November, 2009

This  comes to you at the same time as we enter in earnest into our parish stewardship drive.  These drives are essential because they allow us to plan and budget our resources for the coming year.  In my years with you, this is without a doubt the most difficult drive economically that we have faced.  Most of us are stretched one way or other trying to meet our obligations and pay our bills.  For those of you who are out of work, the frustration must be especially difficult, no doubt hard for the rest of us to even comprehend or understand.  As Americans, so much of our value as persons is tied up in our jobs.  When we’re out of work, who are we?   Know that you are prayed for here.

Given the circumstances, your Vestry is not at all sure how we will end up as we begin to conclude this year’s effort.  We do know, however, that we are very much in the hands of a loving God who has pledged to walk through this with us.  He knows our challenges and stretches. He understands our limitations.  He knows we do what we can do with what we have and when we can’t give financially, we’re finding other ways to give.  Who are we?  The Good News is that we are God’s people. He accepts us for who we are.  Our value comes in Him!

One other teaching that is essential right now is to remember that our well- being as persons is tied to how we see what we have.  It is the old adage that we can look at this mornings cup as “half full or half empty.”  If we concentrate too much on those things we don’t have, we’ll spend a lot of life lamenting our losses, turning

in and feeling sorry for ourselves.  If instead, we begin each day counting our blessings, if we recognize how much we’ve been given, we can spend our time sharing from our bounty and knowing the joy that can bring.  True abundance and peace Christ modeled and shared, comes from giving ourselves away.

If at St. George’s we can recognize still how much we have to give, if we look out for one another, we’ll get through the coming year ok.  We’ll also learn life lessons that can bring hope in the future life as well.  

Gratefully,

Clergy Corner  - October 2009

Recently our church lost one of our most long term and significant members.  Duane LaMoreaux with his wife Elizabeth, have been leading the Wednesday night Soup and Scripture Group for all the years I have been here.  He was also the chair of the church’s Memorial Committee.  Many have remarked that Duane and Liz were two of the first people to greet them when they first graced our church’s door.  Duane had a particular interest in kids and he had a way of making them feel welcome and at home.

Previous to my coming, Duane and Liz lost their daughter Pam to a night murder in Commerce Twp.  In all fairness the couple could have simply given up on the church and even on life at that point, but they decided to somehow move ahead, to persevere.  In the midst of their grief, they directed their energies towards formulating a local chapter of Parents of Murdered Children that has since served ever so many who have suffered a similar kind of loss.

Not too long after my arrival, Duane began to face increasing health problems.  He endured a great deal of pain in the following years and we almost lost him more than once.  Each time with the faithful support of his wife and by the Grace of God, he fought his way back. He was fond of saying that he had died once, even experiencing its calm, but for some reason God wasn’t quite ready for him yet. 

This spring, however, his lingering cancer began to progress more quickly until it became obvious he did not have long to live.  A few weeks before his death he was told by his doctors that they had done all they could for him.  This man of enormous faith said again that he was prepared to die and that he looked forward in confidence to a new body and the life to come. You almost had the sense that he was looking forward to sitting at the Banquet with Pam, with his friend Fr. Jake Andrews, and with others who had already moved ahead. In facing into this painful reality, he was an example to us all.

At this point he asked to come home to Milford.  Necessary arrangements were made, a hospital bed was moved in to their living room, and arrangements were made for Hospice to see to his medications and care.  The next couple of weeks, however, were to be anything but routine as the cancer continued to spread. Sadly he had to suffer through it.  In the midst of the ordeal, Liz sat faithfully by his side as one after another of you stopped at the house to provide food and medicine and personal support.  One past family from Soup and Scripture now living in Chattanooga, came all the way from there to see him.  Numerous folks called each day to check on him.  As the days progressed and as I stopped to see how Duane was doing, each time one or two of you were there with them.

I have this belief that in the midst of the challenges of this life, if we are to find God, it will be through the compassion we share one with another.  I have never been more proud of the parishioners of St. George’s than I was on the days when you offered your care for Duane and Liz.  You were indeed being the Church, the very “Bride of Christ,” to them.  In you by God’s Grace, Duane and Liz could sense, I’m sure, the hands of God.

Duane’s Memorial Service is Saturday October 17^th here at 10am.  Once again I know you will be there for them, as we usher you, Duane, good sir, into your continuing life with the Lord!   

Faithfully,

Walt Dawson+

Clergy Corner - August, 2009

I wrote recently in a previous newsletter of the advantages we share being part of a smaller more personal church.  This is a place I said “where we call each other by name.”  St George’s has many of the characteristics of an extended family.  We share each other’s lives here.  We celebrate our joys and our sorrows here.  Hopefully, we are finding Jesus Christ in each other.

While this truly is a strength, it places an additional burden on us as well.  It reflects the old phrase, “where much is given, much is expected.”  There are necessary things that we must do here if we are to be the church.  Sunday services are to be celebrated.  Sunday School prospers with teachers.  Mission ministries need to be offered.  Shut-ins require contacts.  Bills have to be paid and the building maintained. 

