September 20, 2015 
In This Issue
A Mid-Year Report
Question Session With...
Invitation to the Table
Walker School Echoes Bishop's Hopes
From the St. Mark's Archives
We Should Restore the General Confession...
Stewardship and St. Mark's: Unleashing Our Passion
thurdinay
Welcome to the first issue of the Winged Lion Review. 
Editor's Note:
The Review is designed to be a forum where St. Mark's members can step back from the hectic pace of parish life and to share ideas about our life together in a thoughtful, more personal way. Our vision for the Review, as developed along with senior parish leaders, is to offer a forum where people can state their views on major issues before the community, reflect on their own lives and display their creative talents. We want to have a wide range of articles that includes opinion pieces, reports from a personal perspective on parish-related activities and issues, and short stories, poems, graphic arts and photography.

-Hank Donnelly and Karen Falk 
 
A Mid-Year Report from the Senior Warden
by Peter Sherer

 Hi All,

Six months ago the new Vestry members and I joined a very capable group of Vestry members and officers who were already in place. We decided to create plans to meet 12 Challenges facing the church that included finding an interim rector as the first order of business. Fortunately we were very lucky to get Michele Morgan to accept the position and start with us in late June.

The spring and summer have been busy. Without exaggeration, the following accomplishments are the result of hundreds of people pitching in:
  • Nora Howell, Jack Burton and the Fabric Committee completed work on a new contract with Green's Maintenance and have held two preliminary meetings to clarify expectations. A formal six-month performance review will happen later this month.
  • Junior Warden Doris Burton organized a very successful garden workday, later adding mulching and restoration of plantings efforts.
  • Doris Burton also expanded the space use policy and began the difficult and time-consuming task of developing contracts and processes for renting space, including negotiating a rent increase for PC&CC.
  • The Finance Committee, under the leadership of Andrew Stafford, expertly managed the transfer of responsibilities from Linda Ewald, our faithful and extremely competent Vision 2020 treasurer, to the church operating budget.
  • The Vestry supported the consistently remarkable work of the Discernment and Search Committee (DSC), including its publications and meetings with the parish.
  • The Vestry approved a charter formally establishing the first 20s & 30s organization based on the leadership of Doug Jackson, Jessie Babcock and Alvin Moseberry. The new leadership team of Blair Ford, Jeb Ory, and Lisa Ramish is in place, and has already sponsored an event creating backpacks for children in need and an outing to a Nats game, as well as organizing the Parish Picnic.
  • The Vestry approved a new director of youth and family ministries, Caroline McReynolds-Adams, who started in August. She has been busy meeting parents and parish leaders who manage programs for young people. We are all very grateful to Steve Dalzell for ably leading the search committee. Among the resolutions approved by the Vestry were those that would: improve financial and management governance; use undesignated bequests to pay down the mortgage: include a COLA for staff in 2016; and accept changes to the Outreach Board structure.
  •  Jeff Kempskie, Justi Schunior and the Liturgy Planning Team (LPT) created a very successful Palm Sunday original music, dance and spoken word performance during the morning services.
  • The Players put on a wonderful production of "Fiddler on the Roof" that was sold out on many nights and included several parishioners in the cast.
  • Justi and Jeff led a second annual successful evening of Beer and Hymns in June.
  • Led by Jessie Babcock and Valeri Byrd, the LPT  proposed and the Vestry approved liturgy experiments in Lincoln Park.
  • We had a successful "Shrine Mont on the Hill" parish planning session to build community, gather data, and flesh out parishioner ideas on how to meet the 12 Challenges.
  • With very able support from Kenn Allen and the Fabric Committee, the Vestry continues to support final work on the new construction by Monarc. Putting the finishing touches on the new heating and air-conditioning system remains a final technical and financial challenge.
  • The Fabric Committee has created a list of major projects for 2015-16 and into the future. Things on the horizon include repairing the stained glass windows in the Nave with a very generous gift from Bert and Mary Cooper. We will also need to repair the gutters of the church over the next two years, and will look to the Endowment Board for their approval to use some of the interest on the endowment funds to support fabric projects.
  • Mike Townsend and Nora Howell have agreed to co-chair the 2015 Canvass. In recent weeks they have enlisted 50 people to serve as canvassers, conducting face-to-face meetings with parish members in October. Trainings for canvassers are scheduled for late September.
  • Marilu Sherer, in her role as the Parish Life Pillar, and Woman to Woman organized a very festive women's welcome dinner in honor of Michele Morgan and her wife, Michelle Dibblee, in July.
  • Doris Burton completed the 2015-16 parish calendar in June. with input from the Pillars. It has been used extensively since to keep track of which space is available as our many committees and activities need room.
  • The Bob Hahn Memorial Birds have been placed in their permanent location and a spotlight installed.
  • "The Winged Lion Review: A Journal of the St Mark's Community" is a new bimonthly publication co-edited by Hank Donnelly and Karen Falk. They are currently soliciting articles, poems and art for the next issue.
  • The Vestry voted to create an Archives and Parish History Committee, and to reconstitute and reinvigorate the Historic Preservation Committee. This will focus our efforts to be systematic about our history and to give a continuous attention to how to preserve our remarkable building. The Poster Team led by Betsy Agle worked with Stewart Andrews, the designer, to create a wonderful new hanging for the foyer that gives visitors and members an overview of major church activities. Members of the poster team included Pamela Blumgart, Edna Boone, Lucy Brown, Peter Hawley, and Bobbi Smith.
  • The new Communications Workgroup led by Martha Huizenga and Christina White is off to a fast start. Beside their recent work on the poster for the foyer, they have begun to think about how to redo the St Mark's website.
  • A new site was chosen for our annual Parish Planning Conference next June. The Claggett Conference Center near Frederick Maryland will host a large gathering on June 11 and 12. At least 55 parishioners made early deposits, thus enabling the Vestry to sign a contract for the space with confidence.

