SOUNDINGS The Newsletter of Saint John’s Episcopal Parish, Hagerstown, Maryland

May 2020Rector Ramblings on . . .

How are you?As one day melts into the next and every day is today, as we try to keep our spirits up and stay connected, as we try to avoid depressing news and stay mentally healthy . . . How are you?

How are you doing in your home-schooling efforts? How are you doing in attempts to stay somewhat physically active? How are you doing at coping with empty shelves in gro-cery stores? How are you doing with seeing everyone in masks? How are you doing with seeing some people storming state capitals protesting a “loss of personal freedoms?” How are you doing at managing all of . . . THIS?

Every Wednesday the bishop and diocesan staff, along with clergy, gather together for a Zoom meeting. In one of those meetings the bishop asked that question, “How are you doing?” and then answered how he was doing. He said he’s found that he has three typi-cal answers: I’m great; I’m worried; I don’t know. And those three answers often fluctuate day to day and sometimes hour to hour.

I bring this up because those three answers could be the answers any of us give at any particular time. We all know that these are not normal times. As Dcn. Sue said in her sermon, “We’re all trying to figure out what the new normal will be.” So in the midst of these difficult circumstances, know that it’s okay to not know. Know that it’s okay to fluctuate. Know that it’s okay to go from great, to worried, to unsure, to whatever else you may be feeling. Because where we are now is in the middle of a traumatic event.

We are faced with trauma and grief like none of us have ever faced before. This is affect-ing our morale, our mental and spiritual health, and sometimes our physical health. It is also affecting our ability to make decisions.

There is another article in this month’s Soundings that reported on the Vestry retreat held back in early March. Part of what we did then was to brainstorm long-range physical and spiritual goals for Saint John’s. A few of these are listed, followed by . . ., indicating that those were only some of the goals and that there are probably others we didn’t get to.

Those ideas of where we need to go, or what we need to address, are all well and good, but right now they have been moved to the back burner. Not because they are pointless (they aren’t). Not because we have other things to focus on (we do). But because right now this grief and trauma that affects all of us overwhelms our normal ability to process information, and it negatively impacts our ability to make decisions, especially major decisions.

With that in mind, the Vestry is not, at this time, working on a long-range strategic spiritual and physical plan for the future. We are primarily focused on the immediate needs and con-cerns of our parish. We want to make sure we continue to stream our services in such a way as to provide spiritual food for people. We are working to see that people remain connected to the parish. We check in to see how we are doing. We are making sure immediate needs do not become critical needs.

The last projected date for in-person worship services was May 17. To be honest, I don’t know how realistic that is. And if it is realistic, I don’t know if we will be looking at manda-tory attendance limits. So the next thing we will be addressing is how are we going to restart in-person worship services and what new procedures will need to be implemented.

But for now, know we are all doing our best. If your best is repainting the kitchen, hanging pictures, and cleaning the garage, good for you. If your best is screaming into a pillow so you don’t break anything, good for you. If you’re somewhere in-between, good for you.

How are you doing? If you’re doing great, good for you. If you’re worried, tired, scared, lonely, or something else, call me. Or call a friend. If you just don’t know, that’s okay.

In this strange time, the only thing I’m really concerned about is you.

How are you?

Be well,

Todd+

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Stewardship in Action during a Crisis

We had little idea of how the first half of 2020 would unfold at our Annual Parish Meeting in January. How our lives have changed in so little time! As we think and rethink the work of our Commissions, and worship at home using live streaming of services instead of going to the Church building, we must remember that the true meaning of CHURCH is “the body of Christ”. In our case, we collectively are St. John’s Episcopal Church, while simply blessed to gather in our beautiful historical building in Hagerstown. As “a body of believers”, we unite in exercising Stew-ardship in Action to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

We must take the strongest possible precautions to practice the 6 ft. social distancing guidelines and stay at home restrictions. But we should not so separate ourselves from one another and the greater Parish community that our island homes are isolated from all types of human contact. Working to enable human connectedness, even at a distance, is a demonstration of Stewardship in Action.

