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

Update from the Rector

Friends in Christ,

With gratitude to you, I am planning a 3-month sabbatical this fall and want to share some initial plans and how the congregation will be cared for and led during my time away.

In the Diocese of Colorado, clergy sabbaticals are an expected component to the clergy and parish relationship and provisions are included in the Letter of Agreement. Our Bishop advises congregations to offer sabbaticals every five years of service. Many of you will recall that I took a sabbatical in 2012 and was beginning to plan for one in 2020 when the pandemic visited us.

The purpose of a clergy sabbatical differs from academic sabbaticals where a professor might be expected to conduct research, publish a book, or otherwise engage in professional development. Clergy sabbaticals are set aside for clergy renewal in body, mind, and spirit. While they often include a pattern for study, they can also be used for rest, travel, and personal enrichment. In 2012 I focused on the theological themes of calling and vocation and the development of a theology of work. This fall, I am gathering ideas and sketching out plans where I intend to brush up on Pauline studies, practice a rhythm of prayer and exercise to renew my own vocation as a priest, and spend time with my family.

Typically, there is also a congregational dimension to the sabbatical wherein the congregation working toward goals and objectives. These might include, for example, developing a new member ministry, or pursuing outreach at a deeper level, or coordinating an adult forum series. These are intended to help us all grow and develop. It can be an exciting and stretching time for everyone!

The vestry sets aside monies in a “Sabbatical Fund” to provide resources to help me benefit from this time and, importantly, to provide ‘coverage’ for the congregation in terms of liturgy, pastoral care and leadership.

Here are some things that I think you will find of interest:

The vestry and wardens are meeting with me this weekend to pray and deliberate on the coming year at Saint Gabriel. Part of our discussion will focus on the fall.

You can be confident that our church staff, led by our parish administrator Meg Stern and supported by your wardens, Fr. EJ, Sharon Stewart and Cecily Fink, and Mark Kelly, Caroline Johnson and Nicole Heifferon in their roles will ensure the smooth operation of the parish.

Fr. EJ has agreed to assume pastoral care needs, including hospital visitations and officiating funerals should they occur. Between us we have a Letter of Agreement that includes compensation for this enhanced role. I am very grateful to EJ for his willingness to serve in this capacity and to continue his monthly pattern of preaching.

During the fall, I’ve asked visiting clergy to officiate and preach on Sundays. I think folks who’ve been around here a long time will be very excited to know that Rev’ds John Andrews, Nina Stasser, and Kathy Boeschenstein – who served as clergy at Saint Gabriel many moons ago will preach and officiate at least weekend. In addition, other clergy friends and colleagues will be here as well – the Rev Jack Stapleton, the Rev. Cathy Cook Hitch, the Rev. John Wengrovius and the Rev. Joseph Wolyniak.

I will profile each of these wonderful people in the Trumpet over the course of the summer.

The dates for this are: August 29 – November 26. I look forward to resuming my duties on the First Sunday of Advent.

Around the Common Table

I developed Around the Common Table over a year ago as a place where I could share with you reflections and updates in more detail than is possible on Sunday mornings. Covid-related items have taken up, of necessity, a good amount of space, but this this week’s article blessedly is not about Covid!

I want to share with you here about Advent. Advent begins on November 28 and will take us to Christmas liturgically. The traditional watchwords of Advent are keep watch, wait, be observant. Its themes are apocalyptic in nature. It is, in Fleming Rutledge’s words, looking for a “breakthrough from heaven,” a yearning that can’t be satisfied this side of God’s penetration into history, both in Jesus of Nazareth and then Jesus coming again with power and great glory.

It is also a season of hospitality. In our parties and dinners from Thanksgiving onward, we open our hearts to invite others in. In doing so we inhabit a delightful image that was given recently to parishioner Beverly Brown. Beverly shared the observation that “Jesus came from a humble stable to bring us to his living eternal table.” Just as the stable was made of wood, notes Beverly, so the cross and so the table around which we gather to eat and drink together sacramentally.

We have prayed recently that our church’s hospitality would be evident to the guests we enjoy welcoming. Our words are “We give thanks for guests among us – may we become friends and not remain strangers.”

With Advent come liturgical changes befitting the season of preparation. We will use the older rite for our liturgies while enjoying the great music of the season such as O Come, O Come, Immanuel. We also invite you to attend the candlelight Advent Lessons and Carols service on December 5 at 4 pm.

With so many needs emerging in our community and with the weariness of dealing with the pandemic, we aim to begin prayer ministry at the rail following each service. Each Sunday we hope to provide someone with whom you can pray. These individuals will be good listeners and pray for you discreetly. Much good comes from congregational worship, but there are times and places for individual prayer. We wish to support you through trying times.

In a similar way, please see information in the Trumpet about the Advent dove tree, and pay attention to other Advent and Christmas information that will announced soon.

I want to close with one of George Herbert’s poems, Love (III). I was reminded of this poem while writing about hospitality and the table.

Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back,

Guilty of dust and sin.

But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack

From my first entrance in,

Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning

If I lacked anything.

"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here":

Love said, "You shall be he."

"I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah, my dear,

I cannot look on thee."

Love took my hand, and smiling did reply,

"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord; but I have marred them; let my shame

Go where it doth deserve."

"And know you not," says Love, "who bore the blame?"

"My dear, then I will serve."

"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."

So I did sit and eat.

Saint Gabriel Covid-19 Update

Dear Saint Gabriel Family,

I sigh deeply when I see the news. Sometimes, it is too much to digest, and I must look away for a time. And yet, there are things that I know I can’t ignore because it would be irresponsible for me to do so.

While scripture assures us that “your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (Colossian 3:3) and this is an amazing promise, we also cannot wall ourselves off from the world’s cries and needs. In fact, we all bring the world with us when we come to worship on Sundays. Fr EJ or I sometimes invite you to leave your burdens at the foot of the cross. In the fellowship of the Body of Christ, we receive encouragement and strength to face the world around us.

One burden that we are currently facing in our area is a steep rise in Covid-19. With a county positivity rate approaching 10%, hospitals are filling up, surgeries deemed “non-essential” are being postponed, and booster shot eligibility is now expanded to people 18 years of age and older. Thankfully, we are likely all aware that while breakthrough cases do occur among those who are vaccinated, the impact is far less severe than having Covid and being unvaccinated.

However, these burdens hit close to home. For example, we have two households who frequently attend Sunday worship who have tested positive for Covid within the past two weeks. They have notified the church and are taking precautions by isolating at home. In one instance, those near the person with Covid received an alert on their mobile phones.

In this season, the Vestry, Wardens, and I urge that masks be worn while inside, and we expect that if people are feeling unwell, they will stay home. If you choose not to wear a mask, we ask that you practice physical distancing while inside. We provide disposable masks at the entrance to the parish hall as well at the west entrance doors. Worship leaders, including paid staff and volunteers who serve as ushers, choir members, lectors, altar guild, and teachers in our children and youth classrooms will be required to wear masks while serving in their roles on Sundays, with limited exceptions such as while reading at the lectern, preaching, or teaching in an adult forum.

While most parishioners have received their vaccines and many have received booster shots, there are others who have not; we have many elderly parishioners who are at higher risk, we have immuno-compromised persons, and younger children. We would likewise like to see everyone wearing masks for this season that we are in. We hope and pray that this is a temporary feature, and we will watch the numbers carefully as we have always done.

Every blessing, in the love of Christ Jesus our Lord!

On behalf of the Wardens and Vestry,

Fr. Chris

Biblical Church

I have a dream of a church which is a biblical church –

which is loyal in every particular to the revelation of

God in Scripture,

whose pastors expound Scripture with integrity and

relevance, and so seek to present every member

mature in Christ,

whose people love the word of God, and adorn it

with an obedience and Christ-like life,

which is preserved from all unbiblical emphases,

whose whole life manifests the health and beauty

of biblical balance.

I have a dream of a biblical church.

-John Stott

This September we are introducing Dr. John Stott's brief reflection, "I have a dream of a living church" as a way to generate reflecting and thinking on our own church involvement and community.

If the name is unfamiliar to you, John Stott served his entire pastoral ministry at one church - All Souls, Langham Place in London. And yet his influence was worldwide - through his writings, speaking and tireless institution-building. He cared deeply for the local church while at the same time giving glory to his Savior in humble, faithful service.

As part of a liturgical tradition that values the thoughtful and informed reading of scripture, Saint Gabriel values personal as well as corporate reading, meditating and studying of the Bible. We do so for a variety of reasons: some are interested in the bible’s historical context or to better understand what was once called “Western Civ,” while others dive into the bible for wisdom, meditation, guidance, and comfort.

We would agree with Article VI of the Articles of Religion in the historical section of the Book of Common Prayer, which holds:

Holy Scripture containeth all things necessary to salvation: so that whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be proved thereby, is not to be required of any man, that it should be believed as an article of the Faith, or be thought requisite or necessary to salvation. In the name of the Holy Scripture we do understand those canonical Books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church.

We would also encourage each person at Saint Gabriel – from our youngest to our oldest members – in the words of Dr. Stott “to love the word of God, and adorn it with an obedience and Christ-like life.”

Worshipping Church

I have a dream of a church which is a worshipping church –

whose people come together to meet God and worship him,

who know God is always in their midst and who

bow down before him in great humility,

who regularly frequent the table of the Lord Jesus, to

celebrate his mighty act of redemption on the cross,

who enrich the worship with their musical skills,

who believe in prayer and lay hold of God in prayer,

whose worship is expressed not in Sunday services

and prayer gatherings only but also in their

homes, their weekday work and the common things of life.

I have a dream of a worshipping church.

