My Blog

Tag: COVID-19

  • Six Better Questions

    We are beginning to see light at the end of the pandemic tunnel. Our Regathering Team, Vestry, Staff, and other groups are having intentional conversations about how we will be ready to regather in person when it is safe. There will be many Represent-jesuslogistical details and procedures that are quite different from what was “normal” before this started.

    I recently came across an interesting article by small church pastor Karl Vaters, in which he addresses a question many are asking: “When the pandemic is over, will the congregation come back?” In his response, he suggests that there are several better questions we should be asking ourselves. You can read the article HERE, but this is my summary of it.

    Pastor Vaters offers the following six questions we should be thinking about as we anticipate the time when we can regathers in person for worship, study, service, and fellowship.

    “Have we represented Jesus well during the lockdown?”

    “Are we representing Jesus well as we come out of the lockdown?”

    “What have we learned – and what are we still learning?”

    “How can we better serve the people at home?”

    “How well are we serving our online church members and visitors?”

    “How are people hurting, and what can we do to help them?”

    He notes that there will be other issues we can’t yet foresee, but “more than ever, the communities around us are going to need the help of healthy, missional, compassionate, worshiping, and loving churches.”

    He concludes by saying, “Whether people come back through our church doors is not the big issue. How we honor Jesus by reaching the hurting people outside our doors is what matters. Ministry needs to happen from the church, not just in the church.”

    I invite you to read the article and contemplate these questions in relation to our parish, St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church. Our church leadership would be interested in hearing your thoughts. We would love to hear how you have made a contribution or been the recipient of the ministries of our parish during this time. Do these questions lead you to a sense of being called to a role in the ongoing life of the parish? How is God calling you to keep St. Martin’s growing as a healthy, missional, compassionate, worshiping, and loving church?

    In the interest of full disclosure, I should let you know that I am heartened by the numerous examples that have come to mind as I pondered these questions. I have witnessed so many occasions when our people have been in ministry to one another and to others outside of our faith community, in spite of the strange and limiting circumstances of the past year.

    Thank you for what you have done and are doing! Thank you for answering the call to represent Christ and his Church.

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

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

  • Pausing to Look Back

    Since we stopped gathering in person in March, I have been focused on the present and the future. It just occurred to me that I’ve been with you for one year and that half of that year has been during this pandemic. So, I thought I’d look back to see what has happened at St. Martin’s during the last six months.

    The staff helped me make the following list of accomplishments in the parish:

    • The Regathering Team was organized and has met weekly to develop plans and work out solutions.
    • We created and implemented surveys to plan both for the present and future.
    • We developed alternative ways of gathering online including Sunday worship, Morning Prayer, meetings, Christian formation, and coffee hour.
    • Two Eagle Scout projects have been completed benefiting missions of the parish – The Good News Garden (complete with drip irrigation system) to provide fresh produce for 4Saints Food Pantry and a rock border for the Labyrinth and the path to it.
    • The Good News Garden Team is being formed to tend the garden and harvest the produce.
    • Our Lenten Outreach Project raised $700 for shoe that grows.
    • We instituted Drive-in Worship with a safe way to administer Holy Communion.
    • Eucharistic Visitors resumed their ministry and are sent out every Sunday to take the Sacrament to those unable to attend in person.
    • Joe Henry joined our staff and has helped to keep music ministry going. The choir meets virtually every Wednesday evening.
    • Father Chris Thomas completed his curacy and was called to St. Thomas the Apostle in Dallas.
    • Paula Jefferson was ordained to the Diaconate and began her curacy with us in June.
    • The yearly audit of financial records was completed in July.
    • Contributions have been on or ahead of plan, even through the month of August!
    • We were able to have one Discovery Weekend (Catechism) class just before the quarantine. 
    • We had a wedding.
    • 23 new members were added to the rolls in the past year.
    • We applied for and received a PPP loan, which we expect to be forgiven before the end of the year.
    • The Stewardship Committee has met regularly and has recruited members to provide testimonials, carried out the necessary mailings, and made plans for Consecration Sunday on October 4. (Rsvp if you have not already done so!)
    • Children’s Sunday School has been meeting regularly on Zoom.
    • Our school was able to switch to online classes and chapel for the last two months of the school year and our wonderful teachers did an amazing job navigating students through the early days of the pandemic.
    • A friend of St. Martin’s has given us a Steinway upright piano, which will be placed in the Choir Loft.
    • Outreach continued for 4Saints Food Pantry, including donations of $647 in August. Much of that came via a virtual “Red Envelope” offering.
    • Chuck Ambrose stepped in to be our A/V guru, leading us to increase our A/V capabilities. 
    • Our parish hall was made available for a memorial for a member of the community
    • Holy Mowers have continued to keep the campus looking great. 
    • The Memorial Garden is being maintained.
    • The Rector Search Committee has continued to move forward in the process that will ultimately lead to the call of a new spiritual leader for St. Martin’s. A parish-wide survey was conducted in June and Holy Conversations took place in August, both providing important insights for the development of a parish profile soon to be released.
    • The Labyrinth was resurfaced. 
    • Meals and gift boxes were delivered to the Band of Moms members. 
    • A prayer shawl and ornament from Prayer Shawl Ministry and a Starbucks gift card from the Band of Moms was delivered to new member Kate Szprengiel and baby Victoria 
    • The Quiet Committee continues to be helpful to those in need. 
    • The Pastoral Care Commission has been very active, especially in staying in touch with members by phone.
    • A Helping Hands ministry was organized to run errands and do small projects for others as needed.
    • Most of our ministry groups continue to meet by Zoom. 
    • The School Board put many hours and great care into the very difficult decision of closing the school.
    • Seven commissions formed at the beginning of the year have been meeting and continuing their work in the parish.