Imagine ways of connecting that reduce our separateness without causing risk to the health of one another. Maintaining social distance, we can still connect by telephone, e-mail, various types of social media, and even by shouting greetings from our car. It sounds like a contradiction in terms, but we need to cultivate connections to mitigate our physical distance.

Recall the story of the local teachers who drove through the neighborhoods of their students a few days ago, blasting the car horn and shouting from their cars that they missed them! Such a clear (and loud) expression of love to others! This is Stewardship in Action! As we volunteer to help others with grocery deliveries and pharmacy pickups, we are practicing Stewardship of our time and talents. The weather is beginning to warm, so waving to others sitting on their porches as we walk by could be the very morale booster they (and we) need. And of course, continuing online giving, and mailing our offerings and pledges to St. John’s while we’re away from an offer-ing plate, are acts of financial Stewardship.

As a body of believers, we are heartened by one another’s stewardship, and stand in awe of the numerous forms of engagement, creativity and commitment that this terrible crisis is eliciting. We all are needed for our contributions of time, talent, and financial resources to support activi-ties newly envisioned, those temporarily postponed, and those continuing. Through Stewardship in Action the light of Christ shines.

Many thanks and much admiration to each of you, our faithful fellow parishioners,

Stewardship and Finance Commission

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There’s an APP for that!

Looking for an easy way to continue pledging to the church during the COVID crisis? GivePlus Church is a FREE App you can download from your app store to make dona-tions to St. John’s Parish. Just follow the instructions on the APP to make a one time or recurring donation, anytime, anywhere you have service. If you prefer you can make a donation online through the St. John’s website. Please contact Melonie Orr at the church office 301-733-2560 if you have any questions.

• Anytime, anywhere donations

• Safe and secure giving

• One-time or recurring gifts

• Easy account management

Always at your serviceD o w n l o a d G i v e P l u s C h u r c h t o g i v e n o w .

Search “GivePlus Church” to quickly find and download the app today!

PD PO GCP_D 042017 v2

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Food Drive

Antietam Wealth Management will be having a Food Drive for Washington Coun-ty Commission on Aging on May 11, 2020 from 10am – 2pm at 1125 Opal Ct, Suite 1003, Hagerstown, MD. We are collecting non-perishable foods.

A Message from the Diocese

Bishop Sutton and your Diocesan staff express deep appreciation for the offerings individuals and households are making to help our congregations and ministries in this time of unparalleled need. We know our congregations are doing everything possible to support their staff and maintain their ministries.To encourage charitable giving, the Federal Government is now allowing up to $300 to be deducted for gifts made by taxpayers who do not otherwise qualify for itemized charitable deductions.Please consider making an Easter season gift to your congregation as a special re-sponse to the COVID-19 crisis.Learn more about the CARES Act Charitable Giving Incentives.Sincerely,

Kathy GraysonDirector of Development

Easter Cheesecakes! Still Fresh!

Our plans are to continue with our Easter Cheesecakes for St John’s Shelter. Don’t worry, they will be made fresh the day be-fore you pickup. As soon as we know we can congregate again, we will be making plans to resume our project. Questions may be directed to Bruce Massey at 240-675-4498. Thank you for your patience and continued support of this outreach min-istry!

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Vestry RetreatMarch 7, 2020

Soon after new Vestry members are elected during St. John’s annual meeting in January, the Vestry participates in a working retreat. This year, the vestry met for its retreat on March 7, 2020, at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, Boonsboro, MD. The purpose of a retreat is multifaceted.

One important objective of the retreat is for the vestry members to get to know one an-other better as they discuss church business and spiritual topics along with personal insights. It has been an effective way to bring cohesiveness to the vestry when working together for the welfare of the church. Questions and thoughts were expressed by the newest members and experiences were shared by those already on the vestry.

