It has been maybe two years since the group charged with casting a vision and mission for Grace Episcopal Church decided instead to do mission and see what vision might come out of that work.
Mission Congregation, as we came to be called, has faithfully met on the second Saturday of every month at 1:00 p.m. We intentionally called ourselves a "congregation" to differentiate our work together from that of a committee.
Our gatherings are always a means of extended worship: We study, we reflect on scripture, we pray, we explore mission possibilities, and we share the bread and wine.
Out of Mission Congregation came experiments in mission - the 8 a.m. Sunday Service service, the 2:00 p.m. Street Service, cleaning up the neighborhood in Jesus' name, spearheading Grace's partnership with East Avenue United Methodist Church's annual Community Thanksgiving Luncheon, to name a few.
Now the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut has appointed a deacon, the Reverend Sally Herring, to serve with Grace Episcopal Church and Iglesia Betania. Sally has been getting to know people at Grace through Sunday worship coffee hour, First Wednesday Food, Fellowship, Fun and Bible Study night, and today, Mission Congregation.
Our two hour worship was structured around Isaiah 61:1-9, the Hebrew Scripture appointed for the eve of the First Sunday after Epiphany:
The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners;
2 to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn;
3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion-- to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit. They will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, to display his glory.
4 They shall build up the ancient ruins, they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.
5 Strangers shall stand and feed your flocks, foreigners shall till your land and dress your vines;
6 but you shall be called priests of the LORD, you shall be named ministers of our God; you shall enjoy the wealth of the nations, and in their riches you shall glory.
7 Because their shame was double, and dishonor was proclaimed as their lot, therefore they shall possess a double portion; everlasting joy shall be theirs.
8 For I the LORD love justice, I hate robbery and wrongdoing; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.
9 Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the LORD has blessed.
Our reflections began with sharing a word, phrase or idea that stood out for us.
We then went back to the reading and identified themes:
Restoration, reconciliation, provision, transformation, God's glory, called by God.
Beside these themes we identified the issues and concerns of our community of Norwalk:
Youth and crime, guns, drugs and alcohol, homelessness, poverty, education, health care, immigrants, unemployment and underemployment, hopelessness.
As we reflected on how the scripture reading for today speaks to these issues, we started naming those agencies that already exist to meet some of these needs:
Christian Community Action
the Homeless Shelter
City of Norwalk mentoring program through the public school system
The drug program on Byington St.
El Camino's program for immigrant day laborers
Brian McMahon School's youth initiative to feed those same immigrants
and others.
We then named those initiatives in which we are already involved:
The East Avenue United Methodist Thanksgiving Luncheon
Covenant to Care for Children Thanksgiving baskets (CCC was an agency one of us identified as an action in which we could increase our participation)
Family and Children's Agency Christmas gift program (We also provide space several times a year for FCA programs with the families they serve.)
Literacy Volunteers classes for those for whom English is not a first language
AA groups which meet at Grace
None of these lists is definitive. We have not completely mined the reading from Isaiah. For instance, one of us noted that the first few verses of the scripture for today is what Jesus read in the synagogue at the beginning of his ministry, and that when he finished, people were ready to stone him to death. From this we understand that whatever we undertake probably will not be easy. Another reflection was that we while some ministry will be individual, and others corporate, none of it will be alone. There will be others to help.
We did come to the insight that: a) The initiatives like CCA, or Housing for Hope, began small, intending to meet a specific need, with no intent of becoming big, but they grew to meet growing need.
b) Grace has a history of starting ministries with the intention that they would become big and in the end closing them for lack of people to staff them or having them be absorbed by other organizations
c) The listing of ways in which needs are being met by existing organizations tells us it is our call to find ways to work with or through them instead of inventing the wheel.
This has implications for Sally, our Deacon. Rather than have her comb the neighborhood to find needs to be met, we did that in our worship this afternoon. Rather than have her push us out the door to a new ministry her work will be to explore those already-existing programs for volunteer and ministry opportunities for individuals to meet.
Because Iglesia Betania is partnered with Grace, Sally and Padre Jose Diaz will explore with Pastor Oscar Destruge participation with El Camino in their new ministry with immigrant day laborers.
And because there are people who have served the Gospel faithfully for years, and are no longer able to labor in the vineyard as they used to, Sally is charged with beginning a knitting ministry, creating shawls and other items for the comfort of the sick and elderly, as a way not only to be useful, but to connect with one another on a regular basis.
We concluded our worship, as always, with the bread and wine of the Holy Communion, and have now gone out into the world to love and serve the Lord for another week.
We will meet again as a congregation on Saturday, February 12 at 1:00 p.m.
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