January’s Congregational Update

With the parish’s annual meeting (January 26) around the corner, I wanted to share a few updates that impact upon our fellowship here at Saint Gabriel.

On the first front, it has to be said that the vestry and I greatly appreciate the outpouring of financial support through this year’s stewardship drive. Building upon the call to support the ministries of the church – including the calling of an assisting priest this year, God-willing – we all responded to the Singing Songs of Expectation pledge drive.

Throughout the fall, I have been working on the scope of work for a 10-12 hour per week assisting priest to come alongside me. That work is ongoing, and while I have a candidate in mind, I am working with the Office of the Bishop whose blessing is sought and required. I pledge to update you as I can, but it may take a few months before we can undertake any decisions. In the meantime, I am feeling good about the start of this year, am healthy and able to lead Saint Gabriel with the help of the vestry and many other lay leaders.

Second, our organist for the past 7 years, Caroline Johnson, has tendered her resignation. Caroline is seeking a healthier work-life balance and needs to simplify for commitments. You may not know this, but Caroline commutes to Saint Gabriel twice a week from northeastern Colorado Springs. She is a school principal, has a family, and is currently working on completing a PhD in education.

Caroline has been a delight to work with, and I appreciate everything that she brought to our music leadership in the capacity of accompanist both on organ and piano. We will miss her and please be on the lookout for details regarding a special coffee hour reception for Caroline on an upcoming Sunday. Her final Sunday with us will be February 9, but she has also offered to serve as a substitute as we have need.

I am working with Mark Kelly, our Music Director, who is also a gifted accompanist on both organ and piano, and we are delighted that he has agreed to assume both roles.

In other news, there is a terrific slate of vestry nominees we will get to know, the profiles of whom are found in the Trumpet.

They are:

Kelby Cotton, Senior Warden

Rob Johnston, Junior Warden

and Carrie Odom, Greg Osbourne, and Gail Scott who will serve a 3-year term on vestry.

There is much about which to rejoice as we begin this new year together, under the mercy and grace of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Faithfully,

Fr. Chris

Drawing close to God this year

On Sunday the Christmas season moves up a notch with the observance of Epiphany. At Epiphany the Church celebrates the manifestation of Jesus Christ to the gentiles, captured in the visit of the Magi to the young Christ-child in Bethlehem. Matthew’s gospel gives us the account in chapter 2, vv. 1-12 and following.

In it, the Magi follow what they suppose to be the star of the coming king. This of course alarms Herod and arouses his jealousy and concern. Eventually, this will lead to the deaths of the male children in Bethlehem under the age of two, though this is omitted from Sunday’s gospel reading.

What captures our attention this Sunday is the response of these Magi upon seeing the child with Mary his mother. Upon this holy family they offer gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.

Overall, this encounter is one of great joy and rejoicing.

As you and I begin this year, one question that might be on our minds is for what are we hopeful? What do we yearn for?

In my home, we yearn for good health, satisfactory work, “work-life balance,” and most of all for our children to be well in body, mind and spirit.

But we also yearn for things outside our little Bethlehem – for peace and justice to be experienced by more people throughout the world.

For people to have a deeper encounter with Jesus, and for the Holy Spirit to turn their hearts in a greater and greater degree to the reality of God’s presence in people’s daily lives.

We pray for renewal and revival in our land.

But it starts with us – with our hearts and minds.

One way for that to happen is to commit to a daily quiet time with God.

Over the years, I’ve had Bible reading plans and much frustration from beginning strong and then tapering off, usually after about six or so weeks!

More recently, I’ve had better staying power by simply praying the Daily Office from the Book of Common Prayer. There’s nothing magical about it, but it does get me into the Scriptures and it lifts me out of my own little world and helps me feel like I’m part of God’s big work in the world.

What has worked well for you? Drop me a note to let me know your secret to drawing close to God.

And if you’re wanting to get something off the ground by starting a daily quiet time, please let me know how I can help encourage you.

Perhaps together, we can journey as the Magi did and by the close of 2025 experience the great joy of experiencing God in a fresh way!

Epiphany blessings,

Fr. Chris

“The hopes and fears of all the years are met in Thee tonight”

Friends,

We are fast approaching the Feast of the Nativity. While Christmas comes every year, for most people there’s something special about it. While completely familiar to us, it nevertheless loses nothing of its wonder and charm despite its familiarity. 

Of all the holidays, Christmas tugs most on the heartstrings of people’s nostalgia. There’s something about the gifts under the tree, the traditions cultivated from years of habit, and the comfort of Christmas carols, creches, and customs that one experiences when young that lasts down through the years. 

However, to borrow from Christian writer C S Lewis for a moment, we might ask what is the end of our nostalgia? Is cultivating nostalgia something we do for its own sake, or does it serve a different purpose?

What, after all, is nostalgia? It can be defined as “a feeling of wistful longing for a time in the past,” or a place or a certain mixture of people – relatives or friends - that holds happy personal associations. 

What does nostalgia say about us? Are we not in fact looking for something complete in the midst of our own incompleteness? This led C S Lewis to think theologically about yearning and desire, emotional responses built into each person. To describe this yearning, Lewis borrowed a German word and concept – Sehnsucht, which translates roughly longing or yearning for something inexpressible. 

He describes it as a “desire for our own far-off country” . . . “that unnamable something, the desire for which pierces us like a rapier at the smell of bonfire, the sound of wild ducks flying overhead … the morning cobwebs in late summer, or the noise of falling waves.”

For Christians, Christmas - the Incarnation of God’s Son – points to our yearning and serves as a signpost to a truer completeness that is, even now, coming toward us.

Wherever you may be this year spiritually, we are glad you are here. May this final Sunday of Advent, and our services throughout Christmastide, fill your heart with joy and maybe a little more completeness. 

And may God give you the fullness of heart that is the end of all our yearnings through his Son, the newborn King.

Happy Christmas!

Fr. Chris 

Now it is high time to awake!

Now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. 

~ Romans 13:11-12, NKJV

For the Second Sunday of Advent, the Church’s focus turns to the messengers who announce the coming of the King. In this role they serve to prepare us as the King’s advance team, as it were.

