On Sunday, June 13, our bishop, The Rt. Rev. Mark Lawrence, will make his annual visitation to St. Matthew’s.  If you are an active participant in the life of the church and have not yet been confirmed, consider this a full-court-press in the guise of an invitation!

“Why,” you ask, “what’s the deal with confirmation?”  Well, the Episcopal Church, like many other denominations (the Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterians and Roman Catholics to name a few), baptizes infants.  During that service, the parents, Godparent, and members of the church commit themselves to do “all in their power” to raise the child in the Christian faith.  But at some point, that little guy or gal must decide for himself whether or not he is going to walk in the way his parents have shown him.  He has to decide if he wants to follow Jesus.  Don’t get me wrong: Jesus is calling – he’s not passively sitting on the sidelines of our lives, but in the end, a person must choose whether or not he wants to follow in the way Jesus leads, and in the Episcopal Church, confirmation is the service where he makes that decision known.  Whereas at baptism, a person’s parents promise to do “all in their power” to raise their child in the knowledge and love of God, at confirmation, a person takes responsibility for his own spiritual growth.

Our Book of Common Prayer puts it this way on page 412:

In the course of their Christian development, those baptized at an early age are expected, when they are ready and have been duly prepared, to make a mature public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism and to receive the laying on of hands by the bishop.

Those baptized as adults, unless baptized with laying on of hands by a bishop, are also expected to make a public affirmation of their faith and commitment to the responsibilities of their Baptism in the presence of a bishop and to receive the laying on of hands.

Now, I’m addressing this letter to the adults (the youth confirmation class will be held next year).  Many of you are “Baby Boomers,” and if I’ve learned one thing about Boomers, it’s this: when someone in authority tells you to do something, you take it as your cue not to do it.  So I’m not going to tell you to get confirmed.  Instead, I’ll share four reasons why I hope you will be confirmed:

Spiritual
Confirmation is your opportunity to say to Jesus, in the presence of his body the church, “I want to follow you.  I’ve learned what that means.  I know that it is both simple and difficult, nevertheless I want in.  Sign me up.”  Confirmation is, first and foremost, a spiritual commitment between you and God.  At your confirmation, our Bishop will lay his hands on you and pray for you, asking God’s Holy Spirit to continue his work in you.  Confirmation is a proclamation of faith in Jesus and the making of a spiritual promise to God.

Social
Confirmation is your way of saying to the community: “I like what y’all are doing, and I want to be part of the action.  You reached out to me in Baptism when I was an infant, and now I’m reaching back in Confirmation.” Confirmation is a promise you make to Jesus’ body, the Church.   Through confirmation, you say to the community: “I choose you.”

Functional
Now, as most of you know, I’m not exactly a political whiz.  Politics just doesn’t get my engine running.  But I know my responsibility: I do my part to stay informed, and I vote.  If you want to have a vote at St. Matthew’s, you have to be confirmed.  Likewise, should God call you to leadership in this church or in the broader diocese, you can only do so if you’ve been confirmed.  And this makes perfect sense: the Church needs leaders who are both committed to God and committed to his body.

Intellectual
Finally, Yours Truly will hold four evening classes beginning Wednesday, April 28 to prepare you for confirmation.  What will you learn?  Well, I don’t want to give away the whole recipe, but suffice it to say that the last parishioners to take the class were heard exclaiming as they left the building, “I laughed!  I cried!  Better than Cats!” I may not be Plato, but I promise to teach you something new.  Better than that.  I’ll teach you a few things to help you live more fully into the promises you’ll make when the Bishop confirms you in June.

So.  Think it over.  Talk amongst yourselves.  And drop me a line so that I can save you a seat at the table in April.

Blessings!
Andrew

Rector’s Address
St. Matthew’s Annual Parish Meeting
January 31, 2010

From time to time, it is important for communities such as ours to pause and reflect: to look back over the ground we’ve covered, and give thanks to God for his provision in the past; and then also to look forward and consider where he’s calling us to go.

