Author: Rosemary Lovelace

Lent 5 Year B – George Yandell

I’ve been mulling over what I can offer you as we prepare for my retirement. I keep coming back to how grateful I feel being with you at Holy Family since August 1, 2010. It has been an incredible blessing to serve with you and my clergy colleagues. I’ve asked them to send me some of their recollections.  

When Susan and I were in town house-hunting before I started as priest-in-charge, the clergy invited us for a meal at Byron and Anne’s house. Susan recalls that Scott and Katharine drove us with Ted and Debbie to the Tindall’s. I had some apprehensions about being the new kid on the block with a team of clergy that devoted themselves as volunteers and had kept worship and pastoral care alive after Mary had left. We were so delighted as we talked and shared a wonderful meal- I thought as we were going home- what a tremendous gift to have such sharp and devoted colleagues! And in the years since that first engagement, I’ve only grown in my respect and love for you all.  

Byron offers these recollections:  
Approximately 14 years ago, the Search Committee at Holy Family was in the process of interviewing priests for the position of priest-in-charge of our parish. As “retired” clergy and members of Holy Family, Katharine, Ted and I were afforded an opportunity to have some private time with each of the candidates. For some reason, I wasn’t available to spend any time with George when it was his turn to meet with the Search Committee.  

By this time, Katharine and Scott, Ted and Debbie, and Anne and I had developed (and still maintain) an extremely close friendship among ourselves. Shortly after George had been called to become our priest-in-charge and had accepted that call, he and Susan came to the Jasper area to look for a place to call home.  

I don’t remember which one of us had the idea, but Anne and I invited Susan and George, Katharine and Scott, and Debbie and Ted to our house for brunch. It was with a little bit of “fear and trembling” that I awaited the arrival of the group to our house in Lake Arrowhead. “Would George and Susan fit in our established group?” “Would I come to like and love them as much as I did the other members of our group?” “Would Susan and George like us?” “Would they be comfortable associating with our antics?” More importantly “Would their philosophies align with ours?”  

It didn’t take long for me to realize my uneasiness was entirely unnecessary. Susan and George fit right in. Things went along nicely in the ensuing years as friendships deepened and a pattern of interdependence among the four-clergy developed.  

Then came 2019. Covid appeared on the scene. Suddenly everything we considered normal as far as our worship together went out the window, along with most everything in our everyday lives.  

Worship began in the Covid 19 era as a recording made on a smart phone in the memorial garden. The video was uploaded to various social media sites. We graduated to worshipping together as long as we were outside and remained six feet apart. That was great, so long as the weatherman cooperated.  

Then we returned to the nave, with 10 as the maximum number of people allowed. By this time, we contracted with a video production crew to broadcast our Sunday morning Holy Eucharist via our website and Facebook. The tables in the narthex with what looked like miles and miles of cable all over the floor were staffed with three masked outsiders. That left 10 members of Holy Family to try to make the service something familiar for our members and any others who ventured onto the services as they were broadcast.  

During this time, George and the lay leadership of Holy Family had to do a lot of thinking “outside the box.” Their efforts brought us through those trying times with flying colors, as the expression goes.  

When George accepted the call to be “upgraded” from priest-in-charge to rector, we all knew the day would come when we would have to bid George and Susan farewell. Farewell my friend. I hope you enjoy your retirement as much as I’m enjoying mine.  

Katharine’s recollections:  
George and I celebrated Paula Womack’s Memorial Service – The first time we served together. He stayed with Scott and me because Bob Womack’s house was overloaded.   

The Pastor’s Pots with you and Jacques winning the prize and delighting the community with fabulously flavored food. Helping CARES along the way! A “2-fer.”  

Our Wonderful Wednesdays – Always filled with a sense of the presence of the Spirit and the high spirits of those who came to worship in the outdoors and share a meal.  

Covid – You standing in the Memorial Garden conducting the service with Allan DeNiro and others on their cellphones filming so that we would have an online service. The continual efforts we made to make the services better and better technically. The cold, cold parking lot: but we managed to gather as a congregation! Ultimately the wonderful broadcast booth was finished and we were able to produce and engage more and more people in our services.  

The Easter Vigils –with all its beauty and joyousness.  (One time we forgot the Paschal candle and had to run get it!)  

The teaching times you gave us with your joy in weaving together history with scripture.  

The hilarious and delicious Clergy Dinners auctioned to support Parish ministries– never were there such a group of priestly gourmands!!  

Standing at the altar with you and Ted and Byron on All Souls Day, solemnly reading the names of those who had died.  

The gift you and succeeding vestries gave the congregation by faithfully working to reduce and then eliminate the mortgage. It has given Holy Family the freedom to look hard at more outreach to our community and makes us more attractive to a new rector. You took care of the tough stuff!  

The joy of serving at the altar with you and Byron and Ted and Bill, offering the Eucharist to our congregation.   

Bill Harkins:  
Prior to ordination it was necessary that I complete the Anglican Studies Program at the Candler School of Theology at Emory. One component of this program was a season of Postulancy, typically a year or more serving in a local congregation. Rev. Dr. Ted Hackett, whom we all know and love, was the Director of this component of the program. I met with Ted who said to me “You’re already a professor and licensed therapist…I’m not exactly sure where parish ministry will fit in for you, but I’ll send you up to Holy Family.Jerry Zeller can help you figure that out, since he’s always been bi-vocational too.”  

This was a profoundly wise and informed decision on Ted’s part, for which I am eternally grateful. Jerry, and Frank Wilson, who was an Associate Priest at the time, were a Godsend.   

Holy Family was in its own season of transition as it sought to find its way after a season of challenges. I served during those years as Holy Family moved from the Conference Center to the glorious new sanctuary we now enjoy. After my Postulancy I completed a Diaconate year at St. Jame’s, Marietta, and Jerry invited me to return as a Priest Associate. After two years at Holy Family, I was called to the Cathedral of St. Philip as Canon Associate for Pastoral Care.   

Thus, in many ways Holy Family gave birth to my priesthood, and Jerry Zeller became a wise mentor, and eventually a deeply valued friend and colleague. Among the aspects of my time as a Postulant was that Jerry asked me to design a project based, in part, on the needs of the congregation and in light of my own gifts and graces for ministry. The result was the formation of the Lay Pastoral Care Committee, after teaching an Adult Education course. This committee flourishes even now with devoted and compassionate lay leadership from Winship Durrett, Jan Braley, and a host of others. And that brings us to today, where Vicky and I are blessedly, once again, at home. I am so grateful for Jerry, and Ted, and this wonderful parish who in concert with the Holy Spirit in Her mischief led us here, sent us out into the world, and welcomed us back again!  