-John Stott

If you will, picture a cross like this ☩ where Worship is the vertical beam while Fellowship provides the horizontal. Worship connects us with the triune God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit, while Fellowship connects us with one another.

John Stott notes, “Indeed, we are to join with all creatures in pronouncing [God] worthy of our praise, because he is both our Creator and our Redeemer.” Worship is our response to God’s character and actions. One of the glories of liturgical worship is that it involves the whole of who we are as we present “ourselves, our souls and bodies as a living sacrifice.” As worship is congregational we invite people to service in various ways here at Saint Gabriel – on the altar guild, in the choir, as ushers or lectors (readers) or acolytes, both youth and adult.

Fellowship is likewise part of a living church. When the New Testament speaks of Fellowship it uses a Greek word Koinonia, which means that which one shares in common with another. In the image of the cross, Fellowship is the horizontal beam that binds us together. Together, as John Stott puts it, we share in a common inheritance, we share out in a common service, and we share with each other in a common accountability. Fellowship is about relationship – how I am related to you and how you are related to me. In the early church people were often addressed as “brothers” and “sisters” because that is what we are in Christ Jesus – related as siblings and members of the same family.

What does a healthy family do? Well, we spend time together, we share stories around the dining room table, we go on vacation together, we play board games or pick-up football games at Thanksgiving. We care for one another when the need presents itself.

Likewise at Saint Gabriel, we give proper place to building relationships and friendships where we can play together, eat together, and journey together in order that we might be woven together more tightly in a community of love.

Caring Church

I have a dream of a church which is a caring church –

whose congregation is drawn from many races,

nations, ages and social backgrounds, and exhibits

the unity and diversity of the family of God,

whose fellowship is warm and welcoming,

and never marred by anger, selfishness, jealousy or pride,

whose members love one another, forgiving one

another, and bearing one another’s burdens,

which offers friendship to the lonely, support to the

weak, and acceptance to those who are despised

and rejected by society,

whose love spills over to the world outside, attractive,

infectious, irresistible, the love of God himself.

I have a dream of a caring church.

-John Stott

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.

Selections from John Stott’s A Living Church this week and next direct our attention to a caring church and a serving church. This Sunday’s focus directs us to caring about *growing faith* at Saint Gabriel through Children, Youth and Family ministry and Adult Discipleship.

What we see in scripture that growing faith in the home is our starting point. In the great shema, above, from Deuteronomy 6, the household is central to handing down the tradition of faith. "Teach your children well" as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young used to sing!

So, we give our attention to growing faith from youngest to oldest in our community, encouraging household instruction, praying together, and leading by example.

We point our children and youth to Jesus, while at the same time grappling ourselves with what the faith says to adults who must engage real world concerns. What does being a follower of Jesus Christ look like in 21st century America? How do we ensure that our children and grandchildren become firmly rooted in the love of God, knowing the Father intimately, through the Son and in the power of the Holy Spirit? Those are questions that together we are to pursue with diligence, prayer and study.

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” ~ Proverbs 27:17

Where is God calling us to grow in faith?

Every blessing in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Serving Church

I have a dream of a church which is a serving church –

which has seen Christ as the Servant and has heard

his call to be a servant too,

which is delivered from self-interest, turned inside

out, and giving itself selflessly to the service of others,

whose members obey Christ’s command to live in the

world, to permeate secular society, to be the salt of

the earth and the light of the world,

whose people share the good news of Jesus simply,

naturally and enthusiastically with their friends,

which diligently serves its own parish [neighborhood], residents and

workers, families and single people, nationals and

immigrants, old folk and little children,

which is alert to the changing needs of society,

sensitive and flexible enough to keep adapting its

program to serve more usefully,

which has a global vision and is constantly

challenging its young people to give their lives in

service, and constantly sending its people out to serve.

I have a dream of a serving church.

-John Stott

As September comes to a close, we have heard from the Rev. Dr. John Stott about becoming a biblical, worshipping, and caring church. We come now to his dream of a serving church.

Saint Gabriel gives evidence of this through the ministries of Congregational Care and Outreach. Congregational Care is focused on the community within so that we become a church where no one need stand alone. We support people going through crises with prayer ministry, by providing comforting prayer quilts and Eucharistic visitation in people’s homes, among many other things.

We also have an active Outreach presence in the community beyond, specifically supporting ministries such as the Saint Francis Center, MetroCaring and HAAT Force South Metro. But we also look internationally through our longstanding engagement with Locally Haiti and the people of Petit-trou de Nippes and St. Paul's Mission and School.

The Archangel Gabriel in St. Luke’s gospel gave the word to Zechariah, Elizabeth’s husband and John the Baptist’s father, that his wife would bear a son in her old age. The angel comes in the power of God and says, “I have been sent to you and to bring you this good news.”

With the coming of Jesus, the good news of God’s grace and life-changing love for all is made manifest.

We in turn give ourselves to serving as Jesus himself serves. You are invited to help us become an increasingly serving church.