"Sharing the Good News and Joy We Have"

The new vestry of Saint Clement held a half day retreat at the home of our rector, the Rev. John Hortum, on February 14, Saint Valentine's Day. The two main goals of this retreat were to get to know one another and to assign (or receive) our ministries for the year. You can see the names of the vestry and their respective ministries on the official website of the Church of Saint Clement.

Our deacon, Cynthia Park, told us a wonderful story about a group of schoolchildren with whom she was privileged to work on a stage play. She described for us the way in which these children decided among themselves who should play each role. It was a wonderful and touching story that revealed how insightful and caring children can be with one another. Find Cynthia in Marshall Rutter Hall after Eucharist one Sunday and ask her to tell you the whole story. You'll like it.

Anyway, back to the retreat. To find the right ministry for each vestry member, we went through a process of "discernment." I suppose you can define discernment in a bunch of different ways. In our case, we listened to each person discuss which ministry (or ministries) they were interested in and then did a little sorting out at the end. It would be a stretch to say that each person got the ministry that he or she most desired, but by the end of the retreat, all the ministries had been assigned and no one came to blows. That's probably a victory for any vestry. But I must say that this vestry -- to a person -- is one of the most earnest and passionate groups of people I've ever had the pleasure to be in a room with for five hours. And I look forward to spending more time with them in the months to come.

Well, I got the "Evangelism" ministry. I sought it and am glad I got it. I wrote to the parish Yahoo group asking for ideas and advice about evangelism. Marsha Bell wrote to me -- somewhat tongue in cheek, I'm sure -- "I don't know about that. I'm an Episcopalian, and every time we hear the word evangelism, we run for the hills."

Another response that really made me think came from Patrick Crerar, Assistant Rector at Grace Episcopal Church. Many parishioners know Patrick from his service as deacon at Saint Clement's several years back. Patrick wrote me this: "The only other suggestion I have is that your group remember that Evangelism is not about us. It is not about filling our pews or increasing our pledge base. Evangelism is about sharing the Good News and joy we have with those who either have not heard it, forgotten it, allowed themselves to get distracted, or otherwise are not receiving the hope in Christ. Evangelism is about them."

What a wonderful sentiment. Let's always remember: Evangelism is about them.

-- Pat Jones