Ted’s recollections:  
Liturgy at “Our Lady of the Double-Wide” and was informal to say the least. It was “audience participation”. Mass was a cross between a public town-hall meeting and a Liturgy…but folks seemed to like it. It had the flavor of a new congregation’s enthusiasm for achieving great things….and under Jerry’s tutelage …it was forming its identity as a socially-involved parish with the service undertakings we now take for granted. For instance, a food pantry was housed in the old barn up by the office. Jerry’s next accomplishment was building the church we now have. For me, surprisingly, it was a nice mixture of tradition (sort of Gothic) and contemporary “mountain.” My two main objections to the new church design were the big clear window behind the altar which meant on a sunny day the whole sanctuary became virtually invisible. The other was the Rube Goldberg altar with “wings” like a salad-bar arrangement. Under George, we fixed that. More about the Liturgy later.   

After Mary’s departure the calling committee recommended George. He accepted, and a new era began. I acted as a kind of elder counselor cautioning George about some “land mines” he needed not to disturb. The Vergers for instance…even though a parish of the size of H.F. often doesn’t have vergers, Holy Family was devoted to ours.  

George and I have lived in a kind of brotherly tension. I nearly always wanted a more Anglo-Catholic ceremonial and George (often, not always) resisted. We compromised for the most part and we got new vestments and hangings, a side oratory, a Holy Water stoop, a lovely Nativity scene and a gorgeous Aumbry and light for the Reserved Sacrament. I think George actually either did like (or came to like) all that stuff. Incense was another matter. Some parishioners found it a bridge too far (people who have never, ever had throat problems cough at the mention of incense. I told a disgruntled parishioner at another parish that at one point and she harumphed and didn’t speak to me for 6 months!). We, nevertheless, got a thurible etc. and used the pot for High Feasts and the Bishop’s visit (Bp. Alexander liked smells and bells). But when our Thurifers moved on we didn’t/ couldn’t recruit more.   

That said (with tongue in cheek), George has been a consistently good colleague. He has not been competitive with his clergy associates, has listened and unleashed each of us to “do our thing”. This is, in my estimation, the mark of a good rector who is managing a multi-clergy church. We all have a tendency to control and micro-manage…it is a vulnerability of most clergy. George has it, but much to his credit he kept it in check and took full advantage of what each of us had to offer. The parish is, I think, healthier for it!  When I look back on our relationship over the past years I realize that George is not only a good friend, a reliable boss but a fine yoke-fellow in Christ….and a fun friend with whom to have a good drink …Scotch or wine.   

We have all been the beneficiaries of one of the great gifts Holy Family has enjoyed during George’s tenure: assisting clergy. The mix of Byron, and me…and especially Deacon Katharine (who handled so much of the pastoral work with empathy, practicality, perseverance and good sense) amounted to at least a full-time staff of two priests. We all had a different set of interests and complemented each other well. It was serendipity. George recognized this, kept us on a long leash and encouraged us. When a new Rector is called I hope something like us can happen again! Bill is perhaps, a good omen.    

Which brings me to Liturgy. Before I retire I would like to have incense again (to beat that horse one more time). I loved it for my wonderful 50th anniversary celebration…which I shall cherish for the rest of my life…and hopefully for eternity! George not only encouraged that celebration, but largely organized it. It was a deeply emotional experience for me…so much so that I could not say anything when Bishop Whitmore invited me to. I would have choked up! Thanks (Fr.!) George…for that, for all you have accomplished and for your friendship. Va in paix et profite de la vie, cher ami!  

Some of my recollections:  

Steve Franzen and I teaching the youth confirmation class in fall of 2017. Got to know of his patience and persistence, which provoked me to seek him to be Sr. Warden.    Driving into the church parking lot finding Phil Anderson on his knees- I thought he was praying. He was stenciling the numbers for 6 feet-apart outdoor Covid worship- the numbers corresponded to the assigned spots for reservations folks had made in advance.  

Learning how to attend parishioners’ surgeries in the hospitals in greater Atlanta. Leaving Jasper long before dawn to beat the traffic. I got to know Veronica who served the breakfast line at Piedmont Hospital- she was a member of a Roman Catholic parish in southeast ATL- she always called me father and asked if I needed extra hot sauce for my eggs.  
Proclaiming early on in my time here that we don’t cancel Church services for snow. Christmas 2012- driving home with Susan after the Christmas eve service with sleet and snow coming down. She was laughing about my snow rule. Got up early, hiked Old Grandview down to Grandview Road in the dark 4.3 miles in 6 inches of snow. Got near Cove Rd. when an SUV pulled up behind me- it was Tom and Jo Tyson. They asked me if I wanted a ride the last few hundred feet to the church driveway- I said through Tom’s open window, “Hell no. I’ve walked this far, not stopping now.” So Jo got out of the car and walked the last few hundred feet through the snow. Do you remember that Jo?  

After we got things set for the 9:00 a.m. quiet service, I was standing in the gallery looking at the beauty of the snowfall when a couple hiked up to the door- I opened it and the man said, “Are you having Church- can we join you?” The five of us had one of the most meaningful Christmas day services I can recall.   

(They were grandparents of a family who live across Cove Rd. Their daughter regularly walks the dog I got to know as a puppy when she and her sons brought him over in a wagon as a little guy. The sons have gone on and she gets to take care of the dog. We always share a word.)  

A few years later snow had fallen, same drill, but was able to drive. 4 men showed up for the service. Palmer Temple, Murray Van Leer, do you remember?  

So after all these reminiscences, what’s the point? We clergy folk have been attracted to serving Christ with you.// You attract us- and in turn we gladly work side by side with you in bringing the good news of Jesus to this beautiful area in God’s world. You all are powerhouses that make all our programs thrive.  

It must have been that way with the Jesus fellowship. Peter, John, James and the other young men and women were attracted to Jesus, and in turn attracted others to serve Christ with them. This is the domain of God spreading across the globe. I’m so grateful I have gotten to serve Christ alongside you. And whoever rises to the top of the heap in your search process and is called as rector, she or he will very likely feel the same way. Attracted by you to serving Christ alongside you.  

Lent 4 – Year B – George Yandell

I like the word ‘oxymoron’. It means expressing two contradictory things at the same time. The word itself is an oxymoron – it’s a compound made up of two Greek words meaning “sharp” and “dull.” So oxymoron = sharp/dull. Some good examples are: bittersweet, original copy, jumbo shrimp, and a true Southernism—“pretty ugly”. I have often thought that having a firm handle on the concept of an oxymoron is vital to understanding the Christian faith. Is God oxymoronic? Does the Bible express truths about God that are mutually contradictory?  

