Friends,

With such a late Easter, we went straight from Easter mode to Annual BBQ mode! To further complicate and restrict my time, I had a clergy retreat at Shrine Mont early this week, which I LOVED; however, it has greatly diminished my time to write a thoughtful article to you. This feels well suited to the typical rapid-fire life of a priest at St. Luke’s, and it is a rhythm in which I typically thrive. In lieu of me trying to be profound, here is a bulleted list of things I’d like you to know more about:

St. Luke’s Annual BBQ: From the outside looking in this function looks like a ritual exemplifying the intrinsic values of smoked meat and efficiency. Every year, I am astonished at the length of the line before we start selling. It goes all the way to the back of the Church! And every year, I get paranoid that people are going to get frustrated and go elsewhere, so I try to compensate. Something I find great joy in doing is taking unconsecrated communion wafers and use them as crackers for sampling our homemade BBQ sauces. I think this is hilarious and effective; however, it is totally unnecessary, because the line moves incredibly quickly. I practically needed to jog to keep up with my sauces sample tray!
- Our annual parish retreat at the end of September is largely funded by the BBQ. We use the proceeds to subsidize the cost of the retreat for children, which has contributed to the massive growth of children at the retreat. Regardless of whether you loved smoked meat, efficiency, or want to support our community, come and get some BBQ this Saturday starting at 11:00!
- If you would like to sign up to help, follow this link.
St. Luke’s Annual Picnic: A long time ago St. Luke’s donated the land that would become the Mount Vernon Park Association. It was donated under certain conditions, one of them being that we get to use the park for our annual picnic once a year! This is a longtime and well-loved tradition, and I encourage you to go after Church on June 1st. If you have not been, the Mount Vernon Park Association is a very unique spot, and I suspect places like this are quite rare. It is gorgeous and screams of fun, safety and community. Typically, you must be a member to go to the park, but the picnic is open to all St. Luker’s, which means you, so this is a chance for you to try it out without having to commit.
Concerning the Clergy Retreat: When I arrived at St. Luke’s I felt so thankful that I had two good friends from undergrad who were serving in the diocese, so I had someone to hang out with. Then they promptly moved away. Last year at the spring clergy retreat I fell into a group that I had no previous connection, and I felt like I finally had my little group. One member of this informal group was a relatively new priest to the Episcopal Church, and recently came from the United Methodist Church, and he and I had a lot in common. We are relatively the same age, I have two young boys, while he has three young girls, and we both had wives with cancer. I was humbled getting to know him, because I was fragile from the ordeal and felt pretty bad for myself. He had been through the same ordeal, but rather than seeing hope slowly emerge in the future, he and his wife were coming to terms with the fact that she wasn’t going to make it. I make it a point not to use my weekly articles to promote certain causes, because it is ultimately unfair. Someone or some incredibly worthy project will be neglected, so I try to advocate in other ways. Kyle’s wife died last November, and Kyle tells me they are worried about long term costs for helping with their children so he can continue to work. Causes and interest come and go, but Kyle is facing a very long-term struggle, and right now I am highly motived to provide him with a solid foundation to thrive with his family, rather than being constantly worried about surviving. If you would like to help me support my friend, you can follow this link.

As I write this, a small army is assembling to start hauling stuff for the BBQ, which is a good and holy thing. If you want to know more about encountering Christ around grilled meat, come on Sunday, because the Gospel is going to be perfect for the season.

Blessings,

Nick