My Blog

Category: The Episcopal Church in North Texas

  • Regathering to Begin Soon at St. Martin’s

    I am overjoyed to announce that Bishop Mayer has both praised and approved our plan for returning to in-person worship. A reservation system will make it possible for us to limit the number of people who are inside during the service. Seating will be assigned. Those inside the building will have their temperature taken, wear masks, sit in family groups at a distance from others, and sanitize their hands upon entering and exiting. There will be safe procedures for receiving Holy Communion. Initially, congregational singing will not be permitted. The 10:30 a.m. Sunday service will continue to be live streamed as will drive-in worship. We will advance this plan in phases over the next several months as we move toward a time when few, if any, COVID protocols will be necessary. If at any time the COVID indicators raise concerns, we will suspend in person worship until conditions improve.

    We will begin on May 16 with a special service for the Vestry and Regathering Team and their households. This will allow us to test our reservation system and other arrangements we are putting in place. This service will take place at a different hour and will not be live streamed.

    On May 23, the same group of worshipers will attend the 10:30 a.m. service in person. Their additional input will help us make further improvements in our protocols and procedures.

    Beginning on May 30, we will increase the number of people who can be inside and the invitation will be open to all on a first come, first served basis. The reservation procedures will be explained leading up to that date. We will continue to live stream the 10:30 a.m. service each Sunday and worshipers may still join us in their vehicles in the parking lot. Those who wish to bring their chairs and sit on the lawn outside the building may do so, with masks and distancing protocols. The live streamed service can also be seen on the television in the parish hall where there overflow seating will be available.

    When we are sure it is safe, we will add an 8:00 a.m. Sunday service, which will not be live streamed. This will allow sufficient time to make the nave ready for the 10:30 a.m. service and get the audio and video equipment ready for live streaming. It will also allow more time between services to resume in person Christian formation for all ages.

    This announcement comes on a day when Coronavirus infections in the U.S. are at their lowest levels in seven months, thanks to the vaccines. We have been waiting, planning, and hoping for this time for over a year. I am so proud of the people of St. Martin’s who have been so patient and respectful throughout this long time apart. Our plans have been developed collaboratively by the Vestry, the Regathering Team, the Staff, the Buildings and Grounds Committee, the Liturgy and Music Commission, and the Christian Formation Commission. The Regathering Team has met almost weekly since March of last year. Their devotion and thoughtful contributions have been amazing. All of those leading our services, hosting zoom events, and quietly working behind the scenes have been faithful and dependable. Chuck Ambrose has worked miracles with our audio and video requirements. I give thanks to God for all of you!

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
    Interim Rector
    St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
    Keller, Texas

  • An Episcopal bishop who served for many years in the upper Midwest loves to tell stories he learned from the Native Americans of the area, many of whom are Episcopalians. Here is one of them.  

    A wise man among the Indians—many Native Americans in the Midwest still prefer to be called Indians—was asked by his grandson about the conflict and discord in the world today. The elder reflected for a moment and then replied, “My child, there are two dogs battling within my heart. One is full of anger, hatred, and rage.  The other is full of love, forgiveness, and peace.”  The old man paused, and he and his grandson sat for a moment in silence.  Finally the boy spoke, “Grandfather, which dog will win the battle in your heart?  The one filled with hatred or the one filled with love?” The old man looked at his grandson and replied, “The one I feed will win.”

    Our world is still untamed and full of conflict. We can see it daily on our televisions and read about it in our newspapers.  We do not have to drive far in our cars to feel it on our streets. The world is a dangerous place, whether we live in the Middle East or the American Midwest. Yet, the conflict we experience is not simply on our streets or in our neighborhoods, much less in lands far from us. The conflict is always fought out in the human heart. The Indian wise man was right. Too many of us feed the dogs of anger and hatred.

    Jesus knew this fact at least as well as we do, for his world was really no different from our own. Many of the conflicts of his time and his land are with us yet today. The human heart does not change so quickly or easily. The world still has its share of “thieves and bandits” ready to snatch and scatter the flock.  

    We like to think that we are in control, that no one can hurt us if we do not let them, and that no problem is so intractable that we cannot solve it. But events of the past few years have made us doubt our conviction. We are not secure even in our own little worlds. We really do not have our act together. We remain vulnerable as much to our own sinfulness and the blandishments of contemporary life as to far-off terrorists and revolutionaries. All of us are starving for love and compassion. Yet the world is torn apart by hatred, anger, and rage. In spite of its thin veneer of order and discipline, the human condition remains as messy and chaotic as a flock of sheep without a shepherd. Thieves and bandits lie in wait at every bend, ready to snatch heart and soul.

    Like the flocks they tended, the shepherds of Jesus’ day were often dirty and woolly, enduring sun and rain for days or weeks on end. But unlike their charges, they were vigilant and uncomplaining, watching for danger and trouble, providing pasture and allaying thirst. The shepherd knew his flock as no one else. And the sheep followed him “because they know his voice.”