Dom Crossan has said: You can read the Bible all through and find evidence for two quite different, conflicting ways God acts. [How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian, Harper One, 2015, p.17] In one way – God is harsh, judgmental, strict; a god of law and punishment, of revenge and retribution, even violence; a god who keeps a careful tally of our sins and metes out appropriate penalties. In the other way – God is gentle, loving, forgiving, and indulgent; a god who condemns violence and loves us with a prodigal, spendthrift love. [Adapted from a sermon by the Rev. Dr. Delmer L. Chilton on The Lectionary Lab, March 15, 2015]  

How do we hear and respond to the dialogue of Jesus with Nicodemus in today’s gospel?  In shaping our responses, key words in today’s gospel demand some decoding and recasting. I think it requires us to re-mystify our understandings of the work of Jesus. Not de-mystify, but RE-Mystify. To move beyond the literal meanings often used to decode this passage, and enter the mystery of the gospel’s intent.    

Key words #1 The world: We all think we know what ‘the World’ means. But the Greek expression used in John’s gospel is very special: we find Jesus referring to “the world” 3 times in the 17^th verse alone, and again in the 19^th verse. “God did not send the son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”  In fact, John uses “the world” 67 times in his gospel. He usually contrasts ‘this world’ with the heavenly world. It’s a Greek word: cosmos. The cosmos does not refer simply to the earth on which we humans live. It also refers to the spiritual order that prevails among humans and is often opposed to God’s will.  

The people of Jesus’ time and place believed there was a prevailing spiritual attitude that was opposed to God’s purposes. Many identified the Roman Empire and the Jewish temple cult as that opposition. That’s what Jesus means when he says, ‘the world.’ In the modern era in the 1930’s in Germany, a malevolent consciousness prevailed throughout the citizenry. So in ancient times and now, ‘the world’ is a combination of opinions, limitations on human thought, and ego-driven pretense that are enshrined in the culture. Jesus contrasted ‘this world’ with the world of a higher consciousness that God seeks to bring about. [Some of the above paragraph adapted from Mystical Christianity: A Psychological Commentary on the Gospel of John, John A. Sanford, pp. 93-93, 1993, The Crossroad Publishing Co.]  

Key words #2 Serpents: The gospel passage recapitulates the story from Numbers- John compares Jesus with Moses’ serpent. Just as the serpent was lifted up on Moses’ rod, “so must the Son of Man be lifted up [on the cross], that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.”  Even as the sight of the serpent healed the people, so all those who see and comprehend Jesus on the cross will be healed. The healing from the serpent only cured people from poisonous bites, while the healing of Christ crucified leads to eternal life. The serpent has dubious roles in Hebrew scripture: tempting Adam and Eve is paramount. The snake has been evil. For that reason it may come as a surprise that Jesus was called “the good serpent” by many of the Fathers of the early Church. This serpent was a symbol of God’s power of healing. [ibid, p. 94]    

#3 Son of Man: The gospel uses this term for Jesus to help its readers understand the relationship between the historical Jesus and God. The historical Jesus can be understood as a person who was uniquely aware of the image of God within the soul. From that understanding a radically unique consciousness emerged in him that transcended all others of his time. It is clear from his parables and sayings in the other gospels–Jesus was a man who could read the Spirit of God directly. In him the human and divine natures were distinct, yet intimately related into one being. [ibid, p. 99]  

Key words #4 Darkness and light: The discourse of Jesus with Nicodemus concludes with the important images of light and darkness- they were set forth in the prologue of the Gospel: “The Word was God- in Him was life, and the life was the light of humankind. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” Today’s passage says, “This is the judgement- that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.”  

In John’s gospel, light and darkness refer to spiritual matters. The words are metaphors that on the one hand signify the light of truth and spiritual illumination– and the principle of moral and spiritual darkness on the other. The passage tells us then that it is vitally important for our souls to be conscious where we stand in the tension between the two. The passage makes it clear that both the principle of light and the principle of darkness exist in the cosmos. They struggle with one another. They constitute a pair of moral opposites that require us to choose between them. We cannot follow both the light and the darkness. [ibid pp. 100-101] The judgement John refers to is making the choice- not once for all, but in every moment of our discipleship with Jesus. When we choose light as our spiritual principle, it brings us illumination, higher consciousness, deeper knowledge, and finally, en-lighten-ment. As the gospel passage ends, “Those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done IN GOD.”   Deeds done in God- mystical knowing yields deeds of light.  

The next time you see someone in a sports telecast holding up the placard, “John 3:16”, tell yourself and your companions- it’s not as literal or simple as it seems. The whole passage calls us to an ever-deepening relationship with the Son of Man, at once in the cosmos and beyond it. The Son of Man was lifted up for our healing. Lifted up for us to thrive in the mystical drama of darkness vs. light, choosing the light more and more in our passage into the heart of Jesus. Tell your friends about the good serpent, Jesus. And may all our deeds be done in God, to the glory of God’s Son.

Lent 3 Year B – George Yandell

When Jesus went onto the temple courtyard, he erupted in violent anger when he saw the Court of the Gentiles desecrated by the traders who set up shop there. He turned over the tables of the moneychangers and threw them out. Why? Because they filled their pockets by ripping off the poor. He screamed at the vendors of sheep and cattle and doves. Anger coursed through him, he was outraged. What was Jesus really doing? Jesus might have waked up one morning, walked out of his house, seen the poverty and the hunger of all those around him and said, “This Stinks!” He was enraged at those perverting the true worship God intended.   

What was the worship God intended? Jesus seemed to be channeling the great prophets’ teachings: Amos 5:21 ff., speaking God’s word to the people of Israel 750 years before Jesus: “I hate, I despise your festivals…. Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them… Take away the noise of your songs, I will not listen to the melody of your harps… But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.” Isaiah 1:17 “Cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow.” Hosea 6:6 “I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” Micah 6:8 “[God] has told you….what is good; what does the Lord require of you? To do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”   

The Rev. Lane Denson, a good friend, authored the online commentary Out of Nowhere. Lane was fond of saying: “We Episcopalians are prone to worship our understanding of God, rather than worshipping the God of our understanding.”// What does he mean? I think it has everything to do with Jesus disrupting the commerce in the temple precinct. Our understanding of God can be a strong idol distracting us from God.  

Over time the temple court became defiled by the traders and money-changers, who were aiding folks in worshipping a perverted understanding of God– that God needed placating, and the priests held the means for keeping God’s anger at bay. This understanding of God that flew in the face of what God had said over and over to the people of Israel.  

When Jesus said, “Destroy this temple and in 3 days I will raise it up,” the authorities misunderstood completely. They were in charge of one of the wonders of the ancient world. The Jerusalem temple was a huge tourist attraction in the days of Jesus. It was built by Herod the Great through crushing taxes and slave labor.  

We hear this cryptic explanation about the Jesus saying: that even if his body is destroyed, God will raise it up. Not even the death of Jesus will block unhindered worship of God through his Son. I believe Jesus is driven even now to upset the tables of distracting trade in our courtyards. Many of the trappings of our lives divert us from worshipping the God of our understanding.  