    Endeavors that are underway or soon to happen (I couldn't help myself) include:

    • A music room in the Parish Hall to support and build the Choir.
    • When we regather, musicians in the parish will be invited to share their music.
    • The Lectionary Study group will resume virtually on September 20.
    • An adult Christian formation study will begin in October – "Human Flourishing" – What is flourishing? What gets in the way of flourishing?
    • Parents of our youth are meeting with the Christian Formation Commission to find the way forward for youth ministry.
    • Outreach will continue with Red Bags for 4Saints families and the Angel Tree to provide Christmas gifts for children.
    • Virtual Discovery Classes for those who wish to explore their relationship with God and The Episcopal Church will be held later in the fall and in the spring.
    • God willing and the people consenting, Paula Jefferson will be ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests in the coming months.

    I do realize that neither the list of accomplishments nor the list of good things to come are complete. But they are remarkable in light of the fact that we are operating under such unusual conditions, aren’t they?

    When we say, “The buildings may be closed, but the Church is open” we truly mean it!

    Thanks to everyone for your prayers, your patience, your gifts, your flexibility, and your commitment to discovering new ways to be the Church. May God continue to give us the grace to persevere.

    “…Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:1).

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

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

  • Looking Forward Together

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    Last Sunday we had our first Drive-In worship service at St. Martin’s. We had about twenty cars in the parking lot and forty-five worshipers. The devoted people who have been providing online worship for the past five months successfully made a quantum leap forward in adding the celebration of the Holy Eucharist so those outside could receive. Our Regathering Team contributed in very helpful ways to our planning. St. Martin’s staff took care of numerous details that are necessary to such a service. Conversations with our Bishop and other clergy sparked creativity and identified resources, We are grateful to all of you!

    Even after we are able to resume some level of in-person worship inside the church, I expect we will continue the Drive-In worship for those who are uncomfortable or unable to be inside. On August 23, our Eucharistic Visitors will begin taking the Sacrament to those who are unable to get out. In September, our Christian Formation Commission along with Children’s and Youth Ministries, will be rolling out some new online opportunities to learn and grow together in our faith. Sometime in October, we plan to offer a Discovery Class for those interested in membership or exploring their relationship with God and the Church.

    There is much to look forward to! In the days ahead, you’ll find us recalling this encouraging word from the Prophet Jeremiah, “For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope” (Jeremiah 29:11). We’ll be listening more closely and looking more deliberately to see God’s hand at work in the world around us. Surely, there are signs of hope from God all around us. When we find them, we’ll join hands with God and one another to help bring in a new and better time beyond this pandemic. Offering hope to the world is central to our mission, isn’t it?

