That Which We Have Heard & Known

Occasional thoughts of an Anglican Episcopal priest

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Glass Mug Collecting: Bryce Beaded Handle Set

January 29, 2012 / / 3 Comments

These beaded handle mugs form a four-size set. I have five of them, two of the Bird on a Branch design which is the second-largest of the set.

Set of five mugs (in four sizes) made by the Bryce, Walker Glass Co. in th 1880s (and the U.S. Glass Co. after 1891)

Bryce Beaded Handle Seat

Bryce Brothers made these mugs in the 1880s at a time when the company may have been known as Bryce, Walker & Co. In 1891 Bryce joined other glass manufacturers to form U.S. Glass Co. and became known as “Factory B” of that concern; it continued manufacturing these mugs, apparently for another 20 or more years. They were made in clear, frosted, amber, opaque white, and blue. All of the mugs have beaded handles and pleated skirt bases.

Dog Chasing Deer (Size: 3-1/4" dia. x 3-3/4" ht.; Color: Amber) To the right of the handle, sculpting shows a young stag looking back over its left shoulder.

Dog Chasing Deer (3-1/4" dia. x 3-3/4" ht.)

Dog Chasing Deer is the largest mug in the set. It measures 3-1/4″ in diameter and 3-3/4″ in height. To the right of this mug’s handle one sees a young stag looking back over its left shoulder. Directly opposite the handle there are a doe and two stags running from the dog further around the bowl of the mug. To the left of the handle one sees the dog chasing these deer. The animals are framed by trees. The mug was made in a three-part mold; the mold seams run up the trunks of the trees.

Dog Chasing Deer (Size: 3-1/4" dia. x 3-3/4" ht.; Color: Amber) Directly opposite the handle, sculpting shows a doe and two stags running from the dog further around the bowl of the mug.

Dog Chasing Deer (3-1/4" dia. x 3-3/4" ht.)

Dog Chasing Deer (Size: 3-1/4" dia. x 3-3/4" ht.; Color: Amber) To the left of the handle, sculpting shows a dog chasing the deer shown further around the bowl of the mug.

Dog Chasing Deer (3-1/4" dia. x 3-3/4" ht.)

Bird on a Branch (Size: 2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.; Color: Amber) To the right of the handle, the sculpting shows an upright singing bird perched on a branch.

Bird on a Branch (2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.)

The second largest mug in the set is Bird on a Branch, which measures 2-7/8″ in diameter and 3-3/8″ in height. To the right of this mug’s handle is a perched bird on a branch; the bird is sitting upright and appears to be singing. Directly opposite the beaded handle, one sees as owl perched on a branch. To the left of the handle, the sculpting shows a crouching song bird perched on a branch. Like its larger companion, this mug was made in a three-part mold and, again, the mold seams are hidden in the trunks of the trees.

Bird on a Branch (Size: 2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.; Color: Clear) To the right of the handle, the sculpting shows an upright singing bird perched on a branch.

Bird on a Branch (2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.)

Bird on a Branch (Size: 2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.; Color: Amber) Directly opposite from the handle, the sculpting shows an owl perched on a branch.

Bird on a Branch (2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.)

Bird on a Branch (Size: 2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.; Color: Clear) Directly opposite from the handle, the sculpting shows an owl perched on a branch.

Bird on a Branch (2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.)

Bird on a Branch (Size: 2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.; Color: Amber) To the left of the handle, the sculpting shows a crouching song bird perched on a branch.

Bird on a Branch (2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.)

Bird on a Branch (Size: 2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.; Color: Clear) To the left of the handle, the sculpting shows a crouching song bird perched on a branch.

Bird on a Branch (2-7/8" dia. x 3-3/8" ht.)

Pointing Dog (Size: 2-3/8" dia. x 2-5/8" ht.; Color: Amber) To the right of the handle, sculpting shows a hunting dog looking backward over its left shoulder.

Pointing Dog (2-3/8" dia. x 2-5/8" ht.)

Pointing Dog is the third mug in the set, measuring 2-3/8″ in diameter and 2-5/8″ in height. On the right side of this mug, one finds a hunting dog looking backward over its left shoulder. Opposite the handle there is a singing bird in a crouching position perched on a branch. To the left of the handle is another hunting dog looking straight ahead and pointing toward the bird. Like the two larger mugs, this one was made in a three-part mold and the seams are hidden in tree trunks.

Pointing Dog (Size: 2-3/8" dia. x 2-5/8" ht.; Color: Amber) Directly opposite the handle, sculpting shows a singing bird in a crouching position perched on a branch.

Pointing Dog (2-3/8" dia. x 2-5/8" ht.)

Pointing Dog (Size: 2-3/8" dia. x 2-5/8" ht.; Color: Amber) To the left of the handle, sculpting shows a hunting dog looking straight ahead and pointing toward the bird.

Pointing Dog (2-3/8" dia. x 2-5/8" ht.)

Swan - aka Water Fowl, U.S. Glass No. 3802, or Federal's No. 3802 (Size: 1-7/8" dia. x 2" ht.; Color: Clear) To the right of the handle, sculpting shows a swimming duck among water grasses.

Swan aka Water Fowl, U.S. Glass No. 3802, or Federal's No. 3802 (1-7/8" dia. x 2" ht.)

Swan (which is also known as Water Fowl) is the smallest of the set. It measures 1-7/8″ in diameter and 2″ in height. It is seen in packers’ goods catalogs as U.S. Glass No. 3802 or Federal Glass Company’s 1914 Packers’ Catalogue as Federal’s No. 3802. Mugs (and other vessels) made as “packers’ goods” were used to distribute condiments and could afterwards be used for whatever purpose the consumer might choose. Often they were intended as toys for children, which was probably the case with this little item. (Note: There are many mugs and other glass items featuring a swan motif. Another Swan pattern, also known as Plain Swan or Swan with Mesh, was made by Canton Glass Co. circa 1882. There seems to be no mug associated with that pattern. See Darryl Reilly and Bill Jenks, Early American Pattern Glass: Collector’s Identification & Price Guide, pp. 443-44 (2nd Ed.: Krause Publications, Iola, WI: 2002) and Ruth Lee Webb, Early American Pressed Glass, pp. 531-32 (36th Ed.: Lee Publications, Wellesley Hills, MA: 1960).)

On the right side of this little mug one sees a duck swimming among water grasses. Opposite the handle, a bird (either goose or duck) is taking flight from among the rushes. To the left of the handle, a swimming swan glides among the cattails. This mug also was made in a three-part mold; one seam line is well-hidden in the stem of a cattail, while the other is only partially obscured by a palm. My copy of this mug is marred by impurities within the glass: an arc of what seem to be ash particles is imbedded in the glass.

Swan - aka Water Fowl, U.S. Glass No. 3802, or Federal's No. 3802 (Size: 1-7/8" dia. x 2" ht.; Color: Clear) Directly opposite from the handle, sculpting shows a duck or goose taking flight from among water grasses. Impurities in the glass obscure the sculpted image.

Swan aka Water Fowl, U.S. Glass No. 3802, or Federal's No. 3802 (1-7/8" dia. x 2" ht.)

