Our context for ministry is always changing. The challenges of today are not the challenges of even two years ago. How do we adapt?
The Triduum—the Great Three Days—begins tonight with the Maundy Thursday liturgy. In the setting of the Last Supper, Jesus gives his disciples a way to remember him and his ministry—the Eucharist, and he models servant leadership by washing their feet.
Over the last few months, I’ve met with many of you to learn about your lives, hear of the dreams God’s planted in your hearts, and weave a story of where the Spirit is alive at St. Michael’s. It’s been–you have been—a gift, overflowing with pain, honesty and hope. In one of these conversations, one among you reflected on their experience of this parish’s practices, and I scrambled to write it in my trusty notebook: ‘Duty does things well, but love does things beautifully.’
I see the yellow crocuses popping up their little heads in my garden, like tiny flags of hope, and remember these words from Romans 15, ‘May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace.’
That is our theme for stewardship this year. Rooted in Gratitude: Imagining, emerging, reaffirming! Notice the exclamation point. Over the next three weeks, you will be hearing from various ministry area leaders and staff.
One of my check-in questions this week with my Zoom small group was to share a memory of a past St. Michael’s Day celebration. It was a little disheartening that we found this to be a challenge. So far into this pandemic, we are forgetting what life was like before – how we would gather, how we marked special occasions, how we used to party.
As we face continued uncertainty with COVID variant surges and the suffering of our world in war and climate chaos, the work of the church goes on. I am grateful for the work of a small team of people who began a conversation last year about how structural racism relates to our use of sacred music.
We are capable of deep vulnerability. It is possible that we grow in our awareness of being beloved when we allow someone, particularly a stranger, to sing to us.
Through a trauma-informed care lens, we need time to be seen and heard, share our griefs, express the places where we have felt abandoned or even betrayed by this pandemic, and listen for the possibilities of post-trauma growth.
This Lent, Rector Chris Craun will be using 40-Day Journey with Howard Thurman as a daily practice of reflection, prayer and writing. If you would like to join her, please order the book or reserve one with the office as a few have been purchased. She will be offering space for mutual sharing and conversation on Wednesdays at noon, starting February 24, throughout the season. Please email her if you would like to receive the Zoom link.
Sunday Worship Schedule
7:30 – Spoken Traditional language (Rite 2 with no music)
9:00 – Traditional Service with Choir
11:00 – Inclusive Language with Choir
1:00 pm – Misa en Español
© 2025 St. Michael & All Angels