A friend of mine was the urban minister in the Diocese of Massachusetts. Her name is Debbie Little, and she spent her days working with the homeless and the poor of Boston. The Boston Globe ran a long article about her and people she served. The worship in which she and the homeless engaged is like what Jesus desired for God’s people. From that article:  

“On Boston Common, the Rev. Debbie Little, an Episcopal priest, arrives at her church- a church with no walls, no steeple, no stained glass, but one that does bear witness to the passion, commitment and spiritual hunger of the minister and her congregation. Ms. Little’s congregants are the dispossessed: Gary, Larry, John, Bill, Rita and Barbara- as many as 30 people on a given Sunday, people who tend to go by first names only, people the well-dressed churchgoers and tourists usually rush past. They need God too, but shun churches because their dress and smell embarrass them or might embarrass others. They have no brunch plans, just the peanut butter and strawberry jelly sandwiches Debbie Little brings….  

This “church”- “Common Cathedral”, as Ms. Little calls it- lacks the ornate adornments of St. Paul’s. But what Common Cathedral does not lack is spirit and the desire for redemption.   

“Gary, one of the folks who comes regularly to Common Cathedral, says, ‘When I come here, I feel welcomed. I know that as long as I have God, I have hope. It’s hard out here, and I pray that I stay good. I need God; I need this; I need Debbie to give me strength.’”  

Debbie always wanted to be the kind of pastor she thought Jesus had been: a minister to people on the margins of life. Debbie says, “Part of my story is trying to understand who this man Jesus was and why he kept telling us that, if we really wanted to get closer to the heart of God, we had to stay close to the poor. More and more, I think that what we consider resources- housing, food, friends, jobs- are layers between us and God. Now, don’t misunderstand me. Those are important. And people on the streets need them, too. And we’re working on that. But I think that Jesus said to stay with poor people, because there are no barriers between them and God. God is right there for them. I’m learning that.” In Atlanta, the Church of the Common Ground is modeled on Debbie Little’s Common Cathedral.  

In the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew’s gospel, the translation from the New English Bible says it best: “Blest are those who know their need of God, the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” I think Jesus was born into history to offer everyone the chance to know their need of God, and in his fellowship to offer the kingdom of hope. He gave himself completely in public ministry to confront us with our poverty of spirit, so that we will shrug off the layers between us and God. And to be close to our brothers and sisters who are poor, so that we might know how cumbersome our “stuff” really is, when God is so close, so simply present to us. That’s still the hallmark of the Jesus fellowship.  

Paul says it this way in I Corin, 24 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection: “We proclaim Christ [executed by the Roman Empire], a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called…, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” The word stumbling block is literally in Greek, skandalon, a scandal. The execution of Jesus came just after he confronted and drove out the money-changers on the temple precincts. His execution likely scandalized many, if not most of those who had followed him.   

Yet God’s foolish love raised Jesus. The God of his understanding vindicated Jesus. Images of the resurrected Jesus in the early Church always bore the wounds he had received in his execution- those mosaics and images told the world clearly that the empire who had killed Jesus had failed, that God had raised Jesus up. Jesus was alive after execution. Those images in turn scandalized Rome and the Jerusalem authorities that had collaborated with the empire. The death and resurrection of Jesus will always scandalize us and the world, and also is the door leading to true worship of God. That’s why we hang the empty cross in Episcopal churches- “He is not here, he is risen,” the angels told Peter, Mary and the others who came to his tomb.  

Our understanding of God can make us fall away from God. Or we can permit the God of our understanding to reach into us, shake us free from our burdens, and release us into new life. That’s why the temple of Christ’s body was offered for you and me. To worship in that temple is to know love. And to live with Jesus creates our understanding of selfless love and grace-filled living. That’s how to worship the God of our understanding.

Lent 2B – George Yandell

Paul writes in Romans about the passage from Genesis: the covenant with Abraham is evidence of Abe’s exemplary faith. The covenant depended on ‘the righteousness of faith’ rather than obedience to rules, since God’s promises rely upon grace. “Hoping against hope (vs. 4:18), Abraham became the father of many nations, despite his advanced age and Sarah’s barrenness. Abraham is therefore the father of all who come to trust in God. So sure was he of the fulfillment of God’s promises that he did not waver, but “grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God. (vs. 20). This same righteousness is also granted to the followers of Jesus, who believe in God as the one who raised Jesus from the dead.”  

What is most important here is not the faith of Abraham himself, but God’s faithfulness. What truly matters is what God has done in Christ Jesus. He suffered death for our sins and was “raised for our justification.” (vs. 25) This is the ultimate example for the mysterious and faithful ways God’s promises are kept. [Adapted from Synthesis, March 4, 2012]  

In the gospel passage Jesus calls his disciples to radical faith as he prepares them for his passion and death. What an extraordinary example Jesus gives as he accepts obediently the cross to which his father sends him. In the gospel Jesus teaches that he must undergo great sufferings and be killed. And to make sure we understand, Jesus next tells Peter and us, “If you wish to be my follower deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” Thegreatest act offaith we can make is to say to God, “I don’t know the reason for the cross you sent me, but I will pick it up and carry it anyway, simply because of your Son, my Lord Jesus.” [Adapted from Robert Boudewyns at sermons.logos.com]  

Jesus tells his followers he is destined for an execution rather than a coronation. His friends are not following a conquering hero, but are called to prepare to participate in his suffering.  

Some of us might remember the comedian Yakov Smirnoff. When he first came to the U.S. from Russia, he was not prepared for the variety of instant products in American grocery stores. He says, “On my first shopping trip, I saw powdered milk- you just add water and you get milk. Then I saw powdered orange juice-just add water and you get orange juice. And then I saw baby powder, and I thought, “What a country!”  

Smirnoff was joking but we make these same assumptions about Christian Transformation- that people change instantly at salvation. Some traditions call it repentance and renewal. Some call it Sanctification of the believer. Whatever you call it, most traditions expect some quick fix to sin. According to this belief, when someone gives his or her life to Christ, there is immediate, substantive, in-depth, miraculous change in habits, attitudes and character. We go to Church as if we are going to the grocery store- Powdered Christian. Just add water and disciples are born not made.  

Unfortunately there is no such powder and disciples of Jesus are not instantly born. They are slowly raised through many trials, suffering and temptations. A study found a decade ago that only 11 percent of churchgoing teenagers have well-developed faith, rising to only 32% for churchgoing adults. Why? Because true-life change only begins at salvation, it takes more than just time. It’s about training, trying, suffering and even dying. [Adapted from James Emery White, Rethinking the Church, Baker, 1997, pp 55-57]  

Jesus took Peter aside and rebuked him. Why? Peter believes the Kingdom of God can be obtained instantly by force. Peter views the Kingdom in a worldly way and Jesus is speaking about a heavenly kingdom. The disciples were obviously not ready to hear Jesus’ prophecy. Yet it was for our very lives that he pressed this point: Those who value life in this world above all else lose the life of eternity. Those who would give up the life of this world for the sake of Jesus’ message would find eternal life. This is a choice that can only be made by true believers who give no thought to being shamed by that same world. [Adapted from King Oehmig in Synthesis, March 2012 issue.]  