I tend to be a top-down thinker, so let us begin our retrospective with the leadership of the church.  Over the past year, your vestry has shown a Spirit-filled willingness to enter new territory.  Not long after I arrived, I shared my heartfelt desire that St. Matthew’s enter a new season of spiritual growth.  My conviction is that such growth is fuelled by groups of men and women who gather together to read and discuss scripture and pray for one another.  In response, the Vestry willingly quadrupled their initial monthly commitment and agreed to meet weekly to read and discuss the Bible and pray for one another.  This “seed group” has sprouted and borne fruit: there are now seven small groups who meet weekly for study, discussion and prayer.

In particular, I want to thank Marion, Rosanne, and Perry, who rotate off of vestry this year: for their leadership, enthusiasm and above all, faithfulness to the Gospel mission of this church during their tenure.  Well done, good and faithful servants!  We are where we are today due in large part to the sacrifice of time and energy given by your Vestry.  God has blessed us with faithful servant leaders.

Let’s turn now to the staff of St. Matthew’s.  Lauri and Will have provided their own reports for 2009, but I want to highlight and celebrate a few “victories” of the past year.  Though Lauri officially wears two hats as Director of Christian Education and Parish Administrator, she has eagerly taken on a third.  Over the past year, Lauri applied her organizational gifts to help our church expand its outreach ministries.  Project “Hot Diggity Dog,” the “DARE” program, the Alternative Gift Fair and our occasional food drives for TLC have all flourished under Lauri’s care and direction.  Simply put, Lauri has helped us to be the church Jesus means for us to be – a church actively engaged in Gospel ministry to our community.  This attention to outreach ministry allows me to focus on preaching, teaching and pastoral care.  Lauri continues to spearhead ministry initiatives, including the Essential 100 discussion groups and upcoming “Welcome to St. Matthew’s!” newcomer coffee (more on this in moment).

I’ve had to opportunity to visit many congregations of our size, and though each and every congregation has its unique gifts, I don’t know of any that are blessed with the level of musicianship that we enjoy.  Will Carswell is a precious gift!  He is a skilled musician, to be sure, but more than this, Will offers up his many gifts with self-sacrificial generosity.  He sets the tone of each season, he heightens our celebrations, he lifts our hearts heavenward in praise each and every week.  Furthermore, Will fosters the two-way ministry of the Coker singers: we receive the gift of their voices and, through Will, are given the privilege of sharing with them the Good News of Jesus Christ. 2009 has been a year of blessed spirit-filled praise: from Lessons and Carols to our celebration of the Feast of St. Matthew during which the Coker Chamber Singers offered their beautiful, heartfelt praise.

No celebration of the staff would be complete without a word of thanks to God for Nathanial Joe.  I’ve heard Nathanial described as “the workingest man in Darlington,” and from what I’ve seen over these past two and a half years, the title is well-deserved.  When Ellen and I first visited St. Matthew’s three years ago, I was thoroughly impressed by the condition of the buildings and grounds, and this is due in large part to Nathaniel.  May God be praised for Nathanial Joe!

Before turning our attention to the future, I want to highlight several lay leaders who have emerged over the past year.  God calls on all of us to play a role in the Body of Christ, and he sets aside leaders to help rally and encourage us to respond to that call.  As coordinator of Parish Life, Julie Ervin brought us together for times of holy fellowship, coordinating the meals at Vacation Bible School, the Sunday School Kickoff Breakfast and the Feast of St. Andrew drop-in.  She will continue her ministry in 2010 with the upcoming and much-beloved parish “Bring-a-friend” Oyster Roast and Bishop’s reception in June.

Cathy Howle has coordinated the meals for our Wednesday night dinners, a ministry that continues to grow and thrive.  As any psychologist or sociologist will tell you, shared meals build and strengthen communities.  There is something profoundly spiritual about sharing a meal with another person.  I am convinced that these two ministries, Parish Life and Wednesday night dinners, strengthen the fabric of our community and play a vital role in our health and vitality.

