Spring
Reporter 2005
(280k. Click here to access color, illustrated version in PDF file
format)
Old South Church
Boston MA 02116
http://www.oldsouth.org
What's inside? (Text only version)
Conversing with the Past about the Future
By Nancy S. Taylor
Excerpts of an Address to the 335th Annual Meeting
of Old South Church on 2/6/2005
by OSC’s newly called 20th Senior Minister.
One of the most delightful inventions of the Harry Potter books has to do with the portraits and paintings that hang on the walls of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. The people in the portraits and paintings move freely from frame to frame, are frequently absent from their own frames, or may be found to be dozing off. They exist in a kind of parallel universe to that of the living but are able to interact with the living.
In the office of the headmaster hang portraits of all the previous headmasters since the school’s founding. Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, regularly converses with the portraits. For their part, they keep a curious and watchful eye on the current inhabitant of the office: on his decisions and manner of leading the school.
It would be as if all the portraits that currently hang in the Samuel Johnson Room were, instead, hanging in my office. Because they are not, last Sunday morning before worship – my first worship service as the senior minister of this church – I climbed the flight of stairs that leads from my office to the Samuel Johnson Room. I went there to introduce myself to, and visit with, my predecessors.
It was obvious that some of them were surprised when they first laid eyes on me, but these are gracious and, by-and-large, forward-looking men and after a little adjustment, they seemed to take it all in stride.
We talked for a while and they each shared stories of Old South and they each had lots of advice to offer. Admittedly, Dr. Blogden’s advice seemed to directly contradict that of Dr. Manning’s … but I am grateful for all of it, for their good will and good wishes.
But it was Samuel Johnson himself – not one of the ministers, but a deacon of this church – whose words I most remember. Just as I was about to take my leave for worship, Mr. Johnson cleared his throat and all eyes turned to him. Solemnly, he asked if he might say a word. We all nodded our assent.
Mr. Johnson said that he was glad I had come to visit them and that he and the ministers in the portrait room stood ready, any time, day or night, for consultation, conversation and prayer. He thanked me for showing respect for the past and respect for my predecessors … and said that they were not a little flattered that I had thought to visit them and to seek their blessing.
But then he said this: “Dr. Taylor” he said, “when you and the members and leaders of Old South find yourselves at a crossroads, when you stand in the face of difficult and even divisive discussions and decisions – and you will – do not ask yourselves, ‘What will the men in the Samuel Johnson Room think … how will they judge us?’ Instead, ask what your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren will think of you. Will they understand your decisions? Will they be able to clearly see in what you do and say the virtues of courage and goodness, of justice and wisdom? Will they clearly see in your decisions and actions the hand of a gracious God?”
“If you can look into the eyes of future generations” Samuel Johnson concluded, “and if you can answer their questions with a clear conscience, then you will know you have acted and decided well.”
As I reflected upon Samuel Johnson’s words to me, I became aware of just how thick and deep and compelling is this church’s past. The past is ever with us: it is informative, evocative, inspiring and it is long. I also know that in the course of over three centuries, every great event and every truly inspired decision emanating from this place and people has been informed, not primarily by the past, but by a vision of the future … not by what was, but by what could yet be.
I believe that you have called me to help you do just that: clarify a vision of how the future might look for us … and to help us move together, faithful to God, informed by the Gospel, guided by Christ and, accountable to future generations.
I take it to be my job and it will be my joy to help us listen together to the call of Christ upon us.
And may the ruler of all high places,
God of many names,
Touch us with a wind that keeps us strong
For all the days to come. Amen +
Old South’s Hidden Ministry
Celebrates Director’s 25th Anniversary
by Evan H. Shu
There is a vital part to the life and ministry of Old South Church that many in our congregation know precious little about: the Old South Preschool. Its schedule is symbiotic to the regular church activities. When the church is busiest on weekends, the Preschool is closed; when church life is more sedentary during the week, the Preschool is open, thriving, and giving the Old South building its pulse.
In many ways, the Preschool is the most colorful aspect of Old South — literally! Our publications are full of references to the Blue Room, Green Room, and Red Room. These are the brightly color-decorated rooms on the 3rd floor that house the specific age-groupings for the Preschool: Blue room for children ages 2 to 2 3/4; Green Room for 3 to 3 3/4; and Red Room for children ages 4 to 5 years old. These colorful and cheery rooms serve as the backdrop not only for the Preschool but for the Church School classrooms and childcare as well.
