God sends the portents we crave, and sometimes we are befuddled

Roslyn Chapel

ROSLYN -- All day Saturday, and into the evening, we discussed the knotty topic of spiritual discernment at our Vestry retreat. All of us here at the retreat are very grateful for being ably led by Canon Susan Goff.

We've talked about prayer and spiritual practices, and tried to get at the difficult question: What does it look, sound and feel like when God is speaking to us? Are we hearing only our own voices? How will we know it when we've truly found God's will for us?

Today at our Vestry retreat we will be electing our wardens and officers for the year and have Holy Eucharist together before returning to Charlottesville.

A member of our Vestry shared with us a poem that speaks to the question of discernment in a quirky kind of way. Maybe I like this poem because we have chickens at our house on the hill, and the chickens do just as described by the poem. Or maybe I like this because discernment often comes by surprise especially when I am befuddled, or maybe I just like this poem because it made me smile.

Enjoy your Sunday and here is the poem:

Our chicken Betty, photo by Lori K. Richardson

Celestial Favor
By Ethel Pochocki

Last night
I asked God
for an answer,
a sign of approval
that my step was sure,
my intent pure,
anything would do, I said.

This morning
there is a chicken
at the winter feeder
on the railing of the deck,
a plump white chicken
of dazed demeanor,
holding her own
amidst the jays
and mourning doves
squabbling and feasting
in the twelve-below freeze.

What farm is missing her,
I wonder,
what providence blew her here?

She roosts atop the feeder
like a feathered weathervane,
cocks her head at me
as I stare in disbelief.
“You called?” she asks.

I know God sends
the portents we crave
in our neediness,
each with meaning

for the one disposed –
a flurry of doves,
the whisper of an angel,
bedside visits from the Little Flower
or Saint Anthony glowing in the dark,
God himself
to a holy few!

To me God sends a chicken,
a befuddled chicken,
who, like me, suffers
a deficiency of direction.
I deduce I am dealing
with a Prankster.

Our Vestry Covenant: “Bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

You may recall from a post a few days ago that our Vestry discussed at length at its winter retreat what it would mean to make prayer our first priority as a board of directors. What would that look like? How would our business be shaped by that?

Our retreat was built around our reflection on the Letter to the Ephesians 4:1-16 wherein Paul talks of "equipping the saints" through love and discerning Christ's guidance for our faith community. Part of our discussion included looking at a model covenant for how we conduct ourselves as a Vestry. How do we communicate with each other? How do we do we listen to rach other and hear the Holy Spirit guide us?

Since the retreat, we've been working on a Vestry covenant for our Vestry this year, and we adopted it at last night's meeting. Here it is, and I invite your comment:

St. Paul's Memorial Church Vestry Covenant 2011

Recognizing that the Holy Scripture as interpreted through reason and tradition will be our authority governing our behavior and relationships with one another and with the congregation, we acknowledge the directive in Ephesians (4:1-6) to “lead a life worthy of the calling to which [we] have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We will bear with one another in love by:

1. Creating and nurturing within the Vestry a safe and trusting atmosphere in which all members can feel safe and confident in expressing their thoughts and opinions,
2. Seeking to validate, appreciate, acknowledge and understand the unique gifts of each Vestry member,
3. Listening with compassion to all; discouraging gossip; redirecting misdirected messages appropriately (in the interest of encouraging direct communication with the person most reasonably able to hear and act),
4. Respecting confidentiality for sensitive matters,
5. Following St. Matthew’s principle (Mt. 18:15-17) for conflict resolution: speaking first with the individual alone; if to no avail, speaking again with the individual together with another Vestry member and then, if necessary, referring the matter to the entire Vestry.
6. Practicing forgiveness,
7. Supporting other Vestry members through times of difficulty,
8. Nurturing a servant attitude in the Vestry.

We will maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace by:

1. Joining with the Vestry in submitting matters to prayer,
2. Upholding the final decision of the Vestry,
3. Refraining from gossip and personal attacks,
4. Consciously seeking to abandon self-serving agendas and attitudes.