As I look ahead, I think we can anticipate several important accomplishments by the end of the calendar year including:

  • Michele Morgan and I will continue to work to improve our financial and administrative systems to make sure that the new rector has a solid management platform.
  • The Challenge to "take good care of each other," led by Josie Jordan, will implement the first of it "flocks with the flock" groups. A series of flocks will be based on parishioners in the same ZIP code, who will meet and develop plans about how they want to organize to meet their common needs. A successful canvass will give the new rector a solid position to suggest new initiatives during his/her first year with us.
  • The DSC will nominate a group of three rector candidates for Vestry consideration in December. The Vestry will make a choice and we can expect our permanent rector to be in place early in the new year.
  • The Finance Committee will propose a challenging budget for 2016 to the Vestry in late September that will be revised in December based on the results of the canvass.
  • Significant progress will be made against each of the 12 Challenges and the Vestry will report to the parish as key objectives are met. A poster outlining the 12 Challenges and the plans to meet them will be posted in the foyer, and copies will be distributed to the congregation within the next few weeks.
Many many thanks to all of you who continue to serve the parish in large ways and small. I am especially grateful to Hank Donnelly and Karen Falk for creating this new and exciting way for us to stay connected with each other.

Hugs
Peter  Sherer
 
Question Session With...
Rev. Michele Morgan, Interim Rector

How did you get into this line of work?
I was asked by the senior high kids at the church to be their youth minister, and no one should say 'no' to high school kids when they ask a question like that. I really liked it and my parish priest asked me to get serious about a bigger call, so I did.
 
As a Canadian-born former resident of Minneapolis, how do you like the Washington summer? What about other aspects of the city?
Well as a Southern Albertan I believe that I am totally ready for what this Southern city has to throw at me. I remember moving to Southern Minnesota (see a theme here?), and discovering this thing called 'humidity.' So far, I have been surviving the weather, even riding my bike back and forth from Northwest DC to Capitol Hill. Those rides have been fantastic; I have had conversations with many people in all sorts of neighborhoods and am so pleased how nice and helpful everyone is. As I ride down the National Mall (busily trying not to run down tourists), I think to myself, 'Wow. I live in Washington-Freakin'-DC and that is amazingly cool.'
 