The Old South Preschool was started after World War II some sixty years ago by the Women’s Guild of Old South Church to help serve returning GI families and as a way of giving stay-at-home mothers a break from childcare duties. It started as a two and one half day program but, particularly as more mothers also started to go to work outside of the home over subsequent years, it evolved into a program which offers a 9-3 schedule, five days a week throughout the school year.
It is essentially self-supporting financially and describes itself as having an “emphatically educational mission.” Though the Preschool is largely independent in its daily programmatic operations, the church’s Christian Education Committee provides support and oversight.
A wonderful milestone is being marked this year, as it is the 25th anniversary of Carolyn Davis being the Old South Preschool Director. Her entire tenure at the Preschool is even longer as she originally started as a teacher at the school 4 years before that. With a background that includes graduate education in early childhood studies, she was tapped to take over as Acting Director at the Preschool before subsequently being appointed officially as Director.
In many ways Carolyn Davis is the Old South Preschool as she sets the tone and culture for the school, within the context of administering the program for Old South Church. She has shepherded its existence and viability through a number of trials and tribulations over these past 25 years, including the requirements for state licensing, staff level training and even major monetary trials related to Old South Church’s finances itself. Her leadership over that time has been a calm, steadying, and nurturing influence throughout.
The mandate for Old South Preschool is to provide education and care to all, serving as one of the outreach efforts of Old South Church. Its enrollment usually includes several families from the congregation, and attendance often moves other families to become a part of the Old South congregation. It currently serves over 40 families and is staffed by seven teachers. Through the years, admission has generally stayed in the range of 40 to 60 students who attend on full and part-time schedules. “Admission is on a first-come, first-serve basis, with consideration given to balanced groupings with regard to age, ethnicity, schedule, and socio-economic background,” states the Preschool’s brochure. Those words have real meaning to Carolyn as she says, “We try to remove barriers, titles, and status for the children. Our goal and focus is on the children and their individual needs and interests. I hope our parents see the Preschool as a place that makes an effort to be a caring, respectful place.”
The accomplishment of those goals comes through loud and clear, particularly in the comments on the Preschool provided by the parents themselves. “This is a uniquely warm, nurturing school directed and ever more enriched by the leadership of the incredibly gentle, patient, intelligent and sensitive Carolyn Davis,” writes Old South member Susan Stern, whose children Emma and Ben have attended the school. She added, “Thank you, Old South Preschool, for appreciating my kids for who they are and for planting the seeds for loving school and loving to learn.”
While the Preschool is non-sectarian by definition, sharing space with the church and Church School naturally leads to some overlap of activities and to questions posed by curious minds who may view Church School art displays, want an organ demonstration from Gregory Peterson, or see ministers in robes roaming the halls. “It needs to make sense for the child. If the child is talking about it, the teacher will talk about it and explain it,” says Carolyn. “Respect” is a word that Carolyn uses often in talking about the attitude of the Preschool in respecting all traditions, religious, cultural and otherwise, of the families that they serve. She also says that the Preschool avoids commercially prepared lesson plans, and so-called school preparedness promotions in favor of individualized education plans custom tailored to the child’s interests and developmental needs, and to the parents’ aspirations for their children.
Though the Preschool is non-religious, Carolyn can’t help but use religious terms in explaining her goals for the school. “I see it as a ministry. I look at it like being in service, in collaboration with the parents to help the children as best we can.” Perhaps then, the best testament to this ministry is that a number of the children come back to visit their past “home away from home” long after they have graduated — some even to intern teach at the Preschool itself. Perhaps that explains why Carolyn sees her responsibility and her most gratifying challenges and accomplishments extending beyond the children to working with her staff as well as with the parents in helping all of them become better guardians for each child’s development and well-being.
25 years gives Carolyn some measure of perspective on how family life has changed. She says that parents are busier than ever, and less able to devote time to their children (the way they would like) or to volunteer (as much as they or the school would like). Whether a direct correlation or not, she adds that “the children seem more scattered and not as calm.”
For all these reasons, she stresses that it is very important the Old South Preschool provide a very calming environment for the child, while at the same time stimulating them educationally with a wide variety of learning experiences. One excellent example of an activity that is specifically planned as an experience where all the families of the school can come together is their annual trip to the Big Apple Circus. It gives the opportunity for each preschool family to take a little bit of time to disconnect from the busyness of life and come together as part of the larger Preschool family.
While the Old South Preschool aims to keep its tuition level in the mid-range of like preschools, there is an ever-present need for more funds to provide additional support services, resources and equipment for the children. There is a lot more that Carolyn wishes the Preschool could do for the children but cannot due to limited funds.
