e-piphanies

Farewell to St. Martin's

Dear Members and Friends of St. Martin-in-the-Fields,

I began my ministry with you as Interim Rector at St. Martin’s almost two years ago. Three days from now, July 25, will be my last Sunday with you. Your new Rector, The Reverend Alan Bentrup, will lead you in worship on August 1. 

I write with mixed emotions to say farewell and express gratitude for the opportunity to share Christ’s work with you during this season of transition. We have worked together to remember and celebrate the history of the parish, to clarify your present-day identity, to manage changes in leadership, to strengthen ties with the wider Church, and to prepare for commitment to a new era of mission with your new Rector. We have wrestled with a pandemic and learned many things in the process. We have explored the joys of faithful stewardship, envisioned a robust new program of Christian formation for all ages, developed and populated a new model for mission and governance, reached out in love to our neighbors in need, and expressed lavish hospitality to newcomers seeking a spiritual home. It will make my heart glad to know that these experiences have made you ready for the days ahead. For, as St. Paul wrote to the Church in Philippi, "I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).

We are confident that you will welcome your new Rector, Alan, his family, Elizabeth, Ford, and, Walker, with the same strong, generous, open arms that welcomed us. We are also confident that your ministry together will result in transformed lives and much thanksgiving to God.

Many have asked about our plans for the future. We’ll be taking a vacation in August. Upon our return, Gay will continue her artistic pursuits, including some online teaching, and I plan to undertake a few projects at our home in Arlington. I expect that my future service to The Episcopal Church will be primarily consulting and mentoring.

You are most welcome to stay in touch with us. We want to know what is happening in your lives and in the life of this parish so we can cheer you on from the “great cloud of witnesses.” However, my role as your Priest will be concluded. Your new Rector and his family will need every opportunity to establish a relationship with you. So, I will not be coming back or performing sacramental or liturgical rites for St. Martin’s. We’ve moved before and have seen the wisdom in this practice. We continue to have wonderful friends from every place we’ve ever served and everyone understands that we now play a different role in their lives. Please make a note of the following contact information:

Ron and Gay Pogue
5805 Dry Creek Lane
Arlington, Texas 76017

Ron’s Email: [email protected]
Ron’s Phone: 832-576-9019
Ron’s Blog: http://e-piphanies.com

Gay’s Email: [email protected]
Gay’s Phone: 409-939-9975
Gay’s Blog: http://angelsnakes.com/

May God bless St. Martin’s and may God bless each of you in your spiritual journey. I remain convinced that the greatest days of this parish lie in the future. You and those God leads to you in the future will have the joy of remaining open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit to discover what new things God wants to accomplish through this vibrant and welcoming community of faith. We love you and will keep you in our prayers. We ask that you also keep us in your prayers as God’s new day unfolds!

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

The Dynamic Relationship Between Mission and Transition

Here is a question I am often asked: What has been the most valuable learning experience in your work as an interim minister and why? Here's my response.

Mission and transition are dynamically related.

When a faith community is intentional about discerning the mission entrusted to it and committed to engagement in that mission, it is also willing to be intentional about the transitions that are necessary. The dots have to be connected.

While considering leaving the parish I had served as rector for almost a decade, I was intrigued by the work being accomplished by colleagues who were intentional interim rectors. In conversations with them, I was encouraged to explore service to the wider Church through transitional ministry instead of as a settled rector in one parish. That discernment led to training in intentional interim ministry, during which I suddenly realized that all churches are in some sort of transition most of the time, although often unconscious of it. That was a big epiphany for me. I had a firm grasp of the obvious!

Transition training should be core seminary curriculum. Transitions between settled rectors provide a unique opportunity to explore transition – remembering where we’ve been, clarifying where we are, discerning where God is calling us, making changes that are needed, connecting with the wider church, and embracing a new era of mission with a new spiritual leader. But that is not the end of transition!

During this epiphany, I recalled some words of Titus Presler: “Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the Church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing.”

