Priest's Annual Address to the Annual Meeting

The Reverend Lois Keen

Sunday, January 22, 2012

On the first Saturday in Advent some of us were in the building all day for a quiet day. All the doors were open, and in the morning a woman came in looking for a collection box. One of us was there and she said she comes often to sit in the parking lot while her son plays chess at the library. She left some cash and a check in thanksgiving. A couple of Sundays later she returned, after church, to just sit in the quiet. A parishioner encountered her and the woman said she comes in whenever the doors are open, because she finds such peace here. In thanksgiving, she gave everything in her wallet except for one dollar.

This building hosts three AA meetings every week. Many of the people in those groups have told me how grateful they are for this place, Grace Church. One of those people, who does not go to any church anywhere, identifies with Grace Church, although his primary worship is his AA meeting, and on New Year’s Day he left an offering, in thanksgiving.

One recent Thursday night, while the Bell Choir was practicing, a man came in and asked is he could stay and listen. A bit later, he asked if he could try a bell. He had been a musician, a bass guitar player. The choir welcomed him, let him play a bell, and gave him a schedule of rehearsals.

One day while I was leaving Norwalk Hospital after making visits, I met a man from Iglesia Betania. We were talking in the hall, and I realized his wife was a little ahead of us, with her back to us, talking in Spanish to another woman. I overheard tell the woman twice that she attends church at Grace Episcopal Church.

These are only four examples, of the many I experience every week, of just how important this place is to so many people – a place of quiet, of peace, of refuge, of welcome.

We are here against all odds.

It has nothing to do with the money. It never did. It has to do with these stories.

Grace is still here because we’re doing the right thing – making time to listen, invite, and welcome three AA groups, the Manic/Depressive group, ESL classes, the Haitian Baptists, the Roman Catholic Voices of the Faithful, the Fairfield Symphony, Family and Children’s Agency, and others who make up this greater Community at Grace, including people who just drop in. I’m reminded of a Hindu woman who, nevertheless, comes here during the day because this is a place of peace.

This year I especially want to hold up to you some gatherings of Grace that have sustained the community here; ministries that feed, sustain and grow faithful ministers who take their faith out into their daily lives.

Holy Needles embodies the spiritual practices of creation, fellowship, and connection with those in need. Holy Needles meets on the first and third Saturdays at 10:30 a.m. The people who gather knit and crochet shawls, scarves, mittens, hats and other things for giving away to people who need the comfort of knowing they are embraced, literally, by the prayers and care of the maker. In addition, conversations during Holy Needles time extend to the lives, inside and outside the church, of the people there and their observations of finding the holy in the ordinary things of life. Holy Needles is open to anyone who wants to just stop by and chat. No need to knit or crochet or do anything but just drop by and sit down.

Practicing Prayer embodies the spiritual practice of prayer as filling the whole of life. Practicing Prayer is in its third year of learning what prayer is, and sharing our various practices of praying, while observing the results of prayer on and in our own lives in the world outside the church.

Another spiritual practice is reading the scriptures, the Bible. This is a practice you can do on your own. Several people here have taken on the Bible Challenge, reading the entire Bible over the course of this year of 2012. This is not a Bible study. Instead, we are reading, separately, on our own, letting the words of scripture seep into us, into our souls, while being watchful of how this practice of daily reading the words of the people of God over millennia works on us and maybe even changes us. Everyone is invited to meet this challenge of reading the scriptures this year. I do ask you to let me know if you are taking up this challenge so we can pray for one another, and know we are not alone in this practice.

Still another spiritual practice, making a joyful noise unto the Lord, is embodied on Monday nights at 6:00 p.m. in the choir room – Music Skills. In this group anyone can try out an instrument, even if you have never done so. This group draws people from as far away as Bridgeport. Combined with the Bell Choir and the Vocal Choir, our Music Director Richard Andrews has contributed greatly to the spiritual health of this Community at Grace.

And with regard to the spiritual practice of hospitality, I thank all of you who are embracing the people of Iglesia Episcopal Betania. Your faithful attendance at bilingual services on the last Sunday of the month, and participation at gatherings for the purpose of conversation and fellowship is greatly appreciated. Next Sunday our monthly bilingual service will be followed by a covered dish lunch with food provided by all of you and by Betania. Please plan to be here for that service and luncheon.

I thank all of you who continue to support the worshiping community of Grace with your offerings and your presence at worship. I thank those of you who embrace the larger Community at Grace by your welcoming presence. I thank God for the continued privilege of leadership in this worshiping community of Grace Church and in this greater Community at Grace.

We are people of faith. We don’t know how long this will go on here at Union Park and Mott Avenue. However, as people of faith, we will keep on doing the right things – being a haven of rest, refreshment, learning, refuge and spiritual practices for the community in which this building resides – Grace and Betania Episcopal Churches and the Community at Grace. May God give you blessing and peace.