Worship – Page 7 – St. Andrew's Episcopal Church

5th Anniversary of the Ordination of Deacon Wanda Kloza

We were blessed this morning to celebrate with The Rev. Deacon Wanda Kloza as we as the church celebrate her 5th Anniversary of her ordination. Wanda was raised us by our parish as a deacon and has served our parish and the diocese faithfully these past five years. Wanda continues to inspire, challenge, and empower us to serve God by serving our neighbors, and to do it in community.

Shortly after I arrived here at St. Andrew’s, I was asked to represent the parish and offer our support to Wanda’s ordination as a deacon. As we sat before the Standing Committee, Wanda was asked, “Why do you need to be ordained to do what God has called you to do?” A typical answer could be, “Well, if I have a collar around my neck, then people will recognize that I am doing God’s work, or they’ll feel comfortable talking with me about their problems,” since often the response involves the value of being recognized as someone representing the church. That’s important, but Wanda, however, gave the most extraordinary answer to this question, and one which will always reside in my heart. Wanda said, “I will have bound my heart to God in a brand new way.” Wanda understands that ordination sets us aside to represent the church in our world ~ and Wanda understands it is a deep and solid spiritual commitment to bind our heart to the God whose heart fills the world with love. Wanda is a deeply faithful person who understands how to surrender completely to the God she loves.

While Wanda was at St. Andrew’s, she was instrumental in the development of SPO (Shippensburg Produce Outreach) and has continued her ministry of feeding the hungry as a Diocesan deacon, spearheading the Diocesan ministry of “Feed My Sheep”. Wanda continues to be involved with our parish, worshiping with us when she is able, and with involvement in our Youth Mini-Mission Events.

I’m sure you feel the same way I do, life is always better when Wanda is around! There’s a spark of energy, an openness to the Spirit, and a drawing together of community which she so naturally brings with her.

Congratulations, Deacon Wanda! We love you!!

Blessings,

Mother Barbara

Absalom Jones Feast Day Celebrated Feb. 12th

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast Day of Absalom Jones, the first African-American Episcopal priest. He helped form St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Philadelphia. Absalom Jones was born into slavery and ultimately was freed and bought freedom for his wife. He had the love of Christ in his heart, was a great evangelist, and was dedicated to breaking the bonds of slavery and to do it in the name of Christ.

Our Godly Play class heard the story of Absalom Jones and then created puppets depicting characters in his story. Mother Barbara also preached on the texts celebrating his feast day and told the story of how he answered Jesus’ commandment to “love one another as I have loved you”. To read the sermon, please go to the sermon archive on this website.

Here are some photos from the day:

Absalom Jones is part of our Episcopal heritage. It’s good to continue our education about him and our Episcopal story.

The beauty of our church.

We are blessed by many people who faithfully and often quietly work behind the scenes to beautify our church. Today I am especially grateful for our flower guild. Each week, our altars are adorned with lovely flower arrangements, created with care and with artistic talent. It’s a gift that is freely shared with us and for which we are grateful.

This morning the flowers were exceptionally lovely. On this rather cloudy morning with intermittent snow showers, it was such a joy to come in and see these beautiful flowers, inviting us further into the beauty and glory of God.

It is true that the church space can shape or reflect what we believe about God. I think our church speaks loudly that we are drawn together in community through beauty, warmth, and the light of Christ which is always shining through the altar window. Thanks be to God!

The essential paradox: Christ the King on the cross

This Sunday we celebrate the Feast Day of Christ the King. We end this liturgical year hearing the story of Jesus’ crucifixion. This has got to be the greatest paradox in all of our Christian faith and narrative. Have you ever wondered how the words “crucifixion of Jesus” are connected to “Christ the King”? What about this association could possibly make sense? In the gospel of Luke, a simple statement announces this dramatic act: Jesus is crucified, set between two criminals, one who joins in the taunting and mocking, and the other who recognizes the reality of Jesus and asks to be remembered in paradise.

