Reflections

Reflections

As my official relationship with Nativity comes to an end this Sunday I have been flooded with so many wonderful memories of my time with this very special congregation, beginning with that phone call from the bishop during my first week at St. Peter’s in Oxford in 1985. “You know the little church in Water Valley was destroyed by a tornado a few months back. Would you be willing to oversee the rebuilding of the church and hold services for them for a while?” he asked. A question like that, coming from your bishop, is not really a question, but a charge.

So I said yes, and the rest is (a very personal) history.

Before the church was rebuilt we had worship services 2 Sundays a month in the chapel of the Presbyterian Church. On those Sundays over the next two years I would finish the early service at St. Peter’s, keep my vestments on and drive way too fast to get to the 9:00am worship in Water Valley. I would then make a a quick exit as worship ended and , again, break the speed limit in order to return to St. Peter’s for the 11:00am service. It seems very strange now, but in those days if the bishop asked you to do something, it was done- no questions asked!

I remember traveling in a U-Haul to pick up donated pews from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Picayune and unloading them with the Nativity Junior Warden to the very places they rest today. After the church was rebuilt I recruited a retired priest, the Rev. Tom Hastings, to celebrate the Eucharist and preach four Sundays a month. That took a little adjusting to, as the Senior Warden and some others objected to the regular Sunday worship schedule as “being too much church”!

With those roots in Nativity it was a painful moment for me as bishop when,  responding to the request of the one remaining family in 2003, 

I authorized the closing of the church. But I also remember with great joy when, after the rebirth and revitalization of Water Valley in 2017, my successor, Bishop Brian Seage, reopened the church and it began the growth that has continued to this day.

Then, many years later, as my post-retirement tenure at St. Peter’s came to an end, there came the opportunity to once, again, serve in this special place. It has been a great honor and the deepest joy to have traveled this journey with you over these past three years. Your gracious welcome to Kathy and me and your willingness to let us both offer our gifts is so deeply appreciated.  You will never know how grateful we are. To have  had this opportunity to give what I could give in these last years- before the gas tank was completely empty!-was a gift of incredible value. 

I will see many of you on Sunday to say “Good-bye”, but to those who I will miss, may I simply say, “Thank you.” It’s all been so wonderfully joy-filled!

See you Sunday!

Blessings and Peace,

Duncan

(601)260-1937

Dmgrayiii@gmail.com

Reflections

Reflections 

I am typing these reflections on Thursday, May 29. Forty-nine years ago today I was ordained a priest at St. James’s Episcopal Church in Greenville, Mississippi. A lot of water has passed under this old bridge since that day, and I believe that I am a bit wiser than I was when the bishop ( and a number of fellow priests) placed their hands on my head and prayed for the Holy Spirit to send her power and make me a priest in “Christ’s holy catholic  Church”. 

Earlier in the ordination liturgy I had been charged  “to love and serve the people among whom you work, caring alike for young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor.” I also made a number of promises, including being faithful “so to minister the Word of God and the sacraments of the New Covenant, that the reconciling love of Christ may be known and received.” 

It was a beautiful and deeply moving worship service, but I was 25 years old…and despite a university and seminary degree, I was remarkably unprepared for what the next 49 years would bring. Looking back on those early days of ordained ministry and my lack of life experience, it is baffling to me why anyone would have sought me out for advice, much less spiritual counseling.  

I am the priest I am today because I have been able to experience the grace and goodness of God through the lives of so many who have dared to walk with and along side me during these 49 years. It has been my great joy to have been given the opportunity to travel with folks through the ebbs and flows of their lives and mine, as we have encountered the joys and sorrows of this life. We have celebrated the good times and mourned the painful ones. We have rejoiced when we have been faithful, grieved over our disobedience and failures and found ways through the guilt to confess our mistakes and find healing and reconciliation. And, as we have been promised, we have found the Risen Lord through it all.

It has been that journey together with so many folks over 49 years that has taught me what my ordination was all about and what it means to be a parish priest. 