Surely, a strong Old South Preschool is one of the most important hidden outreach ministries that Old South Church can make to its surrounding community. A largely hidden gem in that outreach ministry over the last 25 years has clearly been the work of Preschool Director Carolyn Davis. And don’t make the mistake of assuming that she is resting on her laurels at this point. After more than a quarter of a century of Old South Preschool stewardship, she pointedly would rather look forward than be too reflective about the past, adding with a smile, “There are still a few things I need to do . . .” +
The use of bells or chiming devices in Christian worship began as early as the 6th century. Bells in towers called people to worship. Bells added a festive sound to processions and supported the pitch for the singing of chants. The art of handbell ringing as we know it today developed in England in the 17th century and came to America in the 1850’s. A modern adaptation of the handbell is the hand chime, a tubular instrument with a flute-like tone. Hand chimes are often used to introduce children to the art of handbell ringing as we do at Old South through our wonderful Children’s Chime Choir directed by Phil Stern. However, hand chimes can be used by any age group and are often included in the traditional handbell ensemble for an alternate sound as you will hear shortly. Old South has a new three-octave set of Malmark Hand Chimes. These were purchased with gifts from members of the congregation and through the “Bulbs for Bells” campaign.
The Old South Ringers have done a wonderful job supporting the young people’s chime choir, raising the money to purchase this new octave of chimes. In the church, all our musical instruments are dedicated to the glory of God, for the worship of the congregation—but attached to this new set of chimes is an additional memorial dedication. These chimes are given in memory of JoAnn Grisham Heroux, who was a member of the Old South Church, along with her husband Jim and daughter Amelia. JoAnn died last August after a long battle with cancer, but she had been a joyous supporter of the children’s chime choir, of which her daughter Amelia is a vital member. With the songs of praise and prayer and the musical education that will come from these instruments, JoAnn’s memory will be honored. +
Eternal God, our music joins with the songs of heavenly choirs
and the harmonies of the universe.
May these new chimes encourage our praise and lift our spirits.
May the music they produce bring our prayers to you in times of
joy and times of sorrow.
We dedicate these instruments to the healing and endurance of life’s
dissonance,
to the lifting of the depressed and the comforting of those in sorrow;
to the humbling of the heart, and the ascension of the soul to abiding
beauty & joy.
In memory of your disciple JoAnn Heroux, may the children and adults
who learn and play them be formed into more dedicated disciples.
May all our music-making and music-listening glorify you alone.
Trusting in Jesus Christ, we dedicate these chimes in your name,
O God, now and always. Amen.
In William Sloane Coffin’s book Credo, he opens the Preface with the words, “Credo — I believe — best translates ‘I have given my heart to.’ . . . However imperfectly,” he continues, “I have given my heart to the teaching and example of Christ.” And here at the Old South Church in Boston, we search and find what, in God’s world, we give our hearts to. We study, we pray, we deliberate and plan in committee, we seek to establish God’s justice, we sing and ring, we feast, we share, we worship — all this within and beyond our congregation, caring and supporting each other, in the teaching and example of Christ — our Credo.
The Gospel of John has news for us, very good news about the teaching and example of Christ. Actually, all the Gospels have very good news and guidance for all of us regarding the ways we grow in relating to one another, becoming friends, working together, encouraging each other, enlivening our precious tradition with expressions of our hope, our trust, and our faith! In John 13:1, we are taught that Jesus, “loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.” In John’s Gospel, we learn that Jesus gathered his disciples together on the night he was betrayed. We learn that he “got up from the table, took off his outer robe and tied a towel around himself.” Jesus poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of each of his disciples, wiping all these feet with the towel that was tied around him. While he was doing this, Peter and Simon engaged Jesus in quite some discussion! And while talking with them, Jesus finished washing all their feet, put on his robe and returned to the table.
Jesus asked them, “Do you know what I have done to you?,” and even before they could answer, he said to them, “You call me Teacher and Lord — and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” Talking more with them, though, Jesus became troubled in spirit, telling them that “one of you will betray me.” And after Judas left, Jesus told those who remained, “I am with you only a little longer . . . I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
While Jesus was walking and talking in Judea, his disciples and those who recognized him as Lord gave their hearts to him, and to each other. Baptizing in the Jordan. Anointing with oil. Healing and being healed. Casting out demons. Visiting at times of dying. Teaching and proclaiming the good news. Breaking bread. Sharing loaves and fishes. Meeting (across cultural divides) at the well. Visiting with each other. Washing feet. Resisting occupation and subjugation in empire. Bearing witness at the cross. Comforting and strengthening one another through agony.
