TAKING STOCK
“For all that has been, Thanks. To all that shall be, Yes.”
-- Dag Hammarskjold
One week from today we’ll be celebrating one year together. In the beginning we had three goals. The first was transparency in financial accountability. To that end, we have traced every dollar to its appropriate place. In addition, all of our accounts are public knowledge and accurate financial records are published in our Annual Report, Vestry minutes and newsletter.
The second goal was inclusiveness for all parishioners, visitors, and clergy in finding and growing their ministries. Wow! Where to begin? I looked through the parish directory and could associate everyone I saw with a new or existing ministry. Originally I wanted to mention all of you, but this address would have stretched into next Tuesday.
The third goal was process in the use of parish teams, committees and structures. We’re studying the St. Patrick’s By-Laws to align them more closely with the Constitution and Canons of the Diocese of Nevada so that responsible decisions can be made using mutually agreed upon standards.
In one year’s time the people of St. Patrick’s have begun a staggering number of initiatives. We’ve developed a series of robust outreach ministries, making St. Patrick’s a diocesan leader in that area:
* A new group -- the Women of St. Patrick’s -- began last January and are currently exploring new ways of serving the wider community.
* We continue to host the Knitting Guild, a group which has engaged in projects ranging from making warm clothing for needy children to helmet liners for G.I.’s in Afghanistan.
* We continue our work with Project Christmas Child.
* The T.O.C.C.A.T.A. musical group has been born and, in the past year, has performed seven concerts for the community. Other musical groups, including the Sierra Nevada College Choir, Bella Voce, the Accoustical Guitar Society, and the Rumble and Zing musicians are making regular appearances in our facility (which has become a Center for the Performing Arts in Incline). We even hosted the Nevada Opera for the first time last month!
* Our outreach has also gone national. Santa Claus launched a nation-wide “Bless the Children Tour,” during which he’s meeting with legislators at every state capital to advocate for new laws to protect children against neglect, abuse and exploitation.
* We’ve hosted Friendship International, a group that promotes education and job skills for young Kurdish women.
* We’re in the process of starting a Chaplaincy program for Sierra Nevada College, offering them pastoral counseling and teaching. Recent events at the College have delayed this, but we’re confident that we’ll work it out in the near future. I’ve also extended Chaplaincy services to the Military Officers’ Association of America.
* Two months ago Bishop Katharine presided at a blessing of plantings we made in the burned-over section west of Carson City. This was also living out Millennial Goal #7, ensuring environmental sustainability.
* Parishioners have hosted two very successful fundraisers this year, making sacrificial donations that have helped us continue to serve our community.
* Last fall we contributed over $12,000 to the flood-ravaged areas of the Gulf Coast.
* Finally, we continue to host the Incline Village Nursery School, which keeps its doors open to the small children of our community.
St. Patrick’s is rapidly becoming THE leadership parish in the Diocese of Nevada.
* We have representatives on the Standing Committee, Women’s Triennial Meeting and the FOCUS clergy family support project.
* We also serve on the Commission on Ministry as it sets a high academic bar for candidates for ordination. We’ve also provided leadership for Camp Galilee’s 2006 Family Camp.
* We are a center for training parishes in Northern Nevada on how to prevent child abuse.
All of this would be lost in the shuffle, of course, if it were not communicated well.
* Our primary instruments of communication include our upgraded newsletter, the Shamrock., and an expanded parish website.
* Using a special designated fund, we’ve vastly improved our Yellow Pages and internet search engine advertisements.
* And you’ve probably noticed our new signage at both ends of town and on our church property.
* Also, a photo and history of St. Patrick’s has been included in the “Historical Episcopal Churches” calendar, something published nationally and distributed at the General Convention.
Not all of our work, however, has been conducted outside the walls of St. Patrick’s, because there’s work to do here, too. We’ve begun many programs to deepen our faith.
* We have challenging adult forums, both on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings.
* Saturday nights we also engage children in Biblical stories with Godly Play while the youth meet for activities down the hall. During one Saturday Night Alive! service we counted – for the first time -- 50 worshipers.
* In the past months we’ve hosted a “Spirituality and Aging” seminar and those interested in the Christian contemplative tradition have met for “Presence.”
* Education for Ministry (EFM), a four-year, seminary-like curriculum sponsored by the University of South, began this month.
* We’ve been panelists in a Jewish-Christian-Buddhist Interfaith Symposium at the North Tahoe Hebrew Congregation.
* Two of our parishioners have written original musical compositions that we are using in our liturgies.
Nor have we neglected our primary ministry tool – our building itself. We’ve just concluded a program to enhance our infrastructure and improve our ministry delivery.
* We’ve installed an On-Wave hearing assistive system so that not one word of the liturgy will be lost for those requiring such assistance.
* We’ve developed an effective LAN system with DSL capability. This way, all of our computers can talk to each other and we can rapidly find things on line.
* We’re becoming aware of our responsibility for our environment and the stewardship of St. Patrick’s property – projects which include property cleanup and the development of defensible space.
* We’ve installed new library shelving and a cabinet-enclosed whiteboard (which, by the way, is my favorite toy).
* Several parishioners, through painting and needlework projects, have donated their time and resources to make the church a more attractive and well-cared-for place.
* Finally, using a special designated fund, we’ve significantly upgraded our telephone system, including a voice mail system that has allowed us to save money by terminating our answering service.
If you were a stockbroker, you would be telling your client that St. Patrick’s Church has enjoyed a 500% return from its investments. But in Christian terms, all we’re doing is being the church, the Body of Christ. It’s what we do. We’re here to serve. And we’re doing just that.
