Fr. Richard's "State of the Parish" Address
Christ the King Episcopal Church
Rector’s Address for 2021 Annual Parish Meeting - 2/14/21
The Rev’d Richard G. Proctor, OA
“For it is the God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” This is a perfect reading to pair with the Transfiguration narrative for the Last Sunday after the Epiphany. Indeed, ever since the beginning of creation, God’s people have longed for God’s “light to shine out of darkness.” And when God’s light does shine - when God’s glory is revealed - we are forever transformed.
While certainly timeless, today’s portion of Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians is particularly suitable for this moment on this day. The past year, in many ways, has been a dark one. The gospel has been veiled to many who have felt isolated and disconnected from their parish during the covid-19 pandemic. Much of what we love about our life together at Christ the King has been either put on hold, or drastically changed. Though we have been blessed to be able to worship (and attend meetings) via livestream and in person for those who choose to, the incarnational nature of being one Body with many members has been diminished. Some of us have even felt - to use Paul’s words - like we are perishing in the midst of this veiled life we have been living.
Indeed, if it were ourselves that we are called to proclaim, the darkness of 2020 would have perhaps been too much to bear. But to use Paul’s words, “... we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus’ sake. In an age when many, many idols seek to hold claim on our hearts, minds, and resources, through our baptisms, we are called to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord. And the churches who, in the midst of this terrible pandemic, have been able to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord, and who have sought to shine his light in the midst of the darkness are the churches who have not only been able to survive, but also thrive. And thanks to God’s grace and the courageous, flexible, faithful, and generous people that are Christ the King Episcopal Church, God’s light has shined in the darkness, and Jesus Christ has been proclaimed as Lord.
If you will turn to page 11 in your worship bulletin, you will see Christ the King’s 5 Core Values: Worship, Outreach, Community, Christian Formation, and Strategic Growth. These are the marks that I would like to use as I invite you to reflect on 2020 with me.
First and foremost, worship was deeply affected by the pandemic. Public worship was shut down from March 16 through May 30. When we re-opened on Sunday, May 31 - which ironically was the Bishop’s visitation Sunday, we were greatly limited in our capacity. We had to adjust and be flexible, wearing masks, sitting 6-feet apart from one another, not shaking hands or hugging, and perhaps most difficult of all, not singing. While all of these restrictions have been difficult for those of us here, it has been equally difficult for those who have not yet returned to public worship, if not more. We are an incarnational people, and our worship is infleshed in our own bodies, as well as when we partake in Christ’s Body in the eucharist. So when that incarnational piece of our religious life is removed or altered, it is deeply disorienting.
But the light that has shined in the darkness as it pertains to worship is that the folks at Christ the King have been flexible, faithful, and resilient. David Ott brought in the magnificent tenor Peter Lake to sing during worship, and he shared the instrumental music duties with our classical guitarist Scott Gilmore, who used to only play at the 8:00am service.
Our vestry has carried the load in terms of serving as ushers, greeters, and temperature checkers for worship, and they have been remarkably faithful in those challenging duties. Who knew that Jerry Morton, Tom Potts, and Bryan Whitehead would become experts with thermometers and contact tracing methodology? They have handled their duties with grace, flexibility, and most importantly, a good sense of humor.
The good news is that we were planning to begin live streaming in 2020 before we even knew what covid-19 was. Our goal at the beginning of the year was to launch our first livestream on Easter Sunday. The initial investment had already been made, but more investment was required throughout the year for both the sanctuary and Sandefur Hall. We have spent around $54,000 over the past few years to get to the place where we can live stream both in the church sanctuary and Sandefur Hall. There is no question that this was and will continue to be money well spent. When this pandemic ends, we will still live stream our 10:30 worship services.
We are able to count the number of people who tune in to our live stream service each week via our website, Facebook, and YouTube, and when you add those numbers to those of us who are here in person, our average Sunday attendance actually increased during 2020. So the value of live streaming is clear - we are able to connect with those who for whatever reason are unable to worship here in person, but who are still feeling called to “be” with us during worship. Our seasonal visitors are now worshipping and doing Men’s bible study with us year round, and that has been a mutual blessing. Not to mention that my parents can now worship with us every week from Tallahassee!