John the Baptist is the figure who gets the spotlight this Sunday. The ironic thing is that John never seeks the spotlight for himself; rather he points away from himself to the One who was to come. 

“A man called John was sent by God as a witness to the light, so that any man who heard his testimony might believe in the light. This man was not himself the light: he was sent simply as a personal witness to that light.” (John 1:6-8, J. B. Phillips New Testament)

To get our attention, these messengers use dramatic language, so, borrowing from the lectionary reading for the 15th, we hear “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruits worthy of repentance.”

Sometimes we need to be aroused from our slumber, and this is what God’s messengers do. They shake us from our stupor, they pry our fingers away from what we clutch so tightly by way of (often misplaced) security, thereby allowing our hands to go from grasping to relinquishing – thereby opening to God’s grace and mercy.

In this way, God’s messengers do us a big favor, but the process is seldom pretty. It is hard to give up the sense that by our own strength we will prevail. After all, we are capable and talented people. And on the surface of things, it is true that we can overcome many things by determination and sheer grit.

But there comes a point in everyone’s life when we begin to account for our fragility and dependency.

It is in this part of life – in which many of us find ourselves currently – that can be the most fulfilling, spiritually. For we no longer must pretend to be strong when we’re not, nor do we have to project achievement or worth when we realize that these are things that ultimately have their source in Grace. And we are the recipients of that good and great grace!

Maybe this is a gem hidden within the season of Advent: a summons from God’s messengers to return to the source of this Grace.

Here’s a poem by Sheldon Vanauken, The Sands that I’ve found nourishing over the years - 

The soul for comfort holds herself to be

Inviolate; but like the blowing sands

That sift in shuttered houses, Christ’s demands

Intrude and sting, deny her to be free

She twists and turns but finds it vain to flee,

The living Word is in the very air,

She can’t escape a wound that’s everywhere,

She can but stand or yield—to ecstasy

Her Lord is seeking entrance; she must choose.

A thickening callous can withstand the pain

Of this rough irritant, the sands that swirl

Against her thus defied. But if she lose

Her self, Christ enters in—the sharp-edged grain

Of sand embedded grows a shining pearl.

Advent is Upon Us

Advent is upon us and with it comes the yearly question: How do we enter this time fully and balance this with the cultural assumption that Christmas season somehow begins the day after Thanksgiving (or, worse, Halloween!)?

If this question is confusing, we must be clear on what Advent is and what it isn’t. To have a great Christmas the Church leads us to observe a good Advent.

Advent of course is the four weeks leading up to Christmas, the Feast of the Incarnation. Its themes are not as jolly as Christmas, to be sure: death, judgment, heaven and hell. In reflecting on these themes, however, we undergo a “spiritual cleanse.” We are forced to look at things as they are, not as we would have them be.

And there is plenty of evidence to support this as we look around the world or even look within our own selves. We see light and darkness, we see little glimpses of beauty and hope poking through like hearty pansies blooming under a blanket of snow. And yet we are living out the first part of Isaac Watts’ treasured lines, “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground.” We live with the impression, if not the fact, of sins and sorrows growing like summer bindweed in the garden or, if you’re from the South, Kudzu – surely signs of living under judgment if there ever was one!

Fleming Rutledge puts it well in her book Advent: The Once and Future Coming of Jesus Christ, when she notes that “Advent begins in the dark.”

And yet, we know that Advent points to something hopeful, joyous, and enduring. That is to say, Advent paves the way for Christmas. Advent says that while there are pains and sorrows that act like invasive weeds, the Great Gardener is at work to restore and renew the face of the earth. And He begins with the birth of a baby and the work of that baby-become man, and the eventual return of that one singular human being to set the world to rights.

So, in this way Advent paves the way for Christmas and the birth of Christ Jesus, yes, but Advent points us to the promise of that birth and how Christ’s coming again is a sign of powerful hope and expectation. For to return to Isaac Watts again, “He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.”

Advent puts us in between these two parts of “Joy to the World” - “No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground” and “He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found, far as the curse is found.”

I’d like to close with a little vignette that helps us reflect on how best to observe this season of Advent.

Methodist Bishop William Willimon, the former chaplain to Duke University and University Preacher, tells of how his director of music refused to sit in a crowded, loud restaurant. He takes earplugs with him to Duke basketball games.

“You see,” he explains, “when your life is music, when your main tools are your ears, you must be careful. The difference between making good music and making great music is

often the difference between the slightest variations of sound. Therefore, I must guard my hearing.”

Willimon continues, “So maybe that’s why the church, in its wisdom, has the season of Advent in the weeks before Christmas. It we are to see the fragile light which dawns among us in Christ, we must sit awhile in the darkness. If we are to hear the songs of the angels, we must first be silent.”

As the old poster says, “Slow down. Be quiet. Its Advent.”

A blessed Advent to you and yours.

Fr. Chris

Happy Thanksgiving

CJ and I wish you and yours a very happy Thanksgiving. We are mindful of the goodness of God in our lives and in the lives of those whom we love. We are also grateful especially to God for you and this parish community, and the many kindnesses shown throughout the year. We acknowledge, too, that for some Thanksgiving will be hard for whatever reason – maybe it is a lonely time, or a time when there’s an empty place at the dining room table, or it is a season when financial pressures are particularly challenging. Holidays can be like that. We want to hold space for you, too. Perhaps Thursday’s 10 am Eucharist can provide that sense of community when we come together to sing and pray the Lord’s blessings. And always, we hold out hope that the Great Thanksgiving awaits!

We will feast in the house of Zion

We will sing with our hearts restored

He has done great things, we will say together

We will feast and weep no more 

-Lyrics by Sandra McCracken, Keith and Kristyn Getty

Wednesday, November 6, in the Year of our Lord 2024.

