“Community Life”, A Homily preached by the Rev. Canon Dr. C. Denise Yarbrough on Sunday, May 15, 2011 at Church of the Ascension, Rochester, New York
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 4 (Acts 2:42)
Today is an auspicious day for Church of the Ascension. Today you welcome your new priest in charge, The Rev. Patricia Cashman, who joins this community to accompany you in this next phase of your journey as a faith community. You’ve been in a period of significant transition for about 20 months, having been served by four interim priests during that time. Your search committee did a splendid job of discerning the leadership needs of this community and then seeking the right leader to take you to the next place in your life together. They worked diligently, faithfully, prayerfully, and with vulnerability and openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit as they reviewed resumes, CDO profiles and candidate question responses, conducted interviews, checked references and discerned the person they believed the Spirit was calling to this place. They deserve a round of applause and much gratitude for the important and prayerful work that they did on behalf of the whole community. And now you are poised to begin the next phase of your transition. And you will still be in transition for some months to come, to be sure. Rev. Pat has to get to know you and you her. You will have to spend time together discerning the ministries to which you believe yourselves called as a faith community as you move out into the local community and seek to grow your church, both in numbers but most especially in spiritual maturity and depth.
As you make this transition in these weeks of Eastertide, the stories of the early church in the book of Acts provide you some material for reflection. In today’s selection we are reminded of how the very early church lived together as a community that shared all their material goods, making sure that everyone had what they needed. They met together for meals, to break the bread of communion, to be schooled in the apostle’s teaching and to pray. Their entire way of being in the world was informed by their commitments to their Christian community. Being part of the church wasn’t something they did for an hour a week, it defined every day of their existence. And being a Christian was not something they did individually. It was an intensely communal commitment, involving interaction and relationship with other Christians and with everyone else in the larger world.
From my brief sojourn with you here at Ascension I can attest that you do have a strong sense of yourselves as a community. You care about each other and you care for each other. You have generous hearts, as the blanket campaign in February and the Gifts for Life campaign in Advent demonstrated. You are good at food, gathering around the table for your quarterly dinners with enthusiasm and good spirit. You are firm in your faith and you support one another at important junctures in people’s lives. We drew together as community in love and support of several families who lost loved ones, honoring the faithful departed with dignified liturgies and standing with the bereaved as they walk the journey of grief. We have joyfully baptized young ones into the community, gifting them with magnificent baptismal quilts. The quilters do a quiet but significant pastoral ministry through the truly beautiful quilts that they make and give away to those who need them for occasions both joyful and sorrowful. You have a wonderful music ministry, with a dedicated choir, a gifted organist/choirmaster, and an organ that cheerfully says “good morning” when it is first turned on every Sunday morning! I have personally enjoyed being greeted by the organ every Sunday morning! And your music has certainly lifted the heart of this priest, who, as you’ve noticed, loves to sing!
As you move forward into your new life with Rev. Pat, I hope you will draw upon your strengths as a Christian community and let her guide you into whatever new ministries you all discern together. I urge you to remain open to change, be flexible, good humored and generous of heart. Expect to be delighted. Expect to be empowered. Expect to be transformed. Expect to be surprised. Expect to be reconciled with those you least want to embrace. Trust the Spirit to guide you into all truth. Remember your baptismal covenant that calls you to be faithful in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and in the prayers. You are a covenant community, not an aggregation of individuals who happen to come here to pray. Your covenant in Christ calls you into deep relationship with God in Christ and then back into the world to minister in Christ’s name. You know how to do this and you can do it well.
Before I turn you over to Rev. Pat, I want to thank you for welcoming me into your midst, as the fourth of the interim clergy who have served you during this tender time. I thank you for your good humor and grace as I brought some new liturgical resources into worship. I thank you for your intellectual curiosity and keen insights as you embraced our study of Islam and our Lenten study of “The Last Week” by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan. I thank you for your generosity of spirit and hospitality as you welcomed our Jewish and Muslim neighbors into this sanctuary in January for our interfaith worship service, which was a genuine liturgical adventure into unknown territory. I thank you for the commitment and faithfulness you embraced as we walked through a very holy, Holy Week together, culminating in a memorable and joyful Easter Vigil. I thank you for your loving embrace of the families who grieved and for all you contributed to making those requiem Eucharists the dignified and spiritually rich occasions that they were. It takes a community to honor the faithful departed in that way – it’s not just the priest who makes it happen. You have much to offer this city and neighborhood and much wisdom and faith to share with Rev. Pat. And, as I’m getting to know her, all I can say is brace yourselves my friends. You are about to venture deeper into the waters of baptism and to feel the wind of Pentecostal change. May God be with all of you as you continue your journey together. Our paths diverge at this crossroads, but know that you will remain in my prayers and I’ll be watching from afar awaiting the good news that I know you will bring to this neighborhood, the city, the diocese and your ecumenical and interfaith neighbors. Shalom, Salaam, Namaste – Peace.
SHALOM, giving us the peace of Christianity's Jewish roots and heritage. This we accept.
ReplyDeleteSALAAM, reminding us that Islam means "peace through submission" to the teachings of Muhammad, the false prophet of a false god.
NAMASTE, leading us to peace through the tenets of the false polytheism of Hinduism, and its millions of deities.
Jesus taught us that "No man comes to the father except by me..." (John 14:6)
THESE are the words of Christ, and form the basis of evangelism. It is the peace of Christ that we all aspire to, not the false peace of the false religions. While their followers seem to be sincere and amicable, they are sincerely deceived, and unless they are converted to a belief in Jesus Christ, they will remain as doomed tomorrow as they are today.
If you truly care about these folks you want to make nice nice with, you will be BOLD in your witness of Jesus Christ and evangelize them.
The Mission Field is right here among us in the Greater Rochester Area. They have visited ASCENSION CHURCH, yet remained doomed for eternity! Kind, smooth words will not bring salvation; the Gospel will!
If you care not for their eternal destination, then continue on the path that the Reverend Cannon endorses.
Isaiah -
42:5,8 ; 43:3,11,12 ; 44:8 ; 45:5,22 ; 46:9 ; 48:12 ;
Revelation 1:8,17,18 ; 21:6,7,8 ; 22:12,13
King Solomon introduced false religious systems into his royal palace. It proved to be his undoing! Learn from him, if not from the Living Word Himself!
The Reverend Cannon's accolades for the work done by the Search Committee may not be as well deserved as she let's on. I was blessed to be able to take advantage of the leadership's openness about the candidates that were considered for the next Pastor in Charge.
ReplyDeleteOf five candidates that applied, a few found other congregations to serve. One was disqualified for whatever reason, and that left one prospect for the position.
It was nearly comical to learn that a "last minute submission" came in for another candidate. Reverend Cashman's credentials are impeccable; her qualifications are excellent. And with all due respect to her and her accomplishments in ministry, it seems odd that this last minute candidate came pre-approved by the Bishop and Reverend Denise.
(If you have not checked the Diocese's website, it would appear that Reverend Denise's position there is as the Bishop's right-hand person.)
Yes, I am or a suspicious nature, admittedly. But it seems odd that 5 candidates were either made unavailable, or deemed unworthy of the position for which the Search Committee was charged with filling. Now, you have your Priest in Charge, and she has come with a hand-picked stamp of approval.
Personally, I think the Search Committe was disemblowed and an end-run was made around them.