Father Nick response to God’s call to love the world and be the Church

This morning (Wednesday) I had the extreme privilege of doing chapel with the Day School, which is consistently the most fun I have all week. That lasted about twenty minutes, and since then there has been a flurry of activity around the stewardship campaign, planning the Celebration of New Ministry, getting ready for the Senior Saints Luncheon, and the Day School Silent Auction. Things are busy and feel alive. I am amazed that Sue (our parish administrator) is able to keep all of the balls in the air while we juggle through these major events. On top of things in the immediate future, we are still rediscovering our community.

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Father Nick on the Charm of the Pumpkin Patch

It feels bittersweet to know the last few pumpkins will be sold in the coming days. I adore watching all of the children play in the patch and pick out pumpkins that they will take home, carve, and then ultimately feed to the squirrels. The patch takes a ton of work and dedication, and I imagine those who made this ministry possible will be relieved to get back to normal in the next couple of days. In particular, Melissa Brunton, Kim Witzmann, Richard, and Lisa Maple have put in a tremendous amount of time to make the magic of the patch happen, and the entire Fort Hunt community appreciates them for their work!

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Father Nick Finds Ways to Engage

I think it was this past May that I found a very large brick of nearly worthless Venezuelan money for sale, and immediately I knew that I needed it. I didn’t know what I would use it for, but I had no doubt I would put it to good use. Initially, I would hand large sums of the currency to guests in our home as welcome gifts. That was fun, but it was just the beginning.

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Father Nick Plans for Baby Hull's Arrival

Our second child will be born any day. Something has changed within me this week, and I feel like I am filled with adrenaline and anxiety, and even now it is hard to sit still long enough to write this brief message to you. I have been dealing with this nervous energy by cleaning and organizing the closet on the third floor and the shed in the playground. Were these tasks necessary to get done before I leave? Absolutely not. Did it feel good? Yes!!!

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Investing In St. Luke's Future

Tuesday marked my eighteenth month with you, and that is when all of the signatures were gathered on my Letter of Agreement officially making me your Rector! The nameplate for my door is in the mail, and we are all super excited. It has also made me think about all that has changed in the past year. The new parish hall is stunning, the grounds are slowly improving, the narthex is no longer used for storage, and the building looks lived in and cared for. All of these changes energize me, not only because I like things to look nice, but also because I imagine all of the people who will fill those spaces and the Easter eggs that will hide in the flowers that we plant. We have seen an influx of new people in the Church in the last year, and now it is time to start investing in the people of St. Luke’s.

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Father Nick's Heart Is Full

Dear St. Luke’s,

Just a few minutes before writing this I signed my Letter of Agreement to be your next Rector! That sentence has a ton of jargon, so let’s unpack it for a moment. A Letter of Agreement is like a contract, and it is official once it is signed by the clergyperson in question (me), the senior warden (Richard McFarland), and the Bishop of the Diocese (Bishop Goff). Until the Bishop signs it, I will be a Priest-in-Charge, which is very self-explanatory. A Rector is just like a Priest-in-Charge, but has tenure. Essentially, I was a temporary employee, but I am being made permanent, so we will be stuck with each other, something that brings me much joy!

I am thankful we are stuck with each other for many different reasons. One of the things I love about this Church the most is that you know how to get stuff done. Episcopalians have a bad habit of starting things, and not finishing them, or just hiring staff to do ministry on their behalf. As St. Luke’s has slowly come back to life, I am consistently amazed at everything we do for the Kingdom of God. The big things like the craft fair, pumpkin patch, and annual BBQ are great examples, but just the tip of the iceberg. From worship to outreach, buildings and grounds and vestry all require a lot of passion and work, and they would not exist without the heart of St. Luke’s, which is the laity.

We believe the ministers of the Church are Bishops, Priests, Deacons, and all baptized Christians. That means you! Part of our faith is ministering to one another, and to the rest of the creation that God has given us. We cannot remain stagnant or allow others to do this work for us, because all that we do is meant to be for the Kingdom of God. I know that as we move forward, we are going to be tremendous partners in ministry. I will not, and should not be, the major moving force behind every ministry. If that were the case, we would be severely limiting what our Church can be.

A tremendous example of this is the Sacred Ground group that started meeting almost a year ago. Sacred Ground is a curriculum that was created by the national Church that is meant to help faith communities explore issues around race. Marjy and Skip Jones had the energy to get the circle started, and did all of the groundwork. I was honored to have joined them. I contributed mostly as another participant, but occasionally I provided staff or priestly support. As the group grew and went on this journey together, each person’s strengths and perspectives came to the surface. Now we are discerning what we are going to do next. If you want to learn more about this you can go to www.saintlukeschurch.net/sacred-ground

This group has been a microcosm of my experience with St. Luke’s as a whole. People here seem to have a fire in their belly to do something to address the ills of the world, and they know how to get stuff done. I know that whatever we do in the name of Christ will be wonderful. I am humbled by the vestry’s show of faith in me. I know there will be disappointments and failures, I hope they are few and far between, but even then those are only opportunities to learn and show grace.

My heart is full knowing we will continue on this journey together.

Blessings,

Nick

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Father Nick Celebrates a New Space in the Church

We now have a soft space in the Church!