Tuesday’s election results are now in. Our country remains as divided as ever and yet the margin of victory for the winner is wider than many people expected. CJ asked me on Tuesday afternoon who I thought would win, and I honestly couldn’t answer her, but I entertained a hunch that Kamala would prevail as I thought Hilary Clinton would in 2016. As the night rolled on, it was evident that Donald Trump would become our next president and regain the White House after losing to Joe Biden four years ago.

Once again it was proved to me that I’m a terrible predictor of political outcomes and it’s a good thing I didn’t try to make politics my life’s work.

It seems almost banal to point this out, but I suspect that our church community reflects the wider electorate in our nation at this time. I don’t know if we lean more conservative than progressive or what the ratio might be. But I do know that we remain a “purple” congregation – neither blue nor red. 

I have a hunch, as well, that many of the folks in our congregation are pleased with the results – perhaps overjoyed. And on the other hand, I know that maybe an equal number of people are disappointed, even dismayed at the results. After all, the church is one of the few places left in America where people who are not related to one another nevertheless come together voluntarily for a common purpose – to worship and serve the Lord - and one’s neighbor. Yet, because we come together for this purpose, we may differ in many other respects – socially, economically, and politically.

Dorsey Henderson, my bishop in the Diocese of Upper South Carolina when I served there, stressed the importance of keeping “the main thing the main thing” which, for us, is proclaiming and celebrating the good news of God’s grace and life-changing love for all. 

In light of this, I offer a few reflections on the day after the election -

• In the title of this piece, you will notice that I spelled out the date in a formal way, emphasizing “the Year of our Lord.” This was done intentionally, because it is always good to remind ourselves that God holds all things in the palm of his hand. We may not understand the inscrutable workings of God in every and all situations, but we can and should put our faith and trust in the truth of God’s sovereignty, especially when things don’t turn out as hoped or expected.

• It may be easier for the winning side to extend an olive branch to the losing side in this election, but it may be harder for those who lost to except it or receive it as genuine - such is the nature of our body politic today. 

• It is also important, I feel, for the winners to remember that, for the losers, there will be a certain rawness in how they are processing the outcome. This rawness may or may not abate in the coming months. It might even increase with the actions of the new administration.

• Maintaining trust (or rebuilding trust) is also a potential issue in our relationships. We could retreat into the silos of our own making, or we could decide, regardless of our political perspective, that we will endeavor to maintain some measure of relationship with people who see things differently. 

• It is also the case that for some people, disassociation with others is the way that they will handle the outcome. It may be that it is a temporary safety measure to disassociate, or it may become something more permanent. I encourage us all to be at least a little introspective - to examine ourselves, and to weigh the costs of permanently withdrawing from others. If this is you – and it might feel like a huge ask right now! - it might be important for you to withdraw for a season and try to regain your bearings. But weigh the cost of making this a permanent thing. There will be costs of disassociating entirely with your neighbors, family, friends – including church friends. 

• This would apply to people on both sides of this election. If your side won the election and you are satisfied with the political outcome, ask what it would be like if the shoe were on the other foot.

I don’t wish to sound “preachy” with these reflections but offer them instead out of a pastoral concern for all the communicates here at Saint Gabriel the Archangel – for those who rejoice and those who weep.

Yours in Christ Jesus,

Fr. Chris

Vestry Update | Spring 2024

Each month the Saint Gabriel Wardens and Vestry meet to “take the pulse” of Saint Gabriel in terms of various measurements, including financial, programmatic, and spiritual. We look at hard data such as our income and expenses for the past month and year to date. We might look at recent trends in attendance and compare, for example, this year’s Easter versus last year’s. We also look forward to what is coming up on the calendar, how ministries are functioning, and what the vestry needs to pay attention to.

We are off to a good start this year, and for that we are grateful.

I put to the vestry several goals for 2024 that are very achievable. We want to reconvene three ministry areas – Congregational Care, Pathways (New Member and Evangelism), and Finance. To do that we have new leaders in place to help provide direction and support.

• Congregational Care supports parish “inreach” – helping us become a community where no one need stand alone.

• Pathways directs our attention outward, such that we communicate the good news of God’s grace and the good news of Saint Gabriel as a vibrant Christian community where people can meet Jesus.

• Our Finance Committee plays a vital role in assisting the vestry with such needs as ensuring that an annual audit is conducted, setting the budget for the next year, reviewing our insurance and operational investments (in contrast with the Endowment Committee which oversees our church’s long-term endowment investments), and reviewing the month-to-month financial health of the congregation.

We have excellent people who serve already in these areas and talented vestry liaisons with whom to share ministry, but we continue seeking new folks who are interested in making a contribution. This is where you come in. If you have a particular interest in serving on any of the above teams, please let either Barry Meigs or me know. We would be happy to have an initial discussion and put you in touch with others.

Another goal that we are working toward is celebrating the parish’s 65th Birthday in September 2025. While a long way off, we’d like to have a fun gathering around the time of the patronal feast. If you would like to be on a team to plan for this event, please let Barry Meigs know. Barry has graciously agreed to chair the event planning team.

And then the final area that we discussed this past Tuesday is Stewardship. Dan McClean served as our stewardship chair in 2023 and led us through a successful campaign “Make Some Noise.” We’re still enjoying hearing those coins drop in the offering plate and practicing our “microtithing”! However, Dan shared with us his intention to step down from the vestry due to health considerations, and so while we are disappointed that he will no longer be our stewardship chair, we are grateful for his contributions while serving on the vestry.

If you have an interest in learning about our vision for stewardship as a ministry of the church, please let me know and I would be happy to speak with you about this. It is an exciting (yes, truly!) ministry area that is really about relationships and enjoying seeing the fruit of people’s generosity and gratitude expressed through stepping up. It is about faith, not guilt, and it is about having some fun and feeling good about what the church does and stands for.

I hope these are some helpful reflections on what is going on with your vestry. Again, if you have any questions, suggestions, or concerns, please contact a member of the Saint Gabriel vestry.

Every blessing in Christ Jesus,

Fr. Chris

Holy Week

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday on March 24, when in the space of one service we turn from shouts of “Hosanna” to cries of “Crucify him!”

