Epiphany

“We three Kings of Oil and Tar, tried to smoke a rubber cigar. It was loaded and exploded, now we are seeing stars”.

For some, this may bring back memories of childhood, their own or of children and grandchildren who sang this or a related irreverent version of the old Christmas hymn about the Epiphany. When we remember the Epiphany what else may come to mind is children in their parents’ bathrobes. Apparently, shepherds and magi shopped at JC Penny, or at least those appearing in Epiphany pageants. These should be sweet and treasured memories of how we celebrated and still celebrate the revelation to the world that the child born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph is the King of the Jews, Lord of Lords, and Son of God.

There a couple lesser known and practiced traditions that you might try this year to enhance your experience of the Epiphany. One is to mark the top of your home’s front door with the following:
20+C+B+M+24

20 and 24 represent the year. C+B+M refer to the Latin phrase Christus Mansionem Benedicat meaning “May Christ bless this house.” Alternatively, the letters CBM are said the stand for the three magi whose names are Caspar, Melchoir, and Balthazar. You may add the following prayers from the Episcopal Book of Occasional Services.:

The Blessing of a Home at Epiphany
V. God shall watch over your going out and your coming in.
R. From this time forth for ever more.

People may mark the doorway with symbols in chalk blessed with this prayer:
Loving God, bless this chalk which you have created, that it may be helpful to your people; and grant that through the invocation of your most Holy Name that we who use it in faith to write upon the door of our home the names of your holy ones Caspar, Melchior, and Balthazar, may receive health of body and protection of soul for all who dwell in or visit our home; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

O God of and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the nations and the Glory of your people, bless (N & N) who dwell in this house. May it be for them a place of peace and health, that they may rejoice in the gifts and graces you have bestowed upon them and dedicate their talents for the good of those for whom your Christ came and gave his life, and who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

A second tradition is to bless candles on or near February 2 which is the Feast Day of the Presentation of Our Lord in the Temple. As a remembering of Jesus as the Light of the World and the light that dispels the darkness, you are invited to bring candles from home to be blessed and carried out. These become the Light of Christ visibly carried out into the world and into our homes. We will bless our church candles and your candles on Sunday, February 4.

The Light of Christ lead you like a star at night and scatter the darkness before your path,
Fr. Bill+

Christmas

“Almighty God, you have given your only-begotten Son to take our nature upon him, and to be born this day of a pure virgin: Grant that we, who have been born again and made your children by adoption and grace, may daily be renewed by your Holy Spirit; through our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with you and the same Spirit be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen.”

As I am writing this before Thanksgiving Day, I am mindful of church tradition. We follow seasons in church tradition. Advent follows the long season of Pentecost. Only after observing Advent do we get to the short twelve day season of Christmas. Traditionally, the season of Christmas ends with the Epiphany on January 6. That is the day when the Magi arrive bearing gifts for the child king of the Jews.

When I was in seminary, I got the frowny face from the purists because I put up Christmas decorations after Thanksgiving Day. I took them down after Christmas day because my daughter has a birthday on New Years Eve. So much for adhering strictly to the twelve days of Christmas. I imagine that you have your own reasons for when to begin and how to celebrate Christmas, and I do believe there is grace in that.

Some express that grace by extending the Christmas season to the Sunday after the Epiphany. That Sunday is the day we remember the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan by his older cousin John. It is the day when we remember that God proclaims Jesus as his beloved son and Jesus, the beloved son, associates himself with us. It is the day when we hear that the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus. There is much of our opening prayer in that setting. The church has designated that day as one especially proper for baptism. As Jesus associates himself with us, we in turn give ourselves to God. There is a sort of giving and receiving in that which is appropriate in the Christmas season.

Others extend the grace of Christmas even further. There is an old tradition of marking the end of the Christmas season on February 2 with the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. If you count up those days from Christmas to and including February 2 you get a whole forty days of Christmas. Now, that seems to me more like a Christmas celebration than a mere twelve days, though I wonder what becomes of the classic Christmas carol The Twelve Days of Christmas. “On the fortieth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me ...”