This is a safe and engaging place for wiggly children to spend their time during worship. This is not a new idea, and to be honest I am a bit apprehensive about this addition because I am afraid it will contain and limit some of our youngest members. If I had my way, pews and kneelers would be used as tunnels for toddlers to traverse the Church and meet the other members of our community, and to see what the Church looks like from every angle. Ideally, this would be done during the duller moments of my sermons. Rather than being a place to sequester children during worship, I hope that it is used as a launching off point for them to fully engage in the community as God calls them to do. From my perspective St. Luke’s has been consistently welcoming and encouraging, especially toward children, and I hope that we continue to lean into this part of our culture.

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Father Nick Welcomes Sinners

We are people that are brought together by common worship. We also have a common creed, but your status in the Church will never be questioned, if you do not believe every part of that creed. For example, in the Nicene Creed we proclaim the virgin birth of Christ. If someone came up and said that they don’t believe that, I would shrug and ask if they wanted to talk about it over coffee.

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Father Nick Looks Forward to Pentecost, Youth Sunday and the Parish Picnic

This coming Sunday is the birthday of the Church! As always, there is more than one wonderful thing happening. We will recognize and celebrate the graduating seniors in our lives, especially those graduating from High School. Three graduates are offering homilies on Sunday about their time at St. Luke’s and what is in store for them for the future. The timing is poetic as Sunday is Pentecost. Pentecost Sunday is one of those wonderfully rare times where we can pull out our red vestments and hangings and celebrate something new happening. In this case it is celebrating the birth of the Church when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples and empowered them to communicate in the native language of those in Jerusalem, opening up the good news of Jesus Christ to all peoples.

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Father Nick, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!!"

The Episcopal Church Welcomes You!!

At least that is what our signs say, and I can honestly say that we mean it! The thing is, even though we mean it, welcoming people to Church can sometimes be harder than expected, especially in an increasingly irreligious world. In my opinion, we often overthink it. To demonstrate a point, I am going to have to show my hand a little bit, and I doubt that you will be surprised.

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Meditation by Bishop Jennifer Brooke-Davidson

Peter said: I’m going fishing.

It’s been a week or two since the drama of the crucifixion, the overwhelming, earth-shattering, cosmos-rearranging event of the resurrection, the inexplicable appearance of the risen Jesus in that locked room, and his later encounter with Thomas.

It’s still not very clear to anybody on the ground what will happen next. Jesus had said, “as the Father sent me, so I am sending you. Breathe in the Holy Spirit.” But as far as we can tell from the text, that’s about it. There’s no strategic plan binder, no Gantt chart, no letters of agreement, no bylaws, no org chart. Just the whole world turned upside down, whatever that turns out to mean. It’s all a big mystery.

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Father Nick Recognizes Hard Work at St. Luke's

We are past the busy and beautiful seasons of Lent and Holy Week, we made it through Easter morning, and now we have the privilege of taking a step back and looking at where we are as a Church. The majority of our paid staff were not here a year ago, and things are getting done. I thought I would take this opportunity to give you a picture of those who get stuff done around St. Luke’s.

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Father Nick Reflects on Holy Week

Easter was sooooo good. By design, Lent is supposed to spiritually prepare us for Easter. We leaned into this by offering prayers three times a day, and many took on disciplines intending to be drawn closer to God. It was also a ton of work, and many were ready for that last wonderful service when we knew our labors for the season were over. That moment when we could breathe a sigh of relief, turn off our brains and go home feeling like God just personally told us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

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Father Nick on Foot Washing

I always write these little devotions at the last minute, which means I am writing this on Maundy Thursday for you to read on Good Friday. Tonight, some basins will be set up by the altar guild and the congregation will be invited to come up and wash each other’s feet, which feels a bit taboo and cringe-worthy, and that is kind of the point. As Episcopalians, our services can be moving, while not being emotive. We are masters of embracing the mystery of God’s grace, but in the most orderly way possible. When the disciples were getting their feet washed by their teacher, savior, and friend, they had nowhere to hide. The facades that they used to try to hide from Christ faded away, and they were left vulnerable with nothing between their filthy feet and their savior prepared to die for them. As Jesus finishes washing their feet, he commends them to wash each other’s feet as well.

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Father Nick on the Cusp of Holy Week

We are on the cusp of Holy Week. This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday and it is customary for members of the congregation to read the Passion in dramatic format, where each person takes on a different role. In a very real and immediate way, St. Luke’s will be living out the Gospel as a way of allowing it to transform us, and it is a small example of what we do year after year. The liturgical year, beginning with Advent and going all the way through the obscure “Season after Pentecost”, is ever so slowly living out the story of our salvation. This coming week is the most tragic, exciting, and inspiring part of this story. Easter is great and all, but Easter feels more like Easter if you’ve been through the sorrow of Maundy Thursday, the bareness of Good Friday, and the first joyful moments of the resurrection that is the Easter Vigil. I hope that you not only join us for all of these services but that you will invite your neighbors because the story is about to get good.

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Father Nick Prepares for Easter Service

Easter preparations are underway! Lent has flown by and in just over a week our most sacred time will begin as we have our palm branches in the area as we live into the passion narrative. Holy Week will transition us from repentance and self-examination to the wonder and jubilation of the Easter Season, and everything that we do in Easter should be a reflection of that joy.

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