    Whenever I think about the mission God has entrusted to us, I am always guided by the words of Titus Pressler, “Mission is not fundamentally something we do as Christians but a quality of God’s own being. It is not a program of ours but the path of God’s action in the world. The mission of the Church, therefore, derives from the mission of God, and it has meaning only in relation to what God is up to in the universe. Already engaged in mission, God simply invites us to participate in what God is doing.”

    On the evenings of August 20, 23, 27, and 30, we will be engaging in virtual holy conversations about what God is up to in this parish. We’re calling the series, “Yearning to Know God’s Will.” Our conversations will be about discernment, honoring the past, embracing the present, and reaching out for what lies ahead. Click HERE for more information and to register. I hope we have broad participation!

    As we move through this time, I invite you again to pray this discernment prayer from The Book of Common Prayer daily:

    O Lord, mercifully receive the prayers of your people who
    call upon you, and grant that they may know and understand
    what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and
    power faithfully to accomplish them; through Jesus Christ
    our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
    one God, now and for ever. Amen.

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

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

  • A Virtual Hug for Families With Children and Youth

    This message is addressed to families with children and youth and those who care about them.

    We have reached a point of frustration with this pandemic that is about to be compounded by the myriad of issues surrounding the opening of school. Our kids are anxious about what that is going to look like. Parents are concerned not only for their safety if they return in person, but also for the challenges raised if they participate in a virtual classroom. Either way, many parents will have to make a choice between family and employment, sooner or later.

    Then, there are the people who make school happen – the teachers, counselors, administrators, cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, and others without whom schools in normal conditions would simply stop working. They, too, risk exposure to the Coronavirus if the students return to the campus. What happens to a classroom of students when the teacher tests positive or a busload of students when a driver tests positive? Do they all go into quarantine at home? Who looks after them? A dozen other questions come to mind, but I’ll stop there.

    Several weeks ago, St. Martin’s made the painful decision not to reopen our school. The change in student/teacher ratio, the added sanitation protocols, announcements of free public school early childhood programs in the area, no liability coverage for COVID-19-related incidents, a bleak financial outlook, along with the aforementioned questions, presented a perfect storm of obstacles. We could not see a way to open the school and safeguard the health and well-being of our kids and our teachers.

    All that said, I do understand the difficult decisions public and other independent schools are facing. The decisions their leaders must make and the decisions parents and families must make are daunting. Like you, I wish I knew the right answer. But I don’t.

    What I do know is this:

    • The people of St. Martin's will not shame parents for whatever difficult decisions they make.
    • The people of St. Martin's will stand by our parents, pray with you, and do whatever we can to help you uphold what you think is best for your children and youth.
    • The people of St. Martin's will remain steadfast in offering an abundance of faith, hope, and love to parents and families.
    • When this is over – and it will eventually end – the people of St. Martin's will be here for you and rejoice to see your faces reflecting the light of God’s countenance, the God who always sees us through both the bad times and the good times. Maybe that is actually the light at the end of this tunnel!

    I remind you of St. Paul’s words, which we read last Sunday, in the hope that you will let them resonate in your heart and mind during this time when all these things conspire against us and seem so overwhelming:

    We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose…What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?…Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?…No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:28, 31, 35, 37-39)

    May this message be a great big virtual hug for our families with children and youth. We love you!

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

     

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

  • When Something Really Matters, We Discipline Ourselves

    Shutterstock_1678260511-1200x768Public health experts have asked us to protect one another from the Coronavirus by wearing a face mask when we are out in public. Some of our fellow citizens see this as an example of some enemy trying to take away our civil liberties. They are up in arms about it. Literally. Although the data says that 84% of the population are willing to wear masks, all the sound and fury makes it appear that is the other way around.