It is also a time to discuss the responsibilities and norms (standard behaviors) of the ves-try. As the governing board of St. John’s, the vestry has spiritual/moral, legal, and fiscal responsibilities for the church. It oversees the parish’s programs and policies while acting as a vital form of communication between the parish at large and those in leadership po-sitions. Fr. Todd and Senior Warden, Lou Lamb, led discussions of such responsibilities. Also discussed were topics such as the scope of St. John’s mission, the vestry’s leadership roles, and St. John’s financial policies and procedures.

Unlike most vestry retreats of the past, this year, a guest speaker was invited to come and present a talk. The Rev. Kristin Krantz, Rector of St. James Episcopal Church, Mt. Airy, gave a presentation about a relatively new Episcopal program from the College of Congre-gational Development (CCD). It is a comprehensive two-year training program consist-ing of two, two-week intensive sessions over two years that seeks to equip lay leaders and clergy in congregational and organizational development theory and practice. It focuses on developing healthy, responsive leadership, facilitation skills, and teamwork. At our re-treat, Mtr. Krantz also spoke to our vestry about various “categories” of parishioners with respect to their church attendance and ideas for reaching out to them.

Many long-term spiritual and physical goals for St. John’s were also identified. A lively discussion ensued listing several ideas to be further examined. Examples of some of these goals are repairing (replacing?) the HVAC system and our slate roof, the return of our EFM program and ideas for more intergenerational activities and ……….

The retreat began with Fr. Todd leading morning prayer and closing the day with prayer. It was a full day of sharing valuable ideas and coming together as a unit for the good of St. John’s.

Lou Lamb, Senior Warden

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Preparing for the Future

As we telework and wait out the time before we can begin to physically connect again to the world, we should ask ourselves a simple question: how can I help those I connect with have a better day? Such a focus on compassion, grounded in stew-ardship, helps others and ourselves prepare for the future. For St. John’s to live its mission of showing the love of God to the world, and to be compassionate to those it serves, the church continues to need our financial support.

What we’re individually thinking about and going through may be less or more traumatic than the experiences of others. But undoubtedly they are all different! Recognizing that we are all vulnerable and hurt, our compassion to others is an important way our personal stewardship in action prepares for the future.If you’re working largely in a home environment that is low in light and high in noise or activity, deliberately change that environment occasionally during the day. Find light and quiet, even if it isn’t “productive” in the ways we customarily think about it – by being surrounded by computers, phones, files and reports. The change to a light, quiet place, even for only a few minutes, will accelerate your productivity over what it would have been sitting in the midst of your “productive” area for that same length of time. By limiting our news diet from hourly stock market updates and an almost endless cacophony of noise from the media, we can find balance, which leads to preparing us for the future.

We do not yet know how “normal” will be defined in the future. But most experts tell us it is highly unlikely the new normal will look like the old normal. So to ad-just to this new normal, we’ll need to be strong and resilient, which may be an out-come of prayer, scripture reading, holding your loved one’s hand as you talk and share your day, or just looking out the window and appreciating God’s springtime! As we continue to connect virtually, and look to doing so physically, we will be more prepared for the future by being compassionate, balanced, and resilient. And as we exercise our Christian stewardship in action we bring bright hope for tomor-row to those we come in contact with.

God’s Blessings,

The Stewardship and Finance Commission

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Welcoming Commission Members

Please contact Deanna Soulis at soulisdeanna@gmail.com or (301-733-7432) if you are willing to serve on this commission. You may be a member of another commission and meetings will be limited.

"Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it." Hebrews 13:2.

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Welcome One and All

“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.” Hebrews 13:2

My charge from the vestry retreat in March was to chair the Welcoming Commis-sion. My immediate thought was, “Whoa, how did I get this?” After considerable thought my only answer to the request was to dig in and start researching hospi-tality in the Episcopal Church as well as other churches. According to our 2015 mission statement, this commission was then called Growth and Hospitality. The goal of which was “welcoming the stranger”. The responsibilities were as follows: greeters, integrate newcomers, newcomer visitation, welcoming luncheon, wel-come packets, picture/photo board, etc.