Joan Chittister tells this story. Once upon a time, as their Spiritual Master lay dying, his disciples begged him, for their sakes, not to go. The master replied, “But if I do not go, how will you ever see?” His disciples replied, “But what are we not seeing now that we will see when you are gone?”  

And the spiritual master said, “All I ever did was sit on the river bank handling out river water. After I’m gone, I trust you will notice the river.”  

And thus it is after Jesus’ death- the cross remains. It is forever a sign of what he has accomplished for us, and our own calling to follow in his Way. [King Oehmig as above.]

Lent 1B – George Yandell

In a mystical drama between the powers of good and evil, Jesus is led by God’s spirit to be tempted by Satan. In Luke’s gospel, elaborating on Mark, the intimate, seductive offers that Satan makes cut to the core of human identity as created beings- Satan suggests that if Jesus is created as God’s own child, Jesus can make the very stones of the earth transform into bread to soothe his intense hunger after fasting 40 days. Satan urged Jesus to test the saving power of God by attempting suicide. And Satan offers to give Jesus ruler-ship over all the world if he will only worship the fallen angel. Jesus responds to these tests each time by quoting the Hebrew scriptures and saying, “Keeping faith in God, serving God alone, provides all things necessary for life, and saves us.”  

Who is telling the story? The gospel writer, in the 3^rd person. More intriguing, who is the source for the story? Who could it be? Well, it certainly wasn’t Satan- it would never choose to display a failure on its part. So the source must have been Jesus. What was his point in recounting this dream-like episode from the beginning of his ministry?  

In each temptation Jesus quotes from Deuteronomy where Moses is described as receiving the Law from Yahweh on Mt. Sinai. The temptation story is thus a retelling of that ancient story but substituting Jesus for Moses. Just as Moses and Israel were tempted during their 40 years in the wilderness, so Jesus was tempted during his 40 days. Israel was tempted by hunger; they complained loudly to God, and God sent “manna that fell from heaven” each day. Jesus is tempted by hunger, but refuses to turn stones into bread. Israel was tempted by idolatry and crafted golden calves to worship; Jesus is tempted to worship Satan. Israel as a people succumbed to their temptations, yet Jesus does not. Luke utilizes this story as a way of foreshadowing the kind of life Jesus would lead. [Borrowed in part from Acts of Jesus, pp. 41 -43, Robert Funk and the Jesus Seminar, 1999]  

This is the great drama into which you and I have been thrust as people of faith. The temptations Satan offered Jesus are temptations we meet every day, in diverse ways. Temptations alter our course in life. In fact the course of creation changes, every time we act within the tensions of good and evil now. We are created whole and good, yet also are incomplete and flawed. In the gray area in our souls, tugged and tempted, we learn the lesson Jesus learned in the wilds- we learn our need of God.   

Do you and I hear these temptations as only individual to Jesus? We centered on personal, individual temptations in the Ash Wednesday service. But the original Jewish hearers of this story would have immediately thought of Jesus as symbolically representing the whole Jewish people. 

It’s all right here, Jesus demonstrated. The polarities of good and evil tug at humans every day. All manner of twists and turns are offered to deter us from fixing our attention on God alone. The church is not exempt from these same desires. Indeed, clear and strange parallels of temptation are going on in the church’s life at this very moment.   

I hear this message today- Yes, resisting personal temptation is essential to moving on the Way of Jesus. Resisting my own devils renews me in moving toward the holy- it repoints me toward the joy of serving God with my whole self. But it’s tempting, as the collective people of God, to shrug off our mutual responsibility for all those whom God loves. We are the Body of Christ, and have corporate temptations we rarely address. Sometimes it’s a lack of attention to those we have vowed in our baptismal promises to serve. On our refrigerator at home, Susan and I used to have a small note card inscribed with an etching and a saying by Archbishop Desmond Tutu- the picture is of an elephant standing on a mouse’s tail- the words under the caption say, “If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”  

But if we accept our share of blame for evil in this world, and confess to one another that we do not resist evil fully enough, we renew our corporate focus. If we claim the ministry of Jesus together, then we are partners with God. If we hold each other accountable for living out our forgiveness in works of justice, then we’re getting the deep message of Jesus. If we work to change the structures that allow evil to flourish in our world, then we might just find our actions yield a deeper joy that rests on doing God’s justice as the collective Body of Christ. There is holy, joyful power in numbers of people working for God’s justice shoulder to shoulder with other followers of the Way of Jesus.   

The devil expected to have a field day by using these temptations out there in the wilderness with Jesus. But the gospel as Jesus understood it and as we’ve received it confronts every one of the false priorities that divert us from working as partners with God. As God’s partners, we have vowed to make this world a heaven-like place for all. God works to bind us together to share in heaven now.  

Jesus is here at table with us, erasing centuries of warfare and hatred, teaching us to discover our common humanity, easing us out of our historic complacency and into the shared language of love. Love which makes this gentle, but firm demand of us — “You shall worship the Lord your God, and God only shall you serve.” (Borrowed in part from Out of Nowhere, 2-22-07, online commentary by Lane Denson)

Ash Wednesday B – George Yandell

Ash Wednesday, originally called dies cinerum (day of ashes), is mentioned in the earliest copies of the Gregorian Sacramentary, and probably dates from at least the 8th Century. One of the earliest descriptions of Ash Wednesday is found in the writings of the Anglo- Saxon abbot Aelfric (955–1020). In his Lives of the Saints, he writes, “We read in the books both in the Old Law and in the New that the men who repented of their sins bestrewed themselves with ashes and clothed their bodies with sackcloth. Now let us do this little at the beginning of our Lent that we strew ashes upon our heads to signify that we ought to repent of our sins during the Lenten fast.” Aelfric then proceeds to tell the tale of a man who refused to go to church for the ashes and was accidentally killed several days later in a boar hunt! This quotation confirms what we know from other sources, that throughout the Middle Ages ashes were sprinkled on the head, rather than anointed on the forehead as in our day.  

As Aelfric suggests, the pouring of ashes on one’s body (and dressing in sackcloth, a very rough material) as an outer manifestation of inner repentance or mourning is an ancient practice. It is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. What is probably the earliest occurrence is found at the very end of the book of Job. Job, having been rebuked by God, confesses, “Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:6).  

