You know of the disease called “sleeping sickness.”
There also exists a sleeping sickness of the soul.
Its most dangerous aspect is that one is unaware of its coming.
That is why you have to be careful.
As soon as you notice the slightest sign of indifference,
the moment you become aware of the loss of a certain seriousness,
of longing, of enthusiasm and zest, take it as a warning.
Your soul suffers if you live superficially. — Albert Schweitzer

Today is Participate! Sunday

What this means is that during our church school time at 10 a.m. we are going to invite children and adults to spend some time exploring ways to participate in our weekly worship. We’ll have brief introductions and training for these liturgical ministries:

• Choir
• Readers and intercessors (leading the prayers of the people)
• Acolytes
• Greeters
• Altar guild
• Gift-bearers (bringing the bread and wine to the altar)
• Chalice-bearers (helping out with communion)

We hope everyone will pick at least one of these ways to become involved. Church works best – and is more fun — when we all help out.

In late October or early November, we’ll have another Participate Sunday – this one focused on mission and outreach.

Recovery Sunday is next Sunday, September 30

Our first Recovery Sunday – a time to celebrate the women and men who participate in the 12-step groups — and all in recovery – is coming up. Be sure to be there for adult ed as well as worship, as we’ll have special guest speakers. And especially importantly, join us for the picnic after the 11 a.m. liturgy, when we’ll meet and greet and feed the people whose lives we are celebrating. AND BRING FOOD for the picnic at noon!

Blessing of the Animals – and Pet Fair on October 7

Talk to your pet and let him or her know we’ve got a special day coming up. And we are going to break new ground, as the day will be extended to include not only the blessing at both liturgies, but also an Animal Fair from noon-2, featuring adoptables and more.

Labyrinth Walk

This Friday night, September 21, 7-9 p.m. If you’ve never walked the Labyrinth, come try it. It’s a great tool for meditation, a wonderful opportunity to s l o w d o w n. . . .

Any ideas for a logo?

OK. We’ve got ourselves a name. That’s a big step in identity formation. We know who we are. Now we want to begin communicating who we are to others – and one important tool in this communication is a LOGO. But we need your help. We’d like everyone in the parish to begin thinking – and praying about a symbol that might convey clearly who we are. You can sketch it if you want. Or if you feel artistically challenged, put it into words. You can give your ideas to Steve or anyone on the bishop’s committee. You also can email them to onebreadonebody@sbcglobal.net. Thanks!

Building update

Following two good meetings last week, it appears that all systems are go – finally! – for our addition. While we had to make some significant compromises in several room sizes – my fault for asking in the first place only for the space I felt we needed (I should have added 10-15 per cent) – we are going to get a building that will make possible major growth for our parish. Our Diocese is putting a great deal of faith in us and I am confident we are going to reward that faith.

What will happen next is that the architect will come up with final drawings, and the builder will price out that plan to make sure it comes in at or below budget. Once the drawings are done, we will apply for a permit. If all continues to go well, we should be able to break ground before Christmas – and that would be a great present for everyone.

An Evening of Romance?

Picture yourself sitting at a dinner table with your loved one, spending that long awaited time set aside just for the two of you. A special sit-down dinner at the church with candle light, and special music for the evening. You will have conversation designed to foster deeper intimacy to bring you back to cherish your relationship. Interested? Please respond by clicking on this link marriageromance@yahoo.com to let us know if you’d be interested in an event like this.

Second Family Ministry

We have received a request from a family with five children for help with winter clothes. The clothing can be new or used if the items are clean and in good shape. This family has requested help previously from Holy Innocents and they now are turning to our combined congregation. Please be generous. Here is the information about these children.

Boy Age 8 Size 7-8 shirt, 9-10 pants
Girl Age 11 Size 9-10
Girl Age 12 Size 12 top, 12 slim pants
Boy Age 13 Size 14 or XL
Boy High School Size XXL

Our ad in Windy City Times is up

Our ad on the web site of Windy City Times, one of the gay newspapers for Chicago, is now up. You can see it by visiting www.wctimes.com Be sure to visit it and tell us what you think! When you click on the ad, it will take you into a special page on our web site. This present copy takes advantage of the nomination of Tracey Lind, a partnered lesbian, for bishop of Chicago, and is one of several ad copies we will run during the next 26 weeks.

