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| Savoring the morning entrance |
Readings
for Sunday: Genesis
31:44-46, 48-49, Psalm 119:89-96, Philippians 4:4-9, 23, John 21:15-19
DETOUR
REMINDER -- WHITTIER ROAD
CLOSED!!! : The small bridge on Whittier Road to the east of the church is closed
for reconstruction. It is necessary for ALL traffic to approach the church from the west. If you
normally approach the church from the East (having taken Rte. 25 from the
Rte.16 direction) you will find that Whittier Road is closed for bridge work
such that ONE CANNOT GET TO THE CHURCH FROM THE EAST END OF WHITTIER ROAD. So
plan ahead and leave an extra five minutes. Take Rte.25
west towards South Tamworth and enter Whittier Road by the western end. If you are
coming from Chocorua or points north of that, the best route is to take a right
off of Rte.16 at Chocorua Village onto Rte.113, follow it to the Tamworth
Four-Corners and there to take a left on Rte.113 to get to Whittier Road from
the accessible end!
Photo
and video permissions: There will be picture taking at both the
celebration Friday evening and at the service and reception on Sunday. If you do not want your picture to appear
in a public form (such as in the Thursday MEMO), please let us know when
you check in to the event.
We
remember with thanksgiving former Presiding Bishop Edmond Lee
Browning who died on Tuesday at the age of 87 and who served as Presiding Bishop from
1986 to 1997. Words delivered at his acceptance speech, I want to be very clear – this church of ours is open to all – there will be no outcasts – the
convictions and hopes of all will be honored, expressed his unwavering commitment
to inclusivity and marked his leadership and shaped the church of today and the
future. For a full obituary: http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2016/07/12/there-will-be-no-outcasts-official-obituary-for-edmond-lee-browning/
Preston
returns tomorrow from his 2nd week at the Barbara C. Harris Camp
and Conference Center in Greenfield, NH run by the Episcopal Diocese of
Massachusetts. He received a campership from the camp, some support through this
diocese from a camp fund at Saint Andrew’s-by-the-Sea in Rye NH, and from our
Discretionary Fund. His note of gratitude to us is posted on the Parish
Bulletin Board. This is a wonderful camp with generous financial support
available. I hope other families will consider it as an opportunity in coming
summers. Talk to Preston or Chris Mills (his grandmother) for details.
On
“The Rector’s Page” [ http://standrewsinthevalley-rector.blogspot.com/ ] …I was asked last winter to contribute to the Tamworth’s 250th book, Tamworth
As We See It, with an article reflecting on Tamworth’s
religious and spiritual life. Those of you who are Tamworth residents may
well have already purchased copies of the book, which is a rich and very
readable collection of short pieces on life and times in this wonderful
community, and I commend the book to you, even
if you do not live in Tamworth. A suggestion was made that I post my
article on “The Rector’s Page” of our website, that it would be there as an
expression of the part Saint Andrew’s continues to play in the spiritual and
religious life of this area.
My
thanksgivings and gratitude for this amazing parish church are overflowing already…
and the weekend’s events are still ahead of us! Tears, laughter, and love have
been actively flowing in both directions as we approach the end of our time
together as priest and people.
Thank you to David, who,
knowing that my birthday was on the 9th, utterly surprised me last
Sunday when I arrived at coffee hour to an appreciative rousing round of “Happy
Birthday” from all of you and a delicious cake miraculously decorated with a
frosting photographic image (Go figure what that photo scanner looks like!) of the
church!
Thank you to the Women’s
Lunch Bunch who, under Dale’s gentle attentive leadership, gathered in unprecedented
numbers yesterday at the Mountain View Restaurant (We took over the main dining
room!) for good food, wonderful comradery and conversation, and courtesy of a
couple of parish angels enlisting the help of “Grammy Gordon,” arranged to top
off our meal with two spectacular trifles! Don’t ask me why such delicious lavishness is called a trifle, but by whatever
name it was yummy ... and, at least to me, a surprise!And thank you to those of you who, knowing you will be away this weekend, have taken the time to stop by, call, or send notes. You are all precious to me.