Five years have passed. Is it time to evaluate what this commission should look like today? Should our goal and responsibilities be the same? Should we change the name? How do we demonstrate SJ’s is important to us and others? How do we get the good news of Jesus Christ to the community? What role does technology play in this commission? What part does the covid19 virus play?

Are you willing to share your ideas concerning the above questions to help our church community to grow and be a hospitable place of worship and care? If so, send your thoughts and ideas to me (soulisdeanna@gmail.com 301-733-7432). All responses will be appreciated.

Stay well; stay safe; stay connected.

Deanna Soulis

We want to send a special thank you to everyone for thoughts, prayers and cards in this extraordinary time. Will came home from Rehabilitation Thursday April 16, and he continues his rehab exercises at home. Thank you in advance for continuing prayers.

Florence and Will Forbes

Music NotesThe Themes of Easter through the Day of Pentecost in Hymns

Good Christian all, rejoice and sing!Words: Cyril A. Alington (1872-1955), altered. Stanza 5 Norman Mealy (b. 1923-1987)Music: Melchior Vulpius (1560?-1616)This triumphant hymn of praise to the risen Christ has a sturdy chorale tune and includes three alleluias that bring the hymn to a jubilant conclusion. The Easter text, published for the first time in the English Songs of Praise (London, 1931), was written by the Dean of Durham, England, when he was the Head Master of Eton College. The music was pub-lished first in 1609. The Trinitarian fifth stanza was written by Mealy, a priest and faculty member of the Church Divinity School of the Pacific.

Savior, like a shepherd lead usWords: Hymns for the Young, London ca. 1830Music: Sicilian melody, from The European Magazine and London Review, 1792In the 19th century, hymnal editors often failed to identify authors. Dorothy Thrupp in the first edition of this collection (1836) left all hymns unsigned, and since women often were disliked to press their cause, it is possible that the text is hers. The words are based on the idea of Jesus as Shepherd plus a few ideas from Psalm 23.

Thou art the wayWords: George Washington Doane (1799-1859, altered)Music: Raphael Courteville (d. 1735)This is the first American hymn to find wide acceptance in England. Bishop Doane of New Jersey was distinguished scholar, church leader, and a man of letters. His inspiration was the words of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), and it is an ex-ample of an “itemized hymn”. Each of the three words is developed in single stanzas, with the final stanza summing up in the form of a prayer.

Hail the day that sees him riseWords: Charles Wesley (1707-1788), alteredMusic: Robert Williams (1781-1821)This Ascension hymn matched with a Welsh tune ends each line with an alleluia, taking on an added quality of joyfulness. It speaks of Christ’s work, his triumphal entry into glo-ry, his heavenly reign, and his intercession on our behalf.

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Come down, O Love divineWords: Bianco da Siena (d. 1434?); translated Robert Frederick Littledale (1833-1890), alteredMusic: Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)This 15th century Italian hymn is an example of pre-Reformation hymns of praise and devotion. Many were written by penitents who, frightened by the devastating wars and plagues of their time, sought atonement for sins of a deeper life of devotion. Vaughan Wil-liams’ beautiful hymn tune is perfectly suited to the introspective character of the text.Hymn information from the following sources:

Glover, R.F. (Ed.). (1994). The Hymnal 1982 Companion, (Vol. Three A). The Church Hymnal Corporation.

Lovelace, A.C. (1987). Hymn Notes for Church Bulletins. GIA Publications, Inc.

May Carillon Recitals at Mercersburg AcademyThe carillon recitals will safely take place because social distancing is possible. The per-former is near the top of the bell tower and recital attendees can walk the gardens, sit on a bench, or sit in their vehicles. The free recitals begin at 3:00 p.m.May 3 – Lisa Lonnie (Philadelphia, PA), May 10 – George Matthews (Middlebury, VT), May 17 – Gerald Martindale (Toronto, Canada), May 24 and 31 – Jim Brinson (Mercers-burg Academy).