Swan - aka Water Fowl, U.S. Glass No. 3802, or Federal's No. 3802 (Size: 1-7/8" dia. x 2" ht.; Color: Clear) To the left of the handle, sculpting shows a swimming swan among cattails.

Swan aka Water Fowl, U.S. Glass No. 3802, or Federal's No. 3802 (1-7/8" dia. x 2" ht.)

The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh provides this information about the Bryce Brothers Glass Co.

James Bryce, born in Scotland in 1812, migrated to the United States at the age of 5 with his family and first lived in Philadelphia before moving to Pittsburgh in 1819. At the age of 15 he was indentured to Bakewell, Page & Bakewell in 1827. James left the factory when it was temporarily closed by a Financial Panic in the 1830s, but returned to glassblowing in 1845 with the firm of Mulvany and Ledlie.

The firm Bryce, McKee and Co. was established by James in 1850 with his brothers Robert and John who were joined by the McKee brothers, Frederick and James. Their Factory was located at Wharton and 21st streets on Pittsburgh’s South Side. The McKee brothers withdrew from the company in 1854 to establish their own business and two new partners were brought into the company—Joseph Richards and William Hartley— who remained until 1865.

The Walkers who joined the partnership when William Hartley departed added their name to the firm which became known as Bryce, Walker & Co. until 1882 when the Bryce family sold their interest to U.S. Glass Co. which was known as Factory B. Three years later the Bryce Brothers reestablished their business in Hammondville where glass products were produced until 1896 when a new factory was built at Mt. Pleasant.

Bryce Brothers produced tableware, lamps, apothecary wares and bottles. Their pressed glass patterns—Roman Rosette, Ribbon Candy and Ribbed Palm or Sprig were well known as were patterns named Diamond Sunburst, Thistle and Strawberry for which design patents were secured.

Lenox Co. acquired Bryce Brothers in 1965.

The Glass Etch and Pattern Gallery provides this additional (and slightly conflicting) information about the company’s history (adapted from The Glass Candlestick Book: Volume 1, by Tom Felt and Rich & Elaine Stoer):

BRYCE BROTHERS COMPANY, Hammondville, Pa. (1893 1896), Mount Pleasant, Pa. (1896 1967). The involvement of the Bryce family in glass manufacture extends back to the early 1840s. The original Bryce brothers, James, Robert and John, founded Bryce, McKee and Company in Pittsburgh around 1850. After various changes of name, the company was reorganized as Bryce Brothers in 1882 – two of the original brothers, Robert and James, being joined by five of the latter’s sons, as well as one son of Robert’s. In 1891, Bryce Brothers became factory “B” of the United States Glass Company.

Most of the Bryce clan took positions with U.S. Glass. However, in 1893, two of the younger generation, Andrew H. and J. McDonald Bryce, withdrew to found the new Bryce Brothers Company. They purchased the bankrupt Smith-Brudewold Company’s plant at Hammondville, which they operated until 1896, when they moved to a brand new factory in Mount Pleasant. Their specialty was blown stemware and tumblers, with a full variety of offerings for the hotel and bar trade. From the beginning they also offered many forms of decoration, including etching, cutting, sand blasting, iridescent finishes, enameling, gold bands, etc. Bryce Brothers remained a major producer of blown stemware and tableware through most of the twentieth century. In 1948, they began using a logo that advertised “Bryce, hand blown, since 1841,” apparently referring to the year when the original John Bryce got his first job in the glass industry, working for Bakewells and Company. In 1965, Bryce Brothers Company was purchased by Lenox, Inc., the Trenton, New Jersey, china manufacturer, who continued to operate the factory under their own name until the 1990s.

Glass Mug Collecting: Medallion Pattern by Atterbury

January 27, 2012 / / 6 Comments
Five Medallion mugs, three large (black, clear, amber), one medium (white), one small (clear)

Set of five Atterbury & Co. Medallion mugs

This is my set of five mugs in this pattern, Medallion by Atterbury & Co. Other names for this pattern are Ceres, Cameo, Profile & Sprig, Goddess of Liberty, and Beaded Medallion

According to Mordock & Adams, Pattern Glass Mugs, page 8 (The Glass Press, Inc.: Marieta, OH, 1995):

Atterbury & Co. manufactured this mug and this pattern about 1870. The large mug’s mold has been remade at least once. One variation is called Washington & Lafayette (compare the hairline and the base of the bust). Ceres mugs were made in clear, amber, blue, opaque turquoise, opaque black, opaque raspberry, dark amethyst, opalescent, blue opalescent, blue alabaster and pink alabaster. Over 20 different items were made in this pattern.

I have all three sizes: 2″ x 2″; 2-1/2″ x 2-1/2″; and 3-1/8″ x 3-1/4″ (The first dimension is diameter; the second, height.)

Amber Medallion mug (3-1/8" x 3-1/4"); Ceres variant

Amber Medallion mug (3-1/8" x 3-1/4"); Ceres variant

Opaque black Medallion mug (3-1/8" x 3-1/4"); Washington & Lafayette variant

Opaque black Medallion mug (3-1/8" x 3-1/4"); Washington & Lafayette variant

Clear Medallion mug (3-1/8" x 3-1/4"); Washington & Lafayette variant

Clear Medallion mug (3-1/8" x 3-1/4"); Washington & Lafayette variant

Milk white Medallion mug (2-1/2" x 2-1/2"); Ceres variant

Milk white Medallion mug (2-1/2" x 2-1/2"); Ceres variant

Clear Medallion mug (2" x 2"); Ceres variant

Clear Medallion mug (2" x 2"); Ceres variant

The Glass Lovers Glass Database offers this information about the manufacturer:

‘James S. and Thomas B. Atterbury joined brother-in-law James Hale to form Hale and Atterbury in 1860 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The grandsons of Sarah Atterbury Bakewell (sister of Benjamin Bakewell and founder of Bakewell’s Glass Company), opened their White House Factory at Carson and McKee streets in Pittsburgh’s South Side. Hale was the firm’s glassblower. He was replaced two years later by James Reddick who left Atterbury in 1864. The company’s name thus was changed from Hale, Atterbury and Co., to Atterbury, Reddick and Co., then Atterbury and Co. before finally bearing the name Atterbury Glass Co. in 1893. Thomas Atterbury served as the company’s president throughout its history.