The Church doesn’t have a mission. The mission has a Church. Everything we do as followers of Christ in community is related to and in the service of that mission. And God’s mission is constantly in transition. It became clear to me that when a church continues to function as if nothing has changed, the mission suffers. It also became clear to me that the mission suffers when changes are needed but are avoided or resisted.

So, intentional transition work in the Church, whether between rectors or at any time, must involve discernment about mission, participation in what God is doing for the sake of the world at our doorstep. Transition work matters only in relation to mission.

This insight guides my leadership so that after our interim time together, consciousness of the dynamic relationship between ongoing mission and ongoing transition will continue. Churches that are engaged in mission are healthier, happier, and more attractive to those who are seeking what Christ offers through them. In such places, transition evokes transformation.

In my service to the wider Church, I would like to leave a legacy of healthy, mission-focused, transformative congregations.

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.              

(The Book of Common Prayer, Collect for Proper 10)

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

 

Six Better Questions

We are beginning to see light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Our Regathering Team, Vestry, Staff, and other groups are having intentional conversations about how we will be ready to regather in person when it is safe. There will be many logistical details and procedures that are quite different from what was “normal” before this started.

I recently came across an interesting article by small church pastor Karl Vaters, in which he addresses a question many are asking: “When the pandemic is over, will the congregation come back?” In his response, he suggests that there are several better questions we should be asking ourselves. You can read the article HERE, but this is my summary of it.

Pastor Vaters offers the following six questions we should be thinking about as we anticipate the time when we can regathers in person for worship, study, service, and fellowship.

“Have we represented Jesus well during the lockdown?”

“Are we representing Jesus well as we come out of the lockdown?”

“What have we learned – and what are we still learning?”

“How can we better serve the people at home?”

“How well are we serving our online church members and visitors?”

“How are people hurting, and what can we do to help them?”

He notes that there will be other issues we can’t yet foresee, but “more than ever, the communities around us are going to need the help of healthy, missional, compassionate, worshiping, and loving churches.”

He concludes by saying, “Whether people come back through our church doors is not the big issue. How we honor Jesus by reaching the hurting people outside our doors is what matters. Ministry needs to happen from the church, not just in the church.”

I invite you to read the article and contemplate these questions in relation to our parish, St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. Our church leadership would be interested in hearing your thoughts. We would love to hear how you have made a contribution or been the recipient of the ministries of our parish during this time. Do these questions lead you to a sense of being called to a role in the ongoing life of the parish? How is God calling you to keep St. Martin’s growing as a healthy, missional, compassionate, worshiping, and loving church?

In the interest of full disclosure, I should let you know that I am heartened by the numerous examples that have come to mind as I pondered these questions. I have witnessed so many occasions when our people have been in ministry to one another and to others outside of our faith community, in spite of the strange and limiting circumstances of the past year.

Thank you for what you have done and are doing! Thank you for answering the call to represent Christ and his Church.

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

Seeking Wisdom and Understanding

On Sunday, we will have our Annual Parish Meeting at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. We will do so against the backdrop of the lectionary readings for the Fourth Sunday After the Epiphany, which focus on the wisdom that comes to us when we have reverence for divine authority in our lives and in our world.

The Psalm appointed for the day is Psalm 111. The first and last verses serve as bookends for the Psalm's description of the majesty and reign of God:

Hallelujah!
I will give thanks to the Lord with my whole heart, *
in the assembly of the upright, in the congregation.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; *
those who act accordingly have a good understanding;
his praise endures for ever.

As we assemble virtually for our meeting on Sunday, we will indeed give thanks to God with our whole heart. Through our oral and written reports, we will recount the mighty works of God in our life during the past year, and there are many. We will also ask God to help us see into the future and discern what are the next steps in the mission entrusted specifically to us. We will acknowledge that God rules all things both in heaven and on earth. Such reverence for God, as the psalmist says, is the beginning of wisdom. This is the true agenda for our assembly!

Let us prepare ourselves for this annual event with this prayer from The Book of Common Prayer.