During my trip to the Holy Land, one of the most meaningful experiences I encountered was at the Garden of Gethsemane. It was the moment when I comprehended the role and truth of Jesus’ suffering — the suffering we are all invited into. Jesus suffered so that he would know and sanctify our very humanly existence which includes suffering, but most of all Jesus’ suffering was essential because the world was not yet ready to claim him as the Lord of lords, the King of kings; not ready yet to allow him to be sovereign over their lives, to move toward hope and promise, rather than despair. Jesus only wanted our world to be changed by God’s abundant love, but people rejected it. They couldn’t see it; they couldn’t move toward or into it. Sadly, we can see remnants of that kind of disbelieving in our world today. But we can make a different choice (preview of my sermon on Sunday). We can indeed live our lives as if Jesus were our King. We can lay down our cloaks, hailing Jesus with the words, “Hosanna in the highest!” We pray it each Sunday: “for thine is the Kingdom, power and glory, now and forever.” Let us imagine together what it means for Jesus’ kingdom to be for us now, in our lives. This is what he whispered to the criminal to his side in his statement, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Here are some of my favorite photos from our time in Gethsemane. I hope they speak to you, as they did to me.

garden-of-gethsemane-worship — Our prayer service as we entered this space.

garden-of-gethsemane-olive-trees-and-sky — The olive trees, mighty and strong, bringing forth new growth out of a deadness within.

garden-of-gethsemane-old-olive-tree — An aged tree, surviving because of it’s ability to keep finding new life.

garden-of-gethsemane-garden-prayer — A meaningful prayer

garden-of-gethsemane-garden-peace — The Prince of Peace.

garden-of-gethsemane-cross — The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end — and everything in between.

garden-of-gethsemane-cross-2 — One of the many expressions of the cross of Christ in Jerusalem.

garden-of-gethsemane-church-fresco — The beauty of the frescos depicting the agony of Christ.

garden-of-gethsemane-church-franciscan-monk — People in prayer, especially the Franciscans who claimed these sites as holy.

garden-of-gethsemane-church-ceiling — The amazing ceiling of the church . Made me think that “the heavens adore thee!”

garden-of-gethsemane-church-door2 — The truth of the Olive branch – the branch of righteousness.

Christ is King. Alleluia. Alleluia!

Coming together as the Body of Christ: A Pastoral Letter

Dear Friends,

This week, we as a nation participated in the election of our next president; the campaign was often polarizing, contained hateful language and hurtful rhetoric, and raised legitimate issues. Many of us are bewildered as to how we have arrived at this place of major division among good and faithful people; some are confused at other people’s reaction to the results; some are elated at the results, others are distraught and afraid. Wherever you find yourself, please know that on Sunday morning, we will come together as the Body of Christ, united by a love which is more powerful than any division humankind can construct, united by a love centered in the healing balm of Jesus, united by a love which calls us to see the face of Christ in each other, and united by a love which is about moving forward in reconciliation.

Here are some assurances I offer you:
1) I am your pastor. Wherever you fall on the political spectrum, whatever your reaction to the result of the election might be, I am your pastor. I am called, and I believe that it is my responsibility, privilege and joy, to meet you wherever you are, in any situation, with love. This, I promise you, will always be true.

2) I am your priest. I believe and affirm that the Lord’s table is broad and wide, and that all are invited. Especially in the Episcopal Church, we believe that our diversity is our strength, as we live into our baptismal covenant and respect the dignity of all people. I believe that by God’s might we will be nourished for the work ahead, helping us to build and live into the policies and future state of the nation, which will bring God’s kingdom ever nearer.

3) I am your teacher. I will continue to preach the gospel, the good news of Christ, which, at times, will be challenging to some and comforting to others. I am also here to sit with you, listen to you, explore your questions, and offer resources to help you look at the social justice issues raised in this election and explore how the heart of the gospel informs our decisions. I look forward to the time when we as a people can find ways to come together to have conversations on these issues, to make positive changes in our community which protect the rights of all and draw the marginalized into the center of God’s care, by our actions.When Mother Betsy and I were walking the streets in the Old City in Jerusalem last week, I said to someone, who was kind enough to offer us directions, “I love your city!”. He replied, “Oh, it’s not my city. It’s everyone’s city. When we can figure out how to live in peace here, the whole world will be at peace.” I feel that same way about our parish. We are poised to be an example to others, to be a community that finds a sense of peace among people who care for each other, who respect one another, who want to learn from one another, who can hold different opinions and still all kneel at the rail and praise the God who loves us all.

