This article was originally posted in the Rector’s Closing Thoughts column of the 2023 Early Pentecost Bellringer.
It’s graduation season! And this year, I had the pleasure of joining the graduates! I received my doctorate from Virginia Theological Seminary in May. I am grateful to you, the people of St. Mary’s, for supporting me in my studies. I took a St. Mary’s prayer shawl back east with me to remind me of your presence on this journey. The graduation festivities were wonderful. The night before graduation, they held a Eucharist for the graduating class. Our preacher spoke about the importance of perseverance. Graduation itself took place in the context of Morning Prayer. The preacher spoke about the importance of imagination as we strive to live into God’s dream of justice, love, and reconciliation. She spoke of our past as a place of faith and flaws, and she implored us to bring forward the best of the past as we move into the future. Perseverance and imagination: two things we so desperately need at this time.
Graduation is a time to celebrate work accomplished, and it is also a time to move forward. For many, that means literally moving to new places for a job or for more school. For me, it means getting to work right here with you at St. Mary’s. We have much to do. We have the work of healing from the pandemic: grief to address, ministries to rebuild, and relationships to restore. We must do this work not in a way to simply go back, but to move forward to where God is leading us, carrying with us the best of the past as we strive in faith to move toward God’s dream. We have the work of the renovation to improve hospitality, accessibility, safety, and environmental stewardship at St. Mary’s. We need a welcoming building to match the welcoming heart of our parish. We have the work of responding to the challenges in the wider community around us: widespread poverty, hunger, and homelessness; a mental health crisis; welcoming of refugees fleeing violence; racial injustice; widening and deepening political polarization; multiple environmental crises; and so much more. Perseverance and imagination will be necessary as we do this work.
Pentecost approaches. On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit filled the apostles and thousands of others to do the work of ministry. Pentecost reminds us that we are not alone in these tasks, but the Holy Spirit is there to comfort and empower us in all we do.
Bingham+
