The Rector’s Address

St. Mary’s Episcopal Church

28 January 2018

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord, Jesus Christ!

First of all I want to thank you for your expressions of sympathy and your prayers for my mother’s death. The Lord blessed her with a peaceful and holy transition from this life into the next, and Susan, Morgan, Charlotte, and I were blessed to be with her. Even in the midst of death we make our song, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Over the last several years we have been engaged in a series of conversations concerning our mission and ministry. We talked about how our building served our mission and how it inhibited our work. We talked about what we needed and about what we wanted in order to serve others more effectively.

We talked about remodeling, but when the Lord opened up an opportunity for us for us on North Broadway, we ultimately we decided to relocate. It is in every way an adventure like Israel’s Exodus.

God has accomplished many things at 325 East 1st Street. We baptized our children and buried our spouses. We witnessed marriages and prayed for the sick. We celebrated prosperity and we endured adversity. We asked God’s blessing on soldiers heading off to war, supported families in their absence, and thankfully we welcomed those soldiers back home.

We have been generous with our facilities. We were given a preschool and we nurtured it until it moved north with aspirations of further growth. St. Mary’s School exchanged 325 for 505. They wanted us to move with them, but it was not the right time or the right place for us. Many people wondered what we would do with all of the extra space. In reality, there was no extra space… only extra time. And we filled up the time!

Our youth ministry flourished on Wednesday nights and we initiated an outreach ministry with the people at Rolling Green that brought dozens of kids into our parish. During the day, we hosted a school for children with autism, and now we host a preschool for hearing impaired children. We provide space for La Leche, a support group for breastfeeding mothers and Mothers of Multiples. Boy Scout Troop 1 and Cub Scout Pack 430 call our parish home, and we host the pillow case ministry known as Ryan’s Case for Smiles. We have an amazing music ministry that celebrates the best that our Christian tradition has to offer and keeps us in touch with what God is doing on the contemporary scene.

As we contemplate our move to North Broadway, we need not lose any of these ministries. Our vision is to grow with them and beyond them. Our new location will enable us to reengage with our school and reach out to the residential community that is growing in north Edmond.

When we move into our Annual Meeting, Davis Berryman will speak to us about one ministry initiative that is emerging from our engagement with our RenewalWorks project. I am deeply thankful for his efforts and I hope that many of you will choose to participate.

Hospitality and Technology are two other RenewalWorks initiatives that need committed participation. Gary and Kelsy Clark are working to promote newcomers dinners and they could use some help. We also need a couple of people who would like to work on other forms of hospitality such as greeting people on Sundays, following up with them, and providing opportunities for regular fellowship.

If we have any techies, we need you to help us develop our presence on Facebook and on the web. Our school has successfully improved their media presence and we can learn from them. We must allow the Spirit of God to shape us into a community that that sees itself first and foremost as a community that not only welcomes others into our fellowship, but invites them into our fellowship.

Our initial Capital Campaign effort was very successful. Dewayne Crunk, our Senior Warden, will provide you with details during the Annual Meeting. We are not finished. We reached our minimum fund raising goal with roughly a 50% pledge rate. This means that as we move beyond that level of involvement we will be able to build more of what we need. If you have been waiting to see how successful we would be before you committed your personal resources, now is the time to get fully involved.

Today, we will celebrate our First Fruits Offering. It is the initial step toward the fulfillment of our three year commitments. As we move deeper into 2018, you will see the physical progress for which you have been waiting on North Broadway.

Three of you have expressed concern about our parish’s security protocols. At its past two meetings, this has been a topic of Vestry discussion. We want our parish to be a place of hospitality and we want it to be a safe place. The Diocese has a policy that prohibits weapons on the premises unless those weapons are carried by law enforcement personnel.

Some time ago, I attended a presentation hosted by Homeland Security. They offered the following process as a response to a person who threatens violence: Run, Hide, Fight. If someone enters the back of our Sanctuary with a weapon, everyone who has a phone should call 911. We have one exit through the Chapel. Windows could also be broken to allow wider exit routes.

The second option would be to hide behind the pews. The third option is to fight back against the intruder.

Without going into an extended explanation of our conversations, I can say that the Vestry is continuing its deliberation. I can also say, that we are not in a financial position to hire armed security and that the Vestry is presently not inclined to do so even if we were.

It has been recommended that churches limit the number of entrances that people can use to enter their buildings. As an initial step in this direction, the Vestry has discussed keeping the south door locked. This would limit access to the building on Sundays to the north and east doors. If you have an opinion about this aspect, I invite you to speak with me or any member of our Vestry.

Let me conclude by sharing a portion of Paul’s letter to the Romans.

Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good;love one another with brotherly affection; outdo one another in showing honor.Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.Contribute to the needs of the saints, practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; never be conceited.Repay no one evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all.If possible, so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all.

AMEN