Forgiveness, patience, perseverance, generosity of spirit, dedication and commitment to something bigger than ourselves will be required of each of us as we move forward as a parish community and as a nation. I trust God will pour God’s grace upon us so we can do this hard and holy work.

In Christ’s love,
Mother Barbara+

Ready to come home.

This morning I took with me the altar veil (the cloth which covers the chalice and paten) which was made out of Gretchen’s wedding dress. I chose this item to bring from St. Andrew’s, since it represented to me a true understanding of community and communion, the giving of oneself to the greater good and the glory of God. It represented to me so much of what I found as the place of my resurrection: self-emptying, surrender, commitment, and dedication to following Jesus.

Today I laid it upon the marble slab, which somehow oozes this fragrance, perhaps of myrrh, and feels like a very holy space to me. I flattened it out, in the midst of others who were placing crosses, icons, embroidery, or their hands upon the holy altar of Jesus’ healing.

img_2796-1 — Mother Barbara offering a part of us to be anointed where Jesus’ body was laid.

I prayed for our parish, for healing and grace to abound, for courage and strength to follow the way of the cross to pervade our every move, to turn ours hearts ever more toward the ones in our neighborhoods who desperately need to be drawn into community. I felt grace. I felt abundance. I felt Jesus blessing us, this day and always.

I return to you this week, with an open heart and a renewed sense of gratitude and joy, that we have found each other and offer ministry together out of our love of Christ.

Pilgrimage: Returning to the Place of our Resurrection Part II

So yesterday, I was reunited with a place of resurrection by completely surrendering to God, through my prayers at the Western Wall. It was a powerful opening within me that burst open my awareness of my love of God.

Today, we travelled to Bethlehem, which is only 7 miles from Jerusalem. For some reason, the physical distance between these important points in the Biblical narrative are much less than I had imagined. We had the amazing opportunity to arrive at the Church of the Nativity, which is built upon the spot where Jesus was born, where heaven and earth were joined, to open us for us our salvation, at the time to receive the invitation to celebrate the Eucharist with the Franciscan monks in the grotto of the Star of Bethlehem (the location of the manger).

2016-10-31-07-34-52 — The Star of Bethlehem, the place designated as the birthplace of Jesus.

We received the bread of life in Bethlehem, the city whose name means, “House of Bread”. The mass was held in Latin, but somehow the rhythm of the Eucharist was familiar to all and our experience transcended words we did not comprehend.

2016-10-31-07-37-06 — Mother Betsy and Mary Grace, preparing for the Eucharist in this holy spot.

The second part that God showed me today in my pilgrimage to the place of resurrection is our connection to the suffering of the world. Prior to the Eucharist, we met in a nearby grotto, which when excavated, revealed the bones of many babies, the Holy Innocents, the babies as our prayer named as “those who bore the price of our salvation”. I was painfully aware that our salvation certainly came at the expense of Jesus’ life, but also others have deeply suffered as a result of the love God released into the world upon Jesus’ birth, the love which others feared and felt threatened by (and still do). When we surrender to God, we bear the suffering in our world. That’s just part of it we must be willing to embrace.

I’ve learned this past year, often through my reading of Richard Rohr, that we cannot separate the “mountain top experience” of Eucharist in the grotto where Jesus was born with the suffering which resulted from this glorious act. They are the part of the same; two sides to a coin. We must embrace both of them to be fully Christians.

