Fr. Nick on Rituals and Traditions

Dear St. Luke’s,

Ritual and tradition are so very important. Not so much as something to appease or satisfy God, but to give us here below a chance to make meaning in our lives. I think there is good reason that people of all faiths and cultures tend to gather around a ritual when a child is welcomed, a couple gets married, or when someone dies. We have this compulsion to put these ineffably massive moments into some sort of context, and to do so within community. In many ways the past year has put us in a state of arrested development by taking away our ability to do ritual.

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Father Nick's Weekly Message

A few things happened this week where someone claimed, “you should put this in the e-news”, so I decided to consolidate all of these notices into a big reflection, so please excuse this bulleted list:

  • Someone attended the 8:00 am service this past Sunday, unaware that they were sick with COVID. The situation is well under control, and the chances that someone was exposed is nominal.

  • This Sunday is our big kickoff for Sunday School programming! I have been working closely with our Children's ministry to get ready.

  • We hired three people in the last two weeks!

  • One ministry we have put work into, but haven't quite locked down yet, is the Adult Forum.... I will be the first speaker on September 26th.

  • Do you feel like there is nothing at St. Luke’s for you? Please, seriously, give me a call, because you are the person that I want to hear from the most.

The biggest thing this week is the twenty-year anniversary of the September 11 attacks. I have heard from so many of you and how you were touched by that day, and I am still humbled how much that event still affects the world. I am genuinely lost for words when I think about it, which shouldn’t be surprising because I have been so consumed with the list above that I haven’t given myself time to let the reality of that tragedy seep in.

This time is exciting, cripplingly scary, exhausting, sometime rejuvenating, and we are always called put those things aside to look beyond ourselves. We must take time to remember those who died twenty years ago, and if we do not, then we cannot strive to make the world a better place in our present day. The task of being a faithful follower of Christ takes on countless forms, but it always involving taking the time to put all of those worries that weigh us down before the table of God.

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A message from Fr. Nick regarding our new program year!

Dear St. Luke’s,

I am nervous and excited as we prepare to start our program year. There are many good things in our near future. I particularly excited to see our education programs come back to life, and for our building project to come to fruition. More than anything else, I am looking forward to getting into a rhythm with you, so we can focus on the important things and spend less time worrying about the important, but more mundane, aspects of being the Church. Before we get into that rhythm, we need to figure out who we will become, and so it would be helpful to figure out who we are spiritually and practically. I am far from an expert on our financial reality and the history of our staff, but I thought it would be helpful for me to explain the situation as best as I am able.

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A Word of Farewell from Fr. Chip

One of the greatest and most precious gifts to be received as a Priest is to be held in the hearts of those to whom you minister. Not every pastoral relationship is easy. The strain of difficult times and the chances of life can sour even what is good. So to be held in love by the laity of a parish is a beautiful thing.

A gift like that is not to be taken lightly.

Thank you St. Luke’s.

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A Letter to the Parish from Fr. Nick

Dear St. Luke’s,

Locally and globally things are moving at a rapid pace. I am overwhelmed, excited and a bit nervous as we move into our first program year at St. Luke’s. While our ministries come alive, history is being made almost on a monthly basis. In the shadow of these massive events, the challenges we face can feel trivial. I have been struggling to wrap my mind around all of the big things happening at St. Luke’s, while I often find myself grieving the state of the world. With the smallest and biggest things, I am trying something different; I am trying to listen more and to listen better. I find the more that I listen, the more I realize how small I am compared to our world, our country and our Church, and this realization can be liberating and be motivation to do more for others.

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A Letter to the Parish from Fr. Nick

Dear St. Luke’s,

I have had a very eventful, joyful and hopeful couple of weeks. My time has been spent coordinating with our lay ministers about getting our ministry going this year, I have had the opportunity to reconnect with dear friends for the first time in over a year, and I even got to ride a rollercoaster with my brother. All of this has filled my heart, but it has made time a limited commodity. When I arrived for the vestry meeting this past week my head was spinning from changing gears from being family focused to Church focused, and I was eager to make sure that I had my ducks in a row during the meeting. I was trying to do the whole “calm presence”, but I’m pretty sure my anxiety was shining through. When 7:00 pm came along we asked Chip to open us in prayer. After an appropriately sanctified pause Chip began praying with the words, “Almighty God, we give you thanks for short prayers.” And everyone enthusiastically responded with “AMEN!”.

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A Word from Fr. Chip about Awareness

The word Awareness has become linked to an ethos of: topics that deserve to be better understood. We might all agree that “________ Awareness Month” is going to be filled with factoids on TV and special marketing campaigns around whatever topic fills in the blank.

We have just as surely all heard from someone that, “I wasn’t aware of that” as their excuse for something they did or didn’t do.

So what does it mean for us as Christians to make a spiritual practice of awareness part of our lives?

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A Letter to the Parish from Fr. Nick

Dear St. Luke’s,

When I first arrived at St. Luke’s in January there was a mountain of major projects, events and transitions in the pipeline, and now many of these things are coming alive. The building project has officially started, we are preparing for the calendar year, and very importantly; BBQ, pumpkins, and Shrine Mont are coming back! Seeing the effects of so much work and ministry is joyful, but in the midst of this joy is a somber change. At the end of August, Chip will be ending his ministry at St. Luke’s, and we will all have a chance to celebrate with him after the 10:00 am service on August 29th.