It is also important to me that we are a parish that doesn’t limit our public worship to Sunday mornings and a weekday Eucharist. The pillar of the Anglican tradition is the Book of Common Prayer, and the pillar of the Book of Common Prayer is the Daily Office. The public Daily Office is prayed at Christ the King in the form of Morning and Evening Prayer every weekday, and Noonday Prayer via Zoom on Wednesdays. This daily discipline of public prayer - where the parish prayer list is prayed within the context of psalms, canticles, and scripture lessons - has made this campus a holy sanctuary of intentional prayer every day. Sometimes I find myself feeling like Peter on the top of the mountain - I just want to pitch my tent and dwell in the holiness of this beautiful sanctuary. I encourage you to come pray with us at 9:00am or 4:30pm during the week. Bookending my work day with the Daily Office has sustained me during these challenging times. And it has had a profound impact on my own spiritual life.
Our second core value is Outreach. In a year of financial challenge and uncertainty, Christ the King actually increased the amount of money we gave to Outreach from what we have contributed in years past. In addition to giving 10% of our income to our Diocese, we gave over 10% to local, regional, and international efforts - a total of over $55,000. This radical generosity speaks to the faithful people of Christ the King recognizing that our God is a God of abundance, not scarcity. If we give abundantly to those in need, even in a time of perceived scarcity, God’s blessings will abound in ways that we could never imagine. And as we say every Sunday, “All things come of thee, O Lord, and of thine own have we given thee.” Christ the King beared witness to that scriptural truth in 2020, and for that I feel humbled and grateful.
A big piece of recent news is that the Rev’d Deacon Ed Richards was assigned to our parish towards the end of 2020. We did an interview and a Q&A with him when he came on board, so I encourage you to look that up on our YouTube Channel. The mission of the diaconal ministry is to take the gospel beyond the church’s walls and out into the world. So this will have a huge impact on our outreach ministries going forward. It has been such a blessing to have a clergy colleague in our midst to help us broaden the scope and geography of our ministries here at CtK.
I encourage you to read the report from the Commission on Outreach & Mission in the Annual Parish Meeting packet. And I also encourage you to read the monthly CtK Cares newsletter that typically goes out the 2nd Friday of each month. The chairperson of that commission, Tommy Fairweather, has done an incredible job of leading that group. Tommy is a living and breathing example of someone living out their Baptismal Covenant in a way that makes way for God’s light to shine in the darkness. She has removed the veil from the gospel and is sharing it faithfully, selflessly, and courageously.
Our third core value is Community. Along with worship, community has been the area most affected by the pandemic. Our description in the bulletin says, “A sense of belonging, feeling connected, and loving and caring for one another is a large part of who we are and what makes Christ the King feel special.” We all long for the safe return of coffee hour in Sandefur Hall after worship, an eggs and bacon breakfast to accompany our Men’s Bible Study on Friday mornings, singing in the choir again, in-person meetings and fellowship, and other ways that we connect socially with one another.
But one interesting side-effect of our virtual gatherings has been new relationships being formed. We currently have more people participating in adult formation classes than we ever have had. And while the main purpose of these classes is Christian formation, a close second is fellowship and community. Some have even commented that they have gotten to know folks better through these Zoom classes. Nothing can replace in-person small group gatherings. But I imagine that we will now always offer some online options for classes - perhaps a hybrid of in-person and online like we are doing now with our Men’s Bible Study.
Our fourth core value is Christian Formation, which is the area of ministry about which I am most passionate, as well as what I most enjoy. My life was forever changed when I joined an adult formation class in my mid-20’s when I was an insurance agent. God used that class to plant the seed that led me to where I am standing right now. If you are not currently participating in one of our adult formation offerings - which are on every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I encourage you to do so. But be careful, you might have a mountaintop experience like Peter, James, and John did in our Gospel lesson today. And as I said before, I am living proof of that.
As I mentioned before, some of our adult formation offerings have benefitted from our capability of going to an online format. Not all of the classes work in that manner, so two of them - the Women’s Study Group that meets on Mondays and the Centering Prayer and Contemplative Christianity Discussion Group that meets on Thursdays had to, at times, suspend their meetings in 2020. The Monday Group is currently meeting again in the Hughes Library, and the Thursday Contemplative Christianity group will resume meeting this coming week via Zoom.
