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Bishop Lee to Chicago Episcopalians: Invite, Welcome, Reach Out
This is a clear call to action for those of us here at St Nicholas, especially with the Gospel message we heard today from the Daily Lectionary, and our renewed emphasis on reaching out, inviting, and welcoming.
Advent is a perfect time to put this in to motion: we can invite someone to visit St Nicholas, welcome a new person, and reach out to the larger community as we journey towards Christmas.
You will soon hear about opportunities to work with other faith communities to send “care” packages to members of our military, you can sign up to be a greeter and welcome newcomers, and yes, let’s talk about re-booting the Adult Education Discussion groups that many enjoyed. The Forward in Faith Day by Day booklets are usually available on the shelf as you enter the worship space.
As Jim Steen remarked this morning in his homily, “we have a very cool bishop!” Not only does he preach using an iPad (as it happens, this blog post was composed on one) but he preaches the eternal Gospel message to a modern age.
Let’s listen what he has to say, and put it into practice. What do you think?
At the 2011 Diocesan Convention, Bishop Lee charged the people of the Diocese to grow the church, form the faithful, and change the world in three specific ways during 2012.
“I want every member of this diocese to have at least one meaningful conversation in the next year with someone about their life and God. This is all evangelism boils down to. We’re good at conversations and evangelism happens one conversation at a time,” Lee said.
The bishop also asked the more than 600 people gathered to study the Bible. “Use Forward Day by Day, the Daily Office lectionary, an online resource such as the Speaking to the Soul blog at Episcopal Café. Join a bible study group –a great bible teacher in our church Verna Dozier used to say ‘No one should read the bible! They need to study it!'”
Lee’s third charge was for people of the diocese to participate in outreach–“the kind that involves you personally, something that involves relationship, something about which you need to learn something.”
I Am St Nick: Bob Kalicki
I am Saint Nicholas just like you, as a part of this congregation, are also Saint Nicholas. We as individuals make up the total that is this community that we love and work to make successful.
My journey to Saint Nicholas began when Patty felt a void in her life. Patty went to several churches and eventually visited Holy Innocents in Hoffman Estates. When she walked into the service and saw a woman presiding she felt that this Episcopal Church must be something special. She became very excited and that excitement rubbed off on me and I joined her as a member of Holy Innocents.
When Holy Innocents merged with Saint Nicholas in January of 2007, the energy generated with this merger was apparent. The combination took place seamlessly with members of both congregations working together to make the spring rummage sale a success.
Eventually, I became involved at Saint Nicholas and made a commitment of time, talent and treasure to this place of worship that means so much to me. Saint Nicholas has filled a void in, and given more meaning to, my life. I feel fulfilled by being building manager, treasurer and supporting the food pantry.
This may sound corny, but I have a sense of God when working at Saint Nicholas whether it’s with the landscaping, stocking shelves for the food pantry, overseeing the things that need to be done to keep our building in shape or setting up for our service. This sense of well being is very satisfying.
I know each of you loves this very special place also and I ask each of you to reach deep down inside of yourself to make a commitment to help Saint Nicholas grow by giving of your time and talent and to make a pledge so that Saint Nicholas can continue to grow.
-Bob Kalicki