    This is an opportunity to take notice of and commend the 84% who are willing to wear masks. It is evidence that when something really matters, most of us will discipline ourselves to take care of it. For example:

    • In relationships that matter, we make time for others, stay in touch, remember birthdays, give gifts.
    • In work that matters, we arrive on time, do our best, take pride in the product or service, maintain loyalty.
    • In regard to the environment, we conserve natural resources, refrain from polluting, use recycled materials.
    • In regard to family, we show up for meals, we contribute, we encourage each other, we protect, we provide, we help each other grow physically, spiritually, and intellectually.
    • In athletic competition, we wear team logos and apparel, attend games, tune in for broadcasts, cheer without restraint, and, if we're on the team, we show up for practice, train, and do our part for the team.
    • In regard to our health, we maintain an exercise routine, get plenty of rest, avoid foods and other substances that are harmful, have regular checkups.

    Why are we willing to discipline ourselves? Because these things matter and we are human beings. Humans have this amazing ability to take care of what's important. Christians call it "stewardship." We believe we were given this ability by our Creator in the very beginning.

    It is often easy to discipline ourselves. But sometimes it is difficult. When we experience the difficulty, it is an opportunity to fully engage the gift of stewardship that other creatures do not have. Other creatures are limited mostly by instinct and conditioning. Humans are not. Humans have the ability to create something new, to act with purpose, to agree or disagree, to decide how to respond, to have complex two-way communication with each other and with the Creator. To be "only human" is to be the crowning glory of God's creation! To be "only human" is to be a member of the only race that has the vocation and privilege of stewardship.

    I officiated at the funeral of a gentleman at a church I was serving as an interim. He was a top-flight accountant, churchman, family man, and community leader throughout his long life. On the way home from the cemetery, his family shared a photocopy of a card they found in his wallet. The card contained this prayer:

    O Heavenly Father, who by Thy Son Jesus Christ hast taught us that all our possessions are a trust from Thee: Help me to be a faithful steward of my time, my talents, and my wealth, and gladly consecrate to Thy service all that Thou hast given me; and may I have grace to give myself to Thee. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

    By this prayer, this man disciplined himself to be not just a steward, but a faithful one.

    Let us take inventory of all that has been entrusted to us, especially those things that matter most. Then, let us ask God to help us be disciplined in how generously and faithfully we take care of this sacred trust. When it comes to the precautions we have been asked to take during this pandemic, my discipline protects you and your discipline protects me. It's a way to love one another and we all agree that love for one another really matters.

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

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

  • Reflections For This Strange Time

    This is a strange time, isn’t it? Our routines, our diets, our outings, our socializing, our church-going, our screen time, our school, our work, our ways of caring, and so many other aspects of our ordinary, day-to-day lives are anything but normal. It is as if we’ve been uprooted and transported to a strange land and some days we wonder what the "new normal" will be like.

    Maybe our feelings about this time are similar to the feelings of the Jews when they were herded off into captivity in Babylon. When they arrived, the Psalmist recalls:

    By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

    We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

    For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

    How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?   (Psalm 137:1-4 KJV)

    At first, the Jews resisted and complained about their captive state. Then, the Prophet Jeremiah brought them a message from God, telling them to adjust and seek the welfare of the strange city in which they were forced to live. He promised to eventually bring them back to their homeland. "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jeremiah 29:11 ESV). We know that promise was fulfilled. We also know that, when they did return, what had been familiar a generation or two before was now strange and would never be the same again. They faced a new reality. And God gave them the wisdom and strength they needed to build again – not for the past, but for the future.

    The Babylonian Captivity might be a metaphor for our life today in this strange situation. Like our ancient ancestors in faith, we can look forward to the strange new time ahead of us with confidence that God will be there too, showing us how to live in a new reality.

    A colleague posted a comment the other day about something that occurred to him during his morning Bible study. He said that he came across a reference to the "new reality" of life in Christ and it occurred to him that term is preferable to the "new normal" we often hear about as we think what it will be like after the COVID-19 era is behind us. I, too, prefer that way of speaking and thinking about what lies ahead. After all, we are "new creatures."

    W.H. Auden expressed it this way:

    He is the Way.
    Follow Him through the Land of Unlikeness;
    You will see rare beasts, and have unique adventures.

    He is the Truth.
    Seek Him in the Kingdom of Anxiety;
    You will come to a great city that has expected your return for years.

    He is the Life.
    Love Him in the World of the Flesh;
    And at your marriage all its occasions shall dance for joy.

