From the Vicar...
The renewing fire of Christ
This Sunday's Gospel is one of the more difficult and, seemingly, harsh statements of Jesus. In it, he says, "I came to cast fire upon the earth; and would that it were already kindled." (Luke 12:49)
Fire has many meanings for us. In our experience fire has been connected often with the giving of pleasure and heat. It cooks our food, sterilizes surgical instruments, cleanses, eliminates impurities in metal, makes metal pliable. More commonly, however, it is connected with destruction and even loss of life, as in forest fires or when a house burns down with all our belongings.
Fire seen this way faces us with a new situation, the need to move on and the need to begin again. Cindy and I have moved several times over the last 37 years. Each move has been a time to sort out what we really need to keep and what we can get rid of. A move may not be as catastrophic as fire, but, like fire, it sure gets you to take inventory of what really counts.
In religious terms, fire, together with water, has been associated with renewal and rebirth. There is the ceremony of "the lighting of the new fire," which is a part of the Church's liturgy at the Great Vigil of Easter. This particular ritual emphasizes rebirth and renewal. Fire's most common usage is as a metaphor for enthusiasm and spirit, as on the Day of Pentecost where the Holy Spirit is seen invading the lives of the apostles as tongues of fire (Acts 2:3). The Holy Spirit is, in several instances in the scriptural record, depicted as fire. Part of Jesus' mission was to impart the fire of God's Spirit. As John the Baptist put it: "I baptize you with water for repentance, but he (Jesus)...will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." (Matthew 3:11).
I believe that the fire of the Holy Spirit was that which Jesus wished to cast upon the earth. It meant a new beginning - a dying to an old way of life and the entering into a new life.
- It meant discovering within ourselves the Divine Spirit.
- It meant discerning the Light in us which was the light that enlightens every human being in the world.
- It meant the realization that the Realm of God is within us.
- It meant being united with the God of Love at the deepest level of our being.
That is the same unity that Jesus referred to when he said, "I and the Father are one." We are one with all human beings, all creatures, indeed the whole universe because we share the same source of life. We are no longer separate and distinct from all others. We move beyond our ego-based lives and selfish values. It is dying to greed and self-centeredness and rising to a new spirituality rooted in love which embraces the totality of humanity and the earth.
Discovering this liberates us from the rigidity of rules, dogma, fixed ideas of our religious past. It leaves us open to a new understanding our relationship with nature and the whole universe, to an new and expanding sense of social and moral order, and a new ways of dealing with various stages of life from birth to death. This oneness is the basis of compassion. This is the beginning of agapé, the Love in which we are able to lay down our lives for others.
As you listen to the words of this Sunday's Gospel, keep these thoughts in mind as a counterbalance to the harshness of what Jesus seems, at first blush, to be uttering. And rejoice that Jesus came to cast cleansing, purifying, renewing fire upon the earth.
Fr. Chip
Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer
Each week, in both of our churches, we pray for one ministry we share and one or two households in each church. About once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.
In our prayers the next two weeks, we give God thanks for...
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Aug. 14
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Trinity Church bookkeeper Jim Baker; Ruth Power; Suzi Beaupre
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Aug. 21
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Concluding collect for our shared ministry
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A brighter - and greener - Christ Church starts this week
This week, the lighting retrofit crew from Eversource came in and completed the installation of all new LED (light-emitting diode) lighting fixtures and bulbs throughout Christ Church. Not only are the new lights brighter, less harsh (in the case of those replacing flourescents), and much better-looking - but they will save us a ton of money and, more importantly, reduce our carbon footprint.
Half the cost of this work was paid for by your generous donations to the Christ Church Capital Campaign. The other half was paid for by Eversource itself as a Green Energy Matching Grant. Some highlights: every light replaced with LED's saves us big money on our electric bill: 40% on bulbs that replace our current fluorescents and 88% on those that replace incandescent bulbs. In some fixtures, the number of bulbs needed will be reduced, adding even more to our savings. Bottom line? Our electric bill will come down so much, the entire project will pay for itself in savings in three years - and will keep on saving us $800 per year after that.
Take a look around this Sunday. You should find our "new look" a bright and cheery improvement!
Back-to-School supply drive
The Hampton Community Coalition (HCC) is now collecting back to school supplies for children in need in Hampton's K-8 schools. This is the 16th year that it is being held in Hobbs House. Donations may be left in the "School Supplies" box in the Narthex at Trinity, or Nita will gladly accept them at her office, from 9-2, Monday-Friday. Thank you for your unswerving support of Hampton's vulnerable citizens.
Church vision task group gets underway
Our Church Vision Task Group held its first meeting last Sunday. After an opening reflection by the Vicar and a review of notes from the June Bishop's Committee retreat, the group spent some time discussing various elements of our vision-setting process, including mission statements past and present, key phrases in our Shared Ministry collect, and the Bishop's recent "Invitation to Flourish" article.
As our work unfolds over the next four months, we will need to keep before us some significant realities:
1. The changing demographics of our communities
2. Our financial realities and our current inability to fulfill our Fair Share to the larger Church
3. Our buildings and ways to maximize their best use
4. Visibility, which is an issue for both churches
5. The help we will need from the larger Episcopal community
It was agreed that our "homework" for next time would be for each of us to draft a mission statement for our own congregation. We would then bring these in and compare them, looking for "common ground" and pithy, memorable ways to state who we are and what we are about.
We also saw a need to complete our team, adding a "veteran" member of Trinity to the team (perhaps a "Saturday evening" person), and a "newer" member of Christ Church. We will recruit these additional team members by our next meeting.
Finally, we set a schedule of future meetings: We agreed to meet once every three weeks, always meeting at noon at Christ Church. Our next meeting was set for August 28. If, after six meetings, we need more time, we'll negotiate that.
Notes by Fr. Chip
Name tags
This is a reminder for everyone to remember to wear your name tag. It's a habit that's easy to get out of - but it really helps when we have guests and people "checking out" our churches. At Christ Church, these are on pegs, filed alphabetically, just over the guest book in the hallway. At Trinity, we have just moved them to a new rack just over the coffee pot. At the risk of upsetting someone who knows just "exactly" where they keep their name tag, I plan to re-alphabetize these this week. If we do not have a name tag for you, let Nita in the office know, and we'll see that one is made up for you.
Fr. Chip
Are you a good bushwhacker??
The bushes lining the parking lot at Christ Church really need a good trim - and the weeds around Hobbs House are just about getting out of hand at Trinity. If you have even an hour to spare to help keep these areas trimmed and welcoming-looking, your help would be greatly appreciated. It's been a hot summer - and the lack of attention to these tasks is now becoming painfully evident.
Trinity Pantry & HCC Quarterly Distribution
Our first year partnering with the Hampton Community Coalition (HCC) for their non-food Quarterly Distribution went very well last year!! Thank you, Donna & Bob Northam, for representing us! Our pantry was the beneficiary of A TON of much needed non-food items.
We are looking for a volunteer or a few volunteers to assist in this year's outreach effort for approximately 2 ˝ hours once a quarter during the school year.
This entails setting up tables in the Hall, grouping like items and placing them on the tables. The distributions take place on a Monday, once a quarter. We need two people minimum on a Monday or it could even be done by a bunch of us while we have coffee after the Sunday service.
Your outreach efforts will touch lives and help keep the pantry stocked with these precious and expensive items.
Please call Nita at 603-926-5688, and let her know of your interest.
Thank you!