These disciples were astonished at the empty tomb, and at sightings of Jesus and conversations with him there. Astonished twice at the house where his disciples were hiding. Astonished on the beach at the Sea of Tiberias. Eternally astonished. How fortunate we are to be part of this eternal astonishment. To actively remember Jesus, knowing that he has invited us to love one another, even here at Old South Church in Boston, within and beyond our open, welcoming doors. In the midst of our life together at OSC, we joyfully and humbly acknowledge that our faith does call us to respond to Jesus’ invitation to greet and visit and encourage one another amidst the celebrations, transitions, everyday moments, challenges, tests, and tragedies of our lives. And so we try to do that.
The Ministers and Deacons of Old South Church in Boston sponsor the work of the Congregational Care and Support Committee, as we try to live out that commandment which Jesus has put before us, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Under the auspices and with the blessing of the Ministers and Deacons, the Congregational Care and Support Committee (CCSC) of OSC meets monthly on Monday evenings, or sometimes Sundays after church. In addition to the committee members, there are Care Crews, OSC members and friends, people who extend the “reach” of this CCSC effort. We haven’t washed each others’ feet, yet — nor have we anointed each other, or others in our congregation, with oil. But it sometimes feels as if we have, as if we do, as if we are -- washing and being washed. Anointing and being anointed. Encouraging and being encouraged. Welcoming and being welcomed. What are the signs of the Spirit in this effort of congregational care and support? Humility. Simplicity. Genuineness. Tenderness. Matter-of-factness. Practicality. Creativity. And more.
In making and sharing soup and bread, in preparing meals, we honor and respect a wide range of circumstances of hunger. Freezers in the OSC 2nd floor kitchen are filled with homemade soup, ready and delicious. Deacon Jean Degnon and our Chairperson Jan Monsma coordinate Soup and Meals.
In encouraging the life of prayer, we talk with God, alone and in each other’s company, about matters in our lives, in the lives of those we love, and in the circumstances of all of God’s creation. We sponsor a monthly 10:00 a.m. Sunday morning Healing Prayer Group in the upstairs Tower Room. Led by Ken Orth, this gathering is a welcoming, earnest, candid, translucent time for gathering in prayer and is open to all. Further, in our church Narthex, we have established a confidential Prayer Box (as well as via the Old South web page), from which prayer concerns are collected by Interim Assistant Minister Kate Layzer and lifted up for prayer at Sunday worship.
In offering rides for medical appointments, we come to know each other better in the united hope of healing. Rides are also be available for other necessary appointments as well as trips to and from church for those who otherwise find it difficult to get out and about. Karen Hand coordinates Rides.
In sending cards or notes and making calls to our congregation, we extend care and encouragement. A special birthday. The covenant of marriage. A challenging move. A victory. An accident. Surgery. Medical treatments. A special journey. An adventure. A leave-taking. A graduation. An illness. A shock. A time when we feel we are being “tested.” A vigil. An expect death. A totally unexpected death. All this. Michael Fiorentino coordinates Notes and cards as well as Calls.
In making CCSC visits with each other, we travel near and far to acknowledge the devoted service of our members, to express our appreciation, to offer respite care, and to tend each other during times of duress and illness, while bringing good news of our church and its ministry. Visits to homes. Visits to hospital. Visits to those places where we are. Within and beyond the wide, welcoming doors of our church. Again, Interim Assistant Minister Kate Layzer is key in this aspect of the CCSC effort, guiding and training OSC “visitors” for this aspect of the CCSC effort. Ruth Ricker and Jan Monsma coordinate Visits.
Through the work of the CCSC and its Care Crews, thirty OSCers are involved in this ministry of congregational care and support. At times of joyful celebration, the Ministers and Deacons, the Congregational Care and Support Committee, and members of our Care Crews are delighted to honor and celebrate! At times of agony and heartbreak, we offer respect and practical support. Certainly, not all notes, cards, visits, rides, prayers, and other expressions of congregational care are exchanged or offered in the life of OSC only via the CCSC. Gestures of care are extended and gratefully received amongst ourselves, coming from many different directions in our life together. And that is as it should be.
