My church

Though I may quibble with some of the liturgical and theological choices my church here in SF has made (someday I will get around to writing about the importance of liturgical seasons, which I'm learning by being deprived of them, and some kind of gospel that does include sin or at least personal responsibility), one cannot argue with the fact that their ministries rock.

I've written about how much I've been blessed by working at the food pantry. Last night Sara served as guest chef for a guerrilla restaurant in the city, serving only locally-sourced (hyper-local - like neighborhood backyards!) food, with Eucharist at midnight, and proceeds going to the pantry. How cool is that? I'm sure it was a huge success...I only wish I could have gone (but bedtime duty prevented me). I was so proud when I opened my ideal bite email and saw them featured!

Now that we're in Lent, preparations are underway for Easter, the biggest deal at St. Gregory's. And I'm pleased to have been asked to participate. Looks like I'll get to do a reading or even cantor. I'm grateful to be involved directly in worship again. And I think after that, after Maggie's just a bit older and going in the nursery (hopefully), I'll start thinking about serving as a deacon, which at this church doesn't require ordination. It just means I'd be part of the welcoming and hospitality crew, and help lead various parts of the service and assist at the altar (basically the stuff I did at my field ed internship). So that will be cool. I've really missed being "up front" in worship, not because I care about anybody noticing me (in fact it's been lovely to be somewhat anonymous for a while), but because I really do feel I have some gifts to offer - projection, smiles, vocal range, memory, and so forth - that are best utilized in this ministry.

Oh, and it looks like I'm going to participate in a gathering of Anglimergent folks that is meeting at St. G's this month. If you're interested in attending, all are welcome. You should at least join the online community if you find these things of interest.

Overall I'm feeling really positive about our church choice. So much so that I'll be sad if we do only wind up there for a year or less. Things are so up in the air right now...more about that another time. Suffice to say that the job situation is looking pretty dire, and no job = no money for rent = possibly moving in with family. Definitely not anybody's favorite option, but there may be no choice.

Anyway the point of all this is that we're becoming members this Sunday, me John & Maggie. Yay us. That means we need to be more involved, thus my musings on ministry. Maggie and I already have our food pantry work, though. I have to tease J that Maggie found her ministry before he did. But he is meeting with the rector today to talk about what his ministry might be. I hope he becomes philosopher-in-residence. :)

I'll end with a quote my mom sent me that feels really pertinent right now:
"You are so young, so much before all beginning, and I would like to beg you, dear (one), as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer."

—Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet