Coming back
I'm back from Chicago. I really enjoyed Seabury and learned much about the role of the priest and how churches can become stronger parishes.
We've moved the altar a bit forward for the summer, but this may be a permanent change. We will be having discussions about the altar and pews twice in July and once in August. When we set these times, I invite you to come and participate in a discussion about how we experience space.
Throughout the last fifty years, church was one aspect of a culture based on obligation and duty. This has changed. Most of us come to church when we are able. Lots of people these days, for example, find the hour 10:00am, for example, too early (it is 9:30am, by the way, during the summer). Or they come to experience the sacred. Preaching, music and space all contribute to this experience.
Space helps convey a sense of intimacy and celebration. When people enter our space on Sunday, they ask, universally, where are all the people? It also seems like people don't really like each other because we each have our own pew.
Changing the space, however, invites people into a warmer, more intimate setting.
We'll be discussing this soon, and are in the midst of planning our move forward. Perhaps by praying as an intimate community we will be able to become friends. In the 21st century, that is what people are looking for: authentic, challenging, loving friendships.
Please pray for Kay Benda, Jean and Warren Waterhouse. The service in memory of the Waterhouses will be at 11:00am on July 14th.
We continue with our Sundays on Thursdays service at 6:30pm! Experience the mass outside, in a small setting. Inform me if you can make it - we'll always have enough chairs, but it helps me plan. Bring a dish or a salad; we'll have the grill set up. If you tell me in advance, I'll do the shopping for you that day and you can compensate me then.
Sunday Services are at 9:30am.
It is nice to be back from Chicago.
Blessings!
Comments
Father Gawain and St.
Father Gawain and St. Bartholomew' Church
I read your blog Coming Back with great interest. St. Bartholomew's has been birthed into such an exciting time and opportunity for discernment and spiritual growth. A Community in transition perhaps, because I do not believe you are in the place where you will one day be. Thats exciting, offering so much opportunity to explore who you are as a faith Community.
I too have visited Seabuy-Western many times. On one particular visit, after being so miserably lost in Evanston, I found a parking space right near the Seminary. It was just about 5:30pm during the week. The carillon was calling the Community to daily Eucharist. I was so happy, because I was in the right place at almost the right time. One can tell a while lot about a parish church, and its leadership, by the their liturgy. Bishop Denis once said to me that liturgy and space must be prepared to the best of our abilities, because you never know, there may be someone at that liturgy hearing the Word of God for the first time.... or the last.
Think about that!
Anyhow, back to Evanston, I was almost late, and in an unfamiliar sitting in the space designated for"visitors". Those outside their community. It was physically close but cut off and far. I felt like I was a spectator rather than a participant. To my shock and surprise, without asking, one of the faculty sitting in front of me, in choir, found the pages of their liturgy and handed them to me with precise timing, anticipating what i would need and when. Nothing was said, only a warm smile communicated a sincere welcome. This was a gift , to someone new who was visiting for the first time. We need to remember that every liturgy is an opportunity to present and re-present ourselves as the body of Christ in all his Glory.
My point is people, by their actions and intentions create healthy intimacy and community celebration. Of course the chapel of St. John the Divine at Seabury-Western is much smaller than St. Bartholomew's; but it also has space challenges which they have worked through and probably will continue to explore as they discern their call as a seminary, in an ever changing world and church.
Closer to home, Trinity Church Wall Street had a similar challenge as St. Bartholomew's, but worked through in the 1970s. They were resourceful, creative, functional, and authentic in their vision; without compromising the integrity of who they are as a parish church, or that glorious space. I don't think it cost them alot of money either, as they just made some small changes which had big impact on how they presented themselves to the community, diocese and world.
As you move forward do not be afraid. You have great potential and opportunity to rediscover, redefine your calling as a reconciling and healing community in White Plains. This involves people first, at the Altar, being fortified, strengthened and empowered.
The sacred space and its furniture will reflect who you are as a faith Community. It is a choice, intention as well as action. One person in a pew or sitting in the back of the church isolated, presents a message of inwardly directed gloomy piety, rather than an open, inviting and welcoming. Which I think St. Bartholomew's is growing into.
That man, at the Chapel of St. John the Divine in Evanston, who by intention and action, reflected to me who they were as a seminary, and worshiping community, to me the visitor. We have all had experiences like this. Some good and some horrid. But these memories remain with us for ever and help discern faith; as a healing instrument of God's grace, in a confusing, fragmented and at times dangerous world.
Isn't that what St. Bartholomew's Church called to do?