[Magdalen] P.S. Re: Update

[Ginga Wilder]

 Molly wrote, "the parish knows it has a problem but doesn't have a clue
about what to do about it.'

Keeping everything The Same (It's a tradition) is so common in Christian
communities.  One of the really good things that has happened in missions
and parishes in SC who were left without familiar churches is that things
have had to change.  IME, death comes when change is needed and is not
made...fought out yes, but discussed, argued, gospel taught in meetings of
our call as lay persons, etc.  This sort of change is good for the
community.  A good goal to hold Molly.

One of the most powerful (excuse this word) spiritual experiences I've ever
had what at my former parish when we needed to call a youth .  The rector
called a meeting to discuss this concern.  Probably 75-100 people, mostly
dissidents, showed up.  We lined the parish hall with chairs, the associate
rector kept us focused, the rector asked the questions, and we had a free
for all exchange.  Most of the people were against the expenditure and at
the end of the meeting, with very few execptions, the group gathered felt
the need to hire a youth minister.  We did and this was a very good thing
for our parish, not just the youth.

Ginga

On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 3:18 PM, Molly Wolf <lupa at kos.net> wrote:

> Barbara is one of our associate clergy and the closest to me in peppery
> Episcopalianism.  She said that we really need more and younger people on
> the Pastoral Care Committee.  I mean to make an issue of this when I'm well
> enough, because the parish knows it has a problem but doesn't have a clue
> about what to do about it.
>
> Molly
>
> The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no
> other way. -- Mark Twain
>
> > On Feb 18, 2017, at 3:06 PM, Ginga Wilder <gingawilder at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > (((((Molly)))))  I am glad you spoke with Barbara...is she your priest?
> >
> > I think another important part of all this ministry thing is that things
> > need to be kept current.  I don't just mean who is on the prayer list or
> > who needs soup.  Rather, I mean that lots of very excellent information
> is
> > 'out there' on how to do lay ministry in a parish and found it on all
> > manner of scriptural references....as in love your neighbor as yourself.
> > Churches can be clueless about that.  The foundation is love.
> >
> > Love you,
> > Ginga
> >
> > On Sat, Feb 18, 2017 at 2:54 PM, Lynn Ronkainen <houstonklr at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> ((((Molly)))) I am glad that you reached out and I am pleased that you
> >> will be ministered to. It's complicated isn't it? Maybe your situation
> will
> >> impact things in your parish going forward.
> >> Hugs and love
> >> Lynn
> >>
> >> On Feb 18, 2017, at 2:37 PM, Molly Wolf <lupa at kos.net> wrote:
> >>
> >> Grace, I am undergoing treatment for breast cancer.  I am on the parish
> >> prayer list.  No ESP required.
> >>
> >> I just had a long, fruitful, and satisfying conversation with one of our
> >> associate priests, which covered all of my concerns.
> >>
> >> The parish does have a Pastoral Care Committee, median age 80+, which is
> >> tireless in looking after the pastoral needs of its age cohort but not
> so
> >> good at remembering younger folk.  (This is also true of ACWs in the
> >> smaller parishes.).
> >>
> >> Fear of being intrusive inhibits people from calling.  This, I suspect,
> is
> >> one of the most deeply established holy cultural shibboleths in our
> local
> >> culture:  that suffering is supposed to be private.  It's true of
> physical
> >> suffering ("stiff upper lip") but it's especially true of emotional,
> >> psychological, or spiritual suffering.  Sitting with someone else's
> >> suffering terrifies people because they expect to have to fix the
> sufferer.
> >> So people care, but they don't act.
> >>
> >> It took some courage to call Barbara, but I've done it.  So I can now
> >> expect soup, at least.  Which is great.
> >>
> >> And ESP? It's two way.  How is the sufferer supposed to know that people
> >> care if nobody does or says anything?
> >>
> >> Molly
> >>
> >> The man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in
> no
> >> other way. -- Mark Twain
> >>
> >>> On Feb 18, 2017, at 2:11 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> Oh. Well, I guess their clergy *did* have ESP then...
> >>>
> >>>> On Feb 18, 2017, at 10:44 AM, James Handsfield <jhandsfield at att.net>
> >> wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>> No, there were a few people who insisted that clergy should simply
> know
> >> when someone is in need of a pastoral visit, and neither they, nor he
> would
> >> let it go.
> >>>>
> >>>> -------------------------------------
> >>>> Education is its own reward, both for the individual and for society.
> >>>>
> >>>> Jim Handsfield
> >>>> jhandsfield at att.net
> >>>>
> >>>>> On Feb 18, 2017, at 9:54 AM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>> What, Jim...no one visited him?
> >>>>
> >>
> >>
>
>