What all of these class leaders and participants have shown since last March is what I like to call a tenacious flexibility, which is essential for our lives as Christians. Again, I encourage you to check your bulletin insert, the Monday Weekly Herald e-newsletter, and the once-a-month Friday Formation newsletter for information on these various Christian Formation offerings.
One of the biggest things that happened to us this past year at CtK was the work we did to create a full-time staff position for Family Faith Formation - which serves our families with children from birth to age 18. This decision was the culmination of an 18-month discernment process with a consultant from Ministry Architects out of Nashville. That process led to the creation of a Search Committee, which conducted a nationwide search, which led Dani Robertson to become our first-ever full-time Director of Family Faith Formation. I encourage you to read Dani’s report in our Annual Parish meeting packet, as well as the Friday Formation newsletter that goes ourthe last Friday of every month. Dani and her husband Scott and their beagle Jackson have hit the ground running since their arrival here last summer, and we have big things in store for this coming year and the years to come.
When we hired Dani, I remember telling Emily that this was the proudest moment of my career as a priest. I have never worked so hard on a project or initiative in my professional life, and it feels so good to see the hard work from so many people bearing fruit.
The other component of our commitment to Christian Formation is our Parish Day School - the Tree House Episcopal Montessori School. One of the highlights of my week is when Dani and I do Story Time with the Pre-Primary Class and Godly Play Chapel with the Primary Classes. Godly Play - which is a Montessori-based Christian Formation curriculum, has been a real game-changer for us. These children aren’t just hearing Bible Stories, they are engaging them on a much deeper, transformational level.
And lastly, our 5th Core value is Strategic Growth. It is no mystery that our parish and our parish day school are growing - in the number of people we employ, disciple, and serve. In this era of declining numbers in the mainline churches, our growth is bucking the trends. In our gospel lesson today, when Peter experienced the transfiguration of Jesus, he was so awestruck that he offered to pitch a tent for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah so they could dwell right there on the mountaintop. Why leave? Why move forward? Peter wanted to bask in Christ’s glory, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. But Jesus had a different vision for the future. Jesus was committed to the mission and journey that lay ahead - his journey to the cross. So while it may have been nicer, safer, and more comfortable up there on the mountaintop, Jesus had the courage and vision to keep the mission moving forward.
But growth and movement can have a shadow side. Our growth must be within the realm of our mission statement, core values, and resources. And our growth has to be measured, realistic, wise, and sustainable.
There were times during our Ministry Architects Children & Youth Ministry Renovation & Search Process that we grew discouraged because it felt like the process was taking too long! But we needed the time to make sure that Christ the King was ready, willing, and able to invest in this ministry for the long-term, so that when our new Director arrived, we had a strong foundation upon which she could help us build.
The bottom line is, things that really matter oftentimes take a long time to materialize. Christ the King worshipped in a doublewide trailer for ten years before we built this magnificent campus. The 10 acres upon which our new school building is being built was gifted to us back in 2012. It will have taken nearly ten years for the dream and vision of a stand-alone school building to become a reality.
And finally, for us to move forward into the next phase of our strategic growth, the vestry has determined that the best way to ensure a stable foundation for the years to come is for us to engage in a Capital Giving and Legacy Campaign. I encourage you to read the report in our Annual Parish Meeting packet submitted by our campaign co-chairs, Travis and Rachel Meyer. The campaign is entitled “Rooted + Grounded in Love,” which is a nod to our commitment to measured, wise, and sustainable growth. We will send a monthly “Rooted + Grounded in Love” campaign newsletter so you can stay tuned in to the latest news regarding the campaign. This campaign is a helpful reminder for us that all that we do at Christ the King has been and will continue to be rooted and grounded in Christ’s love.
I feel energized, excited, motivated, and called to move forward with you into this next phase of our life together here at Christ the King. I feel so blessed, grateful, and humbled to serve as your priest and pastor. Emily, Julian, Madeleine and I absolutely love Christ the King Episcopal Church and the Tree House Episcopal Montessori School. And we love our local community here. Thank you for your continued love and support of my family and me. God bless you, and I look forward to the days, months, and years that lay ahead so that we can continue to be bearers of Christ’s light in the world.