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A letter to the parish from Fr. Nick

Dear St. Luke’s,

It has been two weeks since I wrote to you, and it is time for me again to talk about wearing masks in the Church. I have spoken to many people about their needs, wants and fears, and there is one overwhelming consistency within our Church; we are all tired of talking about it. Everyone is craving stability, security and we are done with ambiguity and frustration, especially after the year that we have had, and everyone has a different idea on what this looks like. I hate to say it, but we are not there, but are making progress.

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A Meditation for the Fifth Week of Pentecost: David and Goliath

Everybody knows the story of David and Goliath, more or less. . .

Jesse’s youngest boy, David, had been strangely anointed in his childhood by the prophet Samuel to be the king of Israel after Saul – a fact the family very wisely kept to itself, since Saul undoubtedly had plans for his own children. Some time after Samuel’s visit, the Philistines – a group of Canaanites who appear from time to time in Israel – are on the attack. For 40 days an enormous man, a giant, Goliath, taunts the Israelites, calling them into a winner-take-all battle of champions.

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A Word from Fr. Chip about Freedom

This week the news has been filled with stories following the actions taken to codify Juneteenth as a National Holiday. I admit I was an adult when I first heard of Juneteenth and a seminarian before I understood the impact and importance of it as a celebration of life, liberty, and freedom. It commemorates the last State in the Union receiving word of the Emancipation Proclamation; that slaves had been freed by law. We should all know and acknowledge that former enslaved persons continued to be abused and murdered yet that is a story unto itself for another time.

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A letter from Fr. Nick about Faithfulness and Patience

Dear St. Luke’s,

As Christians we are called to live not just for ourselves but for Christ to died and rose again for us. This advice that we receive through Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians is something that seems well suited for a seminary class, but Paul didn’t intend this to be an intellectual exercise. All of his letters were meant to encourage normal people to live a life that brings them closer to Christ, and his words are just as relevant for us today as they were for the ancient Corinthians.

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A Word from Fr. Nick about Home

Dear Friends,

The idea of home is as varied as there are people who long for it. My wife is remarkably fortunate in that she knew the same physical home almost her entire life, while my family moved fairly often growing up. Both ways of growing up have their advantages and disadvantages. My siblings and I see excitement along with pain whenever a major change is on the horizon, because moving so often took the fear out of transition. That is nice, but I crave my wife’s sense of place and continuity. She can still go to her parent’s home and see the woods and grounds she explored since was a small child. Her memories are grounded in something she can see, while my memories of DeWitt Michigan might as well be in Narnia.

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A letter to the Parish from Fr. Nick

Dear Parishioners,


The past two weeks have been an emotional whirlwind. It reminds me of the equal but opposite feeling that I had at the beginning of the pandemic. Then it was an exercise of waking up to a new reality and seeing what plans would have to be thrown out of the window. Seeing new ministries start, celebrating Easter together, and going on family vacations all went out of the window one by one.

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A Word from Fr. Chip about Summer

Summer is just around the corner and oftentimes it’s seen as a period of freedom, playfulness, and rest. When I was a child my family and I would make our annual pilgrimage to Arcadia, Michigan and the small family camp there for a week’s vacation. It was the highlight, even the embodiment, of Summer for me. A week on the shore of Lake Michigan filled with hiking, games, and good food. It was in that same place that I first felt my Call to the Priesthood, though I didn’t know that’s what it was at the time.

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Notes and guidelines about in-person regathering from Fr. Nick

I wrote the letter below right before the CDC made their new guidelines saying vaccinated people no longer have to wear masks inside, and I hate to disappoint you, but we all have to continue to wear masks while at Church. In an odd way, this perfectly proves my point that we must remain patient and steadfast as we respond to a very fluid situation. I hope that we take this as evidence that relief to the pandemic is right around the corner. Whatever changes we will implement at St. Luke’s will be in accordance with guidelines from the national, state and local governments, as well as from the Bishop. This means things will move slower, but they will likely also be crafted to our specific situation. Below is the letter that went out to the congregation about our plans to worship back in the building in the near future. I hope to see you in person soon!

-Nick

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A Word from Fr. Chip about my care for St. Luke's

This past Sunday afternoon we took an important first step in the work to prepare ourselves and our space for regathering. The Usher ministry members gathered for instruction and to ask questions about the ways of doing things that will be required, at least for the foreseeable future. 

It was a difficult time to realise how different things will have to be and to reflect on how limited the number of families present may make the time and the space feel not as full as one might like. 

But it was in the moments just before the training began that I had an encounter that caused my heart to swell and then to ache. I was near the doors of the church making sure those attending received the print out and letting them know we were gathering in the Nave when one of the attendees said in a happy voice how good it was to see me. Then, realising why there was a pause in my response and introduced themselves. They knew me, but I did not know them.

That moment was hard, and also joyful. It caused me to realise that I have spent this past year praying for, serving, and deeply loving the community of St. Luke’s while still not having met most of you. 

I was here on Sunday’s only serving as a deacon for a time but those short encounters were far too few. Some people who have felt safe enough to come to outdoor 8 am worship I have come to know, but only so far. I used the wrong name for someone just the other day, realising it only after they had gone. 

It pulls at my heart that I’ve been unable to learn the names and faces of the people of St. Luke’s who have shown me the strength of God’s love through this terrible pandemic. By that same token I hope and pray that I have been able to share that love with you and that you will be able to finally come to church and introduce yourself. That we can be known to each other and carry forward the work God has given us to do. 

Sharing Love,

Fr. Chip

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