Oh, dear, we're behind on posting the news from the Mission Congregation of Grace Church. We met in February, but forgot to report back to you, our readers.
Monthly gatherings of the Mission Congregation allow for what does not seem possible, given time constraints, during Sunday worship. As we debrief ourselves on the chapter of Listening Hearts for the month, issues come up for which we have the luxury of time to explore more fully. In the February meeting we began to do a theological reflection, the subject of which I no longer remember, but the subject led the gathering into their feelings surrounding the ever-present possibility of Grace Church closing - honest feelings like anger and frustration. We offered all those feelings to God, to whom we pray constantly, "What are you calling us to do in this place?", in sharing the sacrament of Eucharist.
Yesterday, as we gathered, a group of 7, one shared that she looks forward to Mission Congregation's monthly gathering, for the very reasons mentioned above - time for study, for sharing, for deeper discussion. I found myself wishing that vestry meetings could be like this instead of the business meetings they are expected to be. What would a church look like whose decision-making board spent deep time in reflection?
The 7th chapter in Listening Hearts proved to be very fruitful. It offered concrete direction - listen to those you usually tune out, silence is for waiting on God, keep silence solely for the purpose of honoring and receiving the Word, which is Jesus. We reflected on what a world that listened, that allowed for deep silence, might be like, which led into reflecting on the church's purpose, which is to meet the spiritual hunger of the world.
I then proposed that the true purpose of gathering each Sunday was not only to worship and thank God, but for the people to bring with them the stories of how they had served God that week, share them with one another, the failures as well as successes, and receive support for the week to come. We wondered, then, how we might bring that into Sunday worship.
After we shared Eucharist, the group asked how things are going with the street ministry proposed by a deacon-in-training who has a ministry of companionship among those who live under various bridges in Norwalk, including one only three or four blocks from the church. I was able to report that I have this week made contact with the deacon in Boston who began this kind of ministry, Ecclesia Ministries, and with the priest in New Haven who is part of the network of congregations linked to that original Boston ministry. The support network is, thus, being developed and people in the Mission Congregation of Grace Church are looking forward to being part of that ministry.
We continue to struggle with how separate we feel from others in the congregation who do not seem to want this "more" which we share, but we realized, as we looked through the history of the church, beginning with the Gospels, that it has ever been thus. This is why it remains so important that each person who shares in Mission Congregation also continue integrally related to and involved in the everyday, everyweek life of Grace Church.
Our next gathering is Saturday, April 4. This is a week early, so as not to conflict with Holy Week.
BEING COMMUNITY
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Reflection and Prayer from Today's Gathering
The Mission Congregation spent some time reflecting on the dichotomies found in Chapter 5 of Listening Hearts ("Is It God We Are Hearing?), our culture, and in Scripture. We chose the story of Jesus and the Canaanite woman (Matthew 15:21-25) to explore further. After our exploration and reflection we wrote the following collect:
O God, you are all encompassing and different for each of us; unfailingly gracious; constantly changing and learning; you wish abundant life and health for us; and you give us free will. We pray you will continue to grow in graciousness toward us because we can't live up to what we want to live up to; that we will be open to and willing to follow up on change; that you will be with us in the changing; and that we will live our lives to be more of a blessing to people in the circumstances we find ourselves--a light in the darkness; in order that change happens; that we come together and we come to understand your graciousness; and that we grow in grace ourselves and treat each other with grace. Amen.
O God, you are all encompassing and different for each of us; unfailingly gracious; constantly changing and learning; you wish abundant life and health for us; and you give us free will. We pray you will continue to grow in graciousness toward us because we can't live up to what we want to live up to; that we will be open to and willing to follow up on change; that you will be with us in the changing; and that we will live our lives to be more of a blessing to people in the circumstances we find ourselves--a light in the darkness; in order that change happens; that we come together and we come to understand your graciousness; and that we grow in grace ourselves and treat each other with grace. Amen.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Celebrating Our Tenants!
You are invited
to an OPEN HOUSE
Celebrating all the groups
who populate Grace Church
during the week:
The Haitian Baptist Church
The Temple of Deliverance
A.A.