We then went to the Church of the Angels, which was astonishing! It was at the shepherd’s field, where the shepherds heard the message from the angels and ran into Bethlehem (not nearly as far away as I had previously imagined). The chapel was simple and true and we sang “The Shepherds watched their flocks by night” and it was a holy time. But what struck me most was the altar. I lifted the altar cloth to reveal these amazing statues of angels holding up the altar. And isn’t it true — that it is our humility, our prayer, our watchfulness, and our turning our faces toward God which hold up the altar of God, where Jesus’ love can be broken open. Don’t you think that it is our response of love that opens and supports the release of love borne to all people through the Eucharist?

2016-10-31-11-14-53 — Shepherd holding up the altar

2016-10-31-11-14-34 — Prayer holding up the space for God to be released.

2016-10-31-11-14-23 — Human humility opening the way for God’s love to be released.

2016-10-31-11-13-45 — Shepherd’s face turned toward God.

We also went by “The Wall”, the dividing wall that separates Israel from the occupied territory of Palestine. It’s ugly and oppressive. I have learned this is a very complex situation (Israeli and Palestinian relations) that I can’t yet understand, but want to know more and yearn to see the “Prince of Peace” who was born in this tiny town of Bethlehem to reign in this conflicted area.

Surrender, Suffering, Salvation. These words and movements of our hearts seem to flow together for me in a brand new way. Thanks be to God!

Tomorrow we head out into the Judean desert to celebrate the Eucharist as the sun rises, then off into Petra. This is the ultimate trip of a lifetime. I feel so blessed to be here, as I hold you all in my prayers. I can’t wait to share this all with you upon my return. Many blessings and much love to you all, Barbara+

I’ll post a gallery on facebook of more photos.

Touching a piece of my resurrection

Today I found a part of what I came searching for as a pilgrim. I framed my pilgrimage in John Phillip Newell’s understanding that a pilgrimage is a return to the place of your resurrection. I learned today that the place of my resurrection involves complete surrender to God. I experienced this release and joy at the Western Wall (previously called the Wailing Wall). This is the only remaining portion of the 2nd temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE. Jews come here as a pilgrimage and also, it appeared today, as a regular or even daily ritual in their worship life. Often people write prayers on small slips of paper and insert them into the wall. I wrote mine, and it became a profession of my love for God ~ my complete surrender to the love which drives my life.

As Mother Betsy and I were walking toward the wall, with our head coverings on and a sense of reverence in our hearts, the image that came to my mind, heart, and soul was when Betsy and I were preparing to walk down the aisle for her ordination as a deacon, and she looked at me with wide-eyes and said, “I feel like I’m getting ready to marry Jesus!”. I replied, “Yes, Betsy, you are.”

Today, as I approached the wall, in the midst of women whose hearts were turned to the same God, I touched the wall, laying my hands and head upon the hard smooth surface, and prayed from the depths of my heart. I prayed for my family, then my parish family, then allowed prayers to float to my heart, and then I ended with a complete sense of love and union with God. Tears filled my eyes, reverence and awe filled my heart, and a peace settled into my soul, that once again, I opened the veil and lived into the vow I made in baptism and ordination, that indeed, my heart was filled with the love of God. This is a part of our resurrection, our understanding that we and our lives are completely dedicated to loving God. I feel blessed and honored to have taken my place among women of God who turn their thoughts, cares, devotion, and love to the God so present in this holy site.

We continued our journey, next to the Dome of the Rock, the site of Abraham’s potential sacrifice of Issac and the third holiest site is Islam, where Muhammed was taken on his night journey to Jerusalem. My favorite image from this place where we were clearly guests invited to honor another’s understanding of our God, was listening to a teacher chant the Koran to another, filling the air with beautiful sounds and a sense of passing along the faith.

From these two powerful experiences of witnessing other expressions of obedience and observance to the God of the three Abrahamic faiths, we came home to the Cathedral and joined in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. There is much to ponder from this day but my sense is that faith or God is not to be claimed, controlled, nor put boundaries around, but rather we are called to show respect for and appreciation for the multitude of ways God can be honored in people’s lives.