    (W.H. Auden, For the Time Being: A Christmas Oratorio.)

    Actually, for the last several weeks of life in the strange land of COVID-19, we haven’t sung the Lord’s song at St. Martin’s, have we? It’s strange for me to worship on a Sunday without either instrumental or vocal music. I’ve been trying to compensate by posting music on Facebook each afternoon. So, I’m glad to be able to announce that our new Organist/Choirmaster, Dr. Joseph Henry, has joined the staff and will be taking up the challenge of offering music in our online services in the days ahead. To begin with, we’ll have the organ. Later, we’ll add some hymns sung by a soloist. Maybe we’ll occasionally sing the Psalm. It is still not going to be the same. There will be an element of strangeness to it. But it will help us to move into the new reality that lies ahead, as God’s people have done so many times before, with faith, hope, and love.

    Blessings,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

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

    P.S. Here is a recording of the lines above by W.H. Auden. These are the verses of hymn 463 & 464 in the 1982 Hymnal of The Episcopal Church. It is sung by the The Choir of Royal Holloway in a setting by Carson Cooman.

     

  • Not When But How

    Earlier this week, I was involved in a conversation with clergy colleagues about our current predicament during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Most of us have been asked when will we return to gathering physically for worship in our churches?  We’ve also been asked when will we return to normal. A wise person reminded us that the important question is not “when” but “how.” Each worshiping community is set in its own unique context, has its own challenges, and must sort through its own resources to determine how we will move through this time into a brighter future.

    The Wardens and I are working on the appointment of a “reentry team” to help us formulate a plan. As we do that, we are mindful that whenever we emerge on the other side of this crisis some things will be different. There will be changes. We recognize that everyone has some degree of difficulty with change, regardless of how beneficial or unavoidable it may be. At the same time, we know that human beings are endowed by our Creator with a remarkable capacity for change. In fact, the pages of sacred scripture are filled with examples of how the exercise of that capacity has impacted the story of God’s people. Also, in the New Testament, change is central to the message of Jesus Christ. “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14, 15). The Greek imperative metanoiete, which we translate “repent”, is a call to change one’s life.

    Some biblical stories are about those who were able to make the changes necessary to be faithful to God, such as Abraham, Moses, David, and the Holy Apostles. Other stories tell us about those who were unable to make such changes, such as the people who were destroyed by the Great Flood, the generation of Hebrews who had been slaves in Egypt, several generations of Israelites whose apostasy resulted in defeat and captivity, the rich young man who came to Jesus, and, of course, Judas Iscariot.

    There’s good change and there’s bad change and, quite often, there’s just change. Not all change is equal. But life, as God gives it, is one change after another. The struggle with change is bound up with the struggle with faith in God. Those who thrive are those who adopt a hopeful attitude toward our God-given potential, draw upon the uniquely human capacity for adaptation, and bring about purposeful refreshment, recreation, and renewal among the communities where they live and worship.

    Simply put, our faith provides us with insight into how to draw upon that capacity for creative living and the advancement of God's redemptive purposes. People of faith have lived through crises and catastrophes before and this time will not be the last time. But this is our time! We want to be faithful stewards of that time. How we live use this time and how we journey through this transition as a community of faith is ours to discern, with God’s help.

    One of my favorite prayers from the Book of Common Prayer came to mind as I was thinking about the relationship between change and faith. When I turned to it, I realized that it is a prayer that is primarily used in liturgies for times of significant transition in the Church’s life and liturgical cycle – such as Ordinations, the Celebration of a New Ministry, Good Friday, and the Great Vigil of Easter. It is a wonderful prayer for any time in the life of the Church, but especially when we are asked to make some sort of change as we progress in the journey of faith. I commend it to you today:

    O God of unchangeable power and eternal light: Look
    favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred
    mystery; by the effectual working of your providence, carry
    out in tranquility the plan of salvation; let the whole world
    see and know that things which were cast down are being
    raised up, and things which had grown old are being made
    new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection
    by him through whom all things were made, your Son Jesus
    Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity
    of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

    Blessings to you and yours,

    Ron Short Blue Sig Cropped

     

     

     

     

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

    P.S. Here's a hymn that explores the world of change God has made.