It requires a degree of fearlessness, actually. Rather like a story I heard about the fierce Gurkha soldierss from Nepal. [Tim Bowden] It was 1964 and Malaysia was at war with Indonesia. A group of Gurkhas were asked if they would be willing to jump from transport aircraft into combat against the Indonesians. Now, the Gurkhas had the right to turn down the request because they had never been trained as paratroopers.
Being world renown for their fearlessness, the Gurkhas usually agreed to anything. But on this particular occasion they rejected the plan. The next day, however, one of their NCO’s sought out the British officer who made the request. He said that his people had discussed the matter further and would be prepared, but only under certain conditions.
“Yes, and what are they?” the British officer asked.
The Gurkhas told him they would jump if the land were marshy or reasonably soft with no rocky outcrops. The British officer considered this and said that the drop area would be over marshy jungle, so that seemed all right. Anything else?
“Yes,” said the Gurkha. “We want the plane to fly as slowly as possible and no more than one hundred feet above the ground.”
The British officer was relieved and pointed out that the aircraft always flew as slowly as possible when dropping troops, but to jump from 100 feet was impossible because the parachutes would not open in time from that height.
“Oh, we get parachutes?” the Gurkha replied.
That’s the kind of attitude we’ll need to meet the challenges ahead of us. Although interest in the adult and children’s programs remains strong, we’re only making modest gains in weekend attendance. Overall, we’re exceeding the attendance of the past two years, but progress is slow. The key to this is simple: if you are proud of your church and want to share its life and ministry with others, then bring your friends. That’s the single biggest cause of congregational growth.
I’m proud of the way many of you have decided to support the ministry of St. Patrick’s Church – through your time, talents and treasure. The average pledge is much higher than two years ago. But we need everyone to pledge, even if it’s a small amount. Our goal ought to be 100% participation, both in terms of finances and volunteering.
Let me tell you why 100% participation is so important. As you know, six weeks from now our bishop, Katharine, will become the new Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. She has made it quite clear that her tenure will focus on the eight Millennial Development Goals – things like eradicating extreme poverty, making primary education available to girls in developing countries and fighting preventable diseases worldwide.
Now, when I was a child, those goals were merely things that Miss America candidates would say to improve their chances of winning. They were ridiculous goals and far beyond the ability of the world to handle. Not so anymore.
Economists, faith-based and humanitarian groups are saying that all eight goals are now possible. In fact, China has cut in half its extreme poverty in just 20 years. It is possible. Now.
We at St. Patrick’s Church can’t solve the world’s problems. But we can make a difference. Right now. In small, but important, ways. And we have the perfect vehicle for doing so, using our own Episcopal Relief and Development in 2007. Here are some things that are very doable, even as we speak:
* We – St. Patrick’s Church in Incline Village, Nevada -- could help alleviate extreme poverty by providing seeds, tools and training for an entire village in Tanzania. The cost? $945.
* We could help achieve universal primary education for children by providing meals, schools supplies and tuition for 30 children in a village in Kenya for an entire year. The cost? $565.
* We could promote gender equality and empower women by partnering with Friendship International – the same folks who visited here in July. They buy and sell Persian rugs to help young Kurdish women develop marketable skills.
* We could reduce child mortality by supporting the building of a hand-dug well in Haiti to provide clean drinking water for a village. The cost? $750.
* We could improve maternal health by donating used cell phones to Interact Worldwide, a British humanitarian agency that provides reproductive health services in developing countries. They, in turn, receive up to $25 per phone to finance their operation.
* We could combat malaria by providing mosquito netting, education and drug therapy for a village in Burundi. The cost? $625.
* We could continue to ensure environmental sustainability by being good stewards of our property in Incline Village – by providing defensible space and regular cleanups. The cost? Your time.
* We could create a global partnership with one of the churches in Highcliffe on Sea in England – Incline’s twin village -- for a joint outreach project in a developing country.
* And finally, just as the developed nations of the world are being asked, we could give .7 of one percent of our annual operating budget to Episcopal Relief and Development. That would be about $2100 for 2007.
At the end of the day, the total we’d need to fully support every Millenial Development Goal is $6,000. That’s a mere 2% increase to our operating budget.
But here’s the thing: with that $6,000 we have made a positive difference in this world in our lifetimes.
Can one person make a difference? Can one parish make a difference? You tell me:
[Charles Colson] The year is 391 A.D. Telemachus lived in a remote village, tending his garden and spending much of his time in prayer. He had heard much about the great city of Rome, but had never seen it. So, two weary weeks later, he arrived in the city at the time of a great festival. The little monk followed the crowd surging down the streets towards the Colosseum. He watched as the gladiators stood before the emperor and said, “We who are about to die salute you.”
It was then that Telemachus realized that these men were going to fight to the death for the entertainment of the crowd. He cried out, “In the name of Christ, stop!” As the games began, he pushed his way through the crowd, climbed over the wall, and dropped to the floor of the arena. When the crowd saw this tiny figure rushing towards the gladiators and shouting, “In the name of Christ, stop!” they thought it was part of the show and began to laugh.
When they realized that it wasn’t, the laughter turned to anger. As he was pleading with the gladiators to stop, one of them plunged his sword into his body. He fell to the sand. As he was dying, his last words were, “In the name of Christ, stop!” Then a strange thing happened. The gladiators stood looking at the tiny figure lying there. A hush fell over the Colosseum. Way up in the upper rows, a man stood and made his way to the exit. Others began to follow. In dead silence, everyone left the Colosseum.
The year was 391 and that was the last battle to the death between gladiators in the Roman Colosseum. Never again in the great stadium did men kill each other for the entertainment of the crowd. And it was all because of one tiny voice that could hardly be heard above the tumult.
One voice – one life – that spoke the truth in God’s name.