    Jesus speaks of himself as “the gate for the sheep.” Some scholars contend that shepherds of the period would often place their own bodies across the small opening of the sheep enclosure during times of peril, risking their lives for the sake of their flock. Perhaps it is this image of the shepherd as human gate that Jesus has in mind with this metaphor, his own presence stretched out and bridging our insecurities. “Whoever enters by me,” he assures us, “will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.”

    This of course does not mean that we are notorious sinners. It is hard to imagine vicious sheep after all. It even sounds funny. But we are also familiar with the story of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. There is wisdom in Aesop’s ancient fable of course. Appearances can be deceiving. Each of us is capable of sin and hurt. There are always creatures at war beneath our woolen pelts. Which shall we feed?

    The bishop likes to conclude his story of the Indian elder with a kind of postscript.  “Which one of the dogs will win?” asked the boy of his grandfather.  “The one I feed will win,” replied the elder. But then he continued, “My child, feeding one dog or the other is only part of the answer. The Great Spirit feeds each of us. It is from the Great Spirit that we first learned to feed others at all.”

    This Easter season we are all fed by the Great Spirit of love and forgiveness. We have come to the Paschal banquet ready to keep the feast, eager to partake of the Lord’s abundance and be nourished for the journey ahead.  But the world is still a place of famine and danger. The human heart listens for the voice of the shepherd who brings peace and God’s reconciling love. As we have been fed, we must now feed others in Christ’s name.

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
    Interim Rector
    St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
    Keller, Texas

     

  • Epiphany Through Doubt

    The Reverend Ken Kesselus tells the following story:

    Once when a certain preacher launched into a children’s sermon, she was confronted by a visiting child, an eight-year-old friend of a regular member. The boy was new to this church, but was a regular attendee at another congregation that did not have children’s sermons. Nevertheless, the visitor tried his best to follow the line of the preacher’s effort to connect with the children. Attempting to hook the children with something familiar before making her point, the priest asked the children to identify what she would describe. “What is fuzzy and has a long tail?” No response. “What has big teeth and climbs in trees?” Still no response. After she asked, “What jumps around a lot and gathers nuts and hides them?” the visiting boy could stand the silence no longer. He blurted out, “Look, lady, I know the answer is supposed to be ‘Jesus,’ but it sure sounds like a squirrel to me.”

    Human beings usually want to give the “right” answer, the answer others expect. The eight-year-old boy had more courage than most of us might have had. He acknowledged what he thought others might want him to say, but he found a way to express his doubt.

    Each year on the Second Sunday of Easter, we read the gospel account of St. Thomas the Apostle in which he expresses his own doubt about reports of the Resurrection of Jesus (John 20:19-31). He had not been in the company of the other Apostles when Jesus appeared to them that first Easter. When the others told him they had seen the Risen Savior, he couldn’t believe it. He may have wanted to “go along in order to get along” with the others, but he was compelled to express his doubt. He might have said, “I know the answer is supposed to be that I believe you saw Jesus, but it sure sounds like a ghost to me.”

    A week later, Thomas had the opportunity to see for himself and confirm in his own experience that the Risen Christ was not a ghost. But for a period of time, he was skeptical. His questioning and doubting must have been as hard for him as it was for the little boy trying to understand the illustration about the squirrel. Because we too struggle with what may seem clear to others and with accepted norms, we can identify with Thomas and the little boy.
        
    I am grateful to be a part of a Church where it is safe for people to express their doubts and ask their questions and challenge accepted norms. It is a Church where we don’t have to mindlessly accept what seems to be the accepted answer or point of view. It is a Church where it is okay to be doubtful, confused, and skeptical. It is a Church where we can remain in the company of others as we struggle with matters of doubt and faith. It is a Church where from childhood we are encouraged to ask questions and to wonder as we journey toward faith.

    The example of Thomas’ honesty and forthrightness fosters hope in us and empowers us in our seasons of doubt. We need that kind of faith community as we wonder where God fits in with harsh and frightening realities of life and death. We need a faith community where we can be encountered by the Risen Christ who can lead us to the truth, just as he led Thomas. In such a community, we can work through our uncertainties and emerge on the other side with an even stronger faith, just as Thomas did.

    The story of Thomas affirms that doubt can give way to faith, just as death is overcome by life.  It assures us that the God we worship can handle our doubts and fears. It tells us that honesty is necessary in our relationship with God and God’s own people in times of uncertainty as well as in times of confidence.

    The Apostles were blessed because they saw the Risen Christ and believed. The chief requirement for those first Apostles was that they were witnesses to the Resurrection. Their subsequent ministry was to nurture faith among others who had not seen. Jesus said to Thomas, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.” The ongoing work of this Church is to continue the ministry of the Apostles and foster the even greater blessing that comes from walking by faith and not by sight.And for every generation of Christians since the first one, if we are honest about it, we have to admit that faith in Jesus Christ requires at least some struggle with doubt.

    That’s really what Easter is all about. We are Easter People, traveling together on a marvelous journey toward those faith-filled moments when we discover the Risen One at work in our lives and in our world – moments so profound that we can only exclaim with Thomas, “My Lord and my God.”

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

    The Very Reverend Ron Pogue
    Interim Rector
    St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church
    Keller, Texas