We’ve agreed in the bishop’s committee to do some targeted advertising aimed at gay and lesbian people during this program year. We don’t know how successful we will be, but the advertising is relatively inexpensive, the vehicle (the Windy City Times web site) is readily available, and the campaign offers us an opportunity to develop our message and skills with one group and then transfer what we learn to our other target groups. Because our own web site is such an important part of our current evangelism, the web-to-web tie-in is nice. It also allows us to track the response to our ad.

Next year, once we have the building up and a place to put more kids, we are planning to target families with young children. That likely will be a significantly more expensive campaign.

Food pantry items we now need include…

Help replenish the food pantry by bringing one or more non-perishable items each Sunday and placing them on or beneath the table just inside the worship space. Items that we particularly need for the pantry are juice, sugar, laundry detergent, paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, tissue.

Bishop’s committee report

Minutes of September 12, 2007 meeting
Present:, Manny Borg, David Taylor, Pat Kalicki, Steve Martz, Karen Martin, Paul Brouillette
Absent: Mary Anne O’Rourke, Ethan Jewett

There were no official actions taken. The following topics were discussed –
The Blessing of the Animals
The Welcoming Team’s plan to make the first Sunday of each month “Celebration Sunday” and to encourage wider involvement in the Yummy Hour
The Nurturing Team’s work toward establishing a regular liturgy at the Asbury Court retirement community
The plans for the building addition
PARTICIPATE! Sunday

Team news
Generosity Team. Summary of Sunday, September 16, meeting.

We discussed the notion of growing into increased generosity. As a way to model increased communal generosity, we would like to ask that an outreach component be added to our operating budget. This would be somehow in direct proportion to our income as a community. It was noted that congregations that have strong outreach attract new members. We talked about moving even more fully away from insularity, in recognition that we are a part of something larger. One way to do this is to commit to being generous “outside our own four walls” with our assets. As a concrete sign of this, we decided to hold the Christmas candy sale, but to also give away the profits. This is a move away from arms holding what we have close to us and toward a stance of arms outstretched.

We also discussed timing of annual stewardship efforts. Arrived at the following:
Letter will be mailed on October 14 along with newly designed pledge form that provides opportunity to pledge time, abilities and money toward the mission and ministry of St. Nicholas. It was noted that gifts of time and abilities are just as important as gifts of money. Letter will consist of personal reflections about giving and generosity written by each member of the generosity team. Letter will not mention a monetary goal. Any stated goal will simply be to become even more generous as individuals and as a community. Rather than asking people to give to the budget, we will be asking people to pray about how they might be even more generous with their time, abilities and money. Members will be asked to bring their pledge form to church on commitment Sunday. On that day, instead of our usual collection procedure, members will bring their pledge forms and offerings to the altar. Those not able to be present that day will be encouraged to mail or bring their forms in before that date.

Action items:
a) Team members write a personal reflection
b) Coordinate communications about stewardship thru One Bread, One Body
c) Obtain a list of members from the database. This should include new members (but not first-time visitors—we discussed how shying away from seeking generosity from new members actually serves to alienate them from their new community rather than encourage them to live fully into it). Letters will be hand addressed and personally signed by team members by October 14.
d) Communicate with Welcoming Team about revised collection procedure on Commitment Sunday (November 18)

Following upon the mailed letter, members of St. Nicholas who are not on the generosity team will be invited to speak briefly at services (their remarks will be made available in the edition of One Bread, One Body email which follows their remarks). This serves as a strong symbol that the work of growing in generosity does not belong solely to the members of the team, but to the congregation as a whole.

Action items:
a) Decide which members we’ll ask to speak and assign dates
b) Communicate parameters to speakers (we want folks to share stories about their own experiences around being generous)

We also discussed the purpose of efforts at becoming transparent with our finances. While some members of the team saw the “numbers” as serving as a way for members to learn about where we stand and what we could use in terms of increased giving, others see it as a way of imaging our possibilities. Only when we know what we have, can we think in creative and life-giving ways about using what we have. We discussed the differences in models of “scarcity” and “abundance”.

Finally, Bob mentioned that they still have the guestbook from Holy Innocents. We would like to see contact made with persons who signed the HI guestbook. We would envision inviting them to St. Nicholas to give us a try.