Literacy Volunteers
Family and Children's Agency
Senior Umbrella Group
Manic/Depressive Support Group
Saturday, November 8
2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
at
Grace Episcopal Church
1 Union Park, Norwalk, CT
203-866-5454
Please reply
Saturday, September 20, 2008
The Blessing of the Bikes
It was a beautiful day for the blessing of the bikes. Being the primary organizer (it was my idea, after all), I dutifully put on my helmet and rode my bicycle to church, arriving at about 9:05. While riding on the municipal bike path I thought of all the things that didn't get done. The sign for the front of the church that I'd thought of last weekend but didn't have time to make. The idea I had last night coming home on the train that we should have made signs to put up along the bike path a week ago. The people who told me that they would help but never called or even showed up for the event. The newspaper article that never appeared in the local paper. The lack of response from the local bicycling club and a local organization that collects used bikes to refurbish and distribute to kids who need them. Fortunately, it was too nice of a day to dwell on all of that, and I'd already decided that no matter what happened, it was a first time event, and it didn't have to be large or perfect to be successful.
I turned off the bike path just before it goes into the park across the street from our parish, and this is what I saw!
Someone made a sign! Lois painted it and put it up on Tuesday.
I turned off the bike path just before it goes into the park across the street from our parish, and this is what I saw!
Someone made a sign! Lois painted it and put it up on Tuesday.
Not too long after I got to the church, Lois and Newlin arrived, followed shortly by Barbara with Gabriel her teacup Shih Tzu in tow. We did the last little bits of prep work, and we greeted the photographer from the Hour who showed up a few minutes before the scheduled start of the service.
10:00 a.m., scheduled time, and this is how many bikes were there:
That would be my bike.
We waited until a few minutes after 10, and then we blessed my bike. Lois decided to bless any vehicle that drove by the church. About 10:20 someone attending another meeting at the parish rode up on his bike. He'd ridden it today because he'd seen the sign. So we blessed his bike.
Lois continued to bless passing vehicles while Newlin and I took down the sign. Just as we'd folded it up, Louis and Andrew rode up. Here we are blessing the last two bikes of the day.
Was it a success? For the eight of us who participated, definitely. Are we going to do it again? Yes. In April.
I have a list, and this time when people say they're interested, I'll hand them an assignment!
Peace,
Jeffri
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Mission Congregation September 13 Meeting
I'm a boomer, just (I have more in common with Gen X), so the previous post was interesting to me. Our last Mission Congregation meeting was right in keeping with the article by Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt linked in that last post. Do we focus on "saving" Grace Church for the sake of saving it, or will we have a purpose driven by the gospel of Jesus Christ?
We are on Chapter 2 of Listening Hearts by Farnham, Gill, McLean and Ward. The chapter is "Call to Ministry". Our discussion begins with those things that stood out for us in the chapter, which we may or may not have underlined. We don't record this part of the discussion. It leads us to deeper understandings of ourselves and of one another.
Some things in the chapter, however, which sparked comment were "Ministry comes from the same root as minus, which means 'less'. "
"You did not choose me, but I chose you." (John 15:16)
"Doing good things - volunteer work, for instance - may not be ministry if God is not the motivating force - even if the person doing them is a Christian."
"One task of the Christian, then, is to recognize, affirm, and celebrate Christ's reconciling action in others..."
The concensus of those present is this time of sharing ourselves in the context of discussing ministry and discernment and call is very satisfying.
We then were brought up to date on upcoming opportunities to minister with the community of Norwalk. The Blessing of the Bikes is on for Saturday September 20th. Publicity is in the works. A couple of groups will have tables for distributing information. Jeffri has not heard back from some of the groups he contacted but the point is to hold the blessing as the first Grace Church Blessing of the Bikes. For those who wonder why bikes, Grace Episcopal is located directly across the street from the terminus of the Norwalk bike trail at Union Park.
Next report was on the Thanksgiving Dinner at East Norwalk UMC, to which we are lending our hands and hearts. Their contact person will come to talk with people at Grace after church on September 28 or October 5. Before that, we will have at least a partial list of things from which we can choose as a congregation as our work. The dinner is held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day.
I, your writer, then shared some of what I'm doing this year to work toward building up the people of Grace Church through spirit formation, education and worship, and to offer to the public those disciplines that help us live into the questions posed by following Jesus.
In discussing one of those offerings, the monthly Public Service of Healing, I shared with the group that I was thinking that Eucharist will not be included in this service: it will make the service accessible to more of the community, including non-churched persons, and it will not be mistaken for a service alternative to Sunday worship. The group agreed, and so there will be no Eucharist at that service. The order of worship will come from The Book of Occasional Services of the Episcopal Church, which includes the opportunity for laying on of hands and anointing for healing.