The other powerful experience for me today was going to the Church of St. Anne’s where we saw the pools of Bethsaida, where Jesus performed healing miracles. It was amazing to walk down into the lowest level excavated which contained the pools that Jesus would have seen and where he spoke to the man who had waited years to go into the pools and Jesus said, “Get up and walk”. We offered prayers and received anointing and I left with a broader awareness of the healing grace offered to us by Christ.

2016-10-30-06-30-51 — Sunrise over the city of Jerusalem

2016-10-30-06-46-13 — Prayers of devotion at Western (wailing wall)

2016-10-30-06-46-39 — Sending our prayers to God

2016-10-30-07-59-14 — Koran being taught through chant

2016-10-30-07-38-59 — Dome of the Rock- holy site of Islam

2016-10-30-08-50-05 — Anointing at St. Anne’s Church

2016-10-30-09-01-13 — Healing pools at Bethsaida

2016-10-30-11-10-08 — Holy Eucharist at St. George’s Cathedral, Jerusalem

Moving deeply into the Spirit of Christ

So, I still don’t really know what day of the week it is and knowing the time of the day here becomes even more complicated because tonight is their end of Daylight Savings time, so we set our clocks back tonight, which is a gift, since we leave touring tomorrow at 6:15 a.m. But this day was a great and deeply moving and spiritual day.

Here are all the places we visited:

Garden of Gethsemane
Dominus Flevit – the church commemorating the place of Jesus’ lament over Jerusalem (Luke 13:34-35)
Church at Bethpage (beginning of Palm Sunday procession)
Caiaphas Palace (saw the jail where Jesus stayed the night before his execution) and where Peter’s denial 3 times occurred.
Judean desert (saw the place of the Moabites, Jebusites, Edomites — all those difficult names to pronounce).
Ate lunch in the West Bank at a Christian family’s home
Heard a talk from an Arab Palestinian Muslim

Amazing day! Again, I came away with more questions than knowledge, but of course, I always tell others I love questions, so I have to know for myself that’s a good thing too. My image of the day is of a tightly woven rope, that is beginning to unravel, one string at a time, for me to look more closely at. I trust God will put it all back together and it will be stronger, but there are questions to explore and ponder.

Here’s my list of learnings or questions for this evening:

I understand Jerusalem to be a city for and of Jews, but now understand why it is also a city for and of Christians.
When we drove by the Jewish section of Jerusalem, being their Sabbath, they blocked the roads off so their Sabbath could not be disturbed. I found that fascinating — just like a Rule of Life, they construct their lives to support their beliefs and relationship with God.
There was a lot of physical and geographic movement of Jesus in that last day, up and down the hills, in and out of the city, into the refuge of their friends’ home, and out in public. Made me wonder how our journey mirrors this particular part of Jesus’ walk?
We saw a really old olive tree in the Garden. The olive tree is hollow and before it dies, sends up sprouts. You can see where this happens. It sums up resurrection to me — before something dies, there is always the potential and expectation for new life.
Via negativity– a new term for me to explore — how our suffering is connected to Jesus’. I think this is true when our suffering comes from the rejection of love and truth we attempt to bring into the world, as Jesus did, and we are faced with the same sad truth that not everyone wants to live in love, wants to receive love, and is able to share love.
There’s been a lot of conflict around protecting holy sites. But didn’t Jesus tell us that it’s not what’s on the outside that’s important but what’s in our heart. This made me think a lot about the missional church, how it’s not about protecting the holy site, but by finding the holy in all places by taking love into the world, in and outside of the church. This makes sense to me and is faithfully following Jesus.
I’d love to center a stewardship campaign upon Jesus’ answer to his disciples when they asked him what they should say to the person whose donkey they are taking for Jesus’ ride into Jerusalem. Jesus said, “Tell them their master needs it.”
There’s a great icon in the church of Caiaphas’ palace of the post-resurrection appearance of Jesus to Peter, with the fish bake on the beach, and Jesus instructs Peter to “feed my sheep”. Makes me see how resurrection and feeding the hungry are inherently connected.
I was drawn to the faces of the people waiting and watching Jesus come into Jerusalem as the triumphant King — they got it right — they were in awe and reverence, and also full of trepidation and an awareness that life will never be the same. It make me think this is the same expression we all should have when we or others are baptized.
Faces watching Jesus on Palm Sunday procession from Church at Bethpage