We will lead a life worthy of the calling by:

1. Faithfully attending Sabbath worship,
2. Engaging in study of the Scriptures,
3. Committing to Christian living through regular sacrificial giving and participation in the St. Paul’s pledge program,
4. Being faithful to the St. Paul’s mission statement.

Painting: "Epiphany Times Three" by Kathrin Burleson.

The Vestry: Forming as a circle of decision makers, wrestling with spiritual discernment and prayer

What if the most important thing the Vestry did is to pray? What would that look like?

I posed that question to our St. Paul's Vestry on retreat this past weekend at Roslyn, the beautiful retreat center of the Diocese of Virginia in Richmond.

Vestry members wrestled with that question, both in small group exercises, large group discussions and informal conversations during social times and meals.

Vestries, by their nature, spend most of their time on budgets, personnel, buildings and program planning. That's what Vestries do. And prayer as a priority can sometimes slip off the table without anyone quite noticing.

But if prayer were the first priority of the Vestry, how would all of the business of a Vestry look? What if a Vestry truly considered prayer the most important thing it does? How would the rest of what it does be affected?

The question permeated our discussions as we grappled with specific topics including interpersonal communications, discernment decision-making and long-range planning for our parish.

I can tell you our Vestry worked very hard, talked and listened respectfully, and took time to pray and be in silence. We began on Friday evening, worked all the way through Saturday into the evening, and then again all of Sunday morning. It was an intensive time together. We struggled with our growing edges as individuals and as a circle of elders called to lead our

parish.

Associate rectors Ann Willms and Nik Forti joined us for Saturday's discussions along with Parish Administrator John Reid, and I much appreciate their engagement with the Vestry.

We made our retreat truly a retreat. We spent much time in prayer, and took a few paces back and have a look at our role as parish leaders and where we are in the life of our parish. It was not an extended business meeting (in fact, the only business we conducted was the election of officers.

To elect officers, the Vestry used a discernment model that I brought with me here. On Sunday morning, we sat in a circle and each Vestry member was asked to complete the following sentences: "I feel called to be senior warden," or "I do not feel called to be (senior warden), but I feel (Name) is called to be (senior warden)." Not until everyone had come to agreement and a "unity of the spirit" did we have an election.

Pam Dennison was elected senior warden and I am delighted to continue my partnership with her this year. She is an able detail oriented senior warden, and has shepherded our Vestry through many challenges and is deeply committed to discernment decision making.

The Vestry also decided to continue with a model of having the junior warden be responsible for a leading a major project for the year. You may recall that two years ago, Paul Brockman chaired our Centennial Committee as junior warden, and last year Bruce Carveth chaired a Communications Task Force as junior warden.

This year the junior warden's project will be a long range planning group to take a look at what kind of ministries we need in the future and how our buildings and grounds fit within that vision for ministry. Lloyd Snook was elected to serve as junior warden and will chair the long range planning group with assistance from several other Vestry members. Bruce will continue his work with the communications task force; all of us felt that the communications team has already done much but has a great deal more to do, and Bruce's leadership is vital in that endeavor.

We also re-elected Jack Bocock as treasurer and John Reid as register, a position primarily responsible for keeping the minutes of Vestry meetings; the task that fits well with his position as parish administrator.

With our renewed emphasis on prayer, we created a new Vestry position, that of Vestry Chaplain, and elected Anna Askounis to that position. As chaplain, she will help keep our focus on prayer and shepherd Vestry members as they offer a spiritual meditation each month at the start of each Vestry meeting.

It is always a challenge to have one-third of the Vestry turn over each year (Vestry members are limited to a three year term).

We brought on board seven new members to the Vestry, and they bring new talents, vitality and asked many questions and worked hard to get up to speed.

We also welcomed to our Vestry Megan Tiller, a second year student at the University of Virginia who will serve as a non-voting Vestry member representing our Canterbury campus ministry program -- and thanks to Megan for all of these photographs on the blog today.

