SUNDAY WORSHIP

Two baptisms at Grace this morning.  One a baby in arms, one about three years old.  Beautiful Latino girls welcomed into the body of Christ .  Lots of Latino friends and relatives.  It seems like we, at Grace Episcopal Church in Norwalk, are burying many of our Anglo parishioners and baptising babies from young Latino families. 

When Grace Church merges with Iglesia Betania we will be more Latino than anything else.  Our priest, Lois, is learning Spanish to better serve the Latino faction.  A handful,  a small handful, of us are trying to learn Spanish in an effort to show our good will.  I put it this way because I am so slow to learn and will probably never really get to be able to speak it very well -- but I try.  Others are doing better.  Lois is doing VERY well.  In fact today she is filling in for the Betania priest missioner and celebrating at their one o'clock service.

At three-thirty a delegation each from Betania and Grace will do a walk-through of the entire Grace Church plant that we now share.  There is much needed work to do.  We will list the needs, prioritize, and formulate a plan to do the work.

This is one way that people from different cultures and individual backgrounds can learn to be together peacefully and harmoniously in the love of Christ.

LANGUAGE BARRIER

We are in conversation with the local Latino congregation for a future merge. They are a much younger congregation than we are. There is energy. There is love. They represent heritage from a variety of Central and South American countries. Their mission priest is from Puerto Rico -- and only six years ago. It is opportunity abounding. For all of us.

At our first meeting we had an interpreter. Last evening's meeting we were on our own. Their priest, Jose Diaz, speaks English very well. Our priest, Lois Keen, is learning. Their young people are all bilingual. We are not -- any of us. We did a Bible study together using the Gospel appointed for this Sunday -- Jesus sending out the disciples to preach and anoint and heal. Jose and Lois read each in their own language and then in the other's. It was really hard understanding the responses from some of them. I felt that I was really missing a lot by not hearing them. AND, of course, it took away from the meaningfulness of the Bible study -- at least for me. I am almost seventy two. The thought of learning a new language is daunting.

One of my recent interests is in the brain and I am finding out amazing things. The brain has plasticity and can keep on learning at any age. In fact learning a new language is one of the greatest opportunities for growth -- along with learning to play a musical instrument or knitting. And in the learning our brains stop aging and put dementia and Alzheimer's at bay. Sounds like a plan.

God is calling us in new directions, both as community and individually. I have suggested that our people learn the new language together. But we seem to be a busy people and that isn't going to happen. It is difficult to learn such a new thing without support and accountability. I am still working on how I am going to do that. But, God willing, I am going to figure it out.

CHANGE

There is this saying that goes "The more things change, the more things stay the same." I want someone to tell me how that is. Like give me an example. I'm not getting it. Change for me is a major event. Even if it is a change that I am expecting or planning, it is still major. Causing unsettledness and discomfort -- usually, not always. And that may be okay, but it still is a disruption to the rhythm of my life.

Many changes I can 'take in stride.' Don't you love all these little sayings that we use to describe things for ourselves. Stride. Well to take it in stride means that the rhythm does NOT change. In order for that to happen, requires a great deal of concentration. Read self discipline. Maybe even preplanning. And even though the obvious stride does not change does not mean that the inner stride follows suit. In order to appear that the change is accepted may mean an internal upheaval. Which, of course, will eventually throw one off stride. Oh, dear.

I have survived any number of life changes. Too many to enumerate. Most of them pretty ordinary. Still in all some of them pretty major for me. More changes are coming, of course. That's life. What is worrisome, however, is how I will experience the changes, and how I will handle the changes. OR will the changes handle me?

Grace Church is going to change. What we look like and what we are is going to be way different than what I now know it to be. This gives me feelings of expectation and apprehension. I don't know what the changes will be. There is nothing to prepare me for the newness that is coming. The expectation is that it is necessary for our survival and it will be good. The apprehension is that I do not see myself in the new. Will this old self fit in to the new fabric of Grace Church?

NEWSLETTER

I had forgotten what an angst this was. I edited the church newsletter for a few years several years ago. It got to be a tremendous burden, caused me all sort of agita, and became a dull and lifeless publication. It has gone through a couple editors in the time that has passed and here I am again.

This has added in yet another learning curve. I did some research and discovered that newsletters can be done with text boxes and columns and imported graphics and pictures and all kinds of new stuff. Fortunately, I am keeping it simple this first time around. Also, fortunately, people are getting their copy into me on time. Unfortunately, the deadline looms.

A newsletter is really an important communication piece for a church. Also good evangelism. It is also a very heavy responsibility. But, I really wanted to relieve our priest from such a time consuming task. I feel that her time is more productively spent in other pursuits. This is something that I can do -- for now.

The goal is to get the newsletter in such a format that I will be able to teach the church secretary how to manage it. I have projected six to twelve months to accomplish this. This is the first month. The format is going pretty well. I am learning about those quirky little text boxes and relearning the idiosyncrasies of columns. I can do this.