Whatever your practice, let us all be mindful of the reason for the season. It is grace. That God loves us, all of us, those awake and those asleep, and showed that love by becoming one of us and giving himself to us - the ultimate and endless gift. Through that gift we become adopted children of God with the hope of being renewed daily by the Holy Spirit. To me, that sounds like Christmas daily, year round, and always.

Merry Christmas,
Fr. Bill+

Stewardship

Jesus said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor's, and to God the things that are God's.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away. Matthew 22:21-22

Dear Friends of Christ,

• Jesus asks us to identify and give to God from what is God’s. Since the founding of this parish in 1955, the saints of Good Shepherd have responded generously to the call to give in support the ministries and mission of God’s church and the diocese with their gifts of time, talent and treasure. In recent years, we have faithfully responded to our needs by installing an elevator, replacing a roof, windows, AC units, freezer and refrigerator, and by upgrading lighting and audio and video systems. We have responded to community needs by paying off the mortgage and moving mortgage payments to outreach.

  We will accomplish these outreach goals this year:

• $16,000 given to our outreach partners

• $15,000 given to support ministries addressing shelter insecurities

• $36,000 given to the diocese to support other mission and outreach efforts

• $24,000 given to support our college scholarship program

• as well as help Clay and Towns County students receive basic dental care from a generous gift.

We also cannot forget our giving to God through our Holy Smokers ministry, our Thursday morning and Tuesday evening ministry to young people, our prayer shawl ministry, Meals for Friends, Healing Prayer Ministry, Choir and all those ministries that bless our Sunday worship.

Generous giving from the things of God is what we do at Good Shepherd. Thank you for your generous gift of time, talent and treasure in 2024.

Grace and peace,
Fr. Bill+

Always Exodus

Say therefore to the Israelites, “I am the Lord, and I will free you from the burdens of the Egyptians and deliver you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgement. I will take you as my people, and I will be your God. You shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has freed you from the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; I will give it to you for a possession. I am the Lord.”

God speaks to Moses a message of encouragement and hope. God bookends these words with God’s authority to make these things happen. “I am the Lord,” God says. If you want assurance that these things will come true, assurance that God can make this happen and it will happen, then consider who is speaking. “I am the Lord.” As they say, “take it to the bank,” because this is as certain as the sun rising tomorrow.

And what does God promise? God promises freedom from burdens and delivery from all that enslaves them. God promises them a new identity, that of being God’s free people rather than slaves. The promise is an exodus from all that has given them and us a false sense of self, from all that holds them and us captive, and in that exodus all will know the character of God. God is in the exodus business. Wherever the people of God have been enslaved, by whatever has enslaved them, God’s judgment will be against those enslaving forces and for those held captive. While this text is from the book Exodus and is given in the context of the exodus of the Hebrew people it is a message for all people and all time. It is a message about a God who claims us as God’s own and whose heart and desire is to call us into an exodus from all that captures us and holds us in a false sense of identity, from all that oppresses us and keeps us from the freedom of living as God’s own people. This text may serve as a point of reflection for us to think about who we are in God’s eyes and what might be holding us and others captive. It is also a chance for us to reflection upon who God is in our eyes. God’s promise is to pass judgment on all those things within and without that burden, oppress, and enslave all people. That is a message of hope and an encouragement to not give up but to call upon God to come quickly and show us that “I am the Lord, the God of exodus.”

Grace and peace, Fr. Bill+

Thank You

Thank you so much for the generous gift of my recently completed sabbatical. I so appreciate the care Reverend Beverly gave the parish during my time away and Pastor Delmer’s preaching assistance. Thank you, good and faithful reverends. I am also grateful to your lay leadership for helping mind the store, especially your wardens Mike Campbell and Harry Baughn, and your excellent staff.

I began my time away by taking three courses related to church life and administration. One course was on conflict mediation and two concerned managing transitions. I learned a few things, had confirmed many more things I already knew, but importantly what these courses told me is that Good Shepherd is an exceptionally healthy and happy church community. My fellow course participants came from a variety of denominations and generally were working in churches rife with problems. That we work, play, and worship so well together is not the norm. That is something for us to give thanks for and be to careful stewards of. God has blessed Good Shepherd to be a welcoming, gracious, and forgiving community. I am grateful for that and for all of you who make that your way of being part of our community.