We rejoice at the many ways we can find to support and care for one another, as Jesus has taught us! Our Credo, what we give our hearts to ... “however imperfectly” ... “is the teaching and example of Jesus Christ.” We know, and William Sloan Coffin would remind us, that “Christ is not only a healer of individuals. He is also a prophet to the nations. While he walked the earth, Jesus delivered people from paralysis, insanity, leprosy, suppurating wounds, deformity, and muteness. But again and again in word and deed he returned to the plight of the poor, whose poverty, in true prophetic fashion, he considered no historical accident, but the fruit of social injustice.”
Jan Monsma, our committee chairperson, says it best: “it is our aim to foster a culture of caring for one another among our church members. Pastoral care denotes just that: our clergy in relationship with those seeking skilled, professional care. Our committee tries to encourage and bring prayerful, empathic and practical support as members of our church family.” There may be times when we send a card or note and make a call. And there may be times when we receive a card or note and receive a call. To follow the teaching and example of Jesus Christ and to love one another, that is our call, our goal, and our responsibility. God is good!
The CCSC “Care Crews” welcome the participation of all OSC members
and friends. Please contact Jan Monsma (Chairperson) or Kate Layzer if
you are interested or have questions or any of our committee members: Ken
Orth, Jean Degnon, Rebecca Reiner,
Tony Rich, Michael Fiorentino, Liz Rice-Smith, Karen Hand, Ruth
Ricker or Betty Smith. +
Each one of us has a moment that we will always remember even after we have forgotten the other details of the day. Monday January 12, 2004 at 10:03 am is the moment that I remember. It was the moment that my doctor told me that I had endometrial adenocarcinoma or endometrial cancer. Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer and the fourth most common cancer in women in the United States. Worldwide, it is the fifth most common cancer in women. It is a slow-growing cancer and if caught early, your chances of survival are high.
But, that is all information that I learned later on. At that moment, all I heard was cancer. I actually made my doctor repeat it, just to make sure I heard her correctly. The disbelief is powerful. Other people get cancer not me. It was hard to grasp the concept that I was one of those other people. I pinched myself often during the conversation to make sure that I was awake.
After I hung up with the doctor, I sat for a moment and thought “what next?” I needed to tell my parents, but how do you tell someone you have cancer when you still cannot believe it yourself. I was not even sure that I could get the words out of my mouth. So I practiced first to myself, then I went to tell my boss. That may seem odd, but I needed a test run on letting someone know. Plus, I did not know if I would be in the office the next day and I knew that after the surgery I would have no idea when, or if, I would be back at work.
When telling my family and friends, I started every conversation with, “Are you sitting down?” I tended not to tell people whom I had to comfort. So, there were people that I told, and there were people that I let others tell. I had all my contingency plans in place. I talked to my two best friends daily sometimes about how I was doing, but most of the time just about simple things.
When I was all alone, I thought about my faith. I am a firm believer in that God never gives you more than you can handle. It is only when we lose faith and our hope is shaken that life become unbearable. I also believe that we all have a purpose in life even if we are unsure what that is. I looked for a purpose in everything that I did because if I was going to die than I needed to make sure that my life meant something. I told all the people that I loved how important they were to me. I volunteered to participate in a study that became part of my surgery. I put my life in order. The morning of my surgery I even filed my taxes.
When fear overwhelmed me, and it did, I used humor to get through. If I could make other people laugh or smile than it was going to be OK. In the operating room, I had all the staff laughing because I was trying to convince them that while they were in removing the cancer could they remove the fat too. I said the worse the news, the more fat they should remove, so that if I woke up and looked super model thin I knew that I had a long road ahead. It would be my silver lining.
Recovery from major surgery is a very slow process. Even the simplest things wear you out. When you are recovering from cancer it has an added dimension. At the back of your mind is that thought, “what if they did not get it all?” That fear still pops up when I have a twinge I cannot explain. Looking at myself, I could not tell that I had cancer. There were days that I thought it was all a big mistake and I would get angry. Sometimes, harder still is that fact that I did not need chemotherapy or radiation. I thought that if you got cancer there was a process that you went through. I never saw or felt the cancer -- all I have is a scar. For many months after surgery, I did not know how to think of myself. I was not the same person who went into the doctor’s office for a physical. I looked the same but still there was something different. I began to look for purpose in life. I continually asked myself, “what now?”
Over a year has passed since my bout with cancer. It has been a year full of precious moments. I have begun living the life I want, not waiting until the time is right because the time may never be perfect but it will always be possible. I am doing things that I never thought I would do and enjoying them. I am taking time not only to smell the flowers but to plant some. I am survivor. I survived not only the cancer but the recuperation also. I survived the worry, fear, tears and pain. I still have bad days but those are few and the good days seem just a little better than before. Each day has a purpose. Even if that purpose to finish a book, make a project, watch a movie, or spend time with family & friends.
