, nor where he will sleep. The Father in heaven provides for him.  His whole life is a series of eating, mating, migrating, sleeping, playing and singing his whale songs.  And this goes on and on from one generation to the next.

And so it occurred to me how out of touch we humans are with the created order.  We have so complicated our world that we forget that life is to be enjoyed in the presence of God doing what he made us to do, to love him, one another and bring others into that relationship.  The mountains and glaciers function the same way.

Everyday new snowfalls pile on at the top.  Under the weight of thousands of years of accumulation the compacted ice cuts through rock and shapes a landscape.  As the glacier recedes it leaves a hard surface prepared to recieve molds and spores blown by winds that travel around the world.  When the spores finally manage to stick to the face of the rock they create soft landing surfaces of plant life.  All this takes decades.  Seeds land on the molds and then root into the rock to grow plants and finally trees begin to appear that completely change the landscape again.

It takes time and tenacity.  At each stage of change the landscape changes from barren rock to furry moss to plant life. And the whole project can't be sped up because it's all in God's time.  Considering the time it takes I am both in awe and impatient about the process.  I want to see the beautiful thing that is coming next.

When it comes to this church I feel the same way.

Here we are toiling away.  We make adjustments to the staffing to help us focus in areas that have needed nurturing such as communications and family & children's ministry.  We've approved resources to be put forward in nursery and children's ministry. We've put resources to fix up the bathroom facilities.  It's been a slow process of trying to figure out what really needs to happen.

We have in place the tools we need to incorporate new friends, brothers and sisters into our parish family.  And so we wait patiently.
 

It occurred to me that as God was making all of these beautiful things around us, he had in his minds eye what the mountains and sea, birds and fish, would all look like.  And he had in his minds eye how he was going to do it.

And then I realized...At church, we have the, "How we're going to do it," part.  But we still haven't grasped the vision of what we want to look like.  "What is our vision?"  We know our mission is to "touch lives for Jesus..."

But why are we doing that mission?

Touching lives for Jesus means that our own faith reaches out to allow others to come to know him as well.  We are Touching lives for Jesus so that those lives might be brought into the family and adopted as children of the Father.

We have put the instruments of effective ministry in place to help us plan and implement for the vision.

As I said in my address at the annual parish meeting we quantified that vision to make our Sunday attendance 200 so that we can more freely support the ministries of All Saints and live out our Christian values of Worship, Love, and Service.  More invitations means more lives touched by Jesus.

In order to do that we all have to be on board with that plan.  It takes you volunteering for community events and services and participating in our family activities. Our Jazz fest and other musical offerings are an example.  Our Christian Education opportunities are faith-filled and fun. It takes you serving with our children's ministry. We've had to postpone our Vacation Bible School because we needed 15 excited volunteers to participate to help touch children's lives for Jesus.

God is chiseling and cutting us into a beautiful landscape.  It will not take a thousand years like mountains and valleys.  But in God's time and by your faithful ministry we will live into the mission and fulfill the vision! What role will you take in the shaping of this church family?

Around the Office Update #2 March 28.2013

As every Christian has heard, the church is the Body of Christ.  That means we embody Jesus in this world.  We are his hands, legs, mouth, eyes, and ears.  Just like Jesus we utilize the senses of the body to listen to and observe the needs of our local community.  Our legs carry the spoken words of hope to the people around us.  Our hands lift up the broken-hearted and bring a healing Touch to the lives of people in the name of Jesus.

You are all familiar with our service ministries: to homeless families with Family Promise, to the hungry with Emily’s Pantry, and to those in prison through Kairos.  These faithful efforts are bearing fruit and fulfilling God’s call to serve Christ in all persons.

All Saints is working to extend its name into the local community in new ways.  Years ago I attended a conference on ministry.  The lecturer asked the question, “If your church no longer existed would the community notice?”

So I asked that question of us.  Today, the answer is, “Yes. People would notice!”  And I believe God is calling us to open up our resources in ways that our local community will really notice.

You are aware of the need to replace our current piano.  We discovered recently that it has a cracked pin block.  It is becoming increasing difficult for this instrument to stay in tune and lead our praises.  So we are acting now to raise funds for a new piano that will last one hundred years. 

Our July 6 Jazz Festival will raise a portion of the funds but the majority of the cost will come from donations.  A high quality instrument will enable us to invite community members into our church through concerts and recitals which gives us an opportunity for invitations to our parish family.

A second way we are trying to become more visible locally is through a community garden. We are working with our Montessori and ESL/.GED school friends to begin the process.  It will be a place that will beautify our property and make it useful.  We have the land; the community provides the effort.  You may even want to help out!  As this opportunity grows, we’ll see new faces and have the opportunity to invite them into our parish family.

A third initiative started in prayer three years ago.  I asked God, “How can we make better use of our back property for children and families?” Through our ESL program we met someone who is creating a youth sports academy.  He will be focusing on tennis and soccer.

Through negotiations and donations with the city contractors, we are working to reshape our property to get it ready for children and youth to play on it.  Donations toward this effort are welcome.  Again these efforts will present opportunities to invite our guests to be a part of the All Saints family.

Through these efforts we are living into the mission and values of the All Saints family.  As we continue to walk this path, your invitations to our guests will be the same as Jesus touching lives!  And you will see the Kingdom of God grow in your life and in the life of our parish family! Consider how you will support these efforts with your donations and your time.