Next meeting: Wednesday, September 26, 6:00 p.m.

Yummy Hour needs you

From the Welcoming Team:

Dear Parishioners of St. Nicholas,
We are seeking volunteers to help provide snacks for the social gatherings after both the 9 and 11 am liturgies. Cookies, cakes, sweet or savory, and simple is fine, too. Ideally, we ask if the same person(s) covers both the 9 and 11am gatherings. Set up of snacks, regular and decaf coffee and a pot of hot water for tea. Sugar, creamer, cups, napkins and stirs are in the cabinets in the Gathering Space while coffee and coffee pots are in the kitchen space. Let’s all get involved!

There is a sign up sheet in the church – AND you can sign up online by picking one of these available dates and times and emailing your choice to Manny: vanborg@sbcglobal.net

Here’s the schedule to choose from:
September 23
9am
11am

September 30
9am
11am

October 7
9am Celebration Sunday…cake provided
11am Celebration Sunday…cake provided

October 14
9am
11am

October 21
9am
11am

October 28
9am
11am

November 4 – All Saints’ Sunday
9am Celebration Sunday…cake provided
11am Celebration Sunday…cake provided

November 11
9am
11am

November 18
9am
11am

November 25
9am
11am

December 2
9am Celebration Sunday…cake provided
11am Celebration Sunday….cake provided

December 9 – St. Nicholas Sunday
9am
11am

December 16
9am
11am

December 23
9am
11am

December 30
9am
11am

If you shop at Amazon…

…be sure to visit it through our web site and part of your purchase will go to our church, thanks to the work of Ginny Gibbs. Go to our web site at onebreadonebody.org. Click on more news and events, which will take you to the blog and then look around until you find and click the Amazon link.

Evangelism conference

I know February 8 and 9 seem a long way away. But I hope a half dozen or more of us will begin thinking about attending the “Magnetic Church Conference” being sponsored those days by our diocesan Evangelism Commission. It will help us learn to reach out more effectively to potential new members and to incorporate them more fully into our community.

The conference begins Friday evening and goes all day Saturday. The Friday session is less important for us, as it focuses on overcoming negative views of evangelism – something that is less an issue in our parish than in many others. Saturday will focus on communication, signage and facilities, and new member ministry. These should be helpful for all of us.

Registration is $40 per person, and the parish can pay for you if necessary. We can go for $35 each if we have a group of four or more and register by January 18, so please let Steve, Mary Anne, or Ethan know if you are
interested.

One bread, one body

Working in any bureaucracy can be frustrating, and church bureaucracies may be especially frustrating. Our work during the past several months on the building addition has been, frankly, exasperating at times. Imagine “Dilbert” from the comic strip in ecclesial drag. Or the television program “The Office” crossed with the vice-president’s office. I’ve purposely kept this process from you because I trusted that in the end we would work it out – and why spread the yuck and muck around?

So I am pleased – no, thrilled – to say we have finally worked it out and are moving forward. There’s a lot of talent involved in this project and we at last seem to have figured out how to use it collaboratively rather than competitively. At two meetings last week, we were able to agree on the footprint of the building addition and 98 per cent of the floor plan. Although it’s not perfect, or all we asked for and really could use, I am certain all of you will be pleased by it. I am.

Barring something completely unforeseen, we will break ground well before Christmas and have our building in place in time for the beginning of the 2008-09 program year. Fittingly, in 2009, we will celebrate the 50th anniversary of both the congregations that make up our new congregation. What a celebration that is going to be!

We’ve got a lot of work to do between now and then, but I think it is going to be fun work. Thanks to each of you for all you are doing. You are the reason this is happening, and the reason we will be able to serve far more people in the coming years. Let’s enjoy this building as it goes up – disruptions and all – and let’s especially enjoy the ministry it will make possible!

Lots of love,
— Steve

Our schedule this week

Sunday, September 23

PARTICIPATE! SUNDAY
Worship at 9 & 11 a.m.
AA meets at 7:30 p.m.

Monday

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Tuesday

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Wednesday

Bishop’s committee meets at 11 a.m.
AA meets at noon

Thursday

AA meets at noon
GA meets at 7 p.m.