As Lent begins, we hear the words in the first reading for Ash Wednesday: “Rend your hearts, not your garments.” Folks used to tear their clothes when they were upset or sad. (Maybe a sign to others of how bad it was, maybe a cry for help.) But the Prophet Joel wants them to “rend their hearts.” Something inside, presumably where God alone sees it. This description sounds rather violent. The prophet refers to people tearing an otherwise good garment. And he says we should do that to our hearts! Why? Why such a forcefully violent action?  

I think it all has to do with resistance. I think Joel is giving us a powerful metaphor about change. Joel tells us that God wants us to open up our hearts, to allow the ego to give way to the inner life that God is offering. Lenten practices are disciplines or pursuits we decide to take on or give up- we hope that such actions may lay bare the vulnerable part of us, the “heart,” the part of us where God is waiting.  

Lent should be for us less an “ego trip” and more of an openness to God. In fact, there’s a built-in contradiction to the Ash Wednesday Scriptures. While Joel orders us to blow a trumpet, Jesus says not to! The liturgy has us mark our foreheads with ashes; Jesus tells us not to change our appearance!  

Lent starts inside, even though we keep it communally as well. For communities, there’s a “communal heart” that needs to be laid bare so that God’s work can be evident. We do this symbolically on Ash Wednesday and through Lent with the color of the vestments, simple church decorations, communal activities such as the Lent teaching series, and walking the Way of the Cross. May we allow God’s grace to grow in us this Lent! [Adapted from Father Greg Friedman, O. F .M., at Franciscanmedia.org.] 

Last Sunday after Epiphany B – George Yandell

The Transfiguration of Jesus- an event described in Mark, Matthew and Luke. It is the great turning point in Mark’s gospel. The transfiguration of Jesus looks back to his baptism and forward to his death and resurrection. That is of course where we are in the Church’s keeping of time. This mystical vision and experience has it all- it is intended to lead Peter, John, James and us into mystical participation in the work of Jesus the resurrected Christ.  

Moses and Elijah appear talking with Jesus. The law given by Moses was intended to shape and form people from the outside. It’s like when people slow down when they know that a photo radar trap is up ahead. That’s how the law works—it only makes a change in behavior from the outside. But grace, transfiguration—is the kind of change that takes place on the inside, and as we open up our hearts and minds to the vision of God in Jesus, we receive the Spirit of God to be changed from the inside.  

When the disciples heard this, they fell to the ground and were overcome by fear. But Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Get up and do not be afraid.” All too often we explain these expressions of fear on the part of humans as a reaction to divine bullying— as if the disciples’ fear was God’s fault. It is more likely that human fear at the manifest presence of God is rather an indication of problems within us, rather than in God. Jesus touches and reassures: “Do not be afraid.”  

This passage is a fitting end to the Epiphany season—we have followed Jesus from birth, to early childhood, to baptism—all events which gave us insight into who he is. The Transfiguration gives us a “final” glimpse of who he is. The season of revelation is complete. [adapted from Joewalker.blogs.com.]  

“The text tells us that Peter was ‘still speaking’ when the cloud descended upon them and the voice of God spoke. God had to interrupt Peter! This must be the only account in Scripture where God has to fight to get a word in edgewise.”  

Yet Peter’s testimony is essential to our own acceptance of ourselves as witnesses, our willingness to “believe our eyes” and ears and hearts when we are confronted with Jesus’ uniqueness and the urgency of his mission. [Sue Armentrout quoted in Synthesis March 2014 issue]  

What Peter, James, and John witnessed, what they saw on the mountain, was a glimpse into their own future—and yours and mine too.  Paul writes to the followers of Jesus in Corinth: “It is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”  All are intended to be bathed in that brilliant light which is God’s own presence.   

So on the Mountain Jesus gives the favored three (and us through them) a glimpse of what his finished work in us will look like. It was a vision meant to comfort and sustain them, to remind them of why Jesus was doing what he was getting ready to do. “Tell the vision to no one until the Son of Man has risen from the dead” he orders, as he leaves one mountain behind and journeys toward another: Mount Calvary. [William Weedon at cyberbrethren.com]  

Yet those three, Peter, John and James, singled out by Jesus to behold the vision, are also the ones who witnessed the healing of Jairus’s daughter. They will also witness the agony in the garden of Gethsemane. They are his inner circle of friends. Yet this group of Jesus’ closest followers does not demonstrate exceptional insight or fidelity. [Adapted from The New Interpreter’s Bible, 1994, Abingdon Press, Vol. 8, p. 630] They seem like stumblebums, not getting the real message in spite of repeated teachings and revelations from God and Jesus.   

In that way too they represent you and me as we approach the coming season of Lent. If you’re like me, most of the time we act as if we just don’t get it- that Jesus IS God’s only Son, that Jesus IS the Messiah, the anointed one, who leads us into God’s domain on earth. We kind of put that knowledge on the back burner and wonder why the world is in such chaos. We haven’t fully lived the Way of Jesus.  

So that’s why I sure hope to see all of you on Ash Wednesday and on the successive Sundays in Lent. We need to go back to the basics- we need to seek forgiveness and healing as a community, so that we can stand with Jesus in his world. 

Epiphany 5B – George Yandell

Community organizing is just about the hardest work people can do. Fishing for a living is harder. When Simon Peter and his partners met the finest community organizer in Galilee, the fishing got harder still.  

The formula for successful grassroots community organizing is simple. Immerse yourself in the community. Study its history. Learn how people relate to one another. Meet individually with all the people you’re interested in getting to know. Listen for their passions. Ask questions that agitate people around their passions- it moves them off dead center. Hold small public meetings with people of passion to raise up the problems that confront folks in their daily places. Challenge those people to break down the problems into manageable public actions. Teach them to agitate others around their mutual self-interest. Confront them to make them accountable for changing the community. Act publicly in large meetings to hold the powerbrokers accountable for changing the community. Get what the community says it wants through negotiation and repeated, determined public presence. When you accomplish a major action, reflect on your successes and failures and give the people credit for their accomplishments. Begin to work on the next problem the people raise up. Continue the cycle until the community leaders act for the common good, and all the people treat one another with mutual self-respect. Then go on to the next community. That’s a brief synopsis of Jesus’ actions in this first part of Mark’s gospel. Jesus was an intentional community organizer- as were prophets before him.  

The most practical book I’ve ever read is the Orvis Fly-Fishing Guide. How many of you have read it? I’ve learned more from that book than any other book, except the Bible and maybe the Boy Scout Handbook. In different ways they answer the question, “What’s in the water?” What the Orvis Guide teaches is to sit and study the water. Don’t even think about rigging your line and plunging in. Stop and really see the surface and its movement, then look deeply into the depths of the stream or lake. One can begin to see the effects of the invisible, hidden structures in the water and anticipate where the fish are.   

Reading the water, the wind, the effects of the sunlight, the way birds are feeding on the water can combine to make fishing a nearly mystical experience. If the fish aren’t biting one place, go to the next hole, study it, and let out your line. A fisherwoman can begin to catch fish where she never knew to fish before.  

