Dear Friends,

I found myself struggling to write something “new” as a reflection for Thanksgiving. And then it struck me. All I needed to do was to write three words: “Thank you, God.”

Thank you, God, for faithful servants who prepare our house for worship each Sunday, who greet us, lead us, and feed us.
Thank you for those who lift their voices in song, giving us confidence to add our own voices to glad songs of praise.
Thank you for disciples who teach our children the Good News of Jesus Christ, inviting them to explore the wonder of God’s presence in their lives.
Thank you for persons of prayer who keep those we name each Sunday in their hearts throughout the week.
Thank you for those whose lively faith and deep commitment embody for us  the compelling call to discipleship.
Thank you for those whose honest questions about faith and belief lead us to deeper understandings of what it means to be a disciple.
Thank you for servants who bring food for Harvest on Vine, who travel to St. Luke’s/San Lucas with clothes and goods for those in need, and whose love for their neighbor is made manifest in ways seen and unseen every day.
Thank you for colleagues and staff persons whose love and devotion make possible the ministries of us all.
Thank you for those who accept the mantle of leadership, and give of their time and skill to build up the Body of Christ.
Thank you for those who tend to our finances, and who inspire us to be generous in our giving.
Thank you for those who tend to our building and our grounds, who create places where we may work and worship in the beauty of holiness.
Thank you for those whose long and faithful years of membership bring us wisdom and knowledge, and a deep appreciation for all that has been.
Thank you for those who are the newest among us, whose insights bring  fresh understandings of the Gospel, and excitement about what is yet to be.
Thank you for all those  blessings we see, and also for the countless acts of love and devotion unseen by us, but received and acknowledged by you.
Thank you, God, for giving us a community in which we discover your great generosity.
Thank you for the gift of Jesus Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit, blessing us, sustaining us, and forming us as a joyful and grateful people.

Faithfully,

Tom

Dear Friends,

During the last week we have continued to hear and see news of the devastation caused by Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. We know that relief agencies are doing all that they can to bring aid to those who are suffering. As with other disasters, we may wonder how we can help. And, as with other disasters, those directly involved in helping are reminding us how unhelpful some assistance can be. In the aftermath of such crises, all kinds of material goods – clothing, toys, and blankets, for example – are mailed by individuals or groups hoping to make a difference. Unfortunately, most of those gifts simply complicate the task for those on the ground.

Frankly, in situations like this, the best assistance we can offer, in addition to our prayers, is the gift of money. One of the blessings of our parish being part of the larger Episcopal Church is that we have an effective way to respond. Episcopal Relief and Development is working directly with the Episcopal Church in the Philippines to meet the immediate needs of the survivors of the storm. You can find out more about the work of ERD in the Philippines, as well as many other places around the world, at their website: https://www.episcopalrelief.org

You can also make a contribution to ERD through St. John’s. Checks can be made out to St. John’s Episcopal Church (with ERD in the memo line) and all donations will be sent on to the relief agency. We know this is not the first, nor will it be the last kind of disaster that evokes in our our hearts the question, “What can we do?” Fortunately, we do have a faithful and effective answer to that question.

Faithfully,

Tom

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, November 10, 1841, St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charlestown was consecrated as a house of worship and dedicated to the glory of God. Now, 172 years later, November 10 falls on a Sunday as well. While we’ll have a grander celebration for our 175th anniversary a few years hence, we will commemorate the consecration of the church at our services this Sunday.

The parish was actually organized in 1840, and the cornerstone for the new building was laid on May 5, 1841. Remarkably, six months later the congregation was moving into its new house of worship. We have copies of the Order of Service from both the cornerstone laying and the consecration, and they will be on display at church this Sunday.

At both services, a hymn was sung that includes this stanza:

These walls we to thine honour raise,
Long may they echo in thy praise;
And thou, descending, fill the placeWith the rich tokens of they grace.

As I looked over those services, this stanza, and particularly the last two lines, jumped out at me. I took note of those words because of the ways in which the prayer being offered through them has been answered in the life of St. John’s. I cannot bear witness to how it was answered ten, twenty, or even fifty years ago.  But the rich tokens of God’s grace are evident everywhere in our life together.

Just this past Sunday, we saw an outpouring of grace as six young children were marked with water and oil, sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and welcomed as Christ’s own for ever. We saw an abundance of grace at the Bake Sale in the generosity of those who are supporting our Children’s Choir. We welcomed visitors and newcomers into our midst, inviting them to the banquet of bread and wine which itself is a means of grace, feeding all of us each week. Then there is the generosity of persons who are pledging to St. John’s, a number of them for the first time, a clear response to God’s good work in our lives.

Tokens of grace, signs of God’s gracious love freely offered to us, are manifest in this community. And as we recognize them, we are drawn more and more into a way of living that is not defined by the question of “Is there enough?” but rather by the affirmation that God’s grace is sufficient, and that we are blessed. And with that affirmation, we can look forward to a future as rich in faith as the past has been, both in and beyond the hallowed walls of St. John’s.

Faithfully,

Tom

Dear Friends,

I am about to leave the office and head up the hill to Monument Square.  All kinds of goblins, witches, scarecrows, princesses, pirates, and any number of creatures are gathering there for the Halloween parade around the square. It is a great Charlestown event, and even as I write, two small firefighters no older than three are eagerly passing by the Parish House.

Halloween of course, is a chance to put on a mask, or create a disguise, and to be someone else or something else for an evening. We move a little bit beyond who we are to imagine ourselves as someone – or something else.

Today I am headed up the hill. But on Sunday, as on every Sunday, I will be headed here to church, to do something that is quite the opposite: to discover who I really am. If a special holiday allows me to imagine myself as a fearsome creature, then the weekly experience of worship invites me to see myself as the creature I truly am: fearfully and wonderfully made, created in the image of God, and bestowed with particular gifts for the fulfillment of God’s purpose.  And frankly, that can be a little frightening. But it can also be compelling

If Halloween allows us to step outside of our regular lives for just a little bit, then the community of the church, in its worship and in its witness, always invites us to step more deeply into an understanding of who we truly are. So have fun being someone else tonight. And then on Sunday, join us, to be who you truly are. As we remember saints who have gone before us and found their fulfillment in life, and as we welcome the newly baptized, we will discover anew who it is that God is calling us to be, both as individuals and as a community of faith.

Faithfully,

Tom