I invite you to begin making your Holy Week and Easter plans now. We are drawn to the liturgies of the church, developed thoughtfully over time, to help us receive the message of the cross – the message that although we live with the sorrow of death and loss, sometimes turning our backs on God, God meets us in the person of Jesus on the cross.

In between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, we observe a service called Tenebrae – it is a powerful meditation on Christ’s passion as witnessed by lengthening shadows. On Thursday, we recollect the words of Jesus at supper, “Do this in remembrance of me. This is my body, this is my blood of the New Covenant.”

We also take the humbling position of Jesus as he knelt and washed the feet of his disciples. Later, we strip the altar and chancel area of all embellishments and anything that reminds us of crafted beauty. In its place, we find empty drawers, black veils, simple wood …. and a crown of thorns.

Overnight, the Maundy Thursday Vigil provides space for quiet contemplation throughout the night hours – from roughly 8 pm to 6 am Friday morning. An echo of Stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray finds a place deep in our souls.

On Good Friday we offer the prayers of the Church by recollecting Christ’s passion once again. Ancient music stirs our souls as we gaze on the crown of thorns.

Holy Saturday morning is the starkest of all services. Our simple presence reminds us that the disciples observed the Sabbath day in their homes but prepared to go the first day of the week to anoint his body with spices and ointments. This year, the Daughters of the King hosts a quiet morning on the theme of forgiveness with words of Jesus from the cross, “Father forgive” all are welcomed and encouraged to attend.

At the Great Vigil of Easter we gather in the darkness on Saturday evening. As we do, it is a darkness not of sorrow, but a darkness of waiting – waiting for the dawn. As we wait we hear our story re-told. First, from the ancient Hebrew scriptures – the First Covenant – we hear our story of deliverance. Then, Easter light is struck and suddenly darkness gives way to light, and we sing our song, Alleluia! Christ is risen! The Lord is risen indeed, Alleluia!

With new joy and new hope we welcome the happy morning of Christ vindicated, raised from among the dead!

Join your community this coming week; you will be strengthened, moved, and changed if you do. Holy Week is not to be missed!

Every Blessing in Christ,

Fr. Chris

Merry Christmas!

On behalf of the entire staff and vestry of Saint Gabriel, I wish you a very Merry Christmas.

We will come together to celebrate the birth of Jesus once again. As we do, we will hear majestic music from our choir, smell the scent of candles while we sing Silent Night, or capture the fragrance of incense as it rises like a prayer to God above. We will see the colors of green and red, gold and scarlet, and taste the gifts of communion wine and bread. And as we step out into the dark night of Christmas Eve or the blue sky of Christmas morning, may we find ourselves believing that what we have done is something more enduring than opening even the most lovingly wrapped present under the tree.

For we have paid homage and offered worship to the One born to be King!

In a world as fractured and torn asunder by selfishness, pride and, frankly, evil, as ours is, where do we do go, to whom do we turn, except to the Christ child, wrapped as he is in the arms of his weary and holy mother?

As the disciple Peter once admitted to Jesus after many of Jesus’ followers deserted him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” (John 6:68-69)

Yes, the true joy and delight of Christmas can only come from the Holy Spirit working in our hearts to draw us to the Christ child. Once found, he can never be abandoned. Once found in him, we can never be abandoned. Alleluia!

The birth of Jesus is more than sentimental story. It is a sign of God’s redeeming love that he became human in order that we might be re-born into his family and share his likeness. As a light shining in the darkness so may his light be shining in us. All grace!

So, come. Come with hearts seeking, searching, questioning, doubting. But do come.

And let us worship the newborn King.

Come, let us adore him!

In his love,

Fr. Chris  

Around the Common Table

On Tuesday, six of us gathered for prayer for the Middle East, Jerusalem and Palestine, during which we prayed the following from the Evangelical Alliance (UK), among other prayers.

Father God, We see images and hear stories from the unfolding violence in Israel and Palestine. Our heads are full and our hearts are heavy.

We watch the unfolding brutality and violence, sectarianism and hatred. Lord, have mercy.

We choose not to turn away but to turn to You as we pray the words of Simon Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Jesus, You love these places and these people. Speak Your words of eternal life over them today. Make Your presence known.

Creator of this earth, a world with no guns or bombs or borders, You walked these lands with compassion and grace. Prince of peace, would You walk there again today. We echo the words of psalmists and prophets: hear the cries of orphans and widows; swiftly bring justice and healing. Heal these lands.

You died and rose from the dusty earth outside Jerusalem. Today, may Your shed blood bring healing. May Your resurrection power bring life.

We dare to hope to see new images and hear new stories of transformation. Hatred to hospitality, swords to ploughshares and mourning to dancing. Hear our prayers. May Your kingdom come, in Israel and Palestine as it is in Heaven. Amen.

The Peace of Wild Things by Kentucky poet, novelist, essayist (and farmer) Wendell Berry speaks to a “Sabbath-rest” approach to living in a world where daily tragedies bombard us through media saturation. I offer it to you, below. Let me know how it speaks to you…..

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me

and I wake in the night at the least sound

in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,

I go and lie down where the wood drake

rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.

I come into the peace of wild things

who do not tax their lives with forethought

of grief. I come into the presence of still water.

And I feel above me the day-blind stars

waiting with their light. For a time

I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.

A Harvest of Ministry

This September we’ve spent considerable time reflecting on the various core ministries at Saint Gabriel: worship and fellowship, congregational care and outreach, family ministry and adult formation.

It is good to pause to give thanks to the people who work behind the scenes in all these areas, and to celebrate opportunities we have to participate at whatever level we feel called to.

Maybe the Spirit has been tugging on your heart this past month to get involved in a new area, or perhaps step forward for the first time. There are ample opportunities to help, to lead, or simply to participate!

To recap, here are a few coming up this autumn –

Worship: We gained new acolytes for each Sunday service, and we have room to add additional ones. Do you sense the choir is more robust these days? We’ve added several new choir members – thank you! A new baby grand piano will soon be added to our instruments – this comes to us as a donation and will reside in the parish hall.

