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