Almighty and everliving God, source of all wisdom and understanding, be present with those who take counsel in this Annual Parish Meeting for the renewal and mission of your Church. Teach us in all things to seek first your honor and glory. Guide us to perceive what is right, and grant us both the courage to pursue it and the grace to accomplish it; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

 

A Sign of the Times

Road signs are put there to advise and warn motorists of conditions for which they should be alert in that particular area – a winding road, a curve, wildlife crossing, an intersection.

While driving on the Ohio Pass Road near Gunnison, Colorado, I saw a road sign I’d never seen before. It looks sort of like a domino. It is a rectangle composed of two squares. The bottom square is a black box with a stripe down the middle. The top square is filled with static. Here’s a photo of it.

The sign is meant to advise motorists that the pavement ends, but the road continues. After the pavement ends, there will be bumps, potholes, dust, and other challenges. The transition can be abrupt if you don’t slow down and pay attention.

That’s a fitting metaphor for the journey of faith, isn’t it? The pavement represents the progress and accomplishments grace has helped us reach thus far. The unpaved road represents the uncertain, hazardous, and often bumpy road conditions that lie ahead. God is constantly calling us to continue moving forward and to trust in the divine guidance that will be available to us in an uncertain future. When we make the transition from the familiar to the unfamiliar, we need to pay attention and be open to guidance as we travel through new challenges. The Son of God, who is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, has already blazed the trail for us.

It’s also a fitting metaphor for transition ministry in the Church. Transition ministers enter the community during the time between settled pastors. Our task involves helping the members of the community slow down, pay attention, and prepare for future transformation for themselves and the mission field at their doorstep. After all, with God's help, we paved the road we've been on. The same God will be there to help us pave the continuing road that lies ahead.

This is just one more sign that life is a series of transitions. Transitions are normal and necessary. What we make of them is the key to transformation. The pavement ends, but the road continues.

Oh, and by the way, sometimes there is another sign down the road, signaling that the rough road is coming to an end. Someone has been there before us and paved the way!

Blessings,

 

 

 

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

 

Pausing to Look Back

Since we stopped gathering in person in March, I have been focused on the present and the future. It just occurred to me that I’ve been with you for one year and that half of that year has been during this pandemic. So, I thought I’d look back to see what has happened at St. Martin’s during the last six months.

The staff helped me make the following list of accomplishments in the parish:

• The Regathering Team was organized and has met weekly to develop plans and work out solutions.
• We created and implemented surveys to plan both for the present and future.
• We developed alternative ways of gathering online including Sunday worship, Morning Prayer, meetings, Christian formation, and coffee hour.
• Two Eagle Scout projects have been completed benefiting missions of the parish – The Good News Garden (complete with drip irrigation system) to provide fresh produce for 4Saints Food Pantry and a rock border for the Labyrinth and the path to it.
• The Good News Garden Team is being formed to tend the garden and harvest the produce.
• Our Lenten Outreach Project raised $700 for shoe that grows.
• We instituted Drive-in Worship with a safe way to administer Holy Communion.
• Eucharistic Visitors resumed their ministry and are sent out every Sunday to take the Sacrament to those unable to attend in person.
• Joe Henry joined our staff and has helped to keep music ministry going. The choir meets virtually every Wednesday evening.
• Father Chris Thomas completed his curacy and was called to St. Thomas the Apostle in Dallas.
• Paula Jefferson was ordained to the Diaconate and began her curacy with us in June.
• The yearly audit of financial records was completed in July.
• Contributions have been on or ahead of plan, even through the month of August!
• We were able to have one Discovery Weekend (Catechism) class just before the quarantine. 
• We had a wedding.
• 23 new members were added to the rolls in the past year.
• We applied for and received a PPP loan, which we expect to be forgiven before the end of the year.
• The Stewardship Committee has met regularly and has recruited members to provide testimonials, carried out the necessary mailings, and made plans for Consecration Sunday on October 4. (Rsvp if you have not already done so!)
• Children’s Sunday School has been meeting regularly on Zoom.
• Our school was able to switch to online classes and chapel for the last two months of the school year and our wonderful teachers did an amazing job navigating students through the early days of the pandemic.
• A friend of St. Martin’s has given us a Steinway upright piano, which will be placed in the Choir Loft.
• Outreach continued for 4Saints Food Pantry, including donations of $647 in August. Much of that came via a virtual “Red Envelope” offering.
• Chuck Ambrose stepped in to be our A/V guru, leading us to increase our A/V capabilities. 
• Our parish hall was made available for a memorial for a member of the community
• Holy Mowers have continued to keep the campus looking great. 
• The Memorial Garden is being maintained.
• The Rector Search Committee has continued to move forward in the process that will ultimately lead to the call of a new spiritual leader for St. Martin’s. A parish-wide survey was conducted in June and Holy Conversations took place in August, both providing important insights for the development of a parish profile soon to be released.
• The Labyrinth was resurfaced. 
• Meals and gift boxes were delivered to the Band of Moms members. 
• A prayer shawl and ornament from Prayer Shawl Ministry and a Starbucks gift card from the Band of Moms was delivered to new member Kate Szprengiel and baby Victoria 
• The Quiet Committee continues to be helpful to those in need. 
• The Pastoral Care Commission has been very active, especially in staying in touch with members by phone.
• A Helping Hands ministry was organized to run errands and do small projects for others as needed.
• Most of our ministry groups continue to meet by Zoom. 
• The School Board put many hours and great care into the very difficult decision of closing the school.
• Seven commissions formed at the beginning of the year have been meeting and continuing their work in the parish.