Other offerings are available at the "Worship and Events" and "Learning Opportunities" links on this website's home page (click "Return to the Home Page" at the upper left of this page and follow the link).
We are also committed to taking out the front pew on either side of the pews that face each other, and bringing the altar table down from the platform to the floor. This will make the altar more accessible to everyone who wants to serve around it, and to children. It will also give us a stagefor use by the community, and a place to array the trand new, up and coming bell choir of Grace Church. This will happen sooner rather than later.
Finally, we discussed one additional offering, which will be only for members of the parish, three "cottage meetings" in October to share with the congregation the status of Grace Church, put forward several options for the future of Grace Church, relevant to the article linked above, and offer possibilities for the membership to build and grow a future for Grace Church.
With regard to that article by Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt, the "radical community life" of which she writes is exactly what the Mission Congregation of Grace Episcopal Church is about, a community life that forms us for Christian discipleship. We pray, we study, we dig into our beliefs and thoughts, we laugh, we share concerns, we seek God's will in opportunities to serve while believing that anything we choose to do for the sake of the Gospel will bear good fruit, and next time we meet, there will be bread and wine to share informally.
The Mission Congregation meets the second Saturday of each month. Next gathering of the Mission Congregation is Saturday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m. All are welcome.
We are on Chapter 2 of Listening Hearts by Farnham, Gill, McLean and Ward. The chapter is "Call to Ministry". Our discussion begins with those things that stood out for us in the chapter, which we may or may not have underlined. We don't record this part of the discussion. It leads us to deeper understandings of ourselves and of one another.
Some things in the chapter, however, which sparked comment were "Ministry comes from the same root as minus, which means 'less'. "
"You did not choose me, but I chose you." (John 15:16)
"Doing good things - volunteer work, for instance - may not be ministry if God is not the motivating force - even if the person doing them is a Christian."
"One task of the Christian, then, is to recognize, affirm, and celebrate Christ's reconciling action in others..."
The concensus of those present is this time of sharing ourselves in the context of discussing ministry and discernment and call is very satisfying.
We then were brought up to date on upcoming opportunities to minister with the community of Norwalk. The Blessing of the Bikes is on for Saturday September 20th. Publicity is in the works. A couple of groups will have tables for distributing information. Jeffri has not heard back from some of the groups he contacted but the point is to hold the blessing as the first Grace Church Blessing of the Bikes. For those who wonder why bikes, Grace Episcopal is located directly across the street from the terminus of the Norwalk bike trail at Union Park.
Next report was on the Thanksgiving Dinner at East Norwalk UMC, to which we are lending our hands and hearts. Their contact person will come to talk with people at Grace after church on September 28 or October 5. Before that, we will have at least a partial list of things from which we can choose as a congregation as our work. The dinner is held on the Sunday before Thanksgiving Day.
I, your writer, then shared some of what I'm doing this year to work toward building up the people of Grace Church through spirit formation, education and worship, and to offer to the public those disciplines that help us live into the questions posed by following Jesus.
In discussing one of those offerings, the monthly Public Service of Healing, I shared with the group that I was thinking that Eucharist will not be included in this service: it will make the service accessible to more of the community, including non-churched persons, and it will not be mistaken for a service alternative to Sunday worship. The group agreed, and so there will be no Eucharist at that service. The order of worship will come from The Book of Occasional Services of the Episcopal Church, which includes the opportunity for laying on of hands and anointing for healing.
Other offerings are available at the "Worship and Events" and "Learning Opportunities" links on this website's home page (click "Return to the Home Page" at the upper left of this page and follow the link).
We are also committed to taking out the front pew on either side of the pews that face each other, and bringing the altar table down from the platform to the floor. This will make the altar more accessible to everyone who wants to serve around it, and to children. It will also give us a stagefor use by the community, and a place to array the trand new, up and coming bell choir of Grace Church. This will happen sooner rather than later.
Finally, we discussed one additional offering, which will be only for members of the parish, three "cottage meetings" in October to share with the congregation the status of Grace Church, put forward several options for the future of Grace Church, relevant to the article linked above, and offer possibilities for the membership to build and grow a future for Grace Church.
With regard to that article by Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt, the "radical community life" of which she writes is exactly what the Mission Congregation of Grace Episcopal Church is about, a community life that forms us for Christian discipleship. We pray, we study, we dig into our beliefs and thoughts, we laugh, we share concerns, we seek God's will in opportunities to serve while believing that anything we choose to do for the sake of the Gospel will bear good fruit, and next time we meet, there will be bread and wine to share informally.