Thomas Atterbury was the principal inventor in the firm.’ (1) ‘The Atterbury Company was looked upon as the finest producer of milk glass. All their early pieces were marked with a patent date and the animals all had glass eyes that were glued in. Many of the animal’s dishes had lacy edge bases. Extra detail was given to all their molds to create realistic looking animals. The most popular animals included a hen, cat, fox, duck and fish. Atterbury also made many non-animal dishes that collectors are on the search for, such as the hand dish, maple sugar bowls, whiskey bottles and other table pieces. All their pieces are highly sought after by collectors.’ (4)

Atterbury and Co. also made a variety of items: canning jars and lids, bar bottles, covered dishes, salt and pepper shakers and other tableware, and lamps. Its covered dishes made out of opal or milk glass often featured animal designs – rabbits, ducks, chicks, bulls and boars heads.(1)

It’s most famous designs are its covered dishes, in which the covers were shaped like animals. ‘Rabbit’ appeared in 1886. ‘Duck’ in 1887 and the ‘Boar’s Head’ in 1888. The glass menagerie also included dish covers called ‘Chick and Eggs’, ‘Entwined Fish’ and ‘Hand holding a Bird’.(2)

Along with his brother James, Thomas created one of the finest kerosene lamp producing companies of the late 1800’s. They received over 100 patents for glass and lamp design and production. Their lamp patterns were numerous and varied: Chieftain, Prism, Tulip, Icicle, Loop, Fine Rib, Wave are only a few examples. When financial problems hit in the late 1880’s Atterbury and Co. joined with several others to form a new single company called the United States Glass Company.(3) “Atterbury remained an independent factory until 1903.”(1)

Ref: (1) The Lampworks
Ref: (2) The Grove Encyclopedia of Decorative Arts, Gordon Campbell, Editor
Ref: (3) royslamps.com
Ref: (4) Article by Go Antique’s Debbie Coe

Glass Mug Collecting: Introductory Post

January 27, 2012 / / 7 Comments

I decided that I would start chronicling my hobby of glass collecting on this blog. (These posts will be intermingled with sermons and whatever other random thoughts I may have….) So, to be specific, I collect early American pattern glass mugs.

Five Medallion mugs, three large (black, clear, amber), one medium (white), one small (clear)

Set of five Atterbury & Co. Medallion mugs

Since this is a first post, let me dissect those terms.

Early

“Early” refers to the first era of pressed glass production in America, from about 1830 up to 1910 (roughly, some of my mugs are from later years). Glassware historians divide this into three periods: the Lacy Period, 1830-40; the Flint Period, 1840 to about 1860; and the Non-Flint Period, 1860-1910. What primarily distinguishes the periods are the stabilizers used in the glass and production methods used in the making of the glassware, and the retail price and availability of the products. In the earliest periods of human history, glass was something only for the wealthy; this continued to be true until the late 19th Century.

Clear Goblet in Bryce's Derby or "Pleat & Panel" Pattern

Clear Goblet in Bryce's Derby or "Pleat & Panel" Pattern

Although a glass is a substance that is non-crystalline, it is almost completely undeformable and thus brittle. Glass tableware is made of silica (silicon oxide); such glass, without the addition of other elements, is extremely brittle. Therefore stabilizers are used to give the finished product particular characteristics. Calcium carbonate can be added as a stabilizer that will make the resulting glass insoluble in water. Lead oxide added as a stabilizer gives the glass extreme transparency, brightness, and a high refractive index (the measure of glass’s ability to bend light); it also makes glass easier to cut. The glassware known as “lead crystal” uses lead oxide (up to 33%) as the stabilizer. Zinc oxide can be added to glass to make it more resistant to changes in temperature as well as to increase its refractive index. Aluminum oxide can also be added as a stabilizer to increase the physical strength of the glass.

The earliest American glass makers added flint or lead to stabilize glassware. However, the military need for lead during the American civil war lead to the search for alternatives. In 1862, William Leighton, Jr., devised a formula using soda lime. This produced a less brilliant, less resonant, but also much less expensive type of glass. Together with advances in molding techniques brought on by the industrial revolution, and by the advent of natural gas to fire furnaces in the 1880s, the changed formula reduced the price of glassware and made mass manufacturing and mass marketing possible. Glassware became available to the larger market of the growing American middle class.

American

Well… that ought to be self-explanatory. On the other hand, I should acknowledge that not all of my mugs are American! I have a couple that are definitely English and one that is definitely German, and a couple I’m not at all sure about. Also, “American” glass includes products of some Canadian manufacturers. (So perhaps it should be “North American”?)

Pattern

Amber Mother Goose lunch set (1930s era copy)

Amber Mother Goose lunch set (1930s era copy)

What is the difference between “molded” glass, “pressed” glass, and “pattern” glass? Not much. Nearly all pattern glass is pressed, but not vice-versa. All pressed glass is molded, but not vice-versa.

Some molded glass is blown into the the mold; pressed glass is, obviously, pressed into the mold. Nearly all pattern glass is pressed glass with this characteristic: that several different items (or “forms” as collectors call them) share the design pressed into the glass. Darryl Reilly and Bill Jenks in their book Early American Pattern Glass: Collector’s Identification & Price Guide (2nd Ed.: Krause Publications, Iola, WI: 2002) define “pattern glass” as “only those designs produced in forms large enough to constitute a basic 4-piece table setting.” (Page 7) Others defined “pattern glass” as pressed glass tableware, and some related novelty glass items, made only during the Victorian period (1850-1910), only in America, and in “sets” such that all of the pieces in the set matched in design, without setting a minimum on the number of forms. And some make no distinction at all between “pressed” glass and “pattern” glass.

How many patterns are there? One expert has suggested that there may have been up to 5,000 patterns produced by American glassware manufacturers during the Victorian era! See Bob Batty, A Complete Guide to Pressed Glass, page 7 (Pelican Publishing Co.: Gretna, LA, 1998).

Three-handled spooner of unknown pattern

Three-handled spooner of unknown pattern

Glass

Here’s a technical definition: “Glass is often referred to as an amorphous solid. An amorphous solid has a definite shape without the geometric regularity of crystalline solids. Glass can be molded into any shape. If glass is shattered, the resulting pieces are irregularly shaped. A crystalline solid would exhibit regular geometrical shapes when shattered.” Good enough? Good enough – I think we all know what “glass” means.

Mugs

Clear Medallion mug (2" x 2"); Ceres variant

Clear Medallion mug (2" x 2"); Ceres variant

Mug: “A drinking container with a handle” is about the simplest definition one can give, but it begs the question. John B. Mordock and Walter L. Adams in the introduction to their book Pattern Glass Mugs (The Glass Press, Inc.: Marieta, OH, 1995) note that there are all sorts of particularly shaped mugs: lemonades, whiskey tasters, steins, and so forth. As they say, “It is difficult to determine what should be included as a mug. Items that are on the borderline are custard cups, cup and saucer sets, punch cups and some mustard containers.” Toothpick holders and children’s toys are on the borderline, as well. My definition: if it’s a handled drinking vessel, not obviously a tea cup or a punch cup, and I like it – it’s a mug!

So that’s what my collecting hobby is all about. In future posts, I’ll post pictures of my mugs and give as much detail about them as I can find. As I get more information on a piece, I’ll edit the posts. I hope those who read them and look at the pictures of my mugs will enjoy these little works of art as much as I do.

Change Is Inevitable: Annual Parish Meeting Sermon 2012

January 16, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Texts: 1 Samuel 3:1-10(11-20)
Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17
1 Corinthians 6:12-20
St. John 1:43-51

Sequence Hymn: I Have Decided to Follow Jesus

I spend a portion of each day in private prayer. Sometimes that happens at home in the early morning hours before Evelyn rises. Sometimes it happens late at night after she has gone to bed. Sometimes it happens in during the day when I am here in the church building. On those occasions I often come into this space, which some of you know is a very different place in the quiet of a weekday afternoon when it is empty. It is at those times that I come here alone to pray and often I find myself contemplating the stained glass windows.