How did you meet your wife, Michelle, and is it confusing to be married to someone with virtually the same first name?
We met at St. John's Episcopal Church in Minneapolis. Our first date was at the Land-o-Lakes milk carton boat races, where people actually make boats out of milk cartons and race them. (Yep, it's a long winter in Minneapolis.) And no, it's not really confusing ... for us.
 
You have mentioned that some parts of St. Mark's are "weird." Like what?
I am not sure that weird is the word that I would use, I think St. Mark's is unique and unlike any of the other 11 churches that I have worked with, served or attended. I like that, and I think that the thing that St. Mark's does that is different from other churches is to invite more and more people in. You all are the most welcoming folks! Once people are in the door they see church that is very different. What new people will see here--and what I have seen--is a way of being church that is willing to put yourself out in what you believe and what you ask. You are a people who are more than willing to wrestle with what it means to be church, and in doing that you challenge what we assume church is. And that, for an Episcopal church, can be viewed as, well as a Minnesotan would say...interesting (not weird).
 
What things at St. Mark's do you think other parishes should adopt?
The removal of the pews is huge for really living into the complete space. It opens up the building for other uses, like dance and theater, and helps make St. Mark's a place accessible to the community. To have such a fundamentally different configuration is excruciatingly hard for other churches to adopt, and I love that St. Mark's made the decision long ago.
 
What do you like to do for fun?
I like to watch trashy TV on Netflix, and watch the Minnesota Twins (now that I am out of the blackout zone!). I also hang out with my wife, walk our dog Rosie, and cook. Lately, we've been exploring DC looking for new restaurants and other fun places (suggestions welcome!).
 
Do you have a routine or regular schedule for writing your sermons?
On Monday morning first thing, I read the scriptures for the upcoming Sunday and begin thinking about them. On Wednesday morning, I generally look at some resources to underscore the theology, and start jotting down ideas on notecards. By Thursday morning, I have four to five notecards. I spend two to three hours on Friday and Saturday filling out a final set of cards. On Sunday morning, I get up and do a final read-through and preach. On Monday morning I read the lectionary for the next week.
 
You have also mentioned your early struggles as a priest who is also a Lesbian. Have you seen any changes within the church over the past decade?
I have seen a church that is more than willing to accept the stranger and say welcome. I have also seen a church that is more than willing to say you are not welcome. I believe that the church wants to be willing to be loving and welcoming, and I believe that it is always a work in progress. I would say that over all the church is much more accepting of a big ol' homo like myself.
 
Tell us something interesting about yourself that we might not expect.
I collect signed baseballs. I am a 'status Indian' in Canada, enrolled in the Haida tribe of British Columbia. I used to run the largest coffee shop in the Caribou Coffee Company, with 2.3 million dollars in sales, and I was an instructor at Caribou College.
 
What's next for you?
I am here till you call the 12th Rector, and then I hope to have another job in the Diocese of Washington. Because then I get to keep riding my bike through freakin' DC. SO very cool.
 
 Invitation to the Table 
by Jessie Babcock
 
On a Saturday afternoon this July, I found myself venturing to Lincoln Park to celebrate the Eucharist. It was a warm day, the sun just beginning to make its evening descent when I arrived. At the park, the crowds were in full force: dogs and kids, walkers, runners, teams playing lawn games, couples strolling. Off in a corner, near the statue of the Great Emancipator, the Rev. Cara Spaccarelli and a few people from Christ Church were gathered around a makeshift altar and a sandwich board declaring, "Prayers in the Park." I hurried to join them.

This year, St. Mark's has been co-sponsoring "Worship in the Park" with Christ Church, a series where we host Compline (night prayers) each Thursday, and Eucharist on a few Saturdays at different Capitol Hill parks. It's been mildly successful: a handful of people come from Christ Church and St. Mark's, and we sometimes attract a few sidelong glances from a passersby. We've never had strangers come, from what I've seen. But this day was different.