Vestry retreat: Listening for the holy Spirit, election of new wardens and officers

This past weekend the St. Paul's Vestry went on retreat for two days and two nights. We began and ended in prayer.

On our first evening we shared our personal stories. The next day we spent the entire first morning talking about discernment of the Holy Spirit and how that might translate into making decisions as leaders of our parish.

On Saturday afternoon we worked on the 2010 budget, unanimously approving a balanced budget that maintains our ministries. If the budget is is to work, it will require more involvement by the lay members of St. Paul's in virtually every ministry of the parish.

Then we got a little free time before dinner.

On Saturday evening our conversation was less formal, but at least as intense. We discussed the various roles of the officers of the Vestry and how Vestry members can support each other. We had an involved conversation about how all of us can communicate more directly and clearly with each other and with the parish.

Finally, on Sunday morning, we elected the officers of the Vestry. The Vestry continued a practice I introduced last year that is somewhat unusual. I do not pick the officers or even make a suggestion. Instead, each member of the Vestry is asked to complete one of the the following sentences: "I feel called to be [senior warden]," or "I do not feel called to be [senior warden] but I believe [Name] is called to be senior warden."

Not until everyone agrees on who the one called is, including the one named, do we have an election. It takes time, a great deal of vulnerability and courage, and all of it begins and ends in prayer.

The new Senior Warden is Pam Dennison (photo at right); the new Junior Warden is Bruce

Carveth. Re-elected as treasurer was Jack Bocock; and elected as Register is Sterling Alexander. Please keep all of them in your prayers.

We also discussed, at some length, the role of the junior warden. You may recall that a year ago the Vestry decided to change the traditional role of junior wardens managing the building.

Instead, the junior warden would direct a special project. Last year, Paul Brockman agreed to chair the Centennial celebration as junior warden, and Paul will continue this year to chair the centennial.

Bruce's project as junior warden will be to examine and assist us with all aspects of communication at St. Paul's. Meanwhile, Pat Punch will continue to chair our Buildings & Grounds Ministry Team.

One other thing: Unfortunately, there's been some misunderstanding about how this year's Vestry was elected in an open process of discernment and nomination. I've given a lengthy explanation on this blog, and now there are several comments worth reading both pro and con. You can access that by either scrolling down, or simply clicking HERE.

I feel very good about our Vestry members for this year, and how they talked and listened to each other at the retreat; each of them are dedicated to St. Paul's and dedicated to listening to each other and the Holy Spirit as they embark upon their leadership in our parish for 2010. Please give them your thanks and support when you see them. And keep all of us in your prayers.

Photos by Dudley Rochester.

Vestry on retreat, the values of prayer and discernment decision making

I am heading off today with our St. Paul's Vestry for a retreat, and we will not return until Sunday afternoon.

It is my hope and prayer that this truly will be a retreat; a time when our parish leaders can step back and be in prayer and discernment together, and build themselves as the "Body of Christ." Please keep the Vestry in your prayers this weekend.

We will spend time in prayer and in conversation about what it means to be a circle of spiritual elders called to guide the life of the parish. We will be discerning who is called to be our wardens, treasurer and register -- the officers of the Vestry.

We will discuss how to take seriously the Book of Common Prayer's (page 854) proclamation that "Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church," and what that suggests to us as servant leaders of a parish.

For starters, it means that the Vestry is something more than a board of directors. The tools may look the same -- budgets, meetings, minutes and motions -- but the role is different. We aren't really in charge.

That brings me to the waters of the recent Vestry election whereby a nominating committee composed primarily of outgoing Vestry members proposed a slate of nominees that were the same number as the available openings. A number of people felt it was "undemocratic" and I heard some unkind comments that it was "sham election." While I see their point, I must acknowledge to you I am disturbed by the harshness of some comments, particularly those that were left anonymously.

I was not on the nominating committee, although I was aware of its work. I can also tell you that the Vestry as a whole discussed the nominating procedures over several meetings, and did not arrive at this process lightly or easily.