Friday

AA meets at noon

Saturday

AA meets at 1 p.m.
AA meets at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday, September 30

RECOVERY SUNDAY
Worship at 9 & 11
Church School for children and adults; adult ed focuses on the 12 steps

[tags]Chicago, Episcopalian, Anglican, welcoming, church, fun, recovery, pet blessing, AA[/tags]

Deep down, I know that separateness is an illusion;
that making “I” my central reference point
leads only to suffering;
that we’re all part of something deeper and more magnificent
than the rational minds can comprehend.
But my ego won’t be convinced.

Like some megalomaniacal talk-show host,
my ego jabbers on hour after hour, day after day.
Once in a while, a miracle occurs;
my ego shuts up and I perceive the truth clearly.
But moments later, as if nothing had happened,
my ego resumes its regular programming.

— Sy Safransky

Today is Welcome Sunday – Part II

Be sure to join us today for Welcome Sunday, Part II. We’ve still got some ice cream left from last Sunday, and the Moon Walk will be her, so it should be a great time for all.
Participate! Sunday next Sunday
September 23
Just added! Next Sunday the 23rd will be Participate! Sunday. What this means is that during our church school time we are going to invite children and adults to spend some time exploring ways to participate in our weekly worship. We’ll have brief introductions and training for these liturgical ministries:

• Choir
• Readers and intercessors (leading the prayers of the people)
• Acolytes
• Greeters
• Altar guild
• Gift-bearers (bringing the bread and wine to the altar)

We hope everyone will pick at least one of these ways to become involved. Church works best – and is more fun — when we all help out.
Next month, we’ll have another Participate! Sunday – this one focused on mission and outreach.

Labyrinth Walk

St. Nicholas will host an open labyrinth walk on Friday, September 21, from 7 to 9 pm and on Saturday, September 22, from 10 am to noon . The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres Labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral at the beginning of the 13th century, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn. For information on the labyrinth, go to http://www.onebreadonebody.org/labyrinth.htm

This labyrinth has only one path, so there are not tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives; it touches our sorrows and releases our joys. So walk it with an open mind and an open heart.

Recovery Sunday is Sunday the 30th

Our first Recovery Sunday – a time to celebrate the women and men who participate in the 12-step groups — and all in recovery – is coming up. Be sure to be there for adult ed as well as worship, as we’ll have special guest speakers. And especially importantly, join us for the picnic after the 11 a.m. liturgy, when we’ll meet and greet and feed the people whose lives we are celebrating.

Blessing of the Animals – and Pet Fair on October 7

Talk to your pet and let him or her know we’ve got a special day coming up. And we are going to break new ground, as the day will be extended to include not only the blessing at both liturgies, but also an Animal Fair from noon-2 pm, featuring adoptables and more.

Opportunity to Serve Soup and the Poor

We have the opportunity to serve dinner to the homeless and poor at the Franciscan Outreach Soup Kitchen, 1645 W. LeMoyne in Chicago. This ministry is run by our own Manny Borg. Two dates have been reserved for a group from St. Nicholas. The next trip has been scheduled for Saturday, October 13, followed by Saturday, November 10. We are planning to car pool from church, leaving around 3:30 p.m. There will be a sign-up sheet at the entrance to the worship space. If you would like to participate or have any questions, please see Manny or Mary Anne O’Rourke.

Food pantry on Wed, Sept 19. Items we now need include…

The food pantry will be held again on Wednesday, September 19, from 6 to 7:30 pm. Help replenish the food pantry by bringing one or more non-perishable items each Sunday and placing them on or beneath the table just inside the worship space. Items that we particularly need for the pantry are juice, sugar, laundry detergent, paper products (toilet paper, paper towels, tissue.

Bishop’s committee report

Minutes of September 12, 2007 meeting
Present: Paul Brouillette, Ethan Jewett, Manny Borg, David Taylor, Pat Kalicki, Steve Martz
Absent: Mary Anne O’Rourke, Karen Martin
Minutes will be available on Sunday.

Team news

The Welcome Team will meet today (September 16) at 10 a.m.
The Generosity Team will meet at the same time.

Nurturing Team Summary – Wednesday, September 12, 2007.