Christian communities are called to be caring communities.  To this end, Caroline Dargan answered the call to serve as our Pastoral Care Coordinator.  When significant events happen in the lives of our people, Caroline responds and calls on others to do the same, ministering caring compassion to those in need including the homebound, the sick, those recovering from surgery and those celebrating births or other special occasions.  Caroline’s leadership reminds us all of the responsibility we have in Christ Jesus to bear one another’s burdens.

Finally, there are those ministries that continue to flourish under longtime leadership: Joe Ervin and Joanne Robertson continue to minister to our youth group, which has grown by leaps and bounds this year.  If you haven’t seen this growth firsthand, then you owe it to yourself to come on Wednesday night – the youth group is truly a sight to behold!  Willie Ervin continues his faithful ministry as our treasurer, Bill Ervin as coordinator for our Lay Readers and Acolytes, Rosanne Brasington as president of the ECW, George Stoddard as president of the Men’s Club, Mary Mar Coxe, Ann Dennis and Ann Williamson as coordinators of the Altar Guild, Jessie Whitaker as director of the Children’s Choir, Caroline Dargan as head of the Flower Guild (assisted by Maureen Chapman), Ann Williamson as Fellowship Time coordinator (assisted by Hettie Dargan) and Dwight Dana as coordinator of the ushers (having been only slightly slowed down by heart surgery!).  Ministry can only thrive when God’s leaders respond to his call to serve.

Looking back over the previous year, we have much to be grateful for!

The Future

Now, let us turn our attention to the coming year.  I understand the church to be, at its most basic level, a community that fosters spiritual growth in Jesus Christ (a “gymnasium for the saints” as Bishop Lawrence put it).  Healthy lifelong spiritual growth requires four basic ingredients:

1.     Worship that engages the heart of the worshipper and points him heavenward

2.     Bible reading and biblical teaching

3.     Genuine friendships

4.     Servant ministry in the name of Jesus

In 2010, I hope to see our church expand in three areas.  First (and this will come as no surprise) we have undertaken the E100 program to foster both Bible reading and Christian friendship through the discussion groups.  My fervent prayer is that those who participate in the groups will see Christ at work in one another, and be drawn into closer relationships of friendship and trust.  The E100 program will continue through to the first of June, and I anticipate that we will undertake a follow-up program in the fall.

Second, we clearly need to develop avenues for newcomers to become a part of the community.  The great strength of a church of our size – the closeness we feel to one another – can also be the very thing that prevents others from becoming a part of the community.  As I mentioned earlier, Lauri has coordinated a newcomer’s reception, to be held next Sunday, Feb. 7 at 9:30 in the parlor.  I will also conduct an adult confirmation class on Wednesday evenings beginning April 28.  These are but first steps in welcoming newcomers into the fold.

Finally, St. Matthew’s must become a church that connects with young men and women and draws them into the life of the body.  This is true both on a pragmatic level (a community without a younger generation cannot continue indefinitely), but more importantly, a spiritual level as well: a healthy spiritual community should be a growing spiritual community.  We must ask ourselves some difficult questions: why is it that we have so few men and women in their 20’s and 30’s actively involved in the life of St. Matthew’s?  Is there something we lack?  Anything we have failed to do?

As you may or may not know, I have been leading a small group Bible study with a handful of young men and women on Tuesday nights, and I am very encouraged by this group.  Seventeen persons are actively involved, and about twelve attend on average each week.  This is a good first step, but the second, and equally important step, is to draw them into the life of the community.  What changes or effort on our part will this require?  I do not know the answer, only that the question must be addressed and the answer faithfully pursued.

Increased Bible reading, deepening Christian friendships, a focused ministry to newcomers, and a ministry to young adults:  these are the areas of focus that I believe God is calling us to in 2010.  May he pour out his grace and courage upon the people of St. Mathew’s that we might answer his call in faith and become the community of spiritual growth that he intends for us to be.