Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 28)
Mr. Jay Anthony, Senior Warden: Pour nos amis à Paris. Nous sommes avec vous. Être fort!!!
Good morning my St. John’s family.
Welcome to Stewardship Sunday! This is the time of year when either I or the clergy or some other lucky duck gets to come up here and with golden words attempt to get you to open your hearts and your wallets to pledge even more money to St. John’s for the next year. More money to keep us warm in the winter, well lit, plowed out, free flowing water, insured, clergy to keep us spiritually fulfilled, staff to give us clean spaces and office staff to keep us administratively sound! More of your hard earned cash to give us music and voices and someone to lead it all. This is the time when we get up before you to beg and wheedle.
Well. Not today.
Today I am going to tell you that I and your Vestry know you are doing the best that you can with what you have to give. Today I am not going to beg and plead for more. We know you know our financial picture. We talk about it all the time. We even print updates every week in the bulletins you hold in your hands which show what was given last week and how it wasn’t enough to cover our expenses. This exact same scenario is playing out in churches all over New England and the rest of the country.
We all pray for a miracle to happen. Selling the Parish house is not the magic bullet and won’t happen fast enough. For myself, I even make promises to God as I hand over my $3.00 for a Powerball Quick Pick with the power play! It is at this point in my talk where I ask if there is anyone in the congregation who is a secret billionaire. No? OK.
Like the church, we all have financial issues. I get that. So the Vestry decided to take it easy on you all this year. We do not want to lose any more members over the begging and cajoling. Too many members have quietly slipped away because of it or over personality issues. That’s life. It happens. But like family, they will always be welcomed back when we have made the right decisions and have righted the ship to their comfort and satisfaction.
This building holds many, many memories for all of us. We can thank God for memories. They will always be with us. You do know this building is the fourth incarnation of St. John’s church, right? The first church building was erected in 1743 at the corner of West Main and Willow Streets and was called St. James Church. From pictures it looked relatively small compared to this edifice. The parish outgrew this small building by the turn of the century. The second church was built and consecrated as St. John’s Church on November 1, 1797. It was located on the Green where the Soldiers’ Monument now stands. St. John’s third church was erected on the current site in 1848 and was totally destroyed by fire on Christmas Eve, 1868. Services were held in a temporary building for over four years until it was restored using private funds of the membership as were all the versions before it. This, the fourth and present church was consecrated on June 24, 1873.
St. John’s has existed for 272 years. Thousands before us have worshipped here. St. John’s weathered many storms of many types: fire, wind, rain, hurricanes, floods and still the heart of St. John’s which is the people, carried on. So something as simple as financial stress isn’t going to kill us now. We can and will adapt. We are St. John’s Strong.
We will also run out of money in two years at our current pace. Our endowment is dwindling. Your Vestry has been discerning and discussing this with much pain and humility. We have also been discussing it rationally and with some of the best minds in the Diocese. The time has come to seek shelter from our current financial position in order to continue the work we do and need to continue to do. Like the parishioners who have come before us, we will go on.
But we can no longer go on in this facility. The grand and glorious gray stone building that has been our spiritual refuge for many, many years is now a huge weight around our collective necks. We cannot allow it to become our tomb. We can find a way to go on in a facility that can be supported by the income we currently receive. The Vestry, your leadership, has not come to this painful, yet brave recommendation easily. Many tears were shed and will still be shed. An analogy was made that helped us: “If we were all sitting here and the building spontaneously burst into flames, what would you grab to save from the fire?” We all agreed it would be the people.
The following day which was November 11th, vestry member Donna Gervickas emailed the rest of the Vestry the passage of the day from the Day By Day pamphlet:
“Nehemiah 8:10b For this day is holy to our LORD; and do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.
When we accept that something is over, that it is time to move forward, we are tacitly required to let go of the past (relationships, jobs, old houses, etc.), so that we can start something new. Nehemiah commands the Israelites not to grieve the past, but to instead “eat the fat and drink sweet wine”, because “the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah is telling them that it is time to rejoice and also time to move on. I know in my heart that the will to persevere comes from the mighty strength of God, and I am grateful—joyful—that my moving on, my holy day, is anchored in that strength and not my own. Joy comes from God, and it is a gracious gift. All we need to do is receive it, graciously, and let it carry us forward.” End quote.
As I said…this is the recommendation of the Vestry. There will be an all member discussion and vote yet to come. Among other details, a search committee will be formed to find the right location. Now that this large cat is out of the bag, I will remind you all that Vestry meetings are held at 7:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday of every month unless rescheduled for a particular reason and that anyone may come to listen to the proceedings.
Finally, the Vestry will understand if some of the congregation is unable to make this transition with us. We hope we are proven wrong and God gives each and every one of us the strength to carry on as others have done before us. We will all be part of St. John’s history as the ones who gained that strength from God and persevered.
Thank you and God Bless you all.