Window of Hannah, Samuel, and Eli

Window of Hannah, Samuel, and Eli

This one, for example, depicts the two characters in today’s story from the Hebrew Scriptures. What is depicted in the window comes a little earlier in the story of Eli and Samuel; this is their first meeting, when Hannah (Samuel’s mother) hands him over to Eli to be dedicated as a server in God’s temple. I think the story we heard today happens just a few days after the event depicted in our window. Both are parts of a story of change.

Eli was an hereditary priest and a professional prophet at the shrine of the Lord at Shiloh. The priesthood in ancient Judaism was a family affair belonging to the descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron. Eli is one of these as are, obviously, his sons. But in the time of Eli’s priesthood, God decides it is time for things to change. Not because of anything Eli has done, in particular, but because of what his sons Hophni and Phinehas are doing.

The Jewish religion at the time was one which practiced animal sacrifice. Devotees, those wishing to obtain the Lord’s favor and those wishing to atone for sins, would bring animals from their flocks and herds to the shrine and Eli and his sons would sacrifice them on their behalf. The choicest cuts of meat were to be burned on the altar to God; the priests and their families were permitted to feed themselves, and those in need, with the less good parts. The inedible bits were also to be burnt so that nothing of the consecrated animal could be desecrated.

Eli’s sons, however, were not following the rules – they were taking the best parts of the meat for themselves – and although Eli was not doing so, he was not preventing his sons from doing so. God was not pleased, and God decided it was time for a change.

We are told right at the beginning of this story that “the word of the LORD was rare in those days” and that “visions were not widespread.” As if to underscore this point, the author tells us that Eli’s “eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see.” But then Eli does “see” perfectly well what is happening when Samuel, hearing the voice of God in the nighttime, comes running to him: Eli knows very well what God is up to. God is making a change.

In the lesson from John’s Gospel we heard the story of the calling of Phillip and, through Philip, the calling of Nathanael (who is elsewhere identified as Bartholomew, son of Talemai). Nathanael is initially not terribly taken with Philip’s new-found messiah, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” he asks, but he soon changes his tune. After what seems to us, I’m sure, a brief and rather puzzling conversation, Nathanael exclaims, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus seems to be amused by this, but in his answer makes a statement that some would probably find very disconcerting: “You will see greater things than these,” he tells Nathanael the reluctant disciple, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” In a word, Jesus promises Nathanael nothing less than significant and constant change.

The past two or three years for St. Paul’s Parish have been a time of change. The vestry of three years ago was approached by the owners of the two properties to the east of the church and asked if we would like to buy them. With what I believe to have been forward thinking wisdom, the vestry did so. I know that not everyone agrees with that decision; there are some who seem to agree with the feelings of a mythical late 19th Century Duke of Cambridge who is reputed to have said, “Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored.” Perhaps there are some who look back to and would hope to return to the church heydays of the 1950s. But as the hymn we just sang says, “No turning back, no turning back!” It’s not the 1950s any longer and never will be again. And the day of single-purpose church buildings is gone. That vestry three years ago knew that, eventually, this building would need to expand beyond the needs of the then-current congregation.

The vestry of two years ago in 2010 began a process of “visioning”. Seeing that we are approaching the end of the congregation’s second century of existence and looking forward to beginning a third century of ministering in Christ’s Name to the people and community of Medina, Ohio, that vestry on retreat with the Rev. Brian Suntken, rector of Christ Church, Hudson, developed action plans for changes in programs and in administrative practices, including setting in motion the process which culminated in the Parish Vision Statement. That process included inviting several members of congregation to gather for an all day retreat in July 2010 and to participate in follow up sessions leading to adoption of a statement which clearly lays out mission: “Our reason for being is to set hearts on fire for Jesus Christ.” It describes our vision of a parish which is dedicated to “advancing the Kingdom of God through vibrant and exciting liturgy and worship, social justice ministries, promotion of the arts, and support of education.” This mission and vision have been articulated in our Sunday prayers ever since.

This understand of our mission and vision are quite a bit more dynamic than the parish’s previous mission statement, a statement which said merely that we would welcome those who came to join us and which know one could remember ever having actually been adopted by the congregation! At some point in the past, it simply appeared on the bulletin. Nonetheless, there were some who expressed unhappiness with the change. After all, “Any change, at any time, for any reason, is to be deplored.”

Living into that mission and vision, the leadership of the parish realized that this building complex, as lovely and as loved as it is, needed to be changed and over the past six months the vestry and a committee appointed by them, the Inviting the Future Committee, have sought to make the case and solicit your support, including your financial support, for that change. We have listened carefully to your feedback, as we hope you have listened with equal care to reasons for this effort.

The change at Shiloh could not have been easy for Eli. He nonetheless embraced it: he said, “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.” By no stretch of the imagination does your parish leadership pretend to be God. But like Eli we believe that change is inevitable, that change is constant, and that when embraced in the right spirit change can be positive and productive. It is our hope and prayer that the changes we are seeing at St. Paul’s Parish will be positive and productive.

As much as some of us might wish there were no changes being made, the truth is that change is inevitable and it is always in one direction. Time moves forward into the future; it never stands still and it certainly never runs backward to the past. “No turning back, no turning back!” Times change. Fashions changes. Prices change. Technology changes. People change. Change happens. It’s part of life — a biologist would say that change is life; for a living entity — and rest assured, the church IS a living entity — for a living entity to cease to change is to die.

As I said before, the day of the single-purpose church buildings is gone. All around us we see the evidence of that and we see what happens to communities who have tried to hang on to that model. I have been in the Diocese of Ohio for 8-1/2 years and during that time we have declared fifteen parishes extinct; as our convention delegates know, we declared three parishes extinct this year! I have served on the board of trustees of the diocese for nearly three years and in that time we have sold five church buildings at bargain basement prices. I do not want to see that happen at St. Paul’s, Medina, and I’m sure no one here does either!

And so today, here at St. Paul’s Church, we are going through, as in fact we always have, a time of change. If most of us could have our way, even those of us most involved in these changes, we would have to admit that we would be most comfortable if things would just stay the way they have always seemed to have been. We have been comfortable with the way things were. We have felt secure with the way things have been. But change, no matter how much it may be deplored, is inevitable and irreversible. “No turning back, no turning back!” The question is not if change will happen; it is how it will happen. Change is inevitable, but we have a choice to either be proactive, manage change, and make it positive and productive, or to be reactive, have no say in it, and suffer from it.

The early 20th Century philosopher of change, Henri Louis Bergson, suggested the illustration of a summer day.

We are stretched on the grass, [he said] we look around us — everything is at rest — there is absolute immobility — no change. But the grass is growing, the leaves of the trees are developing or decaying — we ourselves are growing older all the time. That which seems at rest, simplicity itself, is but a composite of our ageing with the changes which takes place in the grass, in the leaves, in all that is around us. [The Nature of the Soul, four lectures delivered at the University of London, October, 1911, lecture 2]

Change happens everywhere and at all times. Everything is changing. Nothing in this world ever stays the same.