Outreach: Saint Gabriel is a long-time supporter of Locally Haiti, our collective effort to accompany our brothers and sisters in Petit-trou de Nippes, Haiti. On Saturday we have an art show, a food truck, Haitian music and a chance to hear about the good things happening in Haiti. Don’t forget the Jeans Drive for the Saint Francis Center and the Fall SGROW – a morning spent with Project Cure in Centennial. Sign up soon!

Adult Formation: beginning October 1, I will be teaching on the Letters of John, each week at 9:15 in the parish hall. Other course offerings are the Wednesday Bible Study at 10 am, reflecting on the Gospel of John, and the Wednesday night men’s group meeting at the home of David and Barbara Ariss. This fall, they are reading works by and about CS Lewis.

Family ministry: Lots to talk about, but we’ll be holding the annual Blessing of the Pets & Animals on Sunday at 4:30. Come on by for a special time to give thanks for our animal companions and commend them to God’s care. A little further out, on October 28, we’ll be hosting our 3rd Trunk or Treat – a safe and fun way to enjoy All Hallows Eve in the church parking lot. Godly Play continues each week at 10:15 am in the classroom downstairs. For all this and more, please see Meg Stern if you think you can help or participate in some way.

Fellowship: We’ll be saying Godspeed to Bob and Lindsay Leaman on October 8 as they move to Roebuck South Carolina. Bob and Lindsay raised their family at Saint Gabriel and have served on nearly all the boards and committees at the church. We will surely miss them, but know they are following God’s leading. Please join us for a special coffee hour following the 8 am service in the parish hall.

Stewardship: This year’s theme is “Make Some Noise” and chair, Dan McLean will inspire us to consider all that Saint Gabriel represents to us. In so doing, we will be encouraged to make our financial pledge as a step of faith and commitment to the furthering of the Holy Spirit’s work in and through us.

With gratitude –

Fr. Chris

This Week – There’s a Red Moon on the Rise

How is your summer going? After an unusually wet June we seem to be settling down to the sunny days that we typically associate with summertime. Lemonade on the lawn, flowers in the garden, monarch butterflies on the wing – these are a few of my favorite things!

This summer we’ve been working together with Christ Church and Epiphany, Denver, exploring the person and work of the Holy Spirit. Over the next two months, Fr. EJ and I will be preaching on the Spirit in the life of believers – the Spirit’s gifts, the fruit of the Spirit, and our dependence upon the Spirit as “the one who comes alongside.” At the end of the summer series, we are invited to attend a join worship service at Christ Church on August 27th when we will celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit through our congregational collaboration. (We will also hold to our regular Sunday service schedule here at Saint Gabriel.)

It was a great joy to preach at Christ Church last Sunday and to welcome Fr. Terry McGugan here at Saint Gabriel. May our friendship among the churches only grow and flourish!

Collaboration brings with it the question, what is the Spirit saying to our churches?

This question has risen in my mind and heart this summer. I’ve been listening to an audio book by Pete Greig titled Red Moon Rising. It’s the story of how the 24/7 prayer movement began, first in the UK, and then simultaneously in wider Europe, Australia, and in the Americas. It’s a fascinating story of God stirring up a young generation to persistent, prevailing prayer. Summer in the Spirit is causing me to ask if God is calling us to a deeper ministry of prayer. Yes, we’ve been attending to the stories of the Holy Spirit in Jesus’s ministry, exploring the work of the Spirit in the early church from Acts onwards, wondering about the baptism of the Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit from the Wild Goose and Alpha programs, but what I’m sensing is the call to prayer.

Where is this coming from?

Blips are showing up on my radar screen.

In Austria, HomeChurch, based in Salzburg, emphasizes the eucharist, charismatic-led worship and catholic expressions of church together for (mostly) young people in their teens and twenties. Gebetshaus in Augsburg, Germany recently held a 7-day, 24-hour prayer time with teaching and music, praying for the persecuted church in North Korea, the many unchurched in Europe, young people, peace in Ukraine, and other areas of concern. Pete Greig’s Lectio365 phone app centers on being still each day before the Lord. This summer he’s tracing the way of Saint Aiden from Iona to Lindisfarne in Scotland, the journey of Saint Cuthbert that CJ and I did last fall.

Like detected “weather events” on Doppler radar that we see on the news each night, these various movements of God are showing up, and I’m wondering what God might intend for me – for us – with these blips? Are they just passing clouds, or is there something more significant afoot?

I don’t know.

But I think it worth paying attention to, and I would ask you to pray alongside me for – at the minimum – an outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit upon our communities, upon the people whom God is bringing to a deeper faith journey, and for those who may be looking in and wondering if there is something for them in this place.

Would you join me in asking the Lord to bring clarity, wisdom, holiness, repentance, and discernment in us – along with open hearts – to his work in our midst?

And, if you’ve been sensing stirring in your soul and you have a hunch it is from God, please share it with me – I’d love to hear from you.

Grace and peace be yours always,

Fr. Chris

Holy Week & the Paschal Triduum at Saint Gabriel the Archangel

Holy Week & the Paschal Triduum at Saint Gabriel the Archangel [i]

[i] Some of the following language and descriptions are adapted from sources found on the web.

Palm Sunday

Palm Procession and the Enactment of Christ’s Passion

Holy Week begins with Palm Sunday where within the space of one service we turn from shouts of “Hosanna” to cries of “Crucify him!”

In between Palm Sunday and Good Friday, we hold services that mark the movements of Jesus, from his entrance into Jerusalem, his last Supper with his friends, his betrayal in the Garden of Gethsemane, his trial, crucifixion, and burial.

Maundy Thursday, 7 pm

On Thursday, we recollect the words of Jesus at the first Lord’s Supper – “Do this in remembrance of me. This is my body, this is my blood of the New Covenant.”

Here we gather, as Jesus did with his disciples on the night of the last supper, to carry out the commandment Jesus gave his disciples then: “love one another as I have loved you.” We do this by washing one another’s feet as servants to one another and by sharing a simple meal of bread and wine as friends.

