The Shell Newsletter – January 16, 2020

From the Rector – Annual Meeting, What’s Different This Year?

On Sunday 1/26 we will gather for the 2020 Annual Meeting.  We’re changing things up this year in an effort to come together as a community to do our business (review budget, elect Vestry members) and to learn (I will be teaching a core ministry model from the College for Congregational Development and we’ll be using it to collect some data!).

We will have one worship service at 9:30 am.  The Annual Meeting will begin at 10:30 with our Sunday School children leading us in prayer and song.  They will then head downstairs for brunch and activities overseen by our Sunday Child Care Provider Katelynn Marshall and another professional child care person hired from The Sitter Service.  Adults will remain upstairs to grab food and then take seats to eat during the meeting.  We intend to wrap up by Noon.

Help is needed for the children’s brunch.  As they will be having a separate brunch downstairs, we are looking for a few people to volunteer to bring finger foods and juice boxes for them to enjoy.  Please let me know ASAP if you are able to do that. 

Youth and teens are invited to either stay upstairs and attend the meeting or go downstairs to hang out and assist with the children’s program.

Once a year we set aside this time to do the work of our community and I hope and pray that you will plan to attend.

Yours in God’s peace, Kristin+

Nursery School

2020 is off to a fantastic start in the Nursery School. The children (and staff) are enjoying the movement classes from Center Stage. The Library bookmobile arrived last week AND the Mt. Airy Net collection brought in tons of bedtime, bath, plus 120 toothbrushes! Congrats to the winners of the mini raffle-$100 was donated to Mt. Airy Net. Chapel times with Rev. Kristin are also a favorite among the students.

Speaking of students…following is registration information. Currently enrolled board, church, and staff members register early on January 16 & 17. In-house families will begin registering on January 21st. Alumni and church members can register on February 3 & 4, before the public. Public registration will begin February 5th. School Director, Pat Castle, reported at the Nursery Board Meeting on January 14th, to the number of grants and applications submitted to enrich the classrooms and for staff development opportunities. The board enjoys these meetings-hearing the reports tends to create lively discussion at the table. With the busy registration season on the horizon, the Nursery School is also planning for new painting this summer.

DOV Intern – The Way of St. James’

The last two years I have been a pilgrim of sorts. I did not travel to Spain to walk El Caminó to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. I didn’t start out on this discernment journey imagining myself walking on the Way of St. James’, but now I’m wondering if that is in fact what I have been doing all along. Two years ago, I walked out the front door of my house onto the street, my bag full of questions. Where am I going?  What is divine love?  What is sacred?  What is prayer?  Am I called into new a kind of ministry? Why now? Does the church feel this call, too?

Pilgrims must learn to trust God to show them the way, even sometimes when feeling lost, as I have felt a few times.  For example, on the first day of the Exploring Baptismal Ministry (EBM) class, I found out that I was the only person in the class who had not had a meeting yet with the diocesan staff person responsible for overseeing our discernment process. Oops! I was convinced I had failed on the first day. Everyone else in my group seemed so clear about what to do and where they were going.  How could I be taken seriously if I couldn’t even schedule a simple appointment?

I came to St. James’ a year later with a little more clarity after getting feedback from my parish discernment committee at All Saints’ in Frederick, my mentors and classmates in the EBM class, and my spiritual director Kris, who is an episcopal priest. There is a lot of wisdom in the discernment process the diocese has chosen, and so in the second year they send each of us aspirants to a parish in the diocese to see how our calls are expressed in a situation where the community does not know us.

My first contact with the community of St. James’ last fall was when I caught up, a bit breathless because I was running, with the group hiking on the C&O Canal one Sunday after church.  I think the first people I met were Dawn, Chris, and Molly.  And from that moment on I felt the special gifts of St. James’—the warmth, the generosity, and the welcoming spirit—as I joined the community as an intern. And as I walked with you over the few months that we have been together, I received far more than I gave.  I received gifts of wisdom as I shared prayer practices around the Daily Office, won a basket at the basket raffle, witnessed mature community practices being used across the church (like prefacing statements with ‘“this is an I statement”), and saw the community hold each other through both celebrations and moments of grief. 

I am so grateful.  The parish lay committee (Peter, Cheryl, Dave, Nancy and Jeannie) that worked with me was so gentle, wholehearted, and thoughtful in exploring with me my questions about how to balance pastoral and prophetic roles in ministry leadership, and how to find my voice in sermons by taking the risk to speak without notes. Rev. Kristin was equally generous with her time: meeting me and mentoring me with so much grace and wisdom, bringing me along on pastoral visits, and showing me in practical and spiritually grounded ways the way a pastor journeys with her congregation. Through all of this, I uncovered an even stronger pull into ordained ministry, and I will let you know how things unfold in the months ahead with the Commission on Ministry and the Bishop as they use the inputs of all the committees and rectors and mentors that have worked with me to discern my call.

And I am grateful for the gifts I received from all of you—your hospitality and friendship.  As I continue this journey, I will travel on the Way of St. James’, and like the pilgrims on seeing the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela the first time, when I see the steeple of St. James’ on this high hill, I will sing out, “My joy!”

Tommy Turbyville, DOV Intern

WEEKLY ANNOUNCEMENTS

Parish Administrator Hours for the week of January 19, Monday through Thursday 10-4.

Vacation Bible School – Summer 2020  If you are able to help with planning or staffing for The Abundant Life Garden Project to be held August 3-7 please give Kristin+ a call or email her as soon as possible.  To learn more about this exciting curriculum offered by Episcopal Relief & Development click HERE.

Outreach Committee  There will be a brief Outreach Committee meeting on February 2 at 9:30 in the kitchen to discuss our next steps going forward.  New members are welcome!  We are still looking for a Chairperson as well.  If you feel called to this ministry, please see Kristin+ or Jeannie Pellicier or stop by our meeting.

Women’s Retreat This Weekend  The Daughters of the King and others from St. James’ will be attending the Women’s Weekend Retreat at Claggett this Friday through Sunday.  Please keep them in your prayers.  This year’s theme is “Walking the Way of Love”.  This rule of life was pioneered by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry as a tool to focus our spiritual lives.  Perhaps you have read his book, The Power of Love, which features the 2018 Royal Wedding sermon.

This year we’re changing things up a bit on Annual Meeting Sunday.  The Annual Meeting is the one time a year the whole congregation gathers to do the “business” of our community.  We look back on the year that has been, review our budget for the coming year, and look ahead to the vision for the year to come.  For several years we have tried to squish the meeting between services to varying degrees of success.  This year we will have a combined worship service from 9:30-10:30 followed by the Annual Meeting including a brunch from 10:30-Noon.  There will be a pot luck style brunch and children’s program during the meeting time.  Please sign up in the narthex and let us know what you are bringing. In addition to the usual business agenda Kristin+ will be teaching a College for Congregational Development Ministry Model and inviting everyone present to take a survey that will help the Vestry continue their work of renewal and revitalization through understanding St. James’ core identity.  Please mark your calendars and plan to be a part of this essential work of our community.