The annual journal which will be given to you at the business session this morning includes spreadsheets reporting changes in parish statistics, the budget and performance financial statements for the past year, the budget for the coming year, and the changes in our financial position from the beginning of 2011 to its end. Yes, there are deficits and yes, those deficits are large. We had not quite $60,000 less in the bank on December 31 than we did the preceding January 1. About 29% of that decrease was planned in the budget for last year; we knew we would have to spend from savings as we have done for many years. About 8% of that decrease is a result of market forces; our investments are simply worth less now than they were before. The remaining 53% was spent on the Inviting the Future process and will be paid back to our operating savings out of the proceeds of the capital campaign. Some will, I know, view that deficit simply as a loss (and certainly those market value changes are that for the parish as I know they have been for all of us who have investments), but I would encourage you to view most of it as an investment in the future, an investment I believe will pay dividends of growth and vitality.

Our anticipated pledged income for the coming year is nearly identical to that which was pledged in 2011, around $220,000. But keep in mind that in addition to that, our membership has also pledged gifts to the Inviting the Future Capital Campaign which now exceed $300,000 over the next five years. That, I believe, demonstrates great commitment to the future of St. Paul’s and the directions we are moving.

Our parish statistics already show in 2011 that we are beginning to grow. Although you will see that our average Sunday attendance appears to be smaller than in 2010 by about 5%, I would ask you to remember that we held three services each Sunday in 2010 and only two each Sunday during most of 2011; in truth our Sunday morning attendance has increased on average. Our Easter Sunday attendance was slightly higher and our Christmas attendance was larger by nearly 14%. Private eucharists, which are primarily our lay eucharistic visits, increased by 72%.

In our registered membership (which I hasten to admit is a far different thing from active membership) we experienced a net increase in 2011 of about 3%. That’s not huge, I admit, but it is growth. There were six confirmations in 2011 compared to four the year before, and there were ten baptisms compared to only three in 2010. Three of those baptisms were of adults. If you took part in studying one of the Unbinding Series books (either Unbinding the Gospel or Unbinding Your Heart) you may recall that the author’s definition of an exceptionally vibrant parish was one in which there were at least five adult baptisms. With three in one year, I suggest to you, that we are moving in the direction of great vibrancy. All of these figures show change that is positive and productive.

“Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?” Jesus asked Nathanael in our Gospel lesson this morning. Then he told him, “You will see greater things than these.” These words of promise are only spoken to and meant only for Nathanael; the “you” in this declaration is the Greek singular. But the final verse brings to completion the invitation and promise of the first words of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Those first words are a question not only to Jesus’ first followers, but to every reader or hearer of the Gospel of John: “What are you looking for?”

Now, after his private conversation with Nathanael, Jesus opens the discourse to include all those around them, and you and me and all readers of this Gospel: regardless of what we may have come looking for, “Very truly, I tell you [plural], you [plural] will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” Jesus is recalling to us Jacob’s vision of a ladder stretching from earth to Heaven on which a constant parade of angels climbed up and down. The Jewish Biblical philosopher Philo said the angels in Jacob’s vision represent the continually changing affairs of men. The 4th Century Christian saint, Gregory Nazianzan, believed the angels of Christ’s promise are meant to signify that we will all take steps towards improvement and excellence, that we are always changing, always moving forward following Jesus. Regardless of what we may have come looking for, what we have found and will continue to find is change, change in the world around us and change in ourselves. “No turning back!”

This is the promise of the Gospel of John for all! This is the promise of Christ for all! This is the promise of God for God’s people here at St. Paul’s Parish. Change, inevitable change, positive and productive change, leading to improvement and excellence, advancing the kingdom of God, and setting hearts on fire for Jesus Christ.

Let us pray:

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look favorably on St. Paul’s Parish and on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry out your plan of salvation; let the whole world see and know that all things are constantly changing, that things which were being cast down are being raised up, that 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. (Adapted from a prayer in the Episcopal Ordination service, BCP 1979, page 528)

Celebration of Ministries: A Sermon

January 14, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Jennifer Spreng Leider recently became Rector of St. Paul’s Parish in Oregon, Ohio. At the Celebration of New Ministry (her “installation”) her recently-born son was also baptised. I was asked to preach the sermon. The readings (all taken from the NRSV) were Jeremiah 17:7-8, Ephesians 4:7,11-16, and John 3:1-8. In addition, the 23rd Psalm, King James Version, was recited. This is the sermon I preached.

“Blessed are those who trust in the Lord…. They shall be like a tree planted by water.” In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It is a joy and an honor and a humbling experienced to be asked by Jennifer to once again preach at a milestone in her life, this celebration of “new ministry” which also just happens to be the baptism of her and Steve’s son Ian. Although the gospel is one of the baptismal selections, neither our lesson from the Hebrew Scriptures nor our epistle are from the usual options for either the new ministry or baptism. They are selections peculiar to Jennifer, so I shall particular attention to those.

The first is from the 17th chapter of the Prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah 17 is one of those oddball chapters we find throughout the Bible in various books where good short statements of wisdom have been collected and just lumped together. The bit we heard (verses 7 and 8 ) was half of one of these bits of wisdom, half of a sort of compare-and-contrast statement given by God to the prophet. We heard the good half, the blessing half. To fully appreciate Jeremiah’s message though, we need to hear the whole thing including the curse pronounced in verses 5 and 6. I also think we need to hear it in a translation a little closer to the original Hebrew. I love the New Revised Standard Version of the Scriptures, but there are times when its laudable effort to be gender neutral and inclusive obscures the original meaning and this is one of them. Although the NRSV translation is in the spirit of the original text, it hides a point the prophet makes about the individual within community, a point that is lost in the NRSV’s plural rendering.

So here is Judaica Press’s translation The Complete Jewish Bible, with a couple emendations of my own:

Jer. 17:5-6 Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the warrior* who trusts in the merely human** and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. He shall be like a lone bush in the plain, and will not see when good comes, and will dwell on parched land in the desert, on salt-sodden soil that is not habitable.

Jer. 17:7-8 Blessed is the warrior* who trusts in the Lord; the Lord shall be his trust. For he shall be like a tree transplanted*** by the water, by a rivulet where it spreads its roots: it will not see when heat comes, and its leaves shall be green. In the year of drought will not be anxious, neither shall it cease from bearing fruit.

* Heb. geber = warrior or strong man
** Heb. adam = man or human, humankind
*** Heb. shathal = transplanted

The first word whose translation I changed is geber. It really is unfortunate that most English translations use the word “man” for the Hebrew geber in this and other verses, confusing it with adam (human being), and that the NRSV completely loses it by using the plural pronoun “those”. We really need to know and appreciate when a biblical author choses to use the singular noun geber. Its root is the verb “to prevail”; a person described as geber is a mighty warrior, a person of great strength, someone who can be expected to prevail in times of difficulty. The writer of the book of Job used the word fifteen times to distinguish the character of the geber from ordinary human beings. The prophet Zechariah goes so far as to use the word to describe God. The lesson is clear: all men and women are adam; only a few are geber.