Yes, this process felt uncomfortable to many, and members of the nominating committee took some heat. But this process was not unprecedented for St. Paul's. In talking with Rector Emeritus David Poist, a single-slate was nominated periodically during his tenure. I can also tell you the way we did it this year is common practice for many Episcopal churches, although I don't have statistics on that.

It was not a sham election. In fact, in a very important sense, it was more open than the previous year. Let me explain:

The previous year the nominating committee recruited double the number of nominees as it had open seats, and thereby set up a contested election. But once those nominees were chosen, the nominations were closed. Once the contested election slate was announced, there was no opportunity for anyone else to say "Wait a minute, I don't like any of these people" and then put themselves on the ballot. It was a closed election that looked like it was open.

Moreover, a number of those people who were recruited were never warned that they were running against each other. They thought they had been recruited for the Vestry, and then some were rejected by the parish. The values of an election contest trumped the values of discernment.

The nominating committee this year was not charged with creating a contested election, but with discerning who would be good servant ministers on the Vestry. They did their task with considerable work and conversation and prayer, and great thanks goes to Paul Bushrow for his tireless work and his focus on the task as discernment. They recruited the number they needed, and then there was an OPEN opportunity for others to self-nominate and put themselves on the ballot. No one did.

The fact remains it is difficult to get people to serve on the Vestry. Service on the Vestry requires long hours, night meetings, attendance at retreats, representing the parish at community and diocesan events, and special projects. Most important, service on the Vestry requires a certain vulnerability to the Spirit, and to working with and hearing each other on the Vestry.

One other observation, and this is a bit subtle: The values of our American political culture -- contested elections, partisan politics, primaries, campaigns, etc. -- are not the same values as Church's mission to raise up servant leaders. The New Testament book The Acts of the Apostles talks about how early church leaders were chosen through prayer, discernment and drawing lots. The value was placed by the first apostles on servant leadership and finding ways to give the Holy Spirit room to speak through each servant leader. Now, I know we are not the early church, but those values should still be our values. And those values are not necessarily best expressed in an artificially created contested election that we might like because it reflects the values of our political culture.

You are free, of course, to disagree with anything or everything that I have written here. I do hope you will disagree openly and respectfully. And I am certain the Vestry will revisit this issue again, and sooner than it did last year. On that you can make a safe bet.

In my experience, the Holy Spirit can be heard in small circles, in quiet moments, in prayer, and with dedicated people working together to discern the Spirit, and reminding each other that that is their task. All of that, I believe, happened with this year's nominating committee. And I believe they have raised up a strong group of servant leaders for this year's Vestry.

Photos from the Vestry retreat

Here are a few photos from the Vestry retreat, taken by Dudley Rochester (thanks!). Enjoy:

The Vestry retreat and wisdom for the ages

I will be away the next few days on the Vestry retreat. I am not entirely sure where we are going; Dudley Rochester is driving, all I need to do is put my gear in his trunk. We will be led by Karen Salter, who conducted two Vestry retreats for St. Paul's during the transition and the calling of a new rector.

For those who have not been on a Vestry retreat, they are NOT long business meetings. In fact, the only order of business will be electing new wardens, a register and a treasurer. Our time together will be spent in prayer and getting to know each other better, brainstorming a bit, and building trust as a circle of faith so that we can make decisions in the year ahead on a foundation of faith. Please keep us in your prayers. 

I will not be posting for a few days. So I leave you with this, and photo is of Orion's Belt from NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day (very cool website).

Selections: Hua Hu Ching 

Lao Tzu (Chinese) b.570

Do you imagine the universe is agitated?
Go into the desert at night and look out at the stars.
This practice should answer the question.

~

Unless the mind, body and spirit are equally
developed and fully integrated, no [wisdom] can be sustained
This is why extremist religions and ideologies do not
bear fruit.

~

The highest truth cannot be put into words.
Therefore the greatest teacher has nothing to say.
He simply gives himself in service, and never worries.