The Mission Congregation meets the second Saturday of each month. Next gathering of the Mission Congregation is Saturday, October 11 at 1:00 p.m. All are welcome.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Boomers and the Future [of] Our Churches
In the Daily Episcopalian section of The Episcopal Cafe, Dr. Kathleen Henderson Staudt writes:
This radical community life is not what most of us expect or are called to commit to in our churches. We have many demands on our resources, depending on our callings in life, and including the needs of family and often other worthy service to the poor and dispossessed in the world. But the monastic model helps me to understand what I rely on my local church for. Church is where I go to worship weekly, and where the preaching, singing, Eucharist, and worship refocus and reorient my commitment to Christian discipleship. I do sometimes encounter contention and controversy there – often over issues related to our common life. It is hard work, dealing with conflict, like the work of a family or, I am told, a monastic community. But it is also part of how church life forms me for Christian discipleship. This church building has been “my Place” for prayer and growth over the years, the place where I have both found and offered support in times of crisis, where I have prayed over and buried good friends, where we have been reminded of the persistent presence of God among us at all turning points in life.Take a minute or two to read the entire reflection. You might also want to check out her blog poetproph.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Mission Congregation Saturday May 31 2008
Dear friends,
For those who have not yet experienced a gathering of the Mission Congregation of Grace Church, here's what we did this past Saturday.
Our published start was 9:00 a.m. but we have plenty of "on board" conversation for everyone to get there when they are able and still be part of the opening.
This month, after we shared what our lives have been like in the past few weeks, an activity that was as much prayer as sharing, we began to think on the things about which we are passionate. For instance, I your writer, am passionate about art, music, worship and teaching, as well as a few other things. Since I was the person posing the question, "What are you passionate about? To what would you give your heart?", I have to admit I expect that question to percolate around in people's minds and hearts until our next gathering.
We then gave our time to updates on the exploration of the possibility of having a program which feeds children in need in the neighborhood in which the church is located. To that end, we had three reports.
Carol reported in absentia that Grace Baptist Church, which used to have a program for children, no longer has that program, so could not speak to it.
Gay explored St. James/St. Paul's New Haven's children's programs. Here is her report:
Saturday Morning Drop-in - Loaves and Fishes: During the Saturday morning food pantry, caregivers of children have to stand in line a long time for their groceries. They bring their children and the church provides some education and activities while the children's parents are in line, as well as sending the children off with a free book of their choice.
Mustard Seed Club - an after school program. We believe the church has at least one van to help with transportation, which answers one of our challenges: how to get children here and then to their next destination.
Light and Peace - worship on Tuesday evenings (except during the summer). The service is similar to Compline (Night Prayers), provided on two age tracks. The 3-8 year olds are in the Chapel and their presentation uses the Beulah Land felt board stories.
The 9-10 year olds meet in the Parish Hall, hear Bible stories, and during worship the children and adults sign one another's foreheads with the cross.
Both programs are for children with their adults.
After the two tracks are finished, all gather for an art project, their free-form response to what they have experienced in worship. Then before dinner, the children wash one another's hands - in memory of Jesus washing the disciples' feet before the last supper. Grace is sung and all eat together.
Dinner is provided by the youth group, or one or another service group from another parish.
In the summer Light and Peace becomes a three-week program.
Jeffri reported on his conversation with a parishioner who is in social services:
The question was who would we serve - who is already receiving food from the school program. The answer is every child of school age is covered, IF they meet the financial qualifications.
Those in the shortfall:
pre-schoolers who are not in Head Start
and those children whose families are just above the cut-off. A lot of these are single-parent families.
Our source can advise us on how to find out who the pre-schoolers are.
Or, alternatively, we might do something supporting single parents - work with the children while the parents meet in a way that gives those single parents some attention and some personal time. We could feed everyone, then the parents could meet socially or recreationally, or in whatever way they might decide they want the evenings to go (Saturday night at the movies?). The children's program could be structured similarly to St. James/St. Paul's Saturday food pantry program.
We had a great deal of discussion around these possibilities. In the end, the fact that there are so few of us leaves us reluctant to commit to anything until we explore other avenues of support. To that end, Gay will converse with the parishioner who led Grace Episcopal's former food pantry, and find out for us what similar programs are already being held in other congregations, to which we might give our helping hands and hearts. She already has invited us, many times, to consider, for instance, helping East Avenue United Methodist Church with their annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the poor. They always need help for that.