As we were waiting for any last-minute arrivals, I glanced
around  and saw a man sitting on a nearby bench. Just the other week, I'd been impressed by David Deutsch, who had invited a passersby to join our Compline service. I never saw myself as the type of person who could approach a stranger and ask him or her to join a church service. That seemed too presumptuous, too...evangelical. I associate evangelism with holier-than-thou types shouting through bullhorns on street corners: "Repent, sinners!" That's not me.

Then again, why not take a risk? With a little borrowed courage from David, I strolled over to the man on the bench and asked if he'd like to join us for bread and wine. He looked at me for a moment and replied, "I never turn down the chance for a blessing!" And he walked over to the group. Before I knew it, I'd invited another person to our table, a woman. After initially declining, she picked up the bulletin I put next to her and joined us as well.

Together, a half-dozen of us read the liturgy, listened to the Gospel, reflected on Cara's homily, and prayed for people we loved and the needs of the world. Then we took bread and wine, and gave it to each other. Such a simple act, yet it seemed to open up something new for me by the presence of our guests in this open space.

At St. Mark's, we pride ourselves on welcoming everyone to our table: "Whoever you are, from wherever you have come and whatever you believe or do not believe, everyone is invited and welcome to receive." We can talk about the ways we fulfill or fall short of that promise. But another question to ask is, how do we invite the stranger who has not yet found us? How do we invite others to the table when we're outside the safety of our Nave? I think about these questions as I think about the invitation I almost didn't have the courage to make.
 
Our two guests that afternoon may never attend church at either St. Mark's or Christ Church. But in the moments after the service, as we chatted about our lives and gave thanks for spending a few minutes together, I realized that for me, extending an invitation beyond our walls is part of my call to follow Jesus. And I think that invitation is also part of our communal call to be "people of love and justice." Of course, we can think about the many challenges we face as a community - those are real and important. But I think there is also room to look beyond, toward the wider world.

Here's what it comes down to, for me: We don't have to stand on a street corner and hand out pamphlets to invite people to the communion table. We just have to find enough courage to extend the invitation to one person, then two: Join us for bread and wine. Maybe the answer is no. But maybe it's yes, and maybe it changes us, as individuals and as a community, in surprising ways. 
 
Walker School Echoes Bishop's Hopes 
by Stephanie Deutsch
 
The first step towards church that David and I took was in 1982 when, after great soul-searching, we decided to send our five-year-old son, Noah, to Beauvoir, the Episcopal elementary school on the grounds of the then almost-completed Washington National Cathedral.  I was only dimly aware then that our reasons for doing this included my attraction to the school's religious affiliation.  Without quite knowing why, I wanted my kids to have that.  Little did I suspect where this path would lead - to my three children and me being baptized together at the Cathedral in 1988, to my friend Ellen Frost's recommendation that I give St. Mark's a try, to my confirmation, also in the Cathedral, by Bishop of Washington John T. Walker.

I particularly wanted to be confirmed by Bishop Walker because I had already had the opportunity to become acquainted with him.  I served for six years on the board of Beauvoir and, as representative to the Cathedral Building Committee, met him on several occasions and even sat next to him at a dinner.  Also, of course, he was the chaplain of Beauvoir and spoke often at the school's monthly chapel services.  He was a striking figure - a handsome African-American man in elegant priestly attire with the ability to speak to everyone, including children, in a warm and familiar way.  

I remember in particular two of his talks - a Christmas service where he spoke about light as the unifying theme of the season--from Hanukah candles to the star of Bethlehem and into all of our homes and hearts at the darkest time of the year. There was also the third-grade graduation where he asked the kids, if they were to see him on the Cathedral grounds or anywhere else, to come up and introduce themselves.  "You are going to change," he told the third-graders, "so I might not recognize you.  But I will look the same.  You will know me. So please, come up to me and say hello and tell me how you are doing."

Sadly, shortly after giving that talk, John Walker died unexpectedly, at the age of 64, following heart bypass surgery.