I ask you to consider today your commitment to our Faith and life.  The Good News of God’s Love is such an essential message, especially today, for each of us and the world about us.  If it is to be proclaimed, each of us has our part to play.  We are able to do what we do thanks to the able support we receive from one another.

With this in mind, perhaps the appropriate question to ask is, when other members of our parish family are giving energy to their ministries, are we being there for them and sensitive to them in their work?  When the youth group sponsors a Spaghetti Meal raising monies for their programs, are we supporting them with our presence and cheering them on as they cook?  When there’s a Saturday clean-up here, do we make time in our schedules and grab a rake and come and help?  When the leaders of our Soup Kitchen Team asks for Sunday volunteers, are we taking our turn going down to Detroit to serve so that someone in need has something to eat? For with we human folk,

there’s a reciprocal nature to how we serve.  When you’re here for me, I want to be there for you and the joy comes when we’re working side by side.

As we begin to plan for fall, all of us have full lives and soon it is going to get difficult trying to manage our busy schedules.  In the midst of them, I pray we will remember how important church’s ministry is and that we need to make it a priority.  For our ministries will be so much more vibrant and the work we do so much more meaningful, if we are here doing our part together!

Clergy  Corner   - March, 2009

In our lifetimes, the truth is few of us have ever had as difficult a time economically.  As a result all of us in some form or other, have some anxieties over what is ahead.  Some of us have been laid off, others face cutbacks, others are watching their stocks and savings shrink to the point where they wonder if they will be able to retire and still pay their bills.  It is a hard time for our young people as well as they struggle to figure out what type of preparation they will need and where they are going to have to look to find a suitable job for their futures. Do know as you face these things that your struggles are not being overlooked by your parish family at church.  We pray during the Lenten season for our country and especially for you that you know that you are not forgotten and that God is there with you in the midst of the challenges you face.  

As I reflected on all this, there are two reminders I wanted to share with you.

The first is that this is a particularly important time for us to be there for each other.  My Lenten discipline this year is to try and stay more connected.  I’m going to try and send more e-mails and make more phone calls if for no other reason than just to check in with you and see how you are.  Some of our problems these days are truthfully bigger than we are and we must leave them to God.  What we can do though is to be in touch with one another and to listen to each other.  The more we can unburden ourselves of these issues tied up inside of us, the more room there will be for healing and sensing the spiritual strength we need to survive and thrive.

The second is to exhort you not to get down on yourself!  So many of us attach our very worth to how we are performing on our jobs.  While we know on one level that the present circumstances are not our fault, at the same time, it is all too easy to begin to doubt ourselves and blame ourselves because of what’s happening to us.  It is too easy to say that if I’d just been a little more efficient or stayed at work a little longer, this probably wouldn’t have happened to me.  The truth is, this is not the case.  Its bigger than we are.  This downturn is not about your capabilities or your value as a person!  We do our best.  We give the rest to God.  In faith we need to let Him take it from there.

Sometimes when we are facing adversity we forget how blessed we have been and that we’ve managed tough times before.  In hindsight too, as we look back at those things, God in His love had always been with us through them and His numerous blessings are still all around us and more than we can count!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” says Paul to the community at Philippi.  Helping and praying for each other, and with God’s Grace, we will get through this. Perhaps a little slimmer, we’ll also be stronger and wiser, and we’ll know the new life and the blessings that are ahead!

Faithfully,

Mr. “D” †

Clergy Corner    January/February 2009
It's Time for our Annual Meeting

Dear Heavenly Father, we offer gratitude for the ministry of St. George’s Church and the part it plays in our lives.  We thank you for those who attend here and for the supportive community that is here.  Be with us as we contemplate your will for us and consider our direction for the future.  Send us Vestry members and additional leaders who will conscientiously lead us in fulfilling your vision for us in the year ahead.  Through Jesus Christ Our Lord, Amen.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN?

We will elect 3 new members of the Vestry for 3 year terms.  They will replace Lisa Dickey, Mike Fanfair and Cathy Behnke who complete their service.  We will also elect one person to complete a one year term.  We will thank these folk and our entire Vestry for their efforts.  We will receive reports from Rector, Sr. Warden, Treasurer, Youth Ministries, ECW; from the Property, Fundraising/Outreach, Memorial and Stewardship Committees.  We will also review and discuss this year’s budget.  We will answer questions and discuss concerns you might have about life in our parish.

WHO CAN RUN FOR VESTRY?

Generally you must be 16 years of age, Baptized and Confirmed and a regular worshipper in the parish for the past six months.  There is more specific information on this in the nomination form included with this letter.

WHO CAN NOMINATE?  WHO CAN VOTE?