I think that it is our lives, and God within them, that is our greatest teacher. I may not understand in the moment what things are all about, but I do believe that God is using each moment of our lives to teach us something about what it means to be fully human. The only real question is, will we be brave and vulnerable enough to listen and hear?

Other Matters of Importance:

Are You Interested in Being a Lector?

Robbie Fisher, the chair of our Worship Committee, is inviting anyone interested in being a lector- one who reads the scripture during worship- to contact her. You may speak to her at church or through email - robbiedfisher@gmail.com.

Foreign Language Readers Needed for Pentecost-June 8

If you are willing to read a portion of scripture (Acts 2:1-11) in a foreign language during worship on June 8, please sign up on the sheet in the rear of the church or let the Vicar know. The reading, simultaneously in different languages,  reflects the  experience of the first disciples at Pentecost. When the Holy Spirit came upon them they began to speak in languages such that foreign visitors to Jerusalem could understand them speaking of the mighty works of God. It can be a wonderfully disorienting experience in the midst of our worship!

Nativity Musicians to Offer Special Music Pentecost-Beginning at 10:15am

Brenda Prager and others will offer a  special music presentation on the Vicar’s last Sunday. The music will begin at 10:15, so plan to be at church a little earlier on June 8.

A Message from Mary Beth Pulsifer and the Mission Committee:

“One of the things that we have loved about Duncan has been his commitment to making Nativity a positive light in our community. For this reason, on his last Sunday with us (June 8), we will be donating all undesignated offering contributions to the YCare after school program at Davidson Elementary that he has recently written and talked about. Please be generous, as you always are!”

See you Sunday!

Blessings and Peace,

Duncan 

dmgrayiii@gmail.com

(601)260-1937

Reflections

Reflections

In my initial interview in 2022 with the Mission Committee of Nativity prior to becoming Vicar, I heard an overwhelming desire to develope a creative and supportive relationship with the local schools. Thus, with the guidance and direction of Kathryn York and assisted by Suzy Robinson, we began work to establish an after school tutoring program. We worked closely with Mr. James Watson, the principal at Davidson Elementary, and recruited tutor volunteers from Nativity and were set to begin. Unfortunately, the change of leadership at Davidson scuttled our planned program.

Nonetheless, we continued to stay in touch with the new principal, Mr. Lee Gray, who encouraged us to support the development of YCare. This multi-dimensional after school program, an outreach initiative of the Memphis-based YMCA, was looking to come to Water Valley, he said,  and needed strong community support. 

It has been over a year since that first conversation with Principal Gray, but YCare, led by a Water Valley native, Ms. Monique Bush, is now coming to Water Valley with plans to begin operation in the fall. The development of “sustainability partners” is now underway, and at its monthly meeting this week Nativity’s Mission Committee voted to provide a grant of $5,000 to become one of YCare’s first sustainability partners. I couldn’t be more excited!

YCare will be offering a variety of after school programs, including tutoring, that will need community volunteers, and there will be opportunities for folks from Nativity to participate in various ways as the program establishes itself at Davidson Elementary. Though I will not be around to see all of this come to fruition, I am thrilled that YCare is coming to Water Valley and know that its impact will be felt, not only in rising test scores, but in an improving of the quality of life for Water Valley’s children. I know that Nativity will be in the middle of it all!

Other Matters of Importance: 

May 25-Rogation Sunday Luncheon at Home of Vivian McKey

After worship on Sunday, May 25 we will travel to Vivian and her family’s home just south of town(3313 CR 90) for a potluck luncheon and the traditional Rogation Day blessing of the fields- in this case the commercial flower fields of Kris McKey, Vivian’s daughter. It will be a great time for food, fellowship and fun on a beautiful spring day. Vivian will provide hamburgers and hot dogs, and there is a sign up sheet in the rear of the church for others to indicate what they will be bringing. Make plans to join us!

Compassion Ministry Food Box Packing Monday, May 19-

Thanks to all who have signed up to pack food boxes this Monday. The work will begin at 6:00 pm at the Compassion Ministries warehouse at 1301 Highway 7 North.

See you Sunday!

Blessings and Peace,

Duncan

Dmgrayiii@gmail.com

(601)260-1937