As a minister’s daughter, church always was an extension of my home. Faith was just something I had but did not talk about. Since getting cancer, the parishioners have become my family and my faith has become the fulcrum of my life, balancing me on my journeys in progress and those on the horizon. That inner light, that all of us have, helped me see that life is not just about beginnings and ending. Life is the millions of moments between your first breath and your last. +
Old South welcomed Ministerial Intern Tadd Allman-Morton to its staff in September 2004. Before coming here, Tadd has held several staff positions as religious education director and membership coordinator for Unitarian Universalist congregations and, most recently, served as Ecology Minister at Andover Newton Theological Seminary, where he is entering his final year as a Master of Divinity student. At Old South, he works closely with the 20/30s Fellowship Group, the Christian Service & Outreach efforts (Sundays Bread), Christian Education and assists in worship.
At what point in your life did you feel a calling to the ministry? Was there anything specific happening in the world or your own life at that time that made you feel “this is the moment?”
Although there was nothing political, or a specific world event, I felt a calling for about half of my life starting in my teens. Not coming from a religious background, I tried to explain away my feelings: “oh, there isn’t enough money,” or “I’m cut out for it,” and so on. I finally got serious about pursuing the ministry five years ago. This coincided with the time my first wife decided to seek a divorce. In an odd way, that just confirmed I had made the right decision.
You have also served the Unitarian Universalist Church. Do you notice any striking similarities or contrasts between that congregation and the UCC?
I like the fact that both have ministers and a church staff with a moral presence but that the congregation itself has the ultimate authority. I am a big fan of that congregational polity. Overall, the UCC tends to be more prayerful, but the wonderful people I’ve met are the best advertisement for the denomination.
I understand you recently served as an Ecology Minister. Can you please tell us something about that?
This was on campus at Andover-Newton, and it fulfilled my field education requirement. I came from a whole foods background, where I learned a lot about organic foods. So the ministry was an extension of those concerns about people’s health and the earth’s health. The composting program I created is still in place, but who knows what will happen next year when I am off campus. This was a community ministry as opposed to a parish ministry and, while I appreciate what I learned, I missed being in touch with people and with a congregation. You could say that it clarified my call.
Ministers have so many diverse responsibilities. Is there any one that you consider your greatest joy? Conversely, is there any one that you consider your greatest challenge?
My favorite part of the ministry is Bible study. The process is so open; it allows a combination of my views and those of every participant. It’s like a group sermon. I enjoy what I learn from it; there’s always someone who will surprise me with something. As for a challenge, I’d have to say liturgy, i.e. understanding the nuances and subtleties of the faith — not to mention each congregation’s take on those ideas!
What would you like to be doing in ten years?
I’d like to be the senior minister of a parish or the sole minister of a small church. The possibility of starting a church also interests me but maybe further down the line.
Is there any one person, clergy or lay, that has been a guiding light to your ministry?
I can’t narrow it to one person, but there are two: Liz and Matt Myer Boulton, the pastors of Hope Church in Jamaica Plain. They are both gifted preachers with distinctive styles. Matt preaches without a text and Liz picked that up from him. His theology is neatly structured, well laid out. There’s always food for thought. Liz uses stories to bring out the Gospel message. Her words truly tug at my heart. I end up crying quite often during her sermons. Hope Church is the first place I felt God was in the house during worship.
Anything else about you that you’d like to share with our Church family?
I’d like to encourage people to ask irreverent religious questions. I think total honesty beings us closer to God, and that’s often the place of irreverence. I would also love people to talk with me about modern folk music and Monty Python, two of my favorite things! +
A living, relevant, active church community is nourished and replenished not only by the new members that join it or by the children baptized in it but also by those members that are called to be its ordained parish Ministers. I want to lift up to your prayers, praise and support the members of today’s Old South community that are on the journey towards ordination in the United Church of Christ.
In this past year, we had two ordination services in Old South as two of our members were called to serve as Ministers. Patrice Ficken was ordained in May and serves at Sanbornton Congregational in New Hampshire. Jonathan Hauze was ordained in November and serves at St. Paul’s UCC of Lionville, Pennsylvania.
