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Rector’s Blog

Reflections and notes from the Rector of St. George’s, the Rev. Joseph H. Hensley Jr.

Notes from the Rector

Selected notes to the parish from the Rev. Joseph H. Hensley, Jr., rector of St. George's Episcopal Church.

Note from the Rector, April 7

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When Jesus rose from the dead, he could have come out of the tomb looking for retribution. After all, he had been unjustly convicted and executed. However, he did not go after the people who had caused him so much pain and suffering. He appeared to his disciples (some of whom had deserted and denied knowing him) and charged them to go and share good news of forgiveness and peace. He broke the cycle of trading insults and attacks. In so doing, he invites us to follow his example. This Sunday, I will be leading an adult forum about having “difficult conversations.” Most of us have had times when we needed to discuss an uncomfortable topic with another person. Sometimes those conversations just end up in a cycle of ugliness. If we, as a church, are active in our mission of “restoring all persons to unity with God and each other in Christ,” we will encounter times when it is uncomfortable, because the world is divided. We can practice ways of listening and sharing that move us toward healing and wholeness instead of defensiveness and further division. This was one of the goals we identified in our “compassionate community” weekend back in February. I hope you can come and join me on Sunday at 10:00 in Sydnor. We will also record the session so that it can be shared.
This week, we are mailing out quarterly financial giving statements. In that mailing, you will find a new piece of paper, a little spiritual encouragement from me about why we give. You can read that statement on our blog (LINK here) as well. Please know that we are currently behind on receipt of pledged financial gifts for 2016. Our income is not matching our expenses (which are within budget). Please try to catch up on your giving. If you want to adjust your schedule of giving or want to increase or decrease your pledge, please contact Ben Hicks, our business manager. It helps us in our financial planning to know how much people are giving and when they intend to give.
May this Easter season be a season of experiencing reconciliation and abundance as we follow the Risen Christ together.
-Joe+

Note from the Rector, March 24, 2016

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Greetings beloved St. Georgians,
As we walk through the days of Holy Week into Easter, we are teetering between darkness and light, death and life. We know that the story of Jesus’ betrayal and execution is one of the saddest we can imagine and yet we call the day of his crucifixion, “Good Friday.” We do not tip the balance too much in favor of sadness, because we know that eventually there is joy. At the same time, if we rush to the gladness of Easter without the sorrow of Good Friday, we miss something really important.
As many of you know, I like to ride a unicycle (one wheel…one God!). It has taught me a lot about balance. The key is to keep moving, shifting weight back and forth. In our Christian faith, especially in Holy Week and Easter, we are constantly shifting the weight of our attention between the things of heaven and the things of earth, between the suffering of human existence and the hope of healing, between our limits and God’s infinite possibilities.
I hope you will join us over the next days as we move together, trying to stay upright (see schedule below). Another thing I have learned about balance is that it takes lots of practice. We come to this house of prayer as a place to practice the balance of faith, on our own and all together, looking inward and going outward. Part of our practice this Sunday will be our annual Easter outreach offering which will benefit scholarships to our preschool and youth mission trips. Please be as generous as you can. Another part of the practice will be a party after the Easter Vigil on Saturday night! We will balance our Lenten fast with an Easter feast. Come to the vigil (when we will baptize five adults and youth) and stay for the celebration.
As we practice, we will fall and fail. The unicycle has definitely taught me that! We will lose our balance. And then we will try again, trusting in God’s patience and mercy. Humanity lost its balance on Good Friday and put the son of God to death on a cross. On Easter Sunday, Jesus was raised and gave us another chance to live and move and have our being in God and in community with each other. Let’s keep moving and living in God’s name together. I wish you a blessed Holy Week and a happy Easter!
Your brother in Christ,
Joe+

A Call to Prayer

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I  invite us to join our prayers with the prayers of so many around the world for all those affected by recent terrorist bombings in Brussels, Belgium, and Grand Bassam, Ivory Coast. We pray for those killed and injured and their families. We pray for all those who responded with care and service. We pray for a conversion of heart for our enemies who would commit such horrible acts of violence. We pray for world and local leaders, for wisdom and sound judgment as they respond. We pray for faith that seeks wholeness and healing instead of further division and injury in our world. As we walk these days of Holy Week, remembering how people put the innocent son of God to death on a cross, we see how human beings continue to betray the image of God in themselves and each other.