We recognize that cooperating with other Episcopal parishes as well as with other denominations in Norwalk with the ministries they are doing may be a stretch for Grace. However, as an editorial comment here, I suggest that this is what the Gospel asks Christians to do. Service to the poor and those in need is the expectation. Giving ourselves away to that service is the invitation Jesus extends. Having the program take place at Grace, or be Grace's idea, or Grace's possession is not necessary in order for us to serve the Christ.
Do we have the will to do this? Probably not yet. Can we grow the will to do this? Yes. With God's help.
Faithfully submitted,
Lois Keen, Priest
For those who have not yet experienced a gathering of the Mission Congregation of Grace Church, here's what we did this past Saturday.
Our published start was 9:00 a.m. but we have plenty of "on board" conversation for everyone to get there when they are able and still be part of the opening.
This month, after we shared what our lives have been like in the past few weeks, an activity that was as much prayer as sharing, we began to think on the things about which we are passionate. For instance, I your writer, am passionate about art, music, worship and teaching, as well as a few other things. Since I was the person posing the question, "What are you passionate about? To what would you give your heart?", I have to admit I expect that question to percolate around in people's minds and hearts until our next gathering.
We then gave our time to updates on the exploration of the possibility of having a program which feeds children in need in the neighborhood in which the church is located. To that end, we had three reports.
Carol reported in absentia that Grace Baptist Church, which used to have a program for children, no longer has that program, so could not speak to it.
Gay explored St. James/St. Paul's New Haven's children's programs. Here is her report:
Saturday Morning Drop-in - Loaves and Fishes: During the Saturday morning food pantry, caregivers of children have to stand in line a long time for their groceries. They bring their children and the church provides some education and activities while the children's parents are in line, as well as sending the children off with a free book of their choice.
Mustard Seed Club - an after school program. We believe the church has at least one van to help with transportation, which answers one of our challenges: how to get children here and then to their next destination.
Light and Peace - worship on Tuesday evenings (except during the summer). The service is similar to Compline (Night Prayers), provided on two age tracks. The 3-8 year olds are in the Chapel and their presentation uses the Beulah Land felt board stories.
The 9-10 year olds meet in the Parish Hall, hear Bible stories, and during worship the children and adults sign one another's foreheads with the cross.
Both programs are for children with their adults.
After the two tracks are finished, all gather for an art project, their free-form response to what they have experienced in worship. Then before dinner, the children wash one another's hands - in memory of Jesus washing the disciples' feet before the last supper. Grace is sung and all eat together.
Dinner is provided by the youth group, or one or another service group from another parish.
In the summer Light and Peace becomes a three-week program.
Jeffri reported on his conversation with a parishioner who is in social services:
The question was who would we serve - who is already receiving food from the school program. The answer is every child of school age is covered, IF they meet the financial qualifications.
Those in the shortfall:
pre-schoolers who are not in Head Start
and those children whose families are just above the cut-off. A lot of these are single-parent families.
Our source can advise us on how to find out who the pre-schoolers are.
Or, alternatively, we might do something supporting single parents - work with the children while the parents meet in a way that gives those single parents some attention and some personal time. We could feed everyone, then the parents could meet socially or recreationally, or in whatever way they might decide they want the evenings to go (Saturday night at the movies?). The children's program could be structured similarly to St. James/St. Paul's Saturday food pantry program.
We had a great deal of discussion around these possibilities. In the end, the fact that there are so few of us leaves us reluctant to commit to anything until we explore other avenues of support. To that end, Gay will converse with the parishioner who led Grace Episcopal's former food pantry, and find out for us what similar programs are already being held in other congregations, to which we might give our helping hands and hearts. She already has invited us, many times, to consider, for instance, helping East Avenue United Methodist Church with their annual Thanksgiving Dinner for the poor. They always need help for that.
We recognize that cooperating with other Episcopal parishes as well as with other denominations in Norwalk with the ministries they are doing may be a stretch for Grace. However, as an editorial comment here, I suggest that this is what the Gospel asks Christians to do. Service to the poor and those in need is the expectation. Giving ourselves away to that service is the invitation Jesus extends. Having the program take place at Grace, or be Grace's idea, or Grace's possession is not necessary in order for us to serve the Christ.
Do we have the will to do this? Probably not yet. Can we grow the will to do this? Yes. With God's help.
Faithfully submitted,
Lois Keen, Priest
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