St. James - Westwood Weekly Epistle
- Approaching the Second Sunday after the Epiphany (The Baptism of Our Lord)

Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who activates all of them in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 
I Corinthians 12: 4-7)

You can read Sunday's lessons here.


Church Quilt
Crazy Quilt - 1870s-1880s made by Jennie C Ferguson

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Crazy Quilts like the one pictured here
as  patchwork of pieces of cloth
of various shapes, colors and sizes, arranged in no definite pattern." Some wise folks at the Nebraska State Historical Society point out that the artists who created crazy quilts didn't  simply stitch the quilts panels together without a plan or design in mind. Quilters like Jennie Ferguson "elaborately planned and painstakingly decorated pieces of art that conformed to the fashion of the day which embraced opulence and asymmetry." (Nebraska State Historical Society, 2009, para. #2).

I think that churches are often like crazy quilts. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to why Jesus Christ's disciples and God's children gather and create community with one another. Sometimes it feels like there's no reasonable pattern to what's going on in terms of their worship or ministries. However, God's creative handiwork is certainly available when we gather to be with one another.

St. Paul suggests to his readers that it takes a quilt-full of people with various Spirit-given gifts (teachers, preachers, healers, prophets, miracle workers, and others) to activate us as Christ's Body and blessing as The Church.

The Rt. Rev. Douglas Hahn
The Rt. Rev. Douglas Hahn - Episcopal Bishop of Lexington
The recently elected Bishop of Lexington, The Rt. Rev. Douglas Hahn, used the theme of "Quilting our Future Together" at his ordination service. He invited cathedral choirs, traditional Kentucky musicians, and a young persons' musical group to sing during the worship service. I bet that was a cool liturgy to participate in. Churches who diligently and faithfully invest their time, energy, prayer, patience, and talents into how they proclaim the Gospel, share the sacraments, and gracefully care for the world's common good are beautiful to behold and support. Artful preaching, teaching, worshiping, ministering excites us and our guests to love Jesus, one another, and our neighbors. Imaginative churches more fully adopt their faith and embrace God's transformational presence in their individual and common lives.

I'd love to witness some more miracle workers join us here at St. James. I'd almost pay money to watch someone transform 20 gallons of water into wine like Jesus did at Cana in John's Gospel. However, I think we will benefit by gratefully sharing what gifts God has given us while fully understanding who God is beckoning us to be in this New Year and as Christ's presence brightly shines upon us in Epiphany Season.  Our quilt of people and talents is colorful, diverse, and beautiful behold. However, there's plenty of room to invite other artists to stitch their presence into our parochial quilt of life, that sometimes is crazy yet divinely inspired and hopefully embraced. Let's weave some more patches into it this Sunday.


Blessings Along The Way, Jim+
Christmas Eve 2012
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In This Issue
Rector's Musings
Events and News
Hallmarks of Health
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What's Happening @ St. James and Nearby

Candlestand

Saturday - Jan. 19 @ 9:30 AM

Peace and Reconciliation Summit  @ Procter Center  
 
 Sunday - Jan 20 @ 10 AM - Eucharist (Rite II)


Martin Luther King Portrait
Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service 


Monday
- Jan 21 @ 11:00 AM  - Youth Group Service and Fun Event - Freestore Food Bank "Pack a Thon" @ Fountain Square followed by a trip to Dave and Buster's

  
Sunday - Jan.27 @ 11:30 AM

Confirmation and Episcopal-ese Class. - Let's get both groups together and talk about Healthy Christian Life and Plans for Lent. 

 
Open Space & our Hallmarks of Health 

Open Space Meetings












St. James' vestry has begun a process of evaluating our church's "Hallmarks of Health." Their discernment and action will become a basis for opening up our series of Open Space Gatherings at our Annual Meeting on Feb. 17th.  I'm inviting you into the process to so that you can work with your leaders to revitalize St. James in 2013
St. James Episcopal Church Logo
The Diocese of Southern Ohio's Mission Priorities are defined by
Five Hallmarks of Health.  The first hallmark of health is possessing a clear sense of identity. Do we clearly possess an animated sense of our Christian identity here @ St. James? Is it our shared expectation that every member here is able to articulate in his or her own words Jesus' gospel story. Do we all personally and parochially prayerfully and outwardly proclaim why The Christian Gospel matters, and why it matters to us here.

St.Paul and The Redeemer Episcopal Church in Chicago has worked hard at identifying their gifts and core understanding of Christ's Gospel for them. You should read about their story here.

 Andrea, Jenna, & Mabrey

Oh, please contact Kathy Schaeffer when you have completed your annual meeting report. Check here
  (UPDATE!!!) for the list of reports and who we think should be completing them.

 
What do Quilts teach us? 

Quilts Video
Why Quilts Matter.

This video provides an fascinating eight minute long documentary about quilts and their historical importance in American culture.

A speaker at the end of the video says: "We can't get away from the fabric. We can't get away from the cloth."

I got to thinking... what if we were to replace the word "quilt" with the word "church" - would the meanings be the same? How have/do churches shape American culture just as (Or differently than) quilts? How do the panels/people of each patchwork quilt/church benefit or transform the lives of the artists/members just as they transform the lives of the people who use or view the work.

Listen and see what you think.