Present: Paul Brouillette, Ethan Jewett, Donna Tamaski
Absent: Carla Amato, Ginny Gibbs, Megan Glarner, Val Gruenwald, Mary Anne O’Rourke
Paul Brouillette opened the group in prayer. We discussed a number of pastoral care issues, including visitations for Carmen McCall, who was admitted to Alexian Brothers this week. It was agreed that Steve and the congregation would bless the first two prayer blankets at this week’s 11 am liturgy. One will then be presented. We will resume making blankets on Wednesday, October 10. A working plan for providing laundry service for Carmen has been developed, and will be implemented on Sunday, September 23, once she is out of the hospital. Paul Brouillette agreed to follow up with staff at Asbury Court , where Carmen lives, on the institution of a liturgy there once a month.

Finally, there was a discussion of providing spiritual growth opportunities for teens and young adults through experiential learning outside of the church. The present space limitations of the building prevent our offering quality formation programming for teens on Sunday morning. It was also observed that teens tend to dislike the Sunday morning format. With this in mind, it was suggested that a spiritual growth activity for teens and young adults be offered once every three months. Examples include art museums, a trip to the neonatal unit of a hospital, and visits to a different house of worship, both Christian and non-Christian. Donna Tamaski agreed to poll her children and their friends on possible activities, which we will consider at a future meeting for planning purposes.

Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, September 26 at 6:30 pm .

If you shop at Amazon…

…be sure to visit it through our web site and part of your purchase will go to our church, thanks to the work of Ginny Gibbs. The Amazon search box is located in the left hand column. Thank you!

Magnetic Church Conference

Noted lay evangelist Andrew Weeks will bring his popular Magnetic Church Conference to St. Lawrence, Libertyville on February 8 and 9. This is the second offering of this practical exploration of evangelism and new member ministry sponsored by the diocesan Evangelism Commission. The first conference with Weeks was held last March in Hinsdale.

The one and a half day conference begins Friday evening at 7 pm and concludes Saturday afternoon at 4 pm. Through his PowerPoint presentation, Weeks will challenge participants to explore opportunities for evangelism, and review the pitfalls, frustrations and misdirection he has seen in church attempts to welcome newcomers. His Friday evening session will focus on spiritual issues to help participants overcome negative views of evangelism. On Saturday he will lead participants in interactive sessions addressing communication, signage and facilities, and new member ministry.

Registration is $40 per person; or $35 per person for groups of four or more if pre-registered by Jan. 18, 2008. Registration deadline is Feb. 1, 2008. See Steve, Ethan, or Mary Anne if you are interested

An Evening of Romance?

No, it’s not a new mushy love story from Hollywood. This is an event being planned as part of the new St. Nicholas Marriage Enrichment Ministry. Imagine a sit-down dinner at the church with just you and your special someone. A two-person table, dinner served to you, romantic music in the background, and the type of conversation designed to foster deeper intimacy and connection in your relationship. Here’s where we need your input:

Would this Evening of Romance be of interest to you? Would you attend?
From your perspective, what would make the evening extra special for the two of you?
What dialog questions would you want to be used to help the two of you foster deeper communication?

Please send your thoughts and ideas to Suzie & Frank at:
marriageromance@yahoo.com

What’s your story?

One of my projects is to help us tell our story more effectively. We do this in many ways and one way is through some great stories on our web site from members who share what led them to the parish. But we need more. Lots more. Would you consider adding yours? I would be happy to help you write or edit it, or if you don’t want to write it yourself, I will interview you and write it for you. Thanks!

One bread, one body

What a weekend I had last weekend! On Saturday night, I officially graduated from the Analyst Training Program of the C.G. Jung Institute of Chicago, and the remarks I made are printed below. I was pleased when a former analyst of mine, one of the most prolific and respected Jungian authors in the world, emailed me to ask if he might use some of my ideas and words in a chapter he is writing for a book on teaching Jung. That made me feel I had arrived in the community of analysts. Indeed, one of the nice parts of this weekend has been the number of people who know me pretty well who have said nice things about me. Given my personality, I tend to be a bit more aware of my flaws, and focused on changing them, so it is nice to be reminded by people I respect that along with the flaws, I’ve got some gifts.

Sunday we got off to a great start. It was so nice to have 60-plus people in church again. And to see we are growing, as new people are coming and liking what they see. There’s a lot to like here, as we saw and heard on Sunday morning. Manny did a great job preaching – as usual. We are so fortunate to have multiple preaching voices. That so enriches our community – and me.