Good Friday, 7 am, 7 pm

On Good Friday we commemorate and participate in Christ’s suffering and death because we believe they have a purpose: the salvation of the world. We believe that Christ’s death has conquered death, in all forms, once and for all: that is why we call the Friday on which he died “good.”

When we find ourselves at the foot of the cross, Christ, who suffers with us, has sustained us. We meet Christ on the cross, and we know there is nothing that can separate us from the love of God. (Romans 8)

Good Friday Stations of the Cross, 12 noon

At noon we walk the way of the cross together. The tradition of praying the Stations of the Cross never grows old. During the Stations the movement of Jesus from his unjust trial to his unjust death is powerfully displayed in the words of scripture and timeless prayers.

Holy Saturday Quiet Morning, 8:30 – 11 am

Everyone is invited and encouraged to attend a quiet morning set of reflections and time to meditate and pray on Holy Saturday. This event is sponsored by the Saint Gabriel Chapter of the Daughters of the King with reflections offered by Lindsay Leaman and Father Chris.

Come “stay with me, remain here with me, watch and pray, watch and pray.”

 Great Vigil of Easter , 7:30 pm

First Celebration of the Resurrection

We gather in the darkness on Saturday evening. This ancient service is the most potent of the year. The service begins with the kindling of a new fire – the light of Christ breaking into the darkness of our world. And then we hear the story – our story – of salvation. We gather around the fire and then, in the darkened nave, we share the biblical story of how God has worked for our salvation since the beginning of time and how we still participate in God’s ongoing story of salvation. We may baptize new Christians and we will renew our baptismal vows and commit ourselves anew to be people of Christ’s resurrection. We will celebrate that resurrection in the first Eucharist of Easter. Come prepared in heart and mind to worship and share in the light of Christ, a light for the whole world! Easter light shines out from the darkness! 

Easter Morning, 8:00 & 10:15 am

The Day of Resurrection

With new joy and hope, we welcome the happy morning of Christ Jesus raised from among the dead. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Easter Sunday is both the final hours of the Triduum and the first of the great fifty days, which will end at the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost. These days are marked with baptism, with joy, with Easter acclamations. We are reminded of our own baptism – a reminder that we, too, were once dead and will be raised to eternal glory. The Easter candle is processed into our assembly to remind us of Christ’s triumphant presence among us. We highlight the importance of the resurrection over death to sin, and to our new life in Christ through the sacrament of baptism.

This is the heart of what Easter Day and season is all about. Take time to enjoy these beautiful and memorable days of the Paschal Triduum!

First Steps Toward Healing

For Lent this year, CJ gave me a book of poetry by Malcolm Guite titled The Word in the Wilderness. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

If you are not certain that poetry is “your thing,” you might give this a look. Malcolm Guite provides his own poems and those whom he has selected by other authors and annotates each one with helpful commentary.

I include one of his, below, named “First Steps.” And a hint: it is best to read the poem aloud.

First Steps, Brancaster

This is the day to leave the dark behind you
Take the adventure, step beyond the hearth,
Shake off at last the shackles that confined you,
And find the courage for the forward path.
You yearned for freedom through the long night watches,
The day has come and you are free to choose,
Now is your time and season.
Companioned still by your familiar crutches,
And leaning on the props you hope to lose,
You step outside and widen your horizon.

After the dimly burning wick of winter
That seemed to dull and darken everything
The April sun shines clear beyond your shelter
And clean as sight itself. The reed-birds sing,
As heaven reaches down to touch the earth
And circle her, revealing everywhere
A lovely, longed-for blue.
Breathe deep and be renewed by every breath,
Kinned to the keen east wind and cleansing air,
As though the blue itself were blowing through you.

You keep the coastal path where edge meets edge,
The sea and salt marsh touching in North Norfolk,
Reed cutters cuttings, patterned in the sedge,
Open and ease the way that you will walk,
Unbroken reeds still wave their feathered fronds
Through which you glimpse the long line of the sea
And hear its healing voice.
Tentative steps begin to break your bonds,
You push on through the pain that sets you free,
Towards the day when broken bones rejoice

We learn from the accompanying commentary that Malcolm Guite wrote this poem after taking his first walk following a leg fracture that had him walled-in for many months.

In light of Lent, he reflects on this walk –

It’s good that this call to journey and pilgrimage in Lent comes in the spring and the turn of the year. For many of us winter is dark and difficult. It was particularly so for me in the winter of last year as I coped with a broken leg. This poem, written to celebrate my first walk outdoors after the accident, alludes to Psalm 51, the great Lenten penitential psalm with its prayer to ‘make me to hear of joy and gladness that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.’

These last few months for me have been an occasion for reflective meditation and prayer … and not a little occasional brooding!

At the end of 2022 and the beginning of this year, our family has visited various doctors more often than at any other time in our lives. CJ had surgery in early December and thankfully she is well on her way to a full recovery. She began a new job three weeks ago and is adjusting to the full-time schedule as the senior executive assistant to the chief of CU’s Highlands Ranch Hospital. We give God our gratitude and thanksgiving for this, but I have some continued medical concerns that I wish to share with you here.

As many of you know, the tendons in my left ankle were somehow torn during the fall hiking and walks that CJ and I took in Europe while on sabbatical. It is showing signs of healing but whether it will heal fully without surgery is an open question. Then shortly after Christmas I became ill and underwent scans that uncovered an inflamed gallbladder, which was then removed the same day. However, the scans also disclosed an aneurysm of the thoracic aorta. So, over the course of these many weeks, I’ve spent time with a cardiologist as well as an orthopedic surgeon for the ankle. In the event that I would need surgery, the wardens, vestry and I are discussing options for Saint Gabriel. The earliest I will know anything with a degree of probability will be in June after a second scan to see if the aneurysm has grown. Its size is currently bumping up against a measurement where precaution would lead a cardiologist to do open heart surgery and replace the thoracic aorta. Both CJ and I are so very grateful for your support and your prayers. I’m not particularly anxious about it, but it would be nice to have it resolved.