Twenty years after Bishop Walker's death, the diocese of Washington honored his memory with a bold initiative - the founding of an independent, fully subsidized school for boys from low-income families east of the Anacostia River. Started with just a pre-k class, but adding a grade each year, the Bishop John T. Walker School for Boys now goes up through grade 5. Eventually, it will go to the eighth grade.  

The school's annual budget is raised from parish gifts, foundations and corporations, with more than half coming from individual donors. Classes are small, each having no more than 16 students.  Over 70 percent of the boys come from single-parent households.  They get three meals a day, music, art and sports, and a stimulating curriculum delivered in an environment that is both demanding and warm.

Bishop Walker once said, "Education is the door to opportunity." The school that bears his name opens that door for many families.

I am so aware that I was able to offer my children a kind of education that opened doors for them and that I, too, benefited from their school environment. It helped us grow as individuals and as a family. I embrace the idea of making those benefits more widely available.  So I have made small financial donations, and visited several times, speaking to the boys about Booker T. Washington and the philanthropist Julius Rosenwald, and have agreed to serve as liaison between the school and St. Mark's.

I hope some of you will help me think about ways we can support the important work the Bishop Walker School is doing.  Please be in touch with me if you would like to visit the school sometime this fall, if you think you might want to participate, either as a donor or a volunteer.  You can learn more about the school at www.bishopwalkerschool.org
.
Here's the school's Honor Code

I am a child of God created in His image.
Therefore, I am respectful to others and myself. 
I am responsible for my actions, words and work. 
I am honest and am above cheating, stealing or lying. 
 
From the St. Mark's Archives
by Doris Burton

The Vestry created the Archives and Parish History Committee in July and charged it with organizing and caring for the archives, as well as promoting parish knowledge of our history. This is the first in a series of articles from the APHC about St. Mark's.
Davy Herold

Washington, D.C., July 1865 - Only a few months after Lincoln's assassination, the conspirators had been caught, tried,and condemned to hang. Among them was Davy Herold, a parishioner at Christ Church-Capitol Hill, a few blocks from a market house on the corner of 3rd and A St., SE.

On July 6, after
Rev. Mark Lafayette Olds
the execution orders had been signed, Herold asked for his parish priest, Rev. Mark Olds. It was a curious request, since Davy hardly knew him: Olds had arrived at Christ Church the day before the assassination. Olds went to the prison, but not until he visited Herold's mother and stopped the household clocks so she would not know the time of her son's death. He may have stayed overnight and when Davy walked to the gallows, Rev. Olds accompanied him, whispering words of comfort for the 19 minutes remaining in Herold's life. Olds kept his back to the camera save for this one photo where he can be seen whispering to Herold, then turned away before the trap was sprung.
Rev. Olds & Herold just prior to
Herold's execution


Two years later, Mark Olds founded a mission church at the Sewall-Belmont House, 2nd & B St., NE (now 144 Constitution Ave.), established to serve the members of Congress and the growing population on Capitol Hill. It was formally organized as Memorial Parish on June 16, 1869, with Rev. Floridus Steele as the first rector.

On May 23, 1870, after 93 parishioners signed a petition following the death of their beloved Mark Olds, the infant congregation would change its name to honor their founder: St. Mark's Parish. 
___________________________
Acknowledgements: The photos of the Herold execution were provided by Barry M. Cauchon who specializes in this aspect of the Lincoln assassination. He also provided the details about Rev. Olds relationship with Herold and place on the scaffold. We are especially thrilled and grateful for the drawing of Rev. Olds which is the first and only we have of our founder.
 
We Should Restore the General Confession
to Our Celebration of the Eucharist
by Jim Steed 

I believe we should restore the General Confession as a fixed part of our Sunday worship. I'd like to explain my reasoning here.