Several people remarked to me how good they felt after worship. The refreshments and conversation were great. Thanks to Paul Swanson for all he does with the coffee – and thanks to all who polished off a couple of gallons of ice cream and a wonderful cake. My favorite personal moment at both liturgies was “The Peace of God,” which both groups sang wonderfully. What a beautiful song that is. And at the later liturgy, I really enjoyed – as I know many others did, too – Mary cranking up the organ for the final stanza of “Lift High the Cross.” I’ve never really liked the lyrics to that hymn, but have always liked the music.

What a delight the organ has proved to be. There are some hymns that don’t work nearly as well with any other instrumentation. Mary told me later that she thought when she played it that loudly that she would drown everyone out, but was surprised and pleased that we all just sang louder. Great work! And a great Sunday. What a fun year we have ahead.

Here’s what I said Saturday night:

Last month I read a superb book — Erotic Mentoring, by the late Janice Hocker Rushing. At one point she wrote of the toll that completing her PhD had taken on her. Despite feeling fine before — and after — her graduation ceremony, when she completed the academic procession and was seated for the outdoor commencement, Rushing, to her surprise — and horror — suddenly began vomiting repeatedly.

I begin with this striking image because it captures my own mixed emotions about these past five years.

I am disappointed that my training coincided with the most difficult years in the life of this Institute. These were hard years for me, as I know they were for many of you, marked by too little laughter, too much scapegoating, not nearly enough spontaneity or joy. I say this to acknowledge, not to scold or complain, for I’m also grateful that training accomplished what I hoped it would – a personal transformation that enables me to work at, and live from, deeper levels of the psyche.

I also begin with Rushing because I find in her a kindred spirit. Her book is about the way the myth of Eros and Psyche is lived out in the lives of women academics. Like her, I’ve wondered a lot about Eros. As a priest, I’ve been especially intrigued by how and where Eros is present in the church. Indeed, my initial idea for a thesis was to write about the erotic in parish life. Maybe I would have called it Erotic Pastoring.

That first idea gave way to a psychological study of the liturgical year, and this in turn yielded to my eventual thesis on The Good Shepherd: Explorations of an Archetypal Image. In all these incarnations, I maintained a keen interest in the place of Eros in the religious sphere.

After reading it this summer, Lee Roloff described my thesis as “graphic, in the sense of being biographical and autobiographical,” and I think that is as accurate as it was inevitable.

The relationship between Eros and Psyche – or in other forms, between masculine and feminine, being and doing, gay and straight, body and soul, immanence and transcendence — has been a place of immense struggle in our culture, and in the church, during my lifetime.

This has meant that I, too, have had to wrestle with Eros, and to seek to hold the tension of the opposites he provokes. That endeavor, and my vocational efforts to assist others in their distinctive, yet sometimes similar struggles, is the imbedded “graph” of this thesis.

The thesis itself is straightforward. As the title indicates, it explores one of the major archetypal images of Christ. In the early church, the image of Christ as good shepherd was by far the dominant one.

Considering a variety of sources, from mythology, the scriptures, and early Christian art, to contemporary cinema, theatre, and some recent Vatican documents, I argue that Christian tradition, to its detriment, has progressively domesticated the shepherd. It has obscured his – or her — wilder, pagan, and more archaic aspects behind a resolutely orthodox presentation of the good shepherd.

I contend our time requires a less domestic understanding of the shepherd – a more Davidic, Orphic, Hermetic shepherd — and recall Bob Dylan’s lines, “Good and bad, I defined these terms, quite clear, no doubt, somehow / But I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now.”

In the past few years, my own Episcopal Church has grown younger, and has begun to embody an earlier, more expansive understanding of the shepherd image. We’ve elected a woman as the chief shepherd of our church, and an openly gay man as the shepherd of a diocese. And just eleven days ago, the Diocese of Chicago included a partnered lesbian on its slate of nominees to be our next bishop.

Of course, these selections have engendered a backlash. Given that women and gay men are frequently seen in western culture as the carriers of sexuality– which traditional Christianity has opposed to spirituality — this was inevitable.

But good shepherds are individuated shepherds, and the best shepherds are women and men who seek to incarnate the divine in fully human lives, in that way holding together Eros and Psyche. One branch of the church now seems able to affirm this – and who knows where this could lead?