Anyone can nominate using the prescribed form or at the meeting itself.  In order to be nominated at the meeting, it must be clear that the individual put before the body meets the proper criteria.  After discussion and prior to the meeting, the Vestry often also suggests names for consideration. To vote you must be 16 years of age, baptized and a regular attender for the past 6 months. You must be physically present at the meeting.

WHAT DOES THE VESTRY DO?

They are the deliberative body that oversees the overall functioning of the parish.  They set the goals and priorities for our work and exercise control over our finances.   The employees, including the Rector, work under their direction.  Each Vestry member is a liason to a parish committee overseeing one aspect of the church’s ministry. The Wardens are the lay leaders of this body and they are elected by this group.  Mike Fanfair and Brian Lakkides are presently the Wardens of the Church.

ARE YOU NEEDED AT THIS MEETING?  BY ALL MEANS YES!

This is your church and to meet your needs, you should come, be informed and have your say.  Come, bring your ideas and offer support!  Thanks!

Today not far at all from us, there’s a poor younger couple somewhere journeying along back towards the place of their birth.  The woman feeling blessed by God, carries the most precious of cargos.  The coming child now presses within her and they continue looking earnestly for somewhere to stay.  Thinking of going door to door, they realize they are too ashamed to do so. They feel utterly lost as their little money will no longer buy them room.

As they travel along street after street, they find a little park with a playground and a picnic like shelter amidst some trees.   There they are able to protect themselves some from the cold and the wind.  They spread their one blanket and the woman lays her head back against her partner and his backpack, and she’s able to rest.  Startled for a moment by a sound nearby, they look over and see moving images in the distance.  There they see two deer feeding.  For a moment they sense some peace.  They realize in a profound way, they are never alone.

There amidst the simplicity of their persons and this place, she will give birth and by his grace, in a tangible way, God will once again enter into his world.  For there is, you see, a little of Him in all of us.

Will we be ready for the coming of this child?  Will we seek him/her out?  Will we offer gifts?   Can we realize that this new baby is one with us?  For if we do, Christmas will have come for another year.

Mr. “D”    

Clergy Corner  November 2008

I am writing to you today on the difficult subject of Church attendance.  I wish Jesus had a parable for this.  It sure would be easier to address. No such luck.  For many of you, addressing this is going to feel like “I’m preaching to the choir.”  Many of you are conscientious about your attendance.  For those this note simply isn’t pertinent.  You are here almost every Sunday and there are some who make it most Wednesday nights as well.

Complicating the issue are our busy lives today and the incredible demands they seem to place upon us. Gone are the days when our grandparents worked the farm during the week, did chores Sunday in the morning and then went off to worship. Gone too for most, is the Monday through Friday “eight to five” routine with weekends off.  The pressures now to have two incomes and if you have children, to find quality time with them, forces us constantly to make choices, one of which is to sometimes lose ourselves along the way. The truth is we’re going full-tilt today even on Sundays.  If we can manage a weekend off, often the attractive alternative is to head out of town or up north to rest and recharge.  Truly, it is hard today to find time for church.

Another piece of the puzzle is the reality often of a gnawing “guilt.”  Deep inside 
we know that to live happily and in harmony together, we need to discipline

ourselves, to set priorities, and to be accountable one to another.  It seems, however, that there is often too much to be responsible for.  As a result we live stretched lives, often with a gnawing sense of incompleteness. Some guilt no doubt can be constructive, but too much of it can stack up on us and debilitate us.  Unfortunately, the church has been for some a place where its expectations can make matters worse. If you are called by someone here to help with a job you don’t have the time to do, you feel bad.  God forbid if I make you feel that way.  I pray you know it is ok to say no!

Given all this then, why write on Sunday attendance?  My initial answer is that when you come, this place should speak comfort to the stretches in your life. It may remind us to set priorities but it also offers us forgiveness and understanding when we fall short.  As St. Paul conveyed often in his letters, the reason for guilt is “not to condemn” but to remind us of our need for God. This is supposed to be a “Grace” place where we affirm that God accepts us for who we are and helps us build from there. 

There is an additional aspect to this subject.  As you well know, the Christian religion is still a faith, not a sure thing. 

There is something about the nature of life that is full of mystery and unanswered questions.  When we attend church on Sunday mornings, it isn’t so much believing that we’ll find all the answers here.  Instead realistically, we come with the hope that joining together, we’ll grow together, and learn from one another.

In life’s challenges, the St. George’s family is here to worship with you, to serve with you, to grieve with you and celebrate with you.  It is through sharing life’s experiences one with another that when you need God’s love, serendipitously, it often surprises you in the care and presence you find from another.

The truth is, this can’t begin to happen unless you are here.

Strangers tend to interact only superficially with each other.  Friends learn to share the events and stories of their lives in such a way that they truly grow closer together.  When that happens, God often finds His way into the exchange as well.

So know that God really does understand when you can’t be here. Still, know too, that you, your presence, your friendship and witness are simply essential to us.  Try and get here often, for God truly blesses us when you do!

  Faithfully,