Simon Peter and his partners lived on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. They knew how to catch fish. In today’s gospel, we hear that Jesus left the synagogue after healing the demon-possessed man. Then he entered Peter and Andrew’s house. Peter’s mother-in-law was ill. (Peter was married- did you know that?) Jesus took her by the hand and lifted her, the fever left her, and she began to serve them. On the Sabbath. As the Sabbath was ending the neighbors brought all who were sick or demon-possessed, and Jesus healed them too. And the whole city was gathered at the door of the house. Early the next morning before dawn, Jesus went to a deserted place along the shore. His friends went hunting for him, they found him and told him that even at dawn people were seeking Jesus out. His answer was that of a gifted organizer:   

“We’re going on to the neighboring towns to proclaim the good news of God’s kingdom there as well. That’s what I do.” Now that’s how to begin successful organizing. Jesus didn’t load Simon up with scriptures, theologies and doctrines, or steep him in yesterday’s traditions and today’s quarrels. He had shown disciples and all the residents of Capernaum what the kingdom of God is like. They all had moments of passionate discovery. Peter and Andrew’s souls opened to Jesus. They followed him, their fishing vocation now become works of healing, just as Jesus had said days earlier- “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And they learned how the kingdom of God opened to them and started learning the way Jesus organized people- by healing, exorcizing, meeting people where they were and moving them out of themselves with a new vision of holy community.     

What passions deep within us does God beckon to the surface? What do we need to recognize to confess the truth within us? I have been guided more since mid-life than ever before by words chiseled in marble on the entrance to the library at Virginia Seminary: “Seek the truth, cost what it may, come whence it will.” Jesus stirred the deepest passions by confronting Simon Peter, Andrew, John and James at their place of work. They found the depth of meaning for which all their days of striving had led. They followed Jesus. With him to lead them, they began the strongest, longest-lived community organizing effort the world has known.  

The recipe for gospel organizing isn’t complicated: fish where the fish are, and fish deep. That is, organize successfully. Find out what people feel most passionately about. Respond to people as people actually are, listen to the depth of their needs, touch the depths of their longing. Demonstrate how power comes from acting together in mutual self-interest. Proclaim a God who loves deeply. Keep the nets open, and don’t be afraid of success. What complicates is the letting-go that accompanies serious fishing. Loss of intimacy, loss of familiarity, loss of status, loss of excuses for not trying, loss of former dreams, loss of certainty, loss of yesterday’s battles, loss of places to hide from one’s aging, loss of control. In short, do what Jesus does.  

Everything changes when a Church starts fishing for real. Community organizing is tough work. The risks of failure are huge: not just disorienting people in trying new ways of doing church, but loss of confidence and self-worth. The costs of success are extraordinary, too: hard work, expense, change, confusion, new alliances. But I stand here to say, the gifts from working together passionately in God’s name far outweigh the costs. A community transforming itself to give and receive respect, to honor mutual self-interest, and to seek the deepest truths in our souls- that sounds like the domain of God. It is love made flesh. It’s our flesh that makes it love.  

When did Jesus call Simon Peter and Andrew to be the first in organizing the new community? After he had confronted Peter. When did Peter and the rest change? After they had seen his mother-in-law healed by Jesus, along with the whole village’s ill and possessed. They set out just after dawn to walk the way of Jesus.

The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple – George Yandell

40 days after He was born, Luke tells us Jesus was presented in the temple by Mary and Joseph. “Every 1^st born male shall be designated as holy to the Lord.” This event harkened back to the law of Moses in Leviticus (12:6 ff): “When the days after the [ritual] purification are completed, whether for a son or a daughter, [the mother] shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb in its first year for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering. He shall offer it to the Lord and make atonement on her behalf…. If she cannot afford a sheep, she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering, and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean.”   

The rules for purification after birth were different for the mother if a female child was born- then it stretched twice as long- to 74 days- emphasizing that a male child didn’t occasion the lengthier time of separation from the clan before she presented her child. Luke’s point is that Mary and Joseph presented the minimum offering- they couldn’t afford the lamb. 

The real depth of the gospel’s lengthy narrative is the songs and prophecies that Simeon and then Anna spoke. They were both guided by the Holy Spirit- Simeon intercepted the Holy Family, took Jesus in his arms and sang to him- then told Mary the prophecy. The prophet Anna too intercepted the family- she began to praise God and to speak about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Israel. Then the family went to the priest, did all that was required and returned to Nazareth- all in one sentence. Obviously Luke wants his hearers to understand it was not the ritual requirements that were important, but what Simeon and Anna ecstatically told Mary and Joseph, and us, about the child named ‘Yahweh saves.’  

Do you hear the progression? Simeon speaks for the Holy Spirit to the trio, then Anna speaks to all who were looking for Israel to be delivered from oppression– suggesting she didn’t stop until she died. Moving from private converse to public proclamation.  Listen to our collect for tonight- “God, as your Son was this day presented in the temple, so may we be presented to you with pure and clean hearts by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Do you hear the shift? OUR observance is first about Mary and Joseph presenting Jesus, but more importantly about Jesus presenting US, purified with cleansed hearts.  That is Luke’s point- we who are looking for God’s kingdom to spread over all the earth and universe are presented by the resurrected Jesus as whole and well- all of us together. That’s the vision that Luke carries through the entire gospel- uniting people of all different backgrounds- well-to-do and poor, aged and young, of all nations- one people under God’s gracious rule, one with Christ. That’s our point in worshipping God in word, song, and Eucharist this evening.

Epiphany 4 – The Rector’s Annual Report – George Yandell

In my annual reports over the past thirteen years, I have said these words, and I’ll say them again: This is your parish. I serve God with you, guided by the Spirit of Jesus. I want to tell what I perceive God has done, is doing, and what God may be leading us to do together.  

Our parish has done remarkably well considering all the changes we’ve lived through. If the parish is the bridge for us in living into our baptisms in the company of Jesus, you have been resilient and devoted in serving Christ. Where is the parish headed? That’s what the newly reconstituted vestry will continue to discern after they start their work in the meeting after this all-parish meeting.   

We are now into our 38^th year as a parish- the founding parents are almost gone. New members are finding Holy Family and becoming part of the ministering body. The results of our pledge campaign have surprised me and made me most grateful.  

We added new 4 members in 2023. 6 members transferred out. Our total active membership now is 253. There was 1 Marriage, noBaptisms and 6 Burials in 2023. We’ll remember the faithful departed by name in the annual meeting.  Our average Sunday attendance in 2019 was 169. In 2020, our average attendance before we began worshipping outside and online was 146. It was tailing off by early February. In 2021 it was 86. In 2022 average attendance for our Sunday services was 94. Last year it was 120. A number more of us report attending our worship services online- I suspect that’s at least 35 more folk on average. This is against the trend nationwide where congregations are experiencing declines of about 20% per year since covid changed the way people choose to worship or reinvested in other activities.  