Endeavors that are underway or soon to happen (I couldn't help myself) include:

• A music room in the Parish Hall to support and build the Choir.
• When we regather, musicians in the parish will be invited to share their music.
• The Lectionary Study group will resume virtually on September 20.
• An adult Christian formation study will begin in October - "Human Flourishing" – What is flourishing? What gets in the way of flourishing?
• Parents of our youth are meeting with the Christian Formation Commission to find the way forward for youth ministry.
• Outreach will continue with Red Bags for 4Saints families and the Angel Tree to provide Christmas gifts for children.
• Virtual Discovery Classes for those who wish to explore their relationship with God and The Episcopal Church will be held later in the fall and in the spring.
• God willing and the people consenting, Paula Jefferson will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests in the coming months.

I do realize that neither the list of accomplishments nor the list of good things to come are complete. But they are remarkable in light of the fact that we are operating under such unusual conditions, aren’t they?

When we say, “The buildings may be closed, but the Church is open” we truly mean it!

Thanks to everyone for your prayers, your patience, your gifts, your flexibility, and your commitment to discovering new ways to be the Church. May God continue to give us the grace to persevere.

“…Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1).

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

Looking Forward Together

Last Sunday we had our first Drive-In worship service at St. Martin’s. We had about twenty cars in the parking lot and forty-five worshipers. The devoted people who have been providing online worship for the past five months successfully made a quantum leap forward in adding the celebration of the Holy Eucharist so those outside could receive. Our Regathering Team contributed in very helpful ways to our planning. St. Martin’s staff took care of numerous details that are necessary to such a service. Conversations with our Bishop and other clergy sparked creativity and identified resources, We are grateful to all of you!

Even after we are able to resume some level of in-person worship inside the church, I expect we will continue the Drive-In worship for those who are uncomfortable or unable to be inside. On August 23, our Eucharistic Visitors will begin taking the Sacrament to those who are unable to get out. In September, our Christian Formation Commission along with Children’s and Youth Ministries, will be rolling out some new online opportunities to learn and grow together in our faith. Sometime in October, we plan to offer a Discovery Class for those interested in membership or exploring their relationship with God and the Church.

There is much to look forward to! In the days ahead, you’ll find us recalling this encouraging word from the Prophet Jeremiah, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). We’ll be listening more closely and looking more deliberately to see God’s hand at work in the world around us. Surely, there are signs of hope from God all around us. When we find them, we’ll join hands with God and one another to help bring in a new and better time beyond this pandemic. Offering hope to the world is central to our mission, isn’t it?

Whenever I think about the mission God has entrusted to us, I am always guided by the words of Titus Pressler, “Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the Church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing.”