Holy God, Holy and mighty, Holy immortal One, have mercy upon us.

By your grace, as we stumble through the darkness, may we witness a new light being kindled in our hearts and in the world you have created.

Your brother in Christ,

Joe+

Note from the Rector, March 17, 2016

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Greetings beloved St. Georgians,
This Sunday we begin our Holy Week pilgrimage from Palm Sunday to Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter. These are our highest and holiest days. We often refer to the reading about Jesus’ trial and crucifixion as the “Passion Play.” The word “passion” once referred more to suffering (from its Latin root). Modern use of the word “passion” is more about strong feelings. Maybe the meaning of the word shifted, because feelings can be so strong they “hurt.” Jesus’ love for us is so strong that he was willing to endure so much suffering, to show us the power of love.
Some of us are “passionate” about Holy Week! Many of us, though, wonder what all the fuss is about. It is not a big part of our schedule. Let me encourage everyone, if you have not already discovered the wonder of these holy days, to come and take part in the dramatic journey. It is often said (mostly by preachers, I admit) that it is difficult to appreciate the gift of Easter without having first experienced Holy Week. Please note the schedule of services we are offering this year and join us for any or all of them.
As we prepare for Holy Week, it is a good time to spruce up our buildings and grounds and get our house of worship in order. This Saturday, March 19, (also known as the Feast of St. Joseph!) we gather as a church family to clean windows, scrape and paint some exterior woodwork, scrub some floors, clear clutter, beautify our grounds, dust in hard-to-reach places, and much more. Please join us at 9 a.m. or any time that morning and bring implements (gloves, cleaning tools, buckets, handheld vacuums) if you can. Children can also help. This is a great opportunity for us to come together as one St. George’s community, meet each other, and take care of this place in which we experience the care of God.
Your brother in Christ,
Joe+

 

Note From the Rector, March 10, 2016

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Greetings beloved St. Georgians,

We began Lent having just had a rich conversation with Natalie Finstad about how we are called to “be the church” and be about the mission of reconciliation and radical love. The Compassionate Community weekend was a wonderful introduction to some principles which are slowly and steadily impacting our ministry together. I hope you’ll go to our website page dedicated to this work, review what we learned and suggested, and pray for guidance as we move ahead.
Four Principles of Reconciling Communities
via Natalie Finstad
  1. We pattern our lives after Christ’s radical love as an alternative way of being in the world
  2. We practice solidarity through sharing power, vulnerability, and accountability
  3. We hunger for transformation and offer ourselves as living witnesses that resist the powers that corrupt and destroy life
  4. We commit to shared spiritual discipline that opens us to receiving grace from unexpected sources

This weekend, we are all invited to gather on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. in Sydnor Hall with local Muslim neighbors to share a meal and conversation. It is a “potluck,” in every sense of the word. We trust that there will be a variety of foods, a variety of people, and somehow it will all work out. You are all invited to attend (no pork or alcohol please). This was one of the ideas suggested at our Compassionate Community weekend, that we find ways to form deeper interfaith relationships. It is one way of “patterning our lives after Christ’s radical love as an alternative way of being in the world” (principle #1 of reconciling communities that Natalie shared with us). To take a risk, to open ourselves up to new relationships with people unfamiliar to us is a “shared spiritual discipline that opens us to receiving grace from unexpected resources” (principle #4).

Why would we want to do this? First of all, it’s okay to feel uncomfortable. No judgment there. We all have things that push us outside our comfort zones. When we feel uncomfortable, it’s usually because there is something for us to learn, some way God is calling us to grow.
Writing almost 40 years ago about interfaith dialogue in a famous book,The Open Secret, Lesslie (yes, it has two ‘s’s) Newbigin said that the reason to enter into these conversations is out of obedience to Jesus. We are not trying to convert others to Christianity, but we are open to a transformation in Christ, because we believe that Christ lives and moves in the lives of all people of every creed and culture. In the encounter with others, we encounter Christ. This is also a way that we are living our baptismal vows. Through fellowship, we are striving for justice and peace and respecting the dignity of every human being.
That is a lot to chew on! I will definitely come though, because I believe there will be some good food and conversation! Whether you come or not, please pray that, in all our work together, we will continue to grow into a compassionate community that embraces the transforming, restorative love of Christ.

Joe+