For Adult Education last year, about 15 folks regularly participated. Online Evening Prayer, Morning Prayer and Evensong has engaged both parishioners and non-members. I am so grateful to those who’ve continued to lead those services.   

Plus there were over 120 people who participated in some way in the parish but are not members. People are finding Holy Family who might not have been aware of us before. A large part of that trend is our online presence and Holy Family’s ministries in the wider community. Serve Pickens is the newest example over the past two years.  Just to note- it’s not difficult to join the parish. Talk to me if you’re interested in becoming a member.    

In the diocesan council meeting in November, the financial report showed that in 2023, Holy Family had the 26^th largest budget in the diocese of ATL, out of 117 worshipping communities.  

You will hear in the annual meeting about the finances in 2023 and the budget the finance ministry approved for 2024 and forwarded to the vestry- the vestry accepted it unanimously on January 16. Because of your pledge dollars, and with a strong end to last year with good income and less than anticipated expenses, Holy Family is in good condition financially. You are the reason- your pledges have been consistently strong.    

You’ve set the table in supporting our ministries in this new year. 110 pledges totaling $448,800. That total includes pledges from 6 people who did not pledge last year.  

These totals are remarkable. Give yourselves a round of applause.   

After we burned the mortgage last year on Epiphany, a group of us started strategizing to raise funds to accomplish major repairs to the nave and parish hall exteriors, and to repair and re-seal and re-stripe the parking lots. Those initiatives have begun. You’ll hear more about them in the annual meeting.  

I am grateful for all of you. You have kept me focused on what’s most important, and you challenge me and one another to love like Jesus. As I prepare to retire, your vestry will be working with the diocese to initiate plans for clergy support in the interim and to start the process for seeking a new rector. You will vote for three new vestry members in the annual meeting following this service.  

You can read about the work the vestry and parish leaders have been engaged in over the past year in the annual meeting booklet.  

We have added new members to our ministries. They’ve brought strength and purpose. You can read about each ministry’s report in the annual meeting booklet.  

Worship: The Worship Ministry is chaired by Ric Sanchez, chief verger. With input from the clergy, vergers, altar guild chair, organist/choirmaster, usher chair, greeters, flower guild and others, we evaluate how services are working, and plan future worship.   

The production team members became primary evangelists for our parish. They always welcome new producers, particularly now for sound production. No prior experience needed.    

Because of our online presence, folks who didn’t know about Holy Family are seeking us out. Some are contributing online. It is evangelism. Thank you everyone engaged in our services for keeping our liturgy dignified, meaningful, and challenging. You can read Ric’s report in the booklet.  

Vestry Initiatives-

Long Range Plan: Last spring the vestry carried out small group input sessions around the question: “What are the most important things Holy Family should be doing?” 67 of us participated in the sessions. Your comments were sorted and weighted by the frequency of the responses. The LRP guides our work and keeps us on task.   

Working with this year’s vestry has been grace-filled. I am most grateful for all they’ve done. See more in Sr. Warden Jeannine Krenson’s report of the vestry. I find it hard as Jeannine, Rosemary Lovelace and Jim Reid rotate off vestry. Rosemary Lovelace has served a longer sequence of years than any other vestry member in Holy Family’s history, as far as I can determine. She filled two members’ unexpired terms after her 3-year term- let’s applaud her for her unstinting service. And applaud Jeannine and Jim for their leadership as we began to emerge from the Covid shut-outs and limited time together as a parish. All of the vestry have done exceptional work over the past year.  Your leadership during the pledge campaign kept folks plugged in and contributing, against the trends in the prevailing Church culture. Jeannine’s leadership has kept us on track, has generated plans for developing the parish, and has kept me accountable for the whole year.  

I’d like to take a census of the parish’s leadership over the past years. How many of you have served as Sr. Warden- please stand. Jr. Warden? How many of you have served on the vestry? How many in the Finance Ministry? As chair of a ministry or working group? What you see around you witnesses to the Holy Spirit’s work in our midst. Give them all a big round of approbation if you will.  

I’m pleased I get to continue to serve a bit longer with those remaining on vestry and those who will join us. We actually have fun together, even when we’re focused on sometimes difficult tasks.   

Enhancing Stewardship of Money: In 2023 the vestry employed the Every Member Canvass program developed in 2021. The response in turning in pledge cards in fall 2023 was strong. The vestry members gave excellent leadership in planning and carrying out the stewardship of money campaign. It was thorough and participatory. The canvass just ended was remarkable after the capital campaign in early fall for the buildings and parking lot. Your pledging has equipped the vestry to meet the levels needed for funding parish ministries. You can hear more about the pledge results and the new year’s budget from Finance Ministry Chair Jim Braley and Treasurer Dan Ciomek in the annual meeting.  

Finance Ministry: Read the report of the Finance Ministry to learn the details of our use of your pledge dollars. I am most grateful for all of your work and especially for the leadership of Jim Braley as chair, and our treasurer Dan Ciomek.  

Clergy Colleagues: Holy Family was blessed with four clergy who volunteer in service to our parish. We all grieved as Katharine Armentrout retired from serving as our deacon. And we celebrated her unstinting service not only in worship, but also in outreach and pastoral care. Her retirement is causing us to reassess how we can maintain those ministries going forward. Ted, Byron and Bill’s ministries for us are grace-filled, generous and essential to our spiritual and emotional health. To have colleagues like these is an asset beyond measure. Not only do they preach, serve at the altar, lead EFM classes, and serve in the Worship Ministry, they do pastoral calls and push outreach efforts, but we also have fun together. I am daily grateful for Byron, Ted and Bill.    

Conclusions: How are we doing in accomplishing the mission of the parish: “Creating Christian Community: Engaging people in vibrant ministry”? Your input gives direction and support as parish leaders plan for stronger ministries. Your volunteering puts the plans into action. During challenging times, your participation is a gift of community we all need more of. You can read about all the ministries’ accomplishments in the annual meeting report.  

Most important question: Are you engaged in vibrant ministry? If not, volunteer. Engage yourself in the work of a ministry or committee. Seek a higher plane of engagement with the Spirit of Christ. Speak with the leader of the ministry. Your ministries through Holy Family help fulfill your baptismal promises. You find colleagues and friends you haven’t known before. Being engaged multiplies your joy as you work with others in company with the Resurrected Lord of Heaven and Earth.  

This is a remarkable community of love, support and nurture, not only for one another, but for the wider community. I have been honored to serve as your rector over the past 13 ½ years. I know you will continue to “live long and prosper” as Spock regularly said on Star Trek.      G. Yandell