A Note From Senior Warden Allen Alexander of St John's
Like many of my fellow parishioners at St. John’s, I did not begin attending an Episcopal church until I was well into adulthood. I’ve often been asked why LaDonna and I (and subsequently our daughters) first came to St. John’s and then continued coming. There is not a simple answer, but one key element was the warmth of the people, who welcomed us as if they were greeting long-absent family. I still see the glow of that warmth whenever we gather, for Sunday services, Christian education, choir practice, work days, and our many ongoing outreach ministries. Another factor that attracted us was the liturgy of the services. Growing up Baptist, we had rarely experienced or understood the traditional liturgies that are prominent throughout much of the Christian world, but as we worked our way into adulthood and took on the role of nomads (because one of us stubbornly refused to quit going to graduate school), we on occasion attended churches with different liturgical traditions—Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Episcopal—and began to understand that there was value in the ritual, the practice, and the reflection that these traditions cultivate. So when we came to St. John’s, the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist was a powerful reminder to us of how much we had come to value those traditions that brought us together in prayer, song, and worship.
Another thing that I noticed early on as we began to attend church at St. John’s was how involved lay people were in the conducting of the services—as lay Eucharistic ministers, lectors, leaders of prayer, ushers, altar guild members, greeters, and counters. My first somewhat cynical thought was, “That’s a smart way to ensure that people come to church.” But upon further more mature reflection, I came to see that involving so many lay people in the services was emblematic of an important component of church—people coming together to pray, sing, and worship. And that thought brings me back to my earlier point about part of the draw of St. John’s being the warmth and openness of the people, welcoming all of us into a new and renewing family.
As we continue to live through this interim period and work toward the calling of a full-time rector, we have the opportunity to come together for both the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and for Morning Prayer. We are thankful for the supply priests who will be visiting with us to celebrate the Holy Eucharist, and especially thankful for Fr. Jerry Rogers, who has served as our celebrant when he has been able. And we are also thankful for the lay people—Fred Sollars, Julie Green, Gloria Hunter, and Mary Katherine Blackburn—who have stepped forward to serve as officiants for Morning Prayer. This has been a learning experience for all of us, and another testament to how we come together as a church family, finding new ways, and re-discovering old ways, to move forward.
PRAYER FOR A RECTOR FOR ST JOHN'S AND TRINITYThanks to Allen for permission to post his note in St John's Newsletter.