Following these weeks of study, it was time to wander. I went to Kansas to see friends and preach at my former parish. The jokes were, of course, just the very best. There I ran into a young adult couple who were members of the youth group during my tenure that ended ten years ago. They invited me to officiate their wedding which I did in early August in Washington, D.C. It is an example of seeds planted years earlier and the influence we have on people that we may not realize. It confirms that young people are watching us and what we say and do matters.

If you follow Facebook, you may know that I went to Vienna as part of my sabbatical. Vienna is an historically significant city for many reasons. I knew it mainly for the scientific and philosophical work done there in the early twentieth century. Music, of course, is significant to its history and culture with Mozart, Beethoven, Strauss, Schubert and others associated with the city. Vienna was also the capital of the Habsburg Empire. The Habsburg were a dynasty lasting more than six hundred years that reached across Europe and even to Mexico. The last king of France, Louis XVI, married the Habsburg we know as Marie Antoinette and Napoleon Bonaparte married a Habsburg as well to unite the French and Austrian Empires. And then there was the history of the repeatedly poor treatment of the Jewish community. I mention these few things because I did not go to Vienna with them on my mind. Finding them was a kind of joyful serendipity that I enjoy so much. The fruit of not over planning, of just wandering and finding the unexpected delight of thirteenth century frescoes because you turned right instead of left.

I am glad to be back and to continue on this walk we are doing together. I am hopeful that we remain a special community of welcome, grace, and forgiveness, that we remain open to possibilities, and that we find delight in the unexpected.

With gratitude, grace and peace be yours,
Fr. Bill

Dear Good Shepherds

This fall we will be joining other Episcopal churches in the diocese and nationally to participate in the Episcopal Spiritual Life Inventory. This comprehensive survey of spiritual life can help provide valuable information on where we are as a faith community and insight into where the Holy Spirit is now leading us in mission and ministry. The inventory was created by RenewalWorks, an Episcopal organization charged with advancing spiritual growth, and is intended to be thought provoking for your own faith journey.

I ask that all adult members of Good Shepherd plan to participate when this survey becomes available in late September. For those who can, we prefer you complete your survey online. Others may wish to complete a paper survey. Regardless, we want every adult member to participate and to be assured that your responses are confidential.

A small group of parish members will meet following the close of the survey to consider what the data collected say about where we are and where we are going in mission and ministry. Please know that I am grateful to them and to all of you for participating in this important work. It has been more than ten years since the last time we did such a parish assessment. The work we will do together this September will become a valuable guide to setting a course for the parish over the next decade.

You will hear more about this initiative when I return from sabbatical in mid-August. For those who want more information now, please look at the RenewalWorks website https://renewalworks.org/

Grace and peace,
Fr. Bill+

Sabbatical

“The Diocese of Western North Carolina encourages priests to take sabbaticals for the renewal and refreshment of the priest and the benefit of the parish.” - Sabbatical Policy, Diocese Western North Carolina web page retrieved 4/17/2023

Greetings Friends,

Every five years, clergy and their parishes are encouraged to take a break from their ongoing work. The break is intended for both of them to rest and in that rest to find refreshment and renewal for their work beyond. It has been almost five years since our last break and much has happened since then. I am so appreciative of how your lay leadership and your determined participation carried us through a pandemic. Unlike many other faith communities, we weathered the storm and are now seeing a growth in membership. Thank you and thanks be to God. The state of the parish is strong. Now there is the need for a chance to catch our breath and to prepare ourselves for the postpandemic future. I will be going on sabbatical in early June and the timing seems just right for both me and the parish.

My sabbatical will begin Monday, June 5 and I will be back in the office on Monday, August 14. During my time away, I will take three online courses that focus on managing relationships and congregational change. I am hopeful that I will learn some new skills and refresh some old ones that will be useful on my return. I am also taking time for travel, visiting friends, play and rest. In July, I will be in Vienna, Austria and plan to take day trips to some of the surrounding cities.