Jeremiah then makes a distinction between those warriors who try to prevail relying on merely human strength, and those who achieve victory through dependence on God. The former he says “shall be like a lone bush in the plain”, while the latter “shall be like a tree transplanted by the water.” The word here is shathal which is usually translated as “planted”, but actually has more the sense of “transplanted”, a sense of intentionality. These aren’t trees that just ended up near the stream because the wind blew their seeds there! These are trees intentionally transplanted with planning and purpose by the farmer who cares for them and expects to see them flourish and produce fruit, transplanted into a grove or an orchard which receives the blessing of water and nourishment. These trees have been purposefully planted, with and among others, “beside the still waters.”

Unlike those who depend only on human strength, who end up alone in a parched and barren salt-sodden desert, these gebarim, these people of spiritual strength who rely upon God, are placed by God into a community, into a place where they receive the sustenance required for growth and productivity. A few verses later, Jeremiah will clearly identify God as “the source of [these] living waters” (v. 13) that are always flowing and always fresh. The point of the prophet’s image of the tree, transplanted into the grove by the river, is not simply about blessing, it is about the individual within community: it is that the blessing of the righteous is not received in solitude — it is received in the context of community.

This is the same point St. Paul makes in that portion of his letter to the church in Ephesus that we heard read this evening:

[E]ach of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift. The gifts he gave were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. (Eph. 4: 7,11-13)

The gifts we receive are not ours alone; they are for the benefit of the community, for “all of us.” The blessings we receive are not received in solitude — they are received in the context of community “to equip [all of us] for the work of ministry,” which brings us the reason for this evening’s gathering — to celebrate new ministries, Jennifer’s as rector of this parish and, perhaps more importantly, Ian’s as a new member of the body of Christ — to celebrate the transplanting of these gebarim into this grove called St. Paul’s by the water of the River Maumee.

There are several members of St. Paul’s Parish of Medina here this evening and I assure you that I know well and good that they are not here because I am preaching; most of them had no idea I would be doing so. They are here because although it has been over two years since Jennifer was temporarily transplanted into our community, she is still important to and loved by our congregation. That so many of us have driven over 100 miles to be here is testament to her, to her gifts for ordained ministry, and to the fruits of her ministry among us. On behalf of these Medinans (and many others who could not be here but love Jennifer no less), I have some requests to make of the members of St. Paul’s, Oregon:

First of all, encourage Jennifer to focus on three priorities: preaching God’s word, celebrating God’s Sacraments, and spending time in prayer. There are many, many other things that a parish priest can and will do, but these three are central to any clergy person’s ministry. All of those other things can and, in many cases, should be done by others in your community. If Jennifer preaches the word to you clearly and fully, lovingly presides at God’s Table in an inviting and welcoming manner, and centers herself in daily conversation with God, then do not begrudge her if other things are occasionally passed over.
As part of that encouragement, give her time. If you do encourage her in this way, you must do this. Most people do not realize how much time it takes to write a sermon. Most of us have written a term paper somewhere along the way; preparing a sermon is like writing a new term paper each week. It can easily consume 10-15 hours per week. If you want Jennifer to preach well, you must give her this time to prepare. Similarly, you must give her time for liturgical planning and, most importantly, time for the important work of prayer.

Many people are willing to say their clergy should put in this kind of time, but the only way Jennifer can have this time is if other demands are relaxed. You must not expect her to make every pastoral visit, oversee every parish activity, make every administrative decision. Each member of the church is given grace according to the measure of Christ’s gift and each member must work properly promoting the body’s growth. We must reclaim the shared ministry of the whole people of God, and members of the parish must join with your rector in providing pastoral care to other members, in overseeing the activities of the congregation, and in administrative governance.

Jennifer, this obligation of the congregation means that you must answer it with a similar commitment. If you would be the geber described by Jeremiah, if you would be that transplanted, never-anxious, fruit-bearing tree, you must take the time your congregation gives you and focus on these three presbyteral priorities — preaching, sacramental celebration, and prayer — most especially on the third: spend time in conversation with God every day. The budget can wait — your treasurer can do that for you; making sure the church register is accurate can wait — perhaps your altar guild can handle that; someone else can make that pastoral visit … but no one else can listen to God for you. You must spend you own time in prayer.

Members of St. Paul’s, the second request I have is that you support her with your prayers. In his treatise The Power of the Pulpit: Thoughts Addressed to Christian Ministers and Those Who Hear Them, the early 19th Century American preacher Gardiner Spring wrote these words:

[H]ow unspeakably precious the thought to all who labor in this great work, whether in youthful, or riper years, that they are … habitually remembered in the prayers of the churches! Let the thought sink deep into the heart of every church, that their minister will be very much such a minister as their prayers may make him. If nothing short of Omnipotent grace can make a Christian, nothing less than this can make a faithful and successful minister of the Gospel!

We might express this thought differently today, but Gardiner’s point remains valid. Your prayers, even more than her own, are the wellspring from which flows the water of God’s grace on which Jennifer’s ministry as a priest so much depends. If you wish her ministry to bear good fruit, do not forget to pray for her, and let her know you are doing so!

Thirdly, good people of Oregon, respect her, listen to her, and most importantly love her (and Steve and Ian, too). The writer of the letter to the Hebrews admonished church members, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and will give an account.” (Heb. 13:17a) Standing alone, that admonition seems more than a little bit authoritarian! But that’s only the first half of the admonition; it continues, “Let them do this with joy and not with sighing — for that would be harmful to you.” (Heb. 13:17b) Support Jennifer with your respect and your love, listen to her with an attentive ear, so that her ministry may be to her a source of joy. Be like the church of the Bereans described in the book of Acts who “welcomed the message [brought by Paul, Silas and Timothy] very eagerly.” The Bereans are described Luke, the author of Acts, as “noble minded” and “receptive.” Nothing gives a clergy person greater joy than working with noble minded folk who are receptive to the Word of God! And if this ministry bears the fruit of joy for her, it will bear the fruit of blessing for you.

So, Jennifer, I have a couple of additional admonitions for you … first, Grasshopper, right here and now, rid yourself of the notion that you are in charge or that the success of your pastorate is on your shoulders alone. You are not and it is not. God is in charge and God will nurture the fruit of success. You may be the priest, the rector of this congregation, but you are not its only minister, nor its only leader. You are to work with the vestry and program leaders who are your colleagues and co-leaders. Additionally, you must avail yourself of the fellowship of your clergy colleagues outside the parish — your mission-area clericus within our denomination, and your local ministerial alliance in ecumenical fellowship. Be open to constructive criticism and suggestions from within the congregation and from colleagues outside of it, and you will find your burden much lighter.

