Today was the second and last Sunday without our priest, Fr. Ted, who has been away. It had been decided by the priest and Bishop’s Committee that in order to make the necessary cuts in the budget “an outward and visible sign” of the seriousness of our situation, we would not budget funds for “supply” or substitute priests when Fr. Ted is absent for vacation or education. The service at Holy Innocents was therefore led by Rob Bartlett, who acted as presider. The sermon was delivered by Colleen Muehl, our Bishop’s Warden.
You would think that a more-or-less Morning Prayer service conducted by a bunch of amateurs wouldn’t give the same feeling of satisfaction or spiritual comfort that a full Eucharist with a priest and the bread and wine would give. However, everything went very smoothly, and it was surprisingly moving. The Gospel reading for today, of course, is the one dictated by a three-year cycle, but as on so many Sundays it was of peculiarly apt significance for our situation on this day. Remember, the key phrase was
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” The sermon that Colleen read was helpful in putting our mission (not the physical building, but our need to minister to ourselves and others) in focus. The Gospel and other readings went right along with that theme; and then also the sermon touched on the need to give people encouragement when they are doing a good job, whether it’s at work, school, home, or even church.
At the announcements after the sermon, several people (Scott Eiler, Bob Kalicki) mentioned opportunities for volunteer work, either Sparrow’s Nest, the Palatine thrift shop benefiting a battered women’s shelter, or the Poplar Creek prairie restoration project.
Colleen also announced that a short meeting about the upcoming Classic Car Show (July 10!) after the service. The subsequent meeting was VERY well attended, with lots of excitement and enthusiasm for this, our major fundraiser for the parish. It will also benefit the Schaumburg Food Pantry, which we have supported for years. A number of us will be working on various aspects: securing donations of food or raffle prizes or small gifts, making contact with the village, and publicizing the event to as many car clubs and potential attendees as possible.
As we left, we were given colorful fliers to hand out to the neighbors whose homes face the church lot; because of the extra traffic generated by the car show, Sunday July 10th would be a great day to hold a garage sale (apparently, the spouses of the exhibitors would rather go shopping than look at cars). So off we went in several directions to chat with the neighbors. Doorbelling is almost un-Episcopalian, but we managed.
Just as we were charged in the sermon, we laborers are being sent out into the harvest; conducting worship, finding ways to serve, and gathering in what we may in order to continue our mission (the building AND the ministry).
And finally, a hearty “well done” to everyone who helped conduct services for the past two weeks. We’ll be glad to see Fr. Ted and Mark when they return, but we’ve acquitted ourselves honorably these last two weeks in the absence of clergy.