Deacon’s CornerOn the second Sunday of Easter, I preached on the new normal. For me, it was a take on becoming a new creation with dying and rising in Christ. Death has lost its sting (1Corinthians 15:55-57). God came into this world and suffered to know our bro-kenness and to reconcile us back to the Divine Self, and now we are becoming a new creation. It is only when the risen Christ displays his hands and sides to the disciples they realized they were in the new and hopeful normal.

Our new normal in this terrible secular time is yet to be realized. Spiritually, we have faith in the Kingdom of God here and not yet. We are on this journey together with our God pointing to signs along the way. One of those signs is the fact we are slowing the rate of infection by social distancing. We are saving lives. Saving lives and having compassion, forgiveness, and patience are all signs that we are infused with the good-ness of the Lord.

As a community, we are made up of diverse peoples. During this journey, we are struggling to make sense of what’s next. Just as the disciples grumbled in that locked room, we too have questions and desires to build a better future. How we build to-morrow is predicated on our foundation of Christ, who comes to us in our troubled time to offer Peace.

With this Peace, we are more able to listen; share our stories; embrace the unknown, and have compassion for our neighbors as we all struggle. The new normal is one that is likely right before us. Before we are ready to see it, Peace must wash over us, and then the grace of the selfless Divine love we have been given in our Baptism will illumine the path. Let us share God’s grace to the world. May God’s Peace be with us as God guides us out of our darkness.

Deacon Sue

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A Letter from Bob Ayrer

Being asked to self-quarantine for the last few weeks/months has been a small price to pay to protect my friends and neighbors from accidental exposure to this vicious virus but I have missed the regular gathering of my church family. Participating in the live-streamed services has been good, but not the same.

Years ago I lived and worked in San Diego, California where I often passed the Marine Recruit Depot where newly inducted recruits were trained. I would see them marching across this manicured grassy quadrangle in their crisply pressed uniforms and wondered what that had to do with fighting a jungle war in Asia.

I worked with a retired Marine Colonel and one day asked him about all that marching to go fight in the jungle mud. He explained to me that their working together on those intri-cate marches, dressing alike, meeting the same disciplines, was making a unit out of them – what Stephen Ambrose labeled “a band of brothers.” They were synchronizing their actions, their thinking, even their heart beat until they became one unit. This was the best way to stay alive in battle situations.

I originally came from a religious background that made fun of the Catholic tradition of praying from a prayer book. “Can’t they pray on their own?” “They don’t know how to talk to God!” Then I did what Paul recounts in Corinthian’s, “When I became an adult I put away childish things,” and joined the Episcopal Church.

What I found through our Book of Common Prayer and weekly coming together to recite the liturgy and sing the hymns, was that by sharing these disciplines we were synchro-nizing and becoming “The Church” that we believe God intended us to be. We become a band of brothers and sisters. For over 50 years I have been getting up on Sunday morning to join my church family to pray the prayers and sing the songs that bind us together. I look forward to that in the future, but for now, I tune in my TV for the streaming services and offer my responses. I imagine you all around me doing the same until we can get the “band” back together.

Bob Ayrer

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Carvel & Nicki Forte-Wright 5/2Bob & Jill Speelman 5/5Joseph & Chris Tischer 5/23Charlie & Ann Chaney 5/27Bruce Massey & Jerry Bock 5/27Bruce & Denise Foreman 5/28

HappyAnniversary!

Brian Burkholder 5/1Bill Alexander 5/3Verna Anson 5/4Chantelle Laguerre 5/5Kelly Slocum 5/5Rhys Weibel 5/7Brian Connolly 5/8James Ballard 5/11Joseph Rickards 5/12

Robert Ayrer 5/13Frances George 5/15Jill Speelman 5/17Joelene Young 5/19Karen Platek 5/20Dylan Weibel 5/21Betsy Mummert 5/26Richard Mallery 5/29Jacki Thoms 5/30