January 25, Third Sunday after Epiphany

Annual Parish Meeting for 2015

Sunday, January 25, 2015

 One Liturgy at 9:30 a.m.

Annual Meeting Follows in the Parish Hall

Potluck Lunch Follows the Annual Meeting.

How Episcopal Parishes are organized and function

Moving toward the Annual Parish Meeting, this is a good time to review how Episcopal Parishes operate.

 The Organization of Episcopal Parishes

             The organization of an Episcopal parish works like this.  The organization rests on two supports.  One is the Office of the Rector, and the other is the Office of the Vestry.  What matters is the office itself, not who holds it. 

 The Office of the Rector

 Is responsible for and in charge of, the entire parish program and the use of the parish facilities.  Episcopal Canon Law refers to this as “having charge over the spiritual life of the parish.”  Canon Law imposes a number of things on the office of Rector, more than one person can really do.  For example the spiritual formation of children is imposed on the Rector, but so is the conduct of the Liturgy.  Since it’s not possible to be in two places at once, tasks imposed on the office of Rector must to be delegated and shared among the congregation. 

 The Office of the Vestry

 Is responsible for and in charge of the parish finances and what Episcopal Canon Law calls, “The parish’s corporate relationships to the world.”  The authority of both of these offices is independent of the other, and to a large degree independent of the parish with the exception of Vestry members being elected.  These two offices rest upon the governance structure of the entire Episcopal Church.

 A Collaborative Enterprise

             Of course everything works better when these independent offices and the congregation itself it work together.  At Church of the Angels, we operate in a collaborative manner with a high degree of trust in one another.  This collaborative culture makes possible the involvement of everyone and for new ideas to come forward and be tried. 

 What the Vestry does

             I like to say that “The Vestry cares for the infrastructure upon which the life of faith is lived.”  The Vestry takes care of the finances.  The Vestry and Rector collaborate on keeping the parish community involved and healthy with programs and events whose ultimate purpose is, as we say in our vision statement, Nourish Christ’s people from the riches of his grace and strengthen them to glorify God in this life and in the life to come.  This rests on a lot of mundane stuff ya gotta do, housework and the like.  It’s not very sexy most of the time.  The Vestry meets the Third Saturday of each month at 8:30 a.m. in the Parish Hall Living Room.  Any parishioner is welcome to attend.  Also the names of the Vestry members are published in the bulletin insert.  Please feel free to speak to any of them about your concerns or ideas. 

 How the Vestry is chosen

             In the Episcopal Church, the overwhelming majority of parishes elect Vestry members by acclamation that is, the Annual Meeting is asked to vote for a slate of candidates.  Large congregations may have a nominating committee to solicit candidates.  At COA the Vestry has traditionally functioned as the nominating committee and this goes back decades prior to my being Rector.  We seek to find people who can bring specific gifts and talents that we feel we need at particular times of the parish’s life.  For example, in the years we were doing the restoration of the Church, we sought people for the Vestry who had specific experience and expertise in engineering and construction.  We seek to maintain a balance of age, gender, recent, and long time members. 

 Officers of the Vestry

             The Vestry has officers as part of its structure.  These officers are:  The Parish Wardens, the Secretary, and the Treasurer.  The Secretary and Treasurer can be ex-officio or members of the Vestry.  April Bond  is the Secretary and is a member of the Vestry.  Leigh Torgerson is Treasurer and is ex-officio. 

The Parish Wardens.

             The task of the Wardens is to look after the Rector.  They look after the Rector’s well being.  They also serve to keep the Rector on that specifically Anglican trait called The Via Media, the middle way.  So should the Rector get it into his head to 1.  Jump off the Colorado Street Bridge, or 2, call for a Jihad, the Wardens help him regain his equilibrium. 

Annual Meeting Reports

Every year we produce a report of all the activities in the Parish.  The leaders/facilitators of the various groups write a short description of what the group is and the what it did over the past year as well as invite parishioners to join in and participate.

 Fr. Bob collects these reports, formats them, and copies and emails out to the parish.  Requests have gone out for reports.  Please email them back to the Parish Office as soon as possible so they can be ready for the Annual Meeting.

 Annual Parish Meeting Potluck Lunch 

 Following the Annual Parish Meeting we will remain for a potluck lunch.  Please make a dish that can feed 5-7 people

CGS Level I Atrium

January 25, 2015

3rd Sunday after Epiphany

The Parable of the Hidden Treasure

 ⁴⁴ “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.  Matt 13:44 NIV

 True to Matthew’s appreciation for worth, here is another “value” parable.  This one is told in one verse.  I find that amazing, a lesson in one verse.   As it reads, this one is about a treasure a man finds, buries it, and then sells all he has to buy the field.    

 The message many of the kingdom parables have in common is that although the kingdom of God is available to us, the possession of it requires our response.  We need to seek it, give all we have for it, accept it when it is found, give thanks with joy.  For the Level I atrium, we focus on the joy within the one who finds it and that it is worth all of one’s effort in seeking it.    

 Historical note:  Parable teaching about the kingdom of God was often used by Jesus to wake up his audience, particularly those who were errant in their relationship with God.   When they heard his stories woven with metaphors, proverbs, and allegories, they had to pay close attention and think much deeper about what he was telling them.  Many were not pleased what they were being told what to do.  For me, the shared message of the kingdom parables is not only about the joy in its discovery or what I need to do in order to receive it.  I also see it in its historical context as a call to the rebellious people of Israel to “come home;” that God is reaching out to his scattered flock, and is calling them back into one holy people, under one kingdom.   He gives them all the information they need to get it.  It is up to them to seek and find it.

 The song we sing with our lessons about the kingdom is called Seek Ye First.  Here is a link to a lovely version of the song:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMQfOp9w8k

 Ms. Georgie

Emmaus Road

Monday, January 26 7:00 p.m.

 Emmaus Road begins reading Thomas Cahill’s Heretics and Heroes.  Below is a description of the book.

 In Volume VI of his acclaimed Hinges of History series, Thomas Cahill guides us through a time so full of innovation that the Western world would not again experience its like until the twentieth century: the new humanism of the Renaissance and the radical religious alterations of the Reformation   This was an age in which whole continents and peoples were discovered. It was an era of sublime artistic and scientific adventure, but also of newly powerful princes and armies—and of unprecedented courage, as thousands refused to bow their heads to the religious pieties of the past. In these exquisitely written and lavishly illustrated pages, Cahill illuminates, as no one else can, the great gift-givers who shaped our history—those who left us a world more varied and complex, more awesome and delightful, more beautiful and strong than the one they had found.  

 The book is available at Vroman’s or at Amazon.  Everyone is welcome to join in.  7:00 p.m. Monday evenings in the Parish Hall Living Room

 Fr. Bob’s Annual Long Retreat

Fr. Bob begins his Annual Long Retreat on Monday, January 26.  He will return on Tuesday February 3.  Our guest celebrant and preacher for Sunday February 1 will be The Rev. Marilyn Omernick.