Wednesday Word: Celebrations

Celebrations come around every so often on a regular basis: Easter, Christmas, birthdays, and wedding anniversaries are a few that come immediately to mind. Celebrations also occur spontaneously: a good test score, an unexpected refund check, your team wins a big game, and others. And sometimes we want a celebration to be over so we can get on with life.

Last Sunday we celebrated the completion of the flooring project as we were in the church for the first time in two weeks. This coming Sunday we will have the opportunity to make one more celebration, as we officially welcome and celebrate Deacon Sue.

Much like the official installation and Celebration of New Ministry for a rector often comes months after their arrival, this liturgy of welcoming our new deacon also comes almost a full two months after Sue's arrival at Saint John's.

By now we've all had a chance to meet and welcome Sue to Saint John's as our new deacon. As the saying goes, this IS her first rodeo, so there are some things to work out and improve on. But I have found her great to work with and she has already begun inserting herself into both the community of Saint John's and the wider community around us.

Which brings us to the upcoming celebration of her new ministry with us. Archdeacon Jane O'Leary will be present Sunday as we officially welcome Sue. At the 8 am service there will be some official words of welcome. And at the 10:15 service there will be a symbolic giving of gifts and we will participate in a liturgy of new ministry.

And then, after all of this is over, we will go back to life as normal. Every celebration has its ending. Every celebration can be seen as a respite from the daily grind of life. So before we get back to business as usual, or before we get bogged down with the minutiae of every-day living, let's take this time on Sunday to pause and give thanks for our new deacon and use this celebration as a starting point for how our ministries might change in the future.

On Monday we work. But this coming Sunday we celebrate! Please join us.

Blessings,

Todd+