Fr Robert Hendrickson

Dear Friends,

This has been a busy weekend at Saint Philip’s.  On Friday night we said goodbye, for now, to a beloved member of the parish.  On Saturday afternoon we welcomed our bishop as she ordained a new deacon in the Episcopal Church.  In so many ways this is the nature of life in the Church - the commingling of joy and sorrow.  In addition to these moments we had a small wedding for a couple on Thursday and one of our priests heard a confession for the first time pronouncing absolution in the name of Christ.  We said morning prayer each day. We offered the Eucharist each day. 

On Saturday my predecessor as rector was standing and praying next to me as our new bishop made a new deacon. The Church is a river — it flows and each of us steps in and swims for a time as it makes its way and course.  Over time it erodes new paths and some branches dry up while others burst to life.  We step into the river and sometimes it gently eddies and gently carries us.  Sometimes we swim fiercely and other times just float.  Sometimes it roars and churns and even drowns us with its undertow.

This has been the nature of the Church since Christ’s own earthly ministry. He said goodbye to friends as he wept and mourned.  He pronounced forgiveness. His first miracle was at a wedding. He called men and women to ministry. He prayed with and for his friends. He broke bread with them and shared it with those who hungered.  

He set the waters stirring into which we are baptised. 

What we did this week is simply our small part of continuing that ministry — of daring the river. We are a ripple in the tide of love that was given its hope and force in the encounter of so many with the love and mercy of Christ. It is easy, at times, to get caught up in the minutia of business in the Church. Yet we get weeks like this that remind us that our whole task as a parish church is to ensure that Christ’s ministry continues through the hands and hearts of those who bear his name as Christians, as the Body of Christ, in this place, in this time, and for generations to come. 

Yours in Christ,

Robert