Friends,

Welcome to stewardship season!

This year, we are trying to make giving to the Church as joyful, informed, and easy as possible. Joyful is easy. I hope you got your Episcopickles this past Sunday; if not, there are still tons to go around. Now for “informed” and “easy”. These two are often in direct competition. In the past, we have noticed that putting too much information in one spot leads people to disengage from the material. Including less information is also risky, because our whole system is a bit esoteric and complicated, especially if you are new to the Episcopal Church.

For the next few weeks, I am going to tackle these odd sorts of topics one at a time, hoping we can illuminate the state of St. Luke’s while trusting that the Holy Spirit dwells in the Church's bureaucracy, even if it isn’t always apparent.

This week’s edition covers everything you need to know about our Seminarians, our Deacon, our hope for another Priest in the Spring, and how these things are all very different.

Our population has been growing faster than our budget, which I am very thankful for. The problem is that we need more ministers but haven't been able to afford another full-time priest. This is where our seminarians and our deacon come into our Church.

Seminarians:

These are priests in training at Virginia Theological Seminary, and all seminarians must complete internships at a local parish for class credit in their second year. Most Bishops require their seminarians to continue serving in one parish their senior year so they can learn the ropes of the priesthood in an applied setting. The cost is $400 per year for the seminarian receiving class credit only, which is meant to offset travel costs.

My biggest learning with clergy-types is that it is far better to have no help than bad help, and I am beyond thankful that we currently have two of the best-equipped seminarians I could have hoped for. Blair Sokol (the tall one) is in his second year in seminary and is currently with us for class credit. Micah Brown (the trendy one) is in his final year of seminary and volunteers at St. Luke’s. Both are self-starters and have never grumbled when I’ve asked them to do stuff. Blair contributes about 12 hours per week to our ministry, while Micah is primarily here on Sundays and is even preaching this Sunday, even though he doesn’t have to. Well done, Micah.

Seminarians change from year to year, and neither Micah nor Blair will be serving with us next year in their current capacity.

Deacons:

This is a new one for me. There are two types of Deacons. I was a deacon for six months before becoming a priest, as every other priest in the Episcopal Church has been. Micah will be ordained a “transitional” deacon sometime this spring, and six months (or so) later he will be ordained a priest if he doesn’t mess up too badly. Rev. Melissa Carter, who just joined us this past Sunday, is something else entirely. She is a vocational deacon and will remain a deacon in perpetuity unless she later feels called to the priesthood. Deacons look like priests in many ways. We both wear clerical collars, preach, read the Gospel, teach Scripture, and do pastoral care. Beyond these outward-facing tasks, the deacon's role is distinct.

While the priest's role is to serve the congregation through administering the sacraments, the deacon is meant to build bridges between the congregation and the outside world. Deacons typically work closely with outreach programs and engage in community welfare, and we can expect Melissa to do something similar with her time with us.

Deacons are also not employees of the Church. Our new deacon, the Rev. Melissa Carter, reports directly to the bishop, so I am not her supervisor. Unlike priests and other employees of the Church, Deacons are not compensated financially. St. Luke’s only financial obligation to Rev. Melissa is to pay $25 a month toward her pension and to provide an allowance for continuing education and attendance at the clergy retreat. This is not a sustainable way to make money for the deacons, so many are already retired from their careers, or, in Melissa’s case, work a 9-5 in the secular world and then focus on her ministry in the evenings and on Sundays. We can expect her to contribute about 12 hours a week to St. Luke’s. Deacons serve at a Church for about three years, and then they move on.

Our total financial obligation to these three ministers is about $1,000 a year.

Priests:

I am a Rector, which is like a CEO priest, but there are many different types of priests. Chaplains serve in hospitals, schools, public safety, and in the armed forces. Curates are like baby priests who have a two-year contract with a Church right out of seminary. An Associate Rector reports to the rector and typically leads a specific area in the Church. There are a bunch more, but you get the point.

My hope is that we will be able to hire either a curate or an associate priest this coming Spring. If we meet this goal, we will have another full-time priest in St. Luke’s to provide more consistent ministry and better serve our community. Their purpose will be like mine: to tend to the needs of those in St. Luke’s and to welcome people into our Christian Community. Their area of specialization in the Church depends on the candidate and the needs of the Church, which will shift depending on the success of our stewardship season.

If an associate and I can complement each other, hiring a second full-time priest would amplify our ministry by more than two times. I find that when we do ministry together, we can become greater than the sum of our parts. Having a consistent second voice in the pulpit can create nuance that simply cannot exist with a solo preacher. Seminarians are great, but they come and go each year. A curate would be here for at least two years and would truly get to know our congregation. If we hire an associate, then they could be here for a very long time.

Another note: I know that I am not everyone’s cup of tea. I also know many who find my style refreshing. Having a second priest who shares my passion for St. Luke’s and is empowered to explore and develop their unique approach to ministry can broaden our reach. I do not want a Fr. Nick 2.0. That would just be boring.

The Takeaway

We get a tremendous amount of ministry from our seminarians, and our ministry will be enriched as our Deacon begins to explore our congregation. These positions have been invaluable as we continue to lean into growth while we don't have the funds to hire another priest, and you should take a moment to thank Micah, Blair, and Melissa for their selfless ministry to St. Luke’s. With the abundance of ministers behind the altar on Sunday, I want you to know why we should be thankful for who we have, and why we are pushing for another priest this coming year.

All of this ranting is ultimately about people. When the Church was born on the day of Pentecost, the Spirit descended on the disciples, and they went out into the street proclaiming the good news to everyone in their own language. As mainstream Protestants, we do not talk enough about the gifts of the Spirit as much as we should. Some seem to insist that these gifts exist in their Churches, but when they manifest, it feels manufactured and fake. Perhaps we do not look around us enough and consider the possibility that these gifts are already abundant. Not always, but often, I find that our shared ministry is greater than the sum of our parts. I would be a miserable Christian if I did not share my faith with others. When we get together, we can do amazing things, often in surprising ways. Perhaps this is the Spirit dwelling among us.

Blessings,

Nick