We
will be celebrating God’s generous gift of ourselves to each other this weekend. I
will literally and symbolically turn in my keys to the church at the close of
the liturgy on Sunday, at which point I will no longer be your rector. Much as
Duane and I are looking forward to this next chapter in our life, driving away
from this beloved church home after coffee hour will be a profound and not-easy
moment for us, as it will be for many of you, but making a clear separation
will be key for all of you and for us to take our varied next steps. So here I
quote from a wise and important piece from our bishop:
As
a priest I am bound together in common mission… to the whole church to foster
healthy ministry in all our congregations. Clergy seek a professional ethic
that understands and respects the ending of pastoral relationships. That is,
when a priest leaves a congregation, the pastoral relationship ends.
…
Inherent in every professional pastoral relationship is a personal
relationship. This mix of relationships goes to the very being of who a priest
understands herself to be in God’s church. Without both, no priest could
function effectively as a pastor to those who have called us into their lives.
It
is the experience of the church when a good healthy pastoral relationship has been
formed, is also when it is most natural for people to seek the presence of a
pastor that is known to them, even when that relationship has ended. Pastoral
care, weddings, baptisms, and funerals are the most common points of a person’s
life when they might instinctively reach out to a former pastor.
Should such a situation
arise in the coming months, hard as it may be for me to say and you to hear, my
response will be, “I’m very sorry, but it is simply not appropriate for me to
do that. You must understand that I care about you deeply, but I am not your pastor
anymore.” So… build a relationship with
your new priest, and support each other in understanding the importance of maintaining
clarity in relationships.
Similarly, with friendships … it will simplify things that Duane and I will be moving out of the area, but that probably won’t fully take place until sometime in the fall. I’m sure our paths will cross coincidentally – in the market or on the water or at a gas pump somewhere – and I fully expect we will great each other warmly, but at least during the interim time and until your next rector is comfortably settled in, please don’t invite me to dinner or out for coffee or of for a hike. Both you and I will need to accustom ourselves to daily life without each other, as we each readjust and build our separate social networks.
By God’s grace, may we hold
one another in our prayers, give thanks to God for the love that binds us
together, and know that in Christ we will never be separated.
Food
for thought… in the form of a litany from the book Gorillas of Grace, by Ted Loder.
I
Praise You for What is Yet to Be
Wondrous
Worker of Wonders,
We praise you, not alone for what has been,
or for what is,
but for what is yet to be,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.
We praise you, not alone for what has been,
or for what is,
but for what is yet to be,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.
We
praise you
that out of the turbulence of our lives
a kingdom is coming,
is being shaped even now
out of our slivers of loving,
our bits of trusting,
our sprigs of hoping,
our tootles of laughing,
our drips of crying,
our smidgens of worshiping;
that out of our songs and struggles,
out of our griefs and triumphs,
we are gathered up and saved,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.
that out of the turbulence of our lives
a kingdom is coming,
is being shaped even now
out of our slivers of loving,
our bits of trusting,
our sprigs of hoping,
our tootles of laughing,
our drips of crying,
our smidgens of worshiping;
that out of our songs and struggles,
out of our griefs and triumphs,
we are gathered up and saved,
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it.
We
praise you
that you turn us loose
to go with you to the edge of now and maybe,
to welcome the new,
to see our possibilities,
to accept our limits,
and yet begin living to the limit
of passion and compassion
until, released by joy,
we uncurl to other people
and to your kingdom coming
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it,
that you turn us loose
to go with you to the edge of now and maybe,
to welcome the new,
to see our possibilities,
to accept our limits,
and yet begin living to the limit
of passion and compassion
until, released by joy,
we uncurl to other people
and to your kingdom coming
for you are gracious beyond all telling of it,
And to you we give glory and thanksgiving!
With much love,
Yours in Christ,
Heidi+
Yours in Christ,
Heidi+
More Pictures!