A CONFESSION IS PART OF THE EARLIEST CHRISTIAN LITURGIES

Some argue that the Church did not generally offer a separate confession in early centuries, up to about 400 CE, and that may have been true in some places. However, consider this quotation from the DIDACHE:

"And on the Lord's own day gather yourselves together and break bread and give thanks, first confessing your transgressions, that your sacrifice may be pure." Didache 14:1 [J. B. Lightfoot, trans.]

The DIDACHE is a first-century document, in the view of most scholars, and some would set it as early as 40-60 CE. So somebody was confessing sin early in the Church's history as part of the Eucharistic liturgy. If the earlier dating is right, we are talking about liturgies within the lifetime of the Apostles.

SIN WRIT LARGE

I am not into America-bashing. Our country has done great things. However, our country, much as we love it, is in part founded on two great sins: the dispossession of its Native American population; and the institution of human slavery. We can date dodgy dealings with Native Americans from their contact with the Spanish in the 16th century, and things went downhill from there right up to our own day.

English settlers were not far behind the Spaniards in time, or in cupidity or malice. The African slave trade began in the English colonies in 1619 and grew at a great rate. Its protection was assured in our Constitution in 1789. All sections of the American economy benefited from its operations, not the South alone. Despite premonitions of trouble to come, it was a thriving institution in 1861.  From 1861 to 1865 we fought the bloodiest war in our history to end slavery [750,000 dead by recent calculations, plus civilians]. Then, from 1866 to 1965 black Americans fought to actualize the rights that had supposedly been guaranteed them in the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments. Today that struggle still goes on, as we see determined attempts to restrict access to voting in many states across the country. And none of this begins to touch on the economic issues that bedevil us as well.

It's true that no one now alive had anything directly to do with what happened beginning in 1619, but we are all bound together in this enterprise called the United States, whether we like it or not; and we are all affected by appalling outbursts from the darker elements of our natures. In short, we are a sinful people.

Leaving aside larger historical issues, I know myself to be sinful in the living of my life. Some of those sins I deplore; some others, not so much. One of the things I value in St. Mark's is that it has always been a place where I could get the lowdown on me. Acknowledging, that is, CONFESSING, my sin is integral to that work. Now, with no Confession, have I become perfect? Who knew? Not me, for sure!

THE GHOST AT THE FEAST

I think I know the source of our reluctance to confess our sins. As Mary De Nys has put it, "Some of the opposition to Confession comes from a confusion between guilt-a destructive and self-referential emotion-and contrition, a recognition that some of the things we do individually and communally are appalling, along with acceptance of personal and corporate responsibility and a determination to find a way to do better."

The Confession in the 1928 prayer book, modeled closely on that in the English Prayer Book of 1662, is known to many of us directly or from literary encounters. It speaks of manifold sins and wickedness, unworthiness, and generally takes a dim view of the human race. To be fair to our Anglican ancestors, it reflects a preoccupation of many in the 16th century, notably Calvin and Luther. But it need not be so.

The General Confession in "Enriching our Worship," a service book we often use, acknowledges our sinful acts. At the same time, it also affirms our ability to act faithfully towards one another and the world we live in. Here it is in full:

Minister and People
God of all mercy,
we confess that we have sinned against you,
opposing your will in our lives.
We have denied your goodness in each other,
in ourselves, and in the world you have created.
We repent of the evil that enslaves us,
the evil we have done,
and the evil done on our behalf.
Forgive, restore, and strengthen us
through our Savior Jesus Christ,
that we may abide in your love
and serve only your will. Amen.

The events in Charleston and Missouri and the climbing murder rate in the District, joined to the work of sin in our nation's foundation, all urge us to take account of our sins and to reach towards a new and better life for our country and for ourselves. It is this combination of acknowledgment, accountability, and hope that the General Confession is meant to rouse. I do not think a weekly reminder of it is unreasonable.
 
Stewardship and St. Mark's: Unleashing Our Passion
by Randy Marks 


Each St. Mark's confirmed communicant affirms a "commitment to this community with your time, your talent, and your money." Yet we seem to struggle with finding enough money and people to run our community, even though we profess to love it, have created a church of the perpetual activity, have a tradition of shared ministry, and we often talk openly and authentically about money. I believe that St Mark's has an unhealthy culture around stewardship because we are unconscious.