Second, settle it in your mind this instant that there are very few emergencies in the pastorate. Sure, there may be some things that need correction, but ask yourself, “Do these things need to be addressed right now this minute?” The answer is usually “No.” Remember Paul’s admonition to Timothy:

The Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kindly to everyone, an apt teacher, patient, correcting opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant that they will repent and come to know the truth. (2 Tim. 2:24-25)

Lastly, Grasshopper … If you haven’t already, find both a mentor and a spiritual director. Become friends with both a fellow clergy person and a soul friend, lay or ordained, whose opinions and counsel you trust and value. Ask them to be your counselors and commit to them that you will listen carefully to what they say, even though you may not always do what they suggest — that decision is your own. But do spend time with them on a regular basis for prayer and feedback.
Well, I’ve rambled on a lot about Jennifer’s pastorate and I’ve yet to say a word about Ian’s baptism! So I shall wrap this up quickly with just a brief observation.

Jesus said to Nicodemus that one may not enter the kingdom of God without being born again and Nicodemus asked how this could be possible, “Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” This is such a wonderfully Jewish question!

The Talmud, the tractate called Niddah, teaches that before each of us is born, while we are still in our mother’s womb, “A lamp shines over our heads with which we learn the entire Torah and see from one end of the universe to the other.” The light is held by an angel, teaches us who we are, what is expected of us, what gifts God will give us, what our purpose and our mission is. In sum, we learn the entire blueprint of our lives. We are equipped with everything we need to be gebarim, ready to prevail through the spirit of God, ready to produce the fruits of ministry.

And then … just as we are about to be born, the angel presses a finger against our mouths and says, “Shhhh….” (that’s why this little dent in our upper lips). The angel’s finger pressed against on our mouths puts us into a state of spiritual amnesia; we forget everything we have learned. After we are born, when we try to learn God’s Will, when we try to discern our gifts and our ministry, it is difficult. It seems faintly familiar and it is good and sweet, but it is only with tremendous effort, within and with the help of the community of faith, that even the tiniest ray of light begins to penetrate our minds, to illuminate our spirits. We spend the rest of our lives, taught by our faith community, learning to remember a tiny portion of the way of God that we learned in the womb.

Baptism is our entry into the Christian community of faith; it is the church’s sacramental recognition that this young geber has been planted by God in this grove or orchard to bear fruit. Baptism is the fundamental sacrament of ministry; the water of baptism assures that this young tree, transplanted here by God, “shall not fear when heat comes, and [his] leaves shall stay green; in the year of drought [he will] not [be] anxious, and [he will] not cease to bear fruit.” In baptism tonight Ian will be initiated and incorporated into the body of Christ, as we all have been, graced with gifts which he, with this community’s aid, will discern — or perhaps he will remember from the teaching he received in his mother’s womb.

Jesus said, “No one can enter the reign of God without being born of water and Spirit.” Baptism is at the heart of this gospel and at the core of the church’s mission. Since the Apostolic Age, baptism by water and baptism of the Holy Spirit have been connected. Water is administered in the name of the triune God; the Holy Spirit is invoked by anointing with oil and with the laying on of hands in the presence of the congregation.

When we baptize Ian tonight we say what we understand about ourselves as individuals and as community: that we are not lone bushes in the salt-sodden desert; that he and his mother and all of us are gebarim, mighty trees transplanted into this orchard to bear fruit, to use our gifts for the building up of the Body of Christ.

Tonight we celebrate ministry — Jennifer’s as rector in this parish — but more fundamentally, Ian’s and all of our ministry as children of God and members of the church. As baptized people of God, we respond with praise and thanksgiving to the nourishing waters of baptism, praying that God’s will be done in Ian’s life and in ours so that we shall not from bearing fruit. Amen.

Christmas Sermon 2011: Frosty the Snowman and Jesus the Christ

December 23, 2011 / / 3 Comments

As many of you know, I have a tradition of keeping my eye open, while doing my Christmas shopping, for some object to use as a physical illustration for this annual event, this sermon on the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Over the years, these illustrative objects have included a pair of Christmas stockings, a Christmas banner with the greeting misspelled, and a stuffed frog wearing a Santa hat. Finding and using the annual “focus object” has become a source of great fun for me and I hope for the congregations who’ve been subjected to my preaching.

Frosty the Snowman Plush ToyOver the past ten days or so I have been required almost every day to visit one of our larger local grocery stores, one which has a center section devoted to seasonal merchandise. On each visit as I walked through that section, one item on a top shelf kept catching my attention, but each time I declined to buy it. Every day I would go away and wonder why I was attracted to that particular thing, and those contemplations made their way into my notes for this homily.

Finally, yesterday I went to the store and bought it – meet Frosty the Snowman.

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An Open Letter to Someone About to Be Ordained

December 20, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Our son, Patrick, will be ordained to the priesthood on January 7, 2011, at Grace Cathedral in Topeka, Kansas. Since being ordained a deacon last June, Patrick has been serving as chaplain at the Seabury Academy, a private Episcopal middle- and high-school in Lawrence, Kansas. On Sundays, he has ministered in a variety of congregations in northeastern Kansas and will continue to do so once ordained a priest.

As I look forward to the New Year, it is Patrick’s new ministry that is foremost in my mind and so I share with you an open letter to him:

Dear Patrick,

The mix of emotions I am experiencing as we get close to your priestly ordination is beyond description: joy, pride, fear, apprehension, love, and many other feelings. You have already started on the great, often exciting, frequently troubling, occasionally maddening journey of ordained ministry: I am praying for God’s guidance as you continue the journey. I hope you don’t mind if I publicly share with you a few words of advice. I have made many mistakes in ministry, so I hope my experience can be useful to you.

First, preach the word honestly and genuinely; preach it as you understand it. Writing to the young bishop Timothy, St. Paul asserted that all Scripture is inspired by God, and thus he admonished Timothy to proclaim the gospel whether it was popular or not, and whether it was convenient or not. There will be many words that you can preach and teach, but never stray from the gospel as you know it.

Second, love the people committed to your care. I’m talking about agape, Patrick, not mushy sentimentality. Respect them, guard their dignity; if you disagree with them, try to do so without being disagreeable; be genuine with and to them. I have spent many hours with several clergy, both Episcopalians and those of other traditions. Many of these good men and women are hurting. They are cynical about ministry and the local church. They have been criticized and hurt by church members many times. I often find myself sharing their cynicism, their hurt, and their anger. When you feel this way, take some time for yourself; talk to a friend; seek the advice of a colleague; rely on your bishop. Try as hard as you can to not reflect your hurt back to the people you serve.

Patrick, ministry is tough; it’s demanding and it’s often painful. If you haven’t already, you soon will find out that you can’t please everyone. But you must struggle to not become cynical. You must love the people you have been called to serve – no matter what. You must try to love unconditionally as Christ loved me and you. Jesus didn’t give up on us. He loves us even when we aren’t loveable. Try to reflect that in your ministry.

A friend of mine once characterized priestly ministry as “being required to be with people in their worst nightmares, but being privileged to also share their greatest joys.” Let the nightmares go and hang on for dear life to the joys, my son.

Third, stay connected to your colleagues in ministry. Be a part of a clergy discussion group; work with a spiritual director. Ordained ministry can be and often is a lonely calling and, certainly, there are times when one needs solitude. But there will be more times when you will need the support of those who share this calling.

Fourth, make your family a priority. You and Michael are still newlyweds, and she needs and deserves your attention. The work of ordained ministry is never done, so don’t think that 80 hours a week at the school or the church is necessary to stay caught up. Accept the reality that you will never catch up fully. God willing, you will soon be a father yourself (very soon if this would-be grandfather had his choice). They will need their father, and Michael needs her husband.