On the evenings of August 20, 23, 27, and 30, we will be engaging in virtual holy conversations about what God is up to in this parish. We’re calling the series, “Yearning to Know God’s Will.” Our conversations will be about discernment, honoring the past, embracing the present, and reaching out for what lies ahead. Click HERE for more information and to register. I hope we have broad participation!

As we move through this time, I invite you again to pray this discernment prayer from The Book of Common Prayer daily:

O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who
call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand
what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and
power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ
our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church

A Virtual Hug for Families With Children and Youth

This message is addressed to families with children and youth and those who care about them.

We have reached a point of frustration with this pandemic that is about to be compounded by the myriad of issues surrounding the opening of school. Our kids are anxious about what that is going to look like. Parents are concerned not only for their safety if they return in person, but also for the challenges raised if they participate in a virtual classroom. Either way, many parents will have to make a choice between family and employment, sooner or later.

Then, there are the people who make school happen – the teachers, counselors, administrators, cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, and others without whom schools in normal conditions would simply stop working. They, too, risk exposure to the Coronavirus if the students return to the campus. What happens to a classroom of students when the teacher tests positive or a busload of students when a driver tests positive? Do they all go into quarantine at home? Who looks after them? A dozen other questions come to mind, but I’ll stop there.

Several weeks ago, St. Martin’s made the painful decision not to reopen our school. The change in student/teacher ratio, the added sanitation protocols, announcements of free public school early childhood programs in the area, no liability coverage for COVID-19-related incidents, a bleak financial outlook, along with the aforementioned questions, presented a perfect storm of obstacles. We could not see a way to open the school and safeguard the health and well-being of our kids and our teachers.

All that said, I do understand the difficult decisions public and other independent schools are facing. The decisions their leaders must make and the decisions parents and families must make are daunting. Like you, I wish I knew the right answer. But I don’t.

What I do know is this:

• The people of St. Martin's will not shame parents for whatever difficult decisions they make.
• The people of St. Martin's will stand by our parents, pray with you, and do whatever we can to help you uphold what you think is best for your children and youth.
• The people of St. Martin's will remain steadfast in offering an abundance of faith, hope, and love to parents and families.
• When this is over – and it will eventually end – the people of St. Martin's will be here for you and rejoice to see your faces reflecting the light of God’s countenance, the God who always sees us through both the bad times and the good times. Maybe that is actually the light at the end of this tunnel!
  

I remind you of St. Paul’s words, which we read last Sunday, in the hope that you will let them resonate in your heart and mind during this time when all these things conspire against us and seem so overwhelming:

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose…What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?...Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:28, 31, 35, 37-39)

May this message be a great big virtual hug for our families with children and youth. We love you!

Blessings,

 

 

 

 

 

The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

Not When But How

Earlier this week, I was involved in a conversation with clergy colleagues about our current predicament during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Most of us have been asked when will we return to gathering physically for worship in our churches?  We’ve also been asked when will we return to normal. A wise person reminded us that the important question is not “when” but “how.” Each worshiping community is set in its own unique context, has its own challenges, and must sort through its own resources to determine how we will move through this time into a brighter future.

The Wardens and I are working on the appointment of a “reentry team” to help us formulate a plan. As we do that, we are mindful that whenever we emerge on the other side of this crisis some things will be different. There will be changes. We recognize that everyone has some degree of difficulty with change, regardless of how beneficial or unavoidable it may be. At the same time, we know that human beings are endowed by our Creator with a remarkable capacity for change. In fact, the pages of sacred scripture are filled with examples of how the exercise of that capacity has impacted the story of God’s people. Also, in the New Testament, change is central to the message of Jesus Christ. “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14, 15). The Greek imperative metanoiete, which we translate “repent”, is a call to change one’s life.

Some biblical stories are about those who were able to make the changes necessary to be faithful to God, such as Abraham, Moses, David, and the Holy Apostles. Other stories tell us about those who were unable to make such changes, such as the people who were destroyed by the Great Flood, the generation of Hebrews who had been slaves in Egypt, several generations of Israelites whose apostasy resulted in defeat and captivity, the rich young man who came to Jesus, and, of course, Judas Iscariot.