For these reasons I am drawn to the imagery in Guite’s poem particularly in the following lines-

Unbroken reeds still wave their feathered fronds
Through which you glimpse the long line of the sea
And hear its healing voice.
Tentative steps begin to break your bonds,
You push on through the pain that sets you free,
Towards the day when broken bones rejoice

 Though at times walled-in by our circumstances, we take those steps toward the open sea, knowing that God’s power in raising Jesus from the dead is for eternity, and for our healing.

Thanks be to God!

A Lenten Reflection

 Psalm 130

1 Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord;

Lord, hear my voice; *

let your ears consider well the voice of my supplication.

2 If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, *

O Lord, who could stand?

3 For there is forgiveness with you; *

therefore you shall be feared.

4 I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for him; *

in his word is my hope.

5 My soul waits for the Lord,

more than watchmen for the morning, *

more than watchmen for the morning.

6 O Israel, wait for the Lord, *

for with the Lord there is mercy;

7 With him there is plenteous redemption, *

and he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.

 The Psalmist speaks for all who are in a place of need, and this psalm is cherished by those who maybe find themselves “out of their depths.”

 The story is told of John Wesley’s conversion in 1738 while listening on Aldersgate Street in London to a reading from Martin Luther’s Preface to the Letter to the Romans, but this occasion was preceded earlier in the day by Wesley’s attending worship at Saint Paul’s Cathedral in London where he heard the words of Psalm 130, “Out of the depths have I called to you, O Lord.”

 Wesley might have found his heart “strangely warmed” by the declaration of forgiveness found in the gospel, but he likewise might have been prepared to receive this word by waiting on the Lord and seeking the Lord’s face. After all, “If you, Lord, were to note what is done amiss, O Lord, who could stand?”

 On the one hand, we acknowledge our predicament, our sins and trespasses, our inconstancy and our weak faith. And on the other hand we affirm – gladly and boldly (and humbly) – “With him there is plenteous redemption,” for “he shall redeem Israel from all their sins.”

 Sometimes people ask me if I would do “Ashes to Go” – the practice of dispensing ashes to passerby on Ash Wednesday. It is often suggested that this is an evangelistic tool to reach people who otherwise wouldn't (or couldn't) be in church on Ash Wednesday.

 And while I have done so in the past, I’ve come to the conclusion that ashes given without the Word or the Eucharist is like condemnation without absolution and reconciliation, or the burden of our sins without the liberation that Christ brings.

 The gospel has two wings - a wing of the Law which condemns and a wing of grace which sets free. The preaching of the Word and a sharing from the Table in Communion presents the good news that "Christ has died, Christ i risen. Christ will come again" - for us and for our salvation.

 So, we hold together both things – “Who could stand?” under the just judgment of God

 AND

 “O Israel, wait for the Lord, for with the Lord there is mercy.”

 Thanks be to God!

A Prayer About Acceptance | Scotty Smith

Throughout Lent I will be posting short pieces that I have found helpful in the day-to-day in what a group of friends calls the “with God” life. Here is one by Franklin, TN pastor Scotty Smith from 2009. It’s in the form of a prayer.

Chris+

A Prayer About Acceptance

SCOTTY SMITH  |  AUGUST 16, 2009

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. Romans 15:7

Lord Jesus, it’s both settling and centering to begin this day in the peaceful assurance of your acceptance. You know everything about me, and still I am fully and eternally accepted by God in you. You know my failures, fissures, fickleness, foolishness, faithlessness… and yet you totally accept me. When I confess my sins, I don’t inform you of anything you don’t already know. In fact, I’m probably only aware of 3 or 4% of my actual sins. It’s absolutely astonishing to be this known and this accepted, by YOU.

But here comes the difficult part, Jesus. As you have accepted me, you are calling me to accept my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. Do you really have enough grace that can enable me to love like that, Jesus? Are you really calling me to receive, welcome, and love others with whom I disagree about so many things? You’re really gonna have to help me, because there are a lot of my brothers and sisters, (even those in my own family), with whom I disagree on everything from topics in theology, politics, dress, issues of Christian liberty, women’s issues, how to spend money, worship styles, what to do on Sunday, educating children, drinking alcohol, entertainment… and that’s just for starters.

I need a bigger gospel-heart and more gospel-wisdom, Jesus, if I’m going to make any headway in this calling. Please help me show compassion without compromising my convictions. Please show me the difference between essential and non-essential matters. Please show me the difference between accepting someone where they are and acquiescing to the destructive things they are doing. Please free me from the limitations of my perspective, the prejudices of my heritage, and the insecurities of my comfort zone. Please, please, please free me from my stinkin’ need to be right all the time.

Father, please remind me, over and over, that YOU will bring to completion the good work YOU began in each of your children. And burn the conviction, indelibly into my heart, that it brings YOU praise when I work hard at accepting others as Jesus’ accepts me. So very Amen, I pray, in Jesus’ name.

Source: https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scotty-smith/a-prayer-about-acceptance-2/

An Apostle of the Great City: Exploring the Life of Father Rupert Mayer, SJ

Dear Friends,

Thank you once again for your cards, emails, texts, and practical thoughtfulness during CJs and my recent medical convalescences. As they say today, we did not have this on our bingo cards for 2022!

However, during this time, I’ve enjoyed building on threads from the fall sabbatical and one way that I’ve done this is through reading. Among the books related in some manner to what CJ and I experienced this fall, are two related to the Nazi-era theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Having read UVA professor Charles Marsh’s book on the Civil Rights movement in the south, I picked up his biography of Bonhoeffer titled Strange Glory. This led me to a follow-up book with the intriguing title, Keys to Bonhoeffer’s Haus by Laura M. Fabrycky. Both are excellent and highly recommended if you would like to learn more about this agonizing period in 20th century history.

This October our paths happen to cross that of Bonhoeffer when we hiked from Oberammergau to Ettal Abby one rainy morning. We learned that Bonhoeffer spent several months at the Abby as he was sorting out his response to the collapse of the church in Nazi Germany. The Abby provided time for writing, daily prayer, letter writing, and conversation with the monks. Out of this period would come Bonhoeffer’s work Ethics, published posthumously in 1949 by his friend Eberhard Bethge.