There are others in our church following right behind Patrice and Jonathan. Marraine Kettel and Lorrie Herzberg are both in Seminary at Andover Newton. We haven’t seen much of Marraine this year because she is halfway through her year of field education as a member of the staff at Union Congregational Church in North Reading.
We should also lift up Tadd Allman-Morton, our Ministerial Intern and, of course, Kate Layzer, our Interim Assistant Minister, both treasured gifts to Old South from their respective home churches and both on paths to ordination in the UCC.
These fabulous people are at different stages of development, discernment and indeed difficulty through the process that, with the grace of God, ends in a call to a parish church and an ordination service. But, it is not an easy process or a sure process.
During a recent Sunday service, my mind wandered (not during the sermon, of course), thinking about the challenges faced by people called to ministry. My eyes fell on the stained glass windows that adorn our beautiful sanctuary. For many years I admired their beauty but never stopped to think about what it might have taken to produce them or the people that made them. I began to see some parallels.
These windows were made in 1875 in London by the company of Clayton and Bell. To make them, sand was heated to extreme temperatures and compounds like arsenic, lime, borax, sulfur, and lead were added for purity and color in the glass. The glass was cut and bound together with strands of soldered lead.
What were the working conditions in 1870 for the people who crafted these windows? Did they get burns from the heat of the furnace? Did they suffer from handling the arsenic, and lead and the other toxic compounds? Did they get cuts from working with the glass? How long did a worker need to spend as an apprentice before being allowed to progress up the ladder of craftsmanship? There can’t have been much money available either.
But they persevered piece by piece putting together the many hundreds of individual elements, day after day, to create these magnificent windows; products of their talents, of their time, their sacrifices and surely their faith. Far from the industrial workshops where they were created, the windows were installed in this sanctuary, the light of the day shining through, illuminating the stories of the bible.
Now, the halls of Andover Newton are very remote from those London workshops. And, I am sure, much to the relief of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration among others, the life of a seminarian does not suffer the same physical duress as the glassmakers of 1870.
But our seminarians do:
· take the courses over 3 or more years towards their divinity
degree;
· progress through repeated interviews with the Committee on
Ministry of the Metropolitan Boston Association;
· work as parish interns and hospital chaplains;
· produce papers and develop a deep understanding of their personal
faith;
· learn the polity of the UCC and church administration;
· they do have to deal with the persistent heat of the materialistic
culture all around them, the toxicity of intolerance and hate and the sharp
edges a of cynical society.
And the financial challenges they face are very real as well.
Finally, with the grace of God, a product of their talents, time, their real sacrifices and certainly their faith, these seminarians, too, are installed in a sanctuary of a parish church, the light of the word of God shining through as the they illuminate the messages of the Bible for their church communities.
The stained glass windows are gifts from the congregation of the 19th century to every generation thereafter, now spanning 130 years -- each in turn taking care of the building for the congregations of Old South that followed. They are now our responsibility as we maintain the chain of faith and stewardship linking our congregation to those of the past and those that will follow.
So too, we have a responsibility to take care of and nurture the members of our community on the path to ordination. Like Patrice at Sanbornton and Jonathan at Lionville, Marraine and Lorrie will be ordained in a service at this church only when they are called by the congregation of another. It is as if this congregation is handing off, “giving away” this special person to the other congregation. In this act, a new link is made in the chain of faith and stewardship between congregations of the greater United Church of Christ. Thus, as we fulfill our responsibility of care, The Church is strengthened for us, for our children and future generations.
On your behalf, the Deacons of Old South have established a program of support and fellowship for our seminarians. But, I invite you also to look out for opportunities to attend events hosted by the seminarians, or perhaps consider visiting them at the church where they are doing their internship. Or simply ask how they are doing as you see them at fellowship meetings. Or perhaps, as you sit in the pews of the sanctuary, in the light of these beautiful and laboriously crafted stained glass windows, say a prayer of thanks and support for all of our seminarians.
Gracious God, you challenge us all to turn the sand of our lives into reflections of the life of Jesus. You call some of our community to serve more deeply and completely to illuminate your Word so that others may see the light.
We lift up Marraine, Lorrie, Tad and Kate to your care. They
have heard your calling, lead them and hold them in your heart. We
pray for the other seminarians of the UCC. Provide strength
to them all as they face the challenges of faith, study and life.
We pray for the ministers of Old South Church, the ordained ministers that
are members and we pray for this congregation. Help us all hear the
call to your service and the service of your people. Amen +
Oh Interim, Our Interim, our two year voyage done;
The Old South Church has grown and thrived, we’ve even had some fun.