There’s good change and there’s bad change and, quite often, there’s just change. Not all change is equal. But life, as God gives it, is one change after another. The struggle with change is bound up with the struggle with faith in God. Those who thrive are those who adopt a hopeful attitude toward our God-given potential, draw upon the uniquely human capacity for adaptation, and bring about purposeful refreshment, recreation, and renewal among the communities where they live and worship.

Simply put, our faith provides us with insight into how to draw upon that capacity for creative living and the advancement of God's redemptive purposes. People of faith have lived through crises and catastrophes before and this time will not be the last time. But this is our time! We want to be faithful stewards of that time. How we live use this time and how we journey through this transition as a community of faith is ours to discern, with God’s help.

One of my favorite prayers from the Book of Common Prayer came to mind as I was thinking about the relationship between change and faith. When I turned to it, I realized that it is a prayer that is primarily used in liturgies for times of significant transition in the Church’s life and liturgical cycle – such as Ordinations, the Celebration of a New Ministry, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. It is a wonderful prayer for any time in the life of the Church, but especially when we are asked to make some sort of change as we progress in the journey of faith. I commend it to you today:

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look
favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred
mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry
out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world
see and know that things which were cast down are being
raised up, and things which had grown old are being made
new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection
by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus
Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Blessings to you and yours,

 

 

 

 

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas

P.S. Here's a hymn that explores the world of change God has made.

 

 

 

 

Today

Those of us who are old enough to remember the 1960’s will recall how important a genre of music called “folk music” was in that era. One of the early folk music groups was The New Christy Minstrels, founded by songwriter/guitarist Randy Sparks in 1961. One of Sparks’ hit songs, recorded by this group in 1964, is entitled simply Today. Some of the words of this song came to mind as I reflected on the relationship between the past, present, and future.

Today, while the blossoms still cling to the vine
I’ll taste your strawberries, I’ll drink your sweet wine
A million tomorrows shall all pass away
‘Ere I forget all the joy that is mine, Today

I can’t be contented with yesterday’s glory
I can’t live on promises winter to spring
Today is my moment, now is my story
I’ll laugh and I’ll cry and I’ll sing

In this bit of poetry set to a lovely tune, Randy Sparks and The New Christy Minstrels reminded us to appreciate the present moment and cherish the joy of now.  I once heard a preacher put it in a less poetic but equally effective way: “Yesterday’s gone. Tomorrow hasn’t come yet. Today is all we have. Use it!”

During this time of transition between rectors, St. Martin's will soon be engaged in a process of reflecting upon the past and discerning the future into which God is calling us. As we do this, we want to remember that if heritage and hope do not inform the way we live today, we are destined to be prisoners of our past or disciples of our daydreams. Either way, we are disconnected from the present, which is the scene of the greatest reality.

A visitor to the Vatican was approached by a sidewalk peddler outside the walls. He was offering a hen, a very special hen, for sale. “This hen is a direct descendant of the cock that crowed when Peter denied the Lord,” said the peddler. “Yes,” responded the visitor, “but does it lay eggs?” Whatever the hen’s past or future, the visitor wanted to know if she was doing what hens do today.

Jesus joined the past and the future together in a new way. He is the intersection of the horizontal dimension of time and the vertical dimension of spiritual reality. He warned the religious leaders that their genealogy did not relieve them of responsibility for their present actions. Likewise, he warned the rich young man that good intentions, no matter how worthy, could not give him the eternal life he was seeking at the present moment. Addressing the crowd in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times…but I say unto you.” He said to the woman at the well, “The time is coming and now is.”  Each step away from the past and into the future is dependent upon the spiritual dimension we refer to as “The Kingdom of God.”

Let us enter faithfully into this process of discovery and discernment so that this community of faith may be fruitful and vibrant in the here and now. And may we cherish the opportunity and the joy that are ours today!

I'll see you in Church!

 

 

 

 

The Very Rev'd Ron Pogue
Interim Rector
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
Keller, Texas