One of the most heartbreaking aspects of my ministry is that I know that I failed to heed this advice myself. I spent too much time trying to be the perfect rector, trying to grow our parish in Kansas, and too little time with you and your sister as you grew up. (Truth be told, I still do that – I still spend too much time trying to be the perfect rector and I still fail at it. It’s hard to break old habits.) I’m very proud of the way you have both turned out, but I can take very little credit for that.

Patrick, you have many great days ahead of you. The church is an imperfect but wonderful gift from God. You have so much to offer, but keep your priorities in order and don’t squander your gifts. Spend time with God. Spend time with colleagues. Especially spend time with your family. Tell others the Good News of Jesus. Preach the Word. And love your students and, when you move into parish ministry, your church members with joy and acceptance.

Patrick, I am here if you ever need me. But even if you can’t call me for advice and conversation, our heavenly Father is always there for you. Remember what Paul wrote to the Church in Rome: “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 8:38-39)

I love you, my son.

Dad

My New Year’s Resolution is try to follow my own advice. I trust that the members of my parish will remind me when I fail to do so; they always do.

Baptismal Sermon for Advent 1: Tear Open the Heavens and Come Down!

November 27, 2011 / / 0 Comments

What would you do if the world were to end tomorrow? That’s a good question to be thinking about as we consider our lesson from Mark’s Gospel; that’s a good question to be thinking about as we contemplate baptizing these two boys today. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is warning his disciples about the end of time, and the picture he paints is not pretty:

the sun will be darkened,
and the moon will not give its light,
and the stars will be falling from heaven,
and the powers in the heavens will be shaken.

It’s pretty vivid, to say the least; the stuff of fantasy novels or Hollywood films. This vivid imagery had a powerful effect on Jesus’ first audience, who were Jews familiar with the compelling visions of their prophets, or on the first generation of Christians who expected Jesus to return at any moment, but that’s not really the case with us, is it? Do we really think it still makes sense, let alone actually predicts what’s going to happen? 2,000 years of no return have deadened its power for us!

Of course, predictions of the end still do attract considerable attention, much of it derisive and ridiculing, although there are also true believers. Witness the tremendous attention and preparation given after Harold Camping predicted – and heavily promoted! – that Jesus would return on May 21, and then when that failed, on October 21 of this past year. A little more than a decade ago it was Y2K; a generation ago it was Hal Lindsey and The Late, Great Planet Earth; and next year I’m sure there will be all sorts of attention paid to the ancient Mayan calendar’s apparent suggestion that the world ends on December 21, 2012. Speculation about the end of the world runs rampant. And that’s part of the problem. So many have predicted the end of the world and Jesus’ return to great fanfare and failure that they are almost a laughingstock.

But we are Bible-believing Christians who weekly stand up in church and say, “We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, [who] will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.” So when Jesus looks back to and echoes the Prophet Isaiah, and tells his followers that he will come again and how it will be, we should take it seriously!

Especially, we should take it seriously on a day when we take two infant boys and pray over them, when we douse them with water and invoke the power of God’s Holy Spirit to deliver them, open them, fill them, teach them, and send them out into the world in God’s Name, when we make them a part of the People of God, members in the Body of Christ, and participants in the Royal Priesthood of all believers. Our prayers may not seem quite so vivid, quite so fantastic, but we are doing in the lives of these children nothing less than what Isaiah did in the lives of the Hebrew People when, on their behalf, he cried out to God, “Tear open the heavens and come down!”

We should take it seriously! But it often seems that, left to our own devices, we really don’t. We don’t mind approaching God on our own terms, but we often act as if we don’t really want God getting too close. As a colleague of mine puts it, “Like a cagey, skittish cat, we approach God … a little. Slowly. With constant suspicion. And at the slightest movement we scurry in the opposite direction.”

People want to be close to God. Or, at the very least we want to want to be close to God. We want to think of ourselves as “spiritual” people and we want others to think of us that way. And we want to be safe and comfortable while we do that. But along comes Isaiah who prays for heavens to be torn open, for mountains to quake, for nations to tremble … along comes Jesus who tells us to be alert for darkening skies, for falling stars, for shaking heavens. Our general stance of skittishness, of cautious approach, of wary-curiosity is vanquished by Advent’s opening cry to God to “tear open the heavens and come down” and by our baptismal prayer that God will deliver, open, fill, teach, and send not only these children, but all of us, out into the world to do the work he has given us to do. Advent and baptism are meant to kindle in these children and in us the insatiable desire for God to come and, I say again, we should take it seriously! As Christian write Annie Dillard says,

Does anyone have the foggiest idea of what sort of power we so blithely invoke? Or, as I suspect, does no one believe a word of it? The churches are children playing on the floor with their chemistry sets, mixing up a batch of TNT to kill a Sunday morning. It is madness to wear ladies’ straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life preservers and signal flares; they should lash us to our pews.

We should take it seriously, indeed!

This is what St. Paul is saying to Christians in Corinth when he greets them, “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,” and then reminds them:

[Y]ou are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Paul’s vision for the church at Corinth is also our vision as we begin a new church year, as we baptize these young boys. Grace has been given to us, the grace of being called into the fellowship of Christ, into the communion of saints. But grace is never appropriated individually, just for oneself; it is always communal in nature, an insertion into community. This is what baptism accomplishes, for we are assured that “all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ … live in the power of his resurrection and look for him to come again in glory.”

In the verse just before our reading from the First Letter to the Corinthians begins, Paul addresses the church members as ” those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints.” By these words “sanctified” and “saints”, Paul means that church members set apart from worldly things for a special, divine purpose. In our baptismal liturgy, these children will be told that that “are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ’s own for ever.”

To be sanctified or made holy, to be marked as God’s own has practical implications; it forms and shapes all aspects of the life of the People of God, the way church members live. Throughout the Old Testament, God desires that Israel be different from the nations around them, that they engage in practices and locate themselves within a narrative that marks that difference. It’s the same in the New Testament, in which the church is called to be different from the culture that surrounds us. In our epistle reading today, Paul particularly notes that the church at Corinth is called not only “out” of the world, but “into” community: they and we were “called into the fellowship of [God’s] son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Faithfulness is a team sport that requires the unity of the church.

That faithfulness, the work of the spiritual gifts begun in us through our unity in the church, through our fellowship in Christ and with one another, is lived out through an active waiting for Christ to be revealed. This waiting is not our usual catlike skittishness, our cautious approach, our wary-curiosity; this waiting is the praying and thanksgiving, the singing and sharing that transform our speech and our knowledge, our words and our expectations, into conformity with Jesus. The community of faith itself, the one in which we find ourselves, is called to see Christ coming in its very midst, to take the end of time very seriously.

We should take it seriously, and we do. That is why today, as we begin a new church year, as we look for Christ to come again in glory, in joyful obedience to Christ, we bring into his fellowship these children, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, crying out to God, “Tear open the heavens and come down” in their lives and into ours. Amen.

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