high school students are welcome! - St. Matthias Episcopal Church

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A Word From the Interim Rector PAGE 2 “Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is fire!” Hebrews 12:28-29, THE MESSAGE “Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.” Richard Hooker, Anglican Divine (1554-1600) A s rector in a previous parish, I was approached by the founding father of the congregation. I had made some deliberate changes with which he was not entirely happy. These changes were relatively minor (to me). They were entirely well planned, not at all arbitrary, welcomed by almost everyone, and resulted in a more inviting church and appealing worship service than before. But this founding father was undone by the very thought of any change at all. This is what he said to me, as best as I can recall it. “Tom, when I founded this church, my vision and primary purpose was to create it to be just like a museum, where nothing ever changed. I built this church and have worked hard to insure that nothing would ever change here.” He was a successful businessperson, and I wondered to myself if he applied the PASTORAL LETTER same standards to his own business? How could it survive, let alone evolve and grow, without some adaptation and change? I also wondered whether he was thinking of the church as “a museum for alabaster saints” or not? This vision of a “display case” Christianity didn’t ring true to my experience nor did it square with sainthood as I saw it (and still see it) defined by Holy Scripture. This was a false vision of the church to me because it made a false idol of the past. God’s saints are not supposed to be mere figurines shelved and sequestered in the past, collecting dust, but rather, dynamic, faithful and living witnesses of the Gospel of Jesus Christ now! So I decided not to go there. Instead, I responded by saying, “I can appreciate that, but even museums make changes in their exhibits. They schedule new exhibitions all the time. Museums are not exempt from change either. Nothing in life is exempt from change.” Gilbert R. Rendle, in his book Leading Change in the Congregation (published by the Alban Institute) observes that when talking about change in the church, one’s first reaction is fear. Considering how change is such a “hot button” issue at St. Matthias, perhaps Rendle’s point deserves special emphasis: FEAR! On the one hand, there is the fear of too much change, he says, involving the risk of losing control. If that happens, things of value may be lost. On the other hand, there is the counter fear of too little change, associated with the inability to get any change started at all. When that happens (or, I should say, when change in the church doesn’t happen) in a rapidly changing culture, By Fr. Thomas Barnett the way we share and practice our faith may not match our modern expectations about life in general and how we learn (interactively) in today’s culture. Consequently, a generation of children may be lost only because the church could not or would not try to change. St. Matthias faces an uncertain future. That we know. That is why we call it the interim period. The interim period is very naturally a time of intentional and deliberate change. But what changes should there be? It’s up to you. What would you say are the driving forces behind change at St. Matthias? What are the resisting forces opposed to change at St. Matthias? Only all of you can say in any authoritative way. I do not have all the perfect answers for you, though I might like to make a suggestion or two. I will not impose my “answer” upon you. I probably need to say that again. In terms of the necessary sequence of steps that make up the interim process, I am not going to impose anything on you that you don’t want. By that, I mean you must decide for yourselves what you are going to make of this interim period. But I do want you to see it for the golden opportunity that it is. For the sake of your future, there is no better time than now to identify and prioritize the changes and more specifically, changes in direction, that need to be made before calling a rector. Occasionally I am asked the question, “Why must this interim process take so long?” My short answer is simply this: Because there is so much (Continued on page 3) The Messenger
to do to prepare ourselves for the successful call of a new rector. And because we need that long to absorb and process the many unplanned, unexpected changes that have occurred recently, in order to fully and freely engage the future and move forward. If the primary goals of the interim period are a congregation’s happiness, satisfaction, and comfort, the interim process will fail. An exclusive focus on happiness is insufficient and, ultimately, damaging, says Gilbert Rendle, and I agree. “Happiness and satisfaction,” he says, “are very often measures of the status quo.” The purpose of the interim period is not to reinstate the “status quo.” Rather, it is a time “for seeking new learnings, not always following old rules.” It is a time to expect “change will produce conflict, which is good S t. M a t t h i a s Cottage Meetings Everyone in the parish should have been contacted about attending a cottage meeting. This is your chance to meet Father Barnett and give him your input on St. Matthias. If you have NOT been contacted, then we have had an error of human input, computer output, or unintentional oversight. If you or anyone you know has not received an invitation to a cottage meeting, please call Jonie Varner (262)521-8187 to be scheduled. Thank you! The Messenger and not to be avoided.” It is a time “to appreciate experimentation and failure.” And, it is a time to discover that “leadership is essentially a spiritual issue” (meaning, a matter of one’s strength of spirit, not programs or budgets). There is one little but decisive thing Rendle’s discourse on change overlooks, which I need to add here. “There is no fear in love, but [God in Christ’s] perfect love casts out [all] fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love (cf. 1 John 3:7-21; NRSV). Maybe I should emphasize this point: God’s love for St. Matthias drives out all fear. If not, we have not been perfected in God’s true love! So we should have nothing to fear about this God’s love for St. Matthias drives out all fear. If not, we have not been perfected in God’s true love! interim process or about any discussion of intentional change and/or non-change at St. Matthias. As we move forward in this interim process, I invite and urge you to attend one of the upcoming “Cottage Meetings” scheduled throughout November and early December, at which time there will be an honest opportunity to freely speak your mind about how you see things at St. Matthias Church. I look forward to seeing you at one of these Cottage Meetings and, as always, I eagerly look forward to hearing from you. Affectionately, …Especially for Men… The Rev. Dr. Thomas C. Barnett, D.Min., Ph.D., Interim Rector Advent Quiet Day Saturday, December 3 rd , 9 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Led by The Rev. Gary Lambert, from St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Madison Host site: St. Anskar’s, Hartland It’s not too often that something happens “just for the guys.” This December, there will be a Diocesan Advent Quiet Day for Men... a time for simple reflection and a chance to get to know other men from the diocese. The day will begin with coffee and donuts at 9 a.m., followed by a series of Advent reflections led by The Rev. Gary Lambert. Gary’s reputation makes him a natural to lead this event – a warm and spiritual man with that special kind of humor that only an immigrant from “up nort” (the Upper Peninsula) can bring. The time will end with a simple lunch shared at noon. Registration will be helpful for those preparing the lunch: (262)367-2439 or cheryl@anskar. org, but all are welcome. Contact Deacon Chuck Zellermayer with any questions (262)305-6202. PAGE 3
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