As we made our way around the Abby, we were struck by a bust in the chapel of another figure from the same period. This was of Fr. Rupert Mayer, SJ. This Bavarian Jesuit priest, himself an opponent of Adolph Hitler, was banished by the authorities to Ettal Abby where he lived until the war’s end in 1945. He led a remarkable life, though he did not carry the theological weight of his contemporary, Bonhoeffer. In 1995, Pope John Paul II beatified Mayer, giving him the title Blessed, a few stops short of sainthood in the Roman Catholic Church. (An interesting aside, the Girls School chapel at Regis High School in Parker is named The Blessed Rupert Mayer Chapel.)

I would like to share with you about Mayer’s life from what I’ve learned during this period of my own “forced retreat” and convalescence here at home.

To that end, I invite you to the Growing Faith adult class on Sunday, January 15 at 9:15 in the parish hall. You will learn the details of Mayer’s remarkable life and witness during a time of crisis in church and society, but be prompted as well to reflect on our own witness to Christ.

summertime sunshine

As we enjoy the summertime sunshine, the beauty of garden flowers and grassy open spaces, and the promise of fresh tomatoes ripening towards their potential, I wish to share about some happy additions and enhancements to the church property that will be arriving this summer and fall at Saint Gabriel.

On the grounds, we will be installing a new teak bench in loving memory of our dear friend Sue Baker. Sue participated in the Wednesday morning Bible Study and on her passing, the group wanted to offer something by way of a memorial, and we settled on the bench that will be placed on the northeast side adjacent to the east entrance. This will provide a needed place for people to sit and talk or wait for a guest to arrive or a Lyft to pull up.

Another project that we are hoping to complete in the next few months is a block and stucco mailbox base that will complement the exterior façade and provide a more secure placement to send and receive church mail. At the same time, we intend to make modest repairs to the stucco on various places on the building’s exterior. A final exterior improvement will be concrete grinding on a few concrete sidewalk sections where they have been raised on one end and are currently a tripping hazard. I offer my thanks to our Junior Warden, Rose Lynch, for provided excellent leadership and oversite of these projects.

Inside the building, our friends at the Denver design group Grammar of Ornament will be providing modest enhancements to the parish hall. This project will tie in the parish hall entry (where our restrooms and church offices are located) with the hall itself.

Principal areas to be addressed:

·       Bulto niche background

·       Baseboard border

·       Knee wall (behind the sofa and side tables)

·       Sconces

You can view sketches of these projects on a foamboard display in the parish hall.

 Memorial gifts are also in use as we replace worn or damaged liturgical items. Altar Guild co-directress Sharon Stewart is selecting oil candles for the Tenebrae hearse (you can Google what that is!), an incense bowl, and other smaller items that receive occasional use.

A project that I’m excited to share is still in the works. Since we began livestreaming services, people have found this helpful, especially on the occasions of funerals and baptisms, as they seek to include family and friends who live in other states, cities or even countries. For baptism I have moved the (very heavy) shell font from the entrance to the church to the crossing at the altar rail. I have longed for a supplemental font to use for this purpose. We are designing a font that will have a wood base that replicates design elements from the altar itself and the retable (or gradine) shelf behind the altar. This font will not only be moveable but will serve as a visual reminder of our baptisms into the life, death and resurrection of our Lord.

Just as the idea of spiritual growth in holiness and Christlikeness is part and parcel of the Christian journey, so we attend to the house of the Lord with an eye to both form and function, beauty and reverence, the practical and the aesthetic.

I know you will enjoy these enhancements as they unfold.

Now, get outside as you can, talk a walk, tend to flowers, cultivate a garden, and the interior life of prayer and thanksgiving for God’s good gifts to us, including the fellowship of his church!

In the family,

Fr. Chris

Liturgy, Frontals, and Lemon Poundcake

In this week’s AtCT, I want to visit again with you about liturgical changes that we will employ beginning with Trinity Sunday in two days and throughout the summer.

The first change is in the way we come to receive Holy Communion. Many people miss kneeling (or standing) at the rail to receive the bread and wine. Given the Covid ChaosTM of the past two years, we purposively suspended quite most practices, and yet have slowly reintroduced many of them throughout the past year.

One that has eluded us to this point is drinking from the common cup to receive the communion wine. I reintroduced kneeling and what is called ‘intinction’ at the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services during Holy Week to see how this might bring us closer to what we were used to prior to March 2020.

Beginning this Sunday, you are invited to the altar rail to either kneel or stand to receive communion. For the distribution of the communion wine, you are invited to intinct (holding the communion wafer and dipping it into the common chalice) or you may go to the communion wine stations to participate in the wine by using the communion cups.

The symbolism of the common cup is a powerful one that speaks to our being united in one body in Christ through his death and resurrection. It is unfortunate that we do not have the same symbolism by sharing in one common loaf of bread, but that’s another article for another time!

Another thing to bring up is the use of the summertime frontal on the communion table. The frontal was designed and fashioned by Felicity Halse and is unique to our congregation. It depicts a Colorado mountain scene and reminds us of the great state in which we live and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. It will be in place on June 19 and be enjoyed throughout the summer months.

Felicity is a member of the Holy Comforters and is also serving on vestry.

This leads me to the final item I want to bring up. Last week I mentioned that we are seeking worship leaders and people to fulfil roles in the community. This led to a discussion on vestry that we post the Ministry Leadership “org chart” in the parish hall to give the whole church a sense of who does what ‘round here. Please look it over if perhaps God is calling you to serve in a particular way. If you are interested in learning more about a ministry, names of ministry leaders are included on the chart – just give them a call or drop them an email. They would love to speak with you, I’m sure.

And finally, a warm thanks to you for bringing yummy salads, desserts and side dishes to the annual Parish Picnic last Sunday, with a special shout out to Lindsay Leaman who organized everything and members of the vestry who undertook key roles.

Last but not least, anyone want to share the lemon poundcake dessert recipe? Asking for a friend!

-Chris