Annual Meeting

We’re going to do a bit of shifting today.

I do think it is very important for us to be fully present in each aspect of our worship as if we are presenting a two scene play in the most holy of circumstances.

Usually, our service is as follows:

My imagining of our worship together is that we first study God and God’s word.

As part of the Liturgy of the Word, we hear three readings and a psalm, one of them the gospel and upon those words, I preach.

First we gather, we kick the snow off our boots at the front door and, because it’s cold, we open the inner doors through which we enter the sanctuary.

We then sing hymns that gather us to worship, hear scripture, listen to me drone on about some thing or another and then say the Creed, the Prayers of the People; we confess our sins and then say the peace.

And throughout the Liturgy of the Word, I ask and it is my wish that we stay focused on that portion of worship.

We do not look forward to the Eucharist, not just yet, and we do not let our thoughts drift to other things.

Were you late coming in?

So what, I am glad you found a seat!

Big day at work tomorrow?

Please know that tomorrow will occur, but please also focus now on the words God and the church has gifted to each of us.

Following the readings and the prayers, etc. we move on to the Liturgy of the Table.

This is the time when we focus on not just the table, and not just Christ’s sacrifice for all, but our place at that table and most importantly of all, Christ’s place at that table.

That is my hope for our corporate worship together, to be present with one another and with God.

It is as if we are entering into two adjoining compartments and come out of them refreshed by the Word and refreshed by the Spirit.

And still, there are days where the stuff we have to do carries directly into our life as a parish, united and strong.

There are days where I need to guide you to other ideas, not just metaphysical and not just scriptural, but truly of the utmost importance to our lives together as a community of Christians seeking God in a more secular age.

Worshipping God in a distracted age.

Acknowledging God in a divided world where sometimes the message of Christ’s love and joy we seek after can be overcome by a message of intolerance and anger in the wider world.

That is our community.

And today, along with the liturgies of the word and the table, we are expanding our focus to talk about community; this community.

For today is the day of our Annual Meeting.

(Pause for applause.)

Now, I might seem a little highfalutin right now.

It might seem as if I am waxing rhapsodic about an annual meeting and using a whole bunch of seminary words, but I do so in all sincerity.

I do so because I have such tremendous hope not only in this place, but in you.

When I look at our finances, I see us holding steady, we are not shattering pledge goals, but we are looking at a budget that is fairly balanced.

Indeed, last year we had a surplus and there is no reason to expect we won’t have one next year.

The upset of these last few years, just after a global pandemic shook the world, is starting to recede.

While we haven’t recovered in terms of attendance, we have held steady these past two years and holding steady is important.

It means that you.

Not me.

You.

You have held steady.

And you have done so because St. Luke’s is important to you, and most of all, we are important to each other.

When we speak in terms of church, if we leave out words like love and family, we are speaking of a social organization, but I know St. Luke’s is different.

When we speak of love and family and God, we are speaking about a blessing that all of us receive when we walk in these doors.

So, I’d like to pause for a moment.

Now, you’ve heard me talk about preaching school before and one of the many rules they say I should not break is don’t rely on your congregation to participate during a sermon.

That being said, I’d like to try on a bit of congregational participation.

Please find a position comfortable to you.

Maybe your hands on your lap, maybe arms crossed feet on the floor.

Look forward, look towards the altar, maybe even focus on the cross.

Breathe in once.

Exhale once.

Now, close your eyes and continue to breathe.

Breathe in through your nostrils.

Exhale through your mouth.

Do that three times.

Now, and this is where we get vulnerable, share a memory of St. Luke’s.

Not all at once.

Fill in the silence with words and then let more silence wash over you.

Do you remember your wedding here?

Do you remember a child running down the aisle?

Do you remember the sunshine on Easter flowing through the windows?

Feel free to share.

What do you love about this wonderful parish in a wonderful village full of people who love each other?

And that friends.

Those words are why we kept this place going in the toughest of times, through transition after transition after transition, through a pandemic.

Heck, you’ve even tolerated me!

Know this: those words are evidence of not just love for each other, they are also evidence of God in this church.

They are the foundation upon which we continue the work of generations and bring that work, that effort, that love into this day and to all the tomorrows to come.

And still, this is not easy.

None of this is easy.

Take an assessment of the church in modern society.

On certain Sundays, its importance has been replaced by other spectacles, other engagements.

That is our reality.

(soccer joke?)

We are also a church that continues to be in transition.

And part of that transition is me.

In July, I was called to be Priest in Charge over at St. James’.

It has been a tremendous blessing to serve both there and here and yet, especially in this space, it has brought change.

Beginning in July, we made the decision to pair our 8 am and 10 am services and combine them into one 9 am mass.

For some, this is too early, for others it is too late in the day.

I want you to know that I hear both your concerns and your support.

We are in the midst of trying things on and this is all new, what comes of it, I am not totally sure, and I am so, grateful for your patience as we try on this model of one priest serving two parishes.

Above all, know that I remain dedicated to this parish, because when I walk through those aforementioned doors, I am so cognizant of the past that precedes me and the future we all wish for.

And still, there is work to be done.

And the success of that work hinges on our very place in this community and whether we are perceived as authentic to anyone who might be curious in visiting St. Luke’s.

Over the next year we need to make a dedicated step towards building this congregation so that we might meet that future, ready for all that God has in store for us.

We have so many dedicated individuals working for this parish as employees and especially as volunteers.

We rely a great deal on each other to ensure this building and the Parish House are well maintained.

Our special services, Maundy Thursday for example or ecumenically worshiping at the park have grown in attendance and have been received with great enthusiasm.

There are new ideas being tried on and still others percolating, seeking to bring more families with children back into the parish.

And all of this takes a dedicated core of volunteers to make it happen.

And to those who are currently serving this church, thank you.

Still, there are others who might be holding on to an idea or doubtful their labor is needed; I assure you, your ideas and assistance are needed, please share them.

I also speak of authenticity.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has a saying, “If it’s not about love, it’s not about God.”

And I’ll add, “If it is not about God, it’s not about church.”

We have a lot to offer because we love each other.

We lift each other up in times of heartache, we share joy together in times of gladness.

We cannot hold that close, to be authentically Christian we need to share the message of God’s love for all of us and every person we encounter.

By sharing our love, by sharing the Word, we will grow as a parish and grow, more importantly, in love.

For far too long we have allowed a rather angry form of Christianity be the most vocal, rather, I have allowed it to be and it is time to change that.

The story of God’s love for each of us, the story of our imminent salvation through Jesus Christ is meant to be shared and it is meant to be primary.

No longer can we continue to allow hate against the other, the one who does not look like me, the one whose sexuality is different from mine, the one whose gender presents differently; no longer can we allow separation and discord define what seems to so many to be the face of Christianity across this land.

No, ours is a message of love and that message starts here and when we are authentic in the message we portray, when we hit the streets loving each other, loving our neighbor as God loves them, then we will flourish.

And frankly, I see us doing that now.

We are authentically Christian in our love for each other and so let us go and share that love with a world so very much in need of that love.

Our scripture reading this morning so perfectly sums up this message.

Jesus was baptized and then immediately entered into a period in the wilderness.

We too have walked in the wilderness, we have attended church via zoom and have been separated from each other via sickness.

We have worshipped six feet apart longing to cross aisles to hug each other and share our love.

And now, a lot of that is over.

Our wilderness time is through.

As Christ, said: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

And when we believe, we will be equipped to share the good news; the story of Christ’s love and the love we share with all peoples.

So, it is a new year and new day dawns.

Let us rise.

There is work to be done.

In Christ’s name, there is work to be done.

Amen.