Oh Interim, Our Interim, you came and they departed;
Jim Crawford and then Lael left some church folk broken- hearted.
Familiar faces gone, and Lael’s replacement proved too fleeting,
Necessitating many late night search committee meetings.
With Kate on board the staff at last seemed finally to be stable;
Then Greg took his sabbatical, as soon as he was able!
The budget, always iffy, now loomed closer to disaster;
Our Interim, he did not flinch, said “we’ll just raise funds faster”.
When war arrived and other preachers dodged and weaved or blessed it;
Our interim, he spoke his mind, and we will not forget it.
When we became the place where gays and lesbians could marry;
You counseled us to live our creed and prejudices bury.
It froze in hell, the Red Sox won, we had a great Thanksgiving;
We’re sure it was your prayers that made Bambino so forgiving.
But most of all you made us think and then you made us laugh,
A winning combination that assuaged your critics’ wrath.
Few Interims can leave behind such legacy of praise;
“Faith Faces Forward” will remain our motto, all our days.
Oh Interim, Our Interim, you’ve been a grand old fella;
We know that you must leave, of course,
but could we please keep Della? +
1. We love to tell the story
of Carl at Old South Church;
he never did desert us
or leave us in the lurch;
with steadfastness and patience,
this long-enduring friend
hung in through a search process
he thought would never end!
Chorus:
We love to tell the story,
though he won’t take the glory,
still we will tell the story
of Carl at Old South Church!
2. When 34 long years he’d served
in Glastonbury town
he set aside his prayer books
and put away his gown;
But not for long would leisure
be Carl’s to spend at ease:
an urgent call from Boston
came flying: Help us, please!!!
Chorus
3. And so he came, just for a year—
Oops! Better make it two!
Another half-year followed
before his job was through;
The reason soon was clear to all—
it wasn’t merely chance—
Carl couldn’t leave until those Sox
at last became World Champs!
Chorus
4. Through many stormy seas we plowed
with Carl at Old South’s helm.
No crisis, squall, or tumult
our Captain could o’erwhelm;
The DNC, it came and went;
he led us through it well;
don’t blame him if the country
is going straight to… (well…)
Chorus
5. For with his Smith-Corona
(that noble old antique),
he’s hammered out God’s message
week after stubborn week;
He’s made some folks so doggone mad
we thought there’d be a fight;
“Let justice roll!” old Amos cried,
and Carl roared, “Darn right!”
Chorus
6. And so, farewell, dear Carl!
Inviting sandtraps call;
the woods and roughs are waiting
to swallow up your ball;
And when you just can’t find it;
when futile seems the search;
we hope you’ll think with fondness of
your years at Old South Church!
Chorus +
i.
This time, with sun and
Mystery, is sufficient
For me, O Sister Earth
ii.
The blossoms of light
And color wiggle at dawn,
Wakening again
iii.
A simple daisy —
White and yellow, overlooked
— Carries all my joy
iv.
In the blessed earth
The magic happens, changing
From seeds to glory
v.
A late snow falls, but
The persistence of petals
Shakes the whole thing off
vi.
A lawn alive with
Robins: color, memory,
Feath’ry sentinels
vii.
In spite of the salt —
Evil winter confetti —
The daffodils rise
viii.
Where would we be, were
It not for the alchemy
Of visible love?
ix.
It is the skunk time
And we walk through it quickly,
Whistling them away
x.
Rhododendron peek,
Slowly opening their leaves:
Cautious arrival
xi.
Koi wiggle. Lilies
Are possible once again
In the still dark pool
xii.
Water, seed, and light:
Let the earth’s resurrection
Make a joyful noise
— Linda Dini Jenkins
Old South Reporter
(Back Issues)
OSC Reporter, a voice for the extended community of the Old South
Church, explores the mission of the church and aspects of the Christian
life through news, stories, poetry, essays, and commentaries
Communications
Committee:
Evan H. Shu, chair; Lois Harvey; Steve Silver, Janet Eldred, Elizabeth
England, Eleanor Jensen, David Clark, Helen McCrady, & Michael Fiorentino.
Deadline for next issue: June 19, 2005
Old South Church in Boston
Gathered 1669
A congregation of the United Church of Christ
645 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02116
(617)536-1970
(617)536-8061 Fax
http://www.oldsouth.org
Nancy S. Taylor, Senior Minister
Jennifer Mills-Knutsen, Assistant Minister
Katherine Layzer, Interim Assistant Minister
Gregory M. Peterson, Minister of Music