OUR STRUGGLES

For the two decades I've been a member, I have heard recurrent complaints about our ability to create the money and energy to run St. Mark's. For example, other churches in the diocese raise more money relative to their likely means. Although eight congregations, ranging in size from among the smallest to the largest, gave 10 percent or more to the Diocese in 2014, according to a recent report [http://www.edow.org/resource-center/finance-and-grants/parish-giving/], St. Mark's gives about half that. Our pledge totals have been stagnant or declining for years. Every year, we have a "pledge deadline" that we repeatedly extend amid rumors of budget cuts abound. And we have had large operating deficits in recent years.

Similarly, I constantly hear about gaps in our volunteer structure (as well as, ironically, complaints that "no one asks me" to do things). Our Junior Warden recently rewrote Genesis to seek coffee-making volunteers. The youth visioning committee rejected, virtually without discussion, the idea that we could serve our youth better if we empowered lay people (with clergy support), even though that structure works for Christian Education.

So we live in a paradox of many blessings and struggles to create them. So you will have to decide if we have a problem. If you don't, you can stop reading.

THE CONTRADICTION

Why, with so much activity, lay leadership and open discussions about money, do we struggle over money and commitment? I think the reason is our unconscious beliefs about our community. I, and I suspect you, have qualities that I don't want to believe about myself, so I allow myself to be blind. I'm not lying to others, but rather to myself. (Carl Jung called it "shadow.") For example, rather than accepting that I am queer, I thought first that I was asexual and then that I was straight.

Institutions can be unconscious as well. (Does your workplace have some dysfunction that you can't readily discern? Perhaps some below the surface racism or sexism?) Indeed, Paul Abernathy called our attention to some of our collective unconsciousness, such as around race and truth-telling.

Do we, St. Mark's members, have unconscious, unhealthy beliefs about money and participation? I think we do, because it's the only way I can think of to explain the contradiction. Here are some possibilities that might resonate.
  • Fearful around money ("I don't have enough.")
  • Selfish around money ("I don't want to give it to the church.")
  • Overly ambitious around money ("I want it all and the money will come.")
  • Selfish around time ("My family comes first.")
  • Complacent ("Others will do it.")
  • Impotent ("We don't have the capacity to do it").
  • Unconvinced that St. Mark's is effective ("I'd give more if I really had faith that the St. Mark's would create a loving and just world.")

I suspect our collective shadows include all of the above and others. The most powerful might be that we are authentic around money and participation.  

 

A PATH FORWARD

If we have collective unconscious beliefs, what can we do? Consciousness can lead to change. I think that's why we now tell the truth with greater compassion. Before Paul arrived, the "truth" that we generally accepted is that we could not be authentic without the unvarnished truth, even when it landed as cruel or unthinking, because the benefit outweighed any hurt feelings. As horrible as these beliefs seem when written out, they prevailed because we didn't look at them. When Paul shone a light on them, we changed.

So the most important step is recognize we may have unconscious beliefs and commit as a community to promote stewardship as passionately as we promote Life, Community, and Faith classes, first by uncovering these shadow beliefs and second by changing ourselves. Mike Townsend has done us a valuable service by emphasizing stewardship is more than a two-month canvass and includes how we volunteer. Building on that, we could have a community-wide discussion about stewardship through such vehicles as sermons/sermon seminars, town meetings, small gatherings, and perhaps a Christian Education class

Ultimately, I have faith that St. Mark's will create a new vision of stewardship, perhaps beginning that by calling a rector with a passion for stewardship. To aid that process, I offer this prayer: May God the Creator create in us a passion for caring for each other and for our church that God shows in caring for each of us. May Jesus inspire us, through his love for us and his actions when he lived among us, to joyful service. May the Holy Spirit empower us to act as individuals and a community to act as God's hands to care for our neighbors and all creation. Amen.

 
thurdinay
by Stewart Andrews 
 
 
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