|
The
Seventh Sunday after Epiphany
Isaiah
43:18-25; Psalm 41; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12 Paul
wrote a letter to the Church in Corinth.
He wrote it because he was unable to make a personal visit.
No doubt he had a legitimate reason for the cancellation, but the
Corinthians were affronted. They saw him as indifferent to their feelings.
They considered him to be less than straightforward with them
about his work. And so he
writes another letter to them, affirming their ministry and asking for
their continued support. “Our
word to you,” he tells them, “has not been ‘Yes and no’.” You simply cannot say yes and no in the same breath as though
nothing mattered but the whim of the moment.
You can’t, he reminds them, be hot and cold when it comes to
the faith. The ministry in
which they all participate calls for a response.
It calls, he tells them, for them to say “Amen” to the glory
of God. By saying
“Amen” they are asserting that they are part of the saving act of
Christ. By saying
“Amen” they are giving their blessing to Paul’s ministry.
They give their assent, and God affirms the ministry.
God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ and assured by
Paul’s preaching to them. Paul
is following God’s plan for his ministry.
I
have to say, it is a wonderful reading for us to consider as we come to
our annual Vestry meeting. Vestry
is the meeting in the life of the parish when we review our ministry and
give our consent to move forward as the people of God.
It is a time to reflect on where God is leading God’s church. It is a time to reflect on our place in God’s church.
Where is God calling us? To
what new ministries? To
what new depths of spirituality? And
so today calls for your assent! What we want from each of you today is
your “Amen” to the ministry that has gone on as St. Francis during
this past year. We want
your “Amen” to the ministry that we as a parish will take forward
into this new year. I
want to remind you of some of the highlights of the past year. You can read them in my report to the Vestry, but I want to
talk about them within the context of our worship.
We sometimes forget that the business of the church and the
worship of the church are not separate entities.
Everything we do has to do with who we are as the people of God.
And so I remind you of our Mission Statement.
It is on your bulletin every week as a reminder of our call.
Read it with me this morning.
"Together
we are walking with and celebrating the spirit We
try to put it before you as often as possible, hoping that it will
influence the way in which we do ministry together.
As
Francis did, so we celebrate the Good News of Christ.
We worship God, serve our world, our country and our community
and strive to be instruments of peace. Our
Mission Statement was the basis for the choice of our areas of ministry.
All of our work is divided into four areas: Worship, Education,
Pastoral Ministry, and Outreach. In the Narrative Budget that is presented to the parish each
year, we focus on those four areas.
They are an excellent reminder of the work that we are called as
a community to do, and of the many ways in which we live out our
baptismal covenant. We
come together to worship. It
is, of course, my work, part of my job description, but the liturgy,
literally the work of the people, is the work you do Sunday by Sunday.
It takes many of us to provide the excellent worship that takes
place at St. Francis of Assisi. We
have a dedicated group of Lay Readers and servers, excellent
well-prepared lectors, Communion ministers, a growing choir,
sidespeople, and altar guild. We
provide Educational opportunities for our congregation, both through
programs for our children and youth, and also through Lenten studies,
special series and visiting preachers.
We provide pastoral ministry to people through home, hospital and
nursing home visits. And we do Outreach – FaithWorks, Christmas
hampers, Samaritan’s Purse, Infinity dinners, Food Vouchers, the
Deacon’s Cupboard. My
thanks to all of you who work tirelessly to accomplish the work of our
church! In particular I thank the wardens, deputy warden and treasurer. This church would not function without all of you.
I
reported last year about our difficult negotiations with the Church
Centre. In an attempt to alleviate the ongoing financial burden that the
agreement was placing on St. Francis, we have tried for several years to
make the financial arrangements more equitable.
With the help of the Diocese including legal counsel, we were
able finally in May to come to an agreement with the Church Centre,
which gives us more control over rental income and the use of our space.
While an agreement was reached, there is still some residue of
anger and resentment. Hopefully
that does not spill over into our congregational life.
Also hopefully we will be able to heal those rifts.
We
have had to deal with several other difficult situations over this past
year, particularly last summer. There
were a number of swarmings of the building as well as acts of violence
and vandalism. With the
co-operation of the city and the mall the property is now monitored, and
the problems have been alleviated.
As well a group of parishioners from our church undertook a major
clean up of the landscaping. In the spring we will be able to really enjoy the fruit of
our labour. We
have continued to grow in many ways.
Our operating deficit is under control, thanks to the hard work
of our wardens, our treasurer and the stewardship committee.
But we really need to grow in numbers.
I know that numbers do not represent the whole picture of the
church. But if St. Francis
is to become all that it is meant to be, we need to grow in numbers.
We lost some key families last year.
We gained some as well. But
there are new areas within our parish boundaries that do not even know
we exist. We are hidden back here, surrounded by stores, townhouses and
apartments. Our signage is
lacklustre. People are not sure what to make of a place called “the
Church Centre”. It is a
challenge, but it is a challenge that we can overcome.
I am going to continue to remind you that it is your mission to
reach out to your friends and neighbours.
People need to be invited. We
will continue to offer special services and events that provide an
opportunity to bring someone to church.
Let
us continue with our commitment to the work of this church.
Let us grow together in faith.
Blessings,
|