Window in chapel of Church of the Tears (Dominus Fletiv) where Jesus cried over Jerusalem

The Judean desert (West Bank territory) from the edge of Jerusalem

Carved images of faces anticipating the arrival of Jesus on Palm Sunday

2016-10-29-07-40-10 — A very old olive tree in the Garden of Gethsemane

2016-10-29-13-08-12 — Family making us a great lunch. Baking over was sealed with marble slab and then sealed with mud.

2016-10-29-09-43-04 — The hole through which Jesus was lowered with a rope around his waist into the jail cell where he awaited his trial and execution

I thought I’d be sharing insights with you each day. Instead, I’m sharing questions, which you and I can explore when I return. Isn’t God just tricky! Today we entered into the hard part of the betrayal of Jesus, but I was left in a hopeful place. This makes me realize the power of the resurrection.

Taking something of you along with me.

As I prepare to leave tomorrow for my Holy Land Pilgrimage, I will be carrying each of you in my heart and in my prayers. I also wanted to take something along from the parish to be blessed at a very special spot — the area where Jesus’ body was laid as it was prepared for the tomb. Many people bring items to be blessed to this spot and I wanted to bring something from us that would be meaningful. I thought and thought about this and finally this past Sunday, in conversation with someone, the idea came to me! I knew it had to be from our altar, since that’s where we connect to the risen Christ is such a fundamental way and it is the moment in the service that we live out of the rest of the week.

This is what I’m taking:

It’s the veil (the cloth which covers the chalice on the altar) that was made from Gretchen Kitts’ wedding dress. To me it represents the interweaving of our lives with the life of Christ. Gretchen offered her wedding dress as a way, I imagine, to share the joy, commitment, and life-long love of her marriage to the God who offers us all those things as well (joy, commitment, and life-long love). Thank you, Gretchen, for your gift offered to the parish many years ago. It will be carried with me to the Holy Land and blessed.

Praying with our beads.

With our prayer beads in hand, the fire crackling in the chiminea, and the stars glistening above, we sat outside and prayed our beads. We prayed three different forms of prayers, as we worked our way around the beads we had created and strung. We all left in a quiet contented place, prepared to pray the beads ourselves, in the quiet of our homes.

We will gather all the beads one Sunday and bless them all and then use them during the Prayers of the People. We have plenty of supplies left, so if you are interested in making them, just let us know. We’re happy to sit with you and help out anytime.

If you already pray Evening Prayer, you may want to use this form of the prayer with your beads:

An Evening Prayer

The Cross
Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever. Amen.

The Invitatory
Open my lips, O Lord,
and my mouth shall proclaim
Your praise.

The Cruciforms
Guide us waking, O Lord,
and guard us sleeping;
that awake we may watch
with Christ, and asleep
we may rest in peace.

The Weeks
Jesus, lamb of God, have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins, have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world, give us your peace.

Affirming our Healing Ministry

At St. Andrew’s, we are blessed with a number of people whose gifts include offering healing prayers to those in need of Christ’s healing love and grace. This group gathers twice a month for scripture study, prayer, reflection, and opportunities for deepening their relationship with God.

This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast Day of St. Luke, who was one of the gospel writers and also a physician. The theme of healing resonates throughout his stories of Jesus, who is always focused on drawing the poor, oppressed, and isolated people of the society into the center of his love.

At our worship yesterday, we anointed the hands of the healing ministers, saying, “May these hands be blessed to continue God’s healing work in the world.”

We also listened to and were inspired by a homily offered by Ms. Laurel White, one of our healing ministers, who speaks of the three cornerstones for healing: Holy Eucharist, healing prayers, and Confession of Sin. To learn more, please read her sermon which you can access on our website, under “Recent Sermons”.

You are all invited to join us for our meetings and become a part of our healing ministry.