I am grateful that the Rev. Beverly Braine has agreed to be your sabbatical replacement clergy. If you have been with us on Sundays when she has led worship, you know she is a fine worship leader and preacher. Rev. Braine will also continue our Wednesday noon services and provide pastoral care as needed. I did emphasize to her that sabbatical is a time for the parish also to rest and not to think that she is expected to lead many extra activities as your clergy. I know she has a couple or more special things she would like to do and she has my full support and trust. Please embrace her and show her all the love and support you are known for as she does her best to love and support you. The Rev. Dr. Delmer Chilton will also make occasional appearances. Along with your clergy, your wardens Dr. Mike Campbell and the Hon. Harry Baughn will help shepherd the parish. I leave you in many very experienced and wise hands.

My time away is meant to be a time when we unplug from each other and I do not hear from the church. God forbid, but should some significant crisis or loss occur, your leaders will let me know. As always, I will hold you in my prayers whether I am near or far away. Enjoy your sabbatical and get your rest. Adventure and play, and I will see you again midAugust.

Grace and peace, Fr. Bill+

The Anaphora

Continuing with our recent examination of the Sunday liturgy, we now come to the “anaphora.” Though it is one piece and some believe it should be seamless and uninterrupted in execution, the Sunday celebration of Holy Eucharist divides into two parts. There is as some would say, the liturgy of the word and then the liturgy of the table. Said differently, there is the liturgy of hearing God’s word spoken and preached and then there is the liturgy for consecrating and receiving communion. Our practice and that seen in many other Episcopal churches is to have something of a pause between the two for announcements. But, as some might note, announcement time is not a piece of the liturgy and does not belong in the service. They would probably say “Do those before or after.”

Anaphora is a Greek word meaning “carry up” so meaning an offering. It is the offering of ourselves to be a “reasonable, holy, and living sacrifice”, an offering our gifts, and a memorial of Christ’s selfoffering. The anaphora portion of our worship has many names including The Great Thanksgiving, the Lord’s Supper, the Canon of the Mass, and Holy Eucharist, though the latter really refers to both the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the table as one piece. And to give you another liturgy term with which to impress or bore someone, the “pro anaphora” is everything that comes before the anaphora. So, the liturgy of the word. Got it? This will be on Jeopardy.

Now, grab your Prayer Book and turn to page 361. Rite I folks, I invite you into Rite II territory just for education. Thank you for playing along. You will see the text in bold, The Great Thanksgiving and a note in italics about alternative forms. The italicized notes are important. They are called rubrics and they provide guidelines and boundaries for the execution of the liturgy. The Prayer Book authorizes six forms of the Eucharistic Prayer. There are others authorized by the church that are found in the book Enriching our Worship. For now, just spend some time with Eucharistic Prayer A, its content and rubrics. Think about what you see on Sunday and what the rubrics require. Do you see me doing things differently?

The Prayer Book rubrics assume that the clergy are standing in front of the altar rather than behind it. Actually, the text says “holy table” not altar. There is a lot of history, and some of it a history of infighting and religious wars, hidden in these words. Likewise with the rubrics for touching the bread and cup, and that the bread and the cup are given to communicants. Did you know there was a time when the cup was not shared with the laity? That we do this and it is required that we do this is not small thing.

Lastly, we get to a critical piece of the liturgy. The post communion prayer is not a wrapping up prayer. It’s not “we are done, let’s get this over and off to coffee hour.” It is an affirmation that what we have just done has prepared us for the work we have ahead of us out in the world. It says that Eucharist is preparation for mission and ministry. So, while our time together has been valuable in itself, our time together has been for receiving what we need in order to be the people of God serving the mission of God in the world. Go now in peace to love and serve the Lord. And please mind the rubrics.