Perhaps next we may even acknowledge that Jung was right: the splitting at the core of the Christian myth – whether this is into Good Shepherd and Bad Shepherd, Christ and Satan, or the Blessed Virgin Mary and the whore Mary Magdalene – this splitting violates the soul and diminishes our experience and awareness of the Incarnation.

I’m just getting warmed up and into preaching mode, but our Mary has set a strict 10 minute time limit, and I have this fantasy that if I exceed it, she’ll come after me with a shepherd’s staff and yank me neck first out the door. So I’m going to end with some thank yous and a remembrance.

1. First of all, I thank my patients and analysands — and in my case also my parishioners, who’ve gotten a lot of Jung along with Jesus. I hope that has enriched their relationship with Jesus.
2. Next, thank you to my fellow candidates, and to the faculty, committee members, and support staff of the ATP. I hope that mentioning Mary Dougherty and Boris Matthews among analysts and Debbie McGowan among candidates recognizes my particular indebtedness to them at critical junctures without shortchanging the encouragement, support, and friendship of many others.
3. I offer special thanks to my supervisors, Sue Rosenthal and Carl Greer, and to my thesis director, Ken James. I feel quite fortunate to have worked with each of you.
4. Most of all I thank my analyst Kennon McKee and my previous analysts, Lee Roloff and Murray Stein. What a “Holy Trinity” they’ve been – and continue to be!
5. Finally, thank you Carla, David, and Jonathan. You’ve paid the greatest price for my pursuit of this vocation. I hope you also gain the greatest reward.

I’d like to conclude by taking a moment to remember Mike Hudac, who was a gem of a human being. I had especially looked forward to being Mike’s colleague and feel his absence tonight. I am sure by now that he has found himself a hell of a pasture, filled with lots of well-individuated sheep and shepherds. But ours is much less verdant since his death.

Lots of love,
— Steve

Where we are financially

Attached to this week’s One Bread, One Body is the monthly report we submit to the Diocese. Each time it goes downtown, it also will go into One Bread, One Body. We want everyone to be informed of all aspects of our life together
(printouts will be available at church Sunday)

Our schedule this week

Sunday the 9th

WELCOME SUNDAY
Worship at 9 & 11 a.m.
AA meets at 7:30 p.m.

Monday the 10th

AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.
Tuesday the 11th
AA meets at noon
AA meets at 7 p.m.

Wednesday the 12th

Bishop’s committee meets at 11 a.m.
AA meets at noon
Thursday the 13th
AA meets at noon
GA meets at 7 p.m.

Friday the 14th

AA meets at noon
Saturday the 15th
AA meets at 1 p.m.
AA meets at 8:30 p.m.

Sunday the 16th

WELCOME SUNDAY
Worship at 9 & 11

The Rev. Jane S. Gould, Priest-in-Charge / Rector,
St. Stephen’s Memorial Episcopal Church, Lynn, Mass.

The Rev. Jeffrey D. Lee, Rector, St. Thomas Church, Medina, Wash.

The Very Rev. Tracey Lind, Dean, Trinity Cathedral, Cleveland, Ohio

The Rev. Margaret R. Rose, Director of Women’s Ministries, The Episcopal Church

The Rev. Timothy B. Safford, Rector, Christ Church, Philadelphia .

Five nominees for the 12th Bishop of Chicago were received from the Bishop Search Committee and announced Aug. 28, 2007 by the Episcopal Diocese of Chicago’s governing body, the Standing Committee, subject to completion of background checks.

A Bishop for Chicago – Nominees To Be Announced Aug. 28 at 10 a.m.

Almighty God, prosper with your blessing the mission and ministry of our diocese. You have blessed us with the ministry of the Rt. Rev. William Persell. We thank you for his ministry to us as chief pastor and leader in the Church. Stir up in us the grace and power of your Spirit, as we begin the search for our next Bishop. Give to our search committee inquiring and discerning hearts, that they may clearly see your will. Give us all the courage to dream and the will to persevere to make those dreams a reality. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and ground us in the knowledge and love of you. Empower us with the gifts of joy and wonder as we seek out the special ministry you have for us together in our diocese; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for this Diocese, that we may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip us for our ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.