Monthly Rector's Column
This is an opportunity for our Rector, Blaney Pridgen, to share with us thoughts and comments on a wide range of topics in the life of St. Mary’s. It’s usually less than a page--much shorter than a sermon—and is frequently a focus on a wider perspective on our mission as a Christian community than the message for any specific Sunday.
While it also appears in the monthly newsletter, The Messenger, it appears here for folks who misplace their newsletter, or who are not yet members receiving it.
Rector's Column from the November/December 2009 issue of The Messenger
Beloved of Saint Mary’s,
We are blessed to have many new members and serious inquirers among us. I count them as a gift God has entrusted to our parish community. The Holy Spirit sent them to us to make new Christian friendships and to realize their gifts as disciples among us.
A small majority of us have been here awhile, from thirty-five years to two. To those of us in that category, I charge you to greet, meet, invite and involve our new folks. This is as serious a gospel calling as you will ever have. Remember, the Lord sent them. We receive them.
A large minority of us are either brand new or relatively new to Saint Mary’s. Some are new to the area. To those of us in that category, I charge you to get involved in something more than arriving on time for worship and then immediately leaving. Sign up and show up. Make yourself known among the people. Discover your Christian potential among and with us. The Lord sent you here. Help us receive you.
One great way among many to involve and get involved is service in one of our six Ministries: Christian Formation, Financial Stewardship, Parish Development, Parish Life, Property and Grounds, and Outreach. Be sure to attend our Ministry Fair on Sunday, November 8. Each Ministry will have a display and hospitality. Other ministry opportunities will also be on display. Some of us will discover new persons to invite to service. Some of us will discover a new call to service.
Calling ourselves brothers and sisters in Christ sounds good, but it does not mean a thing if we do not do fellowship together, serve together, pray together, and study together, in addition to worshiping together. I believe with all of my being that just as God calls us as individuals, God also calls us into vital, effective, and faithful Christian communities. Some of us receive the individual call first and then realize it in the community. Others will become part of a faithful community first and then realize an individual calling. It does not matter which. It does matter that both happen, and happen continually in our life journeys. This is precisely why our intentional involvement with each other is as serious a gospel calling as we shall ever have.
Your brother in Christ,
Blaney+
Rector's Column from the September/October 2009 issue of The Messenger
Beloved of Saint Mary’s,
Is it just me? I have usually enjoyed debate over hot issues both in the church and in secular politics. I have usually enjoyed the editorial and opinion pages in newspapers and journals and the “talking heads” on the so-called news channels on cablevision. I have usually enjoyed the inevitable tensions between conservatives and liberals in every sphere and have not been diminished by the ambiguities our culture pumps out like an assembly line. Yet, lately I’ve found myself withdrawing from the fray. It seems to me that public discourse in church and state has grown way too ugly in the rhetoric, name-calling, ad hominems, innuendo, and deliberate distortion of facts. Please know that I am referring to all sides in this: left, right and even in the middle! Public discourse is beginning to diminish my spirit, when I expose myself too much to it. I am looking at myself both in church and secular opinion and am consciously endeavoring to weed out any such tendencies in myself. I don’t like what I see and what I have become and what we have become. Yet, I cannot bury my head in the sand and pretend in some self-righteous way that I am above the fray.
There is something I can do and all of us Christians can do. We can meditate on Philippians 4:8. I remember that the late Bishop William Beckham used these words from Saint Paul in the blessing he gave at parish visitations. We need them now more than ever. It’s often difficult to know what is true and right but noble, pure, lovely, excellent and praiseworthy tend to rise above the rhubarb. As my Grannie Thornton said, “If you can’t say it nice, don’t say it at all”.
Your brother in Christ,
Blaney+
Rector's Column from the June/July issue of The Messenger
Beloved of Saint Mary’s,
Thirty years ago this June, I graduated from seminary. Fifteen pounds and two inches of waist later, I have been thinking about change in the church since then. In 1979, we were surviving controversies over prayer book revision and women’s ordination. Now, issues surrounding sexual orientation and our relationship within the Anglican Communion have taken their place. Somehow we shall survive these too. All of church history testifies to this. There always has been and always will be some tension in the church. What matters is how well we behave when issues divide us and how well we persevere in the essential ministry and mission of the church when they do.
A notable change in everyday parish life is the advent of the computer and all that entails. A good website has become a must for membership growth. The church is becoming a cyberspace community. Church chatter is moving from the parking lot to e-mail. Like divisive issues, some things don’t change; they just shift to another area. E-mail and cell phones have greatly increased the availability of the clergy, but most of us still prefer the face-to-face pastoral care.
There has been a gradual shift among church-goers to what seems to me a consumer mentality. People shop around for a package of services which a church might offer and for certain compatibilities they might have with a given congregation. Loyalty to a package of programs, a current worship style and the current clergy has eclipsed longtime loyalty to one faith community within one denomination. When the parish clergy change or the parish program changes or evolves in any way, folks have a tendency to look around, oftentimes regardless of established relationships and denomination.
Regardless of changing times, I believe it is crucial to remember what makes us who we are as a church. Way back in 1886, the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church pondered what matters most to us. They did so for the sake of considering possible union with other denominations. Simply stated, they are:
1. The Bible as containing everything necessary to save us from whatever we need saving
from.
2. The Nicene Creed as a sufficient statement of the Christian faith.
3. Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist as the sacraments which tell us who we are.
4. The ministry of Bishops to keep us united and on track.
I like the economy of this. This is our sticking place. Everything else is changeable, debatable, or otherwise optional equipment for discipleship within and through the church. I sincerely believe that the church can weather change as long as we hold to these four and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance in both interpretation and application. By the way, this has not changed since 1979 or 1886 or the early centuries of the church.
Reflecting on the past thirty years of ordained ministry, I also have been thinking about a portion of a favorite prayer of mine:
“...We thank you for setting us at tasks which demand our best efforts, and for leading us to accomplishments which satisfy and delight us. We thank you also for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on you alone...” BCP. P. 836
The prayer puts the years in perspective.
Your brother in Christ,
Blaney+
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