Grace and peace,
Fr. Bill+

Elements of Worship - Part 1

A hymn, psalm, or anthem may be sung. The people standing, the Celebrant says

So begins the opening of the liturgy for the celebration of Holy Eucharist in the Episcopal Church. The liturgy begins with directions called rubrics. The rubrics help to give common form to our worship. As a people who see themselves as part of one worldwide body of Anglicans, common worship is valued. We like to know that while some may worship in Spanish or Japanese, their worship is much like ours in form and content. This, we believe, is an essential part of being one body in Christ.

I am focusing on the commonality of our worship and elements of that because I had a recent conversation with someone whose faith tradition had been in liturgical churches yet she never did understand why they did what they did. All that ritual and all those physical movements and all those gestures were never explained to her. She is now a member of a nondenominational faith community that has a structure but nothing close to what she left. I think that is a great loss even if she is currently happy with her new church.

Our liturgy is based upon ancient liturgies. We look to the earliest evidence available because we value commonality. We want to keep a consistency over time with what we believe is the worship of the ancient church, that which is closest to the time of the apostles and the first public gatherings of those who called themselves Christians. We believe in one universal church and one way we express that is common worship across space and time.

The earliest gatherings of Christians were in the synagogues and in the homes of followers of Christ. The house church, popular in many places today, has an ancient tradition. Each community, likely encompassing the whole of major cities, had one overseer who we call a bishop. Most of the time, the faithful gathered in private homes and on occasion would be called together for the celebration of Eucharist with the bishop residing. In the early days, there were bishops and deacons, but no priests although the office of priest was known from the Jewish tradition. Those early large gatherings with the bishop would take place in a public space, often some large municipal hall. These were not places designed or equipped for worship as we know it. There were no pews, aisles, altars, choir lofts, and so forth.

When the service was to begin it was necessary to have some way of calling the gathering to order as people were standing about just as one would find at any large public gathering. That was the advent of the opening salutation. Yes, the words are a spiritual statement of faith, but they are also meant to call the gathered to order and for worship to begin. Much preferred I think to pounding a gavel. They also borrowed from civil practice. When a public official of some status would visit there would be a ceremonial procession of that official to the place where they would speak. The early church adopted this ceremonial practice for the bishop, and wedded with the call to order, we get the practice of an opening hymn and procession plus words of greeting like:

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The people acknowledging they heard that and indicating that they are ready for worship say in reply:

And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.

Again, all of this is just the opening of worship but we see that it has ancient roots and practical purposes. Is this no longer necessary? Perhaps not for some, but if we desire to stay in communion with our ancient brothers and sisters and to be one church across time and space then we continue to do what they did not just for practical reasons but for spiritual reasons.

There is much more to be said about why we do what we do. I will be commenting on that in the months to come.

Grace and peace, Fr. Bill+

A New Year

Happy new year to all. The new year offers us a new beginning and so a new or renewed hope. It offers us a chance to say goodbye to the things of the past. The new year is a beginning and an end, and so a liminal moment, a moment of transition or crossing over from one thing to another. As we continue on the journey of this life, we get to choose what we will lay down and what we will take up as we cross over the boundary marker between 2022 and 2023. Take some time to think about that. Take some time in the resting space between what was and what will be. What has been for you that needs to be honored and laid down? What will be for you that you now need to take up? The former may feel more sure to you than the latter, but spend some time with your thoughts.

Qoheleth (Hebrew for teacher) is his work Ecclesiastes tells us that there are seasons and times for all things. The cycles and seasons of nature confirm this. It is a natural law that things come and go. Do not try to resuscitate that which has had its season in the sun. We miss the new life that is being birthed when we do that. Wisdom tells us that there is a time for all things under heaven and wisdom tells us that there is a time for letting things go and taking things up. At the end of our mortal lives we will lay down this life and take up our eternal life. Before then we have many opportunities for laying down and taking up. The new year is just one socially contrived but still important marker in time where we can be intentional in our discernment of what to lay down and what to take up.

Rather than making a resolution for the new year, just rest for a moment or longer and think. Think about what needs to be laid down and no longer carried. Think about what needs to be taken up. Think about what will remain with you as your companion. You have God’s permission to let go of what has come to an end and to take up what is life giving.

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. - Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Grace and peace,
Fr. Bill+