Dcn Tom Lindell

Greetings my brothers and sisters,

Weekly in “Bell & Tower” there is a feature called “In Conversation…” that shares information about parishioners’ involvement with the parish. I am most interested in the questions about what attracted those interviewed to Saint Philip’s. I reviewed all 30 interviews since the first of the year to gather information into seventeen categories. I was particularly interested in aspects relating to people and community, something to which I personally relate.

I was initially disappointed to find only three responses to “community,” until I began to collapse the following categories: People/Relationships; Friendliness; and Welcoming/Inclusiveness. Together they represented the second highest category after Volunteer Opportunities, followed by Music, and Liturgy/Tradition/Worship.

The single, most important reason I attend Saint Philip’s is because of the people. I return each week to gather in the presence of friends I enjoy seeing on a regular basis. I view this community as my surrogate family since my own family of origin lived far away when we first moved to Tucson in 1970.

As a professor at the University of Arizona, I used to counsel many students who wanted to go to medical school. (What they really wanted was a letter of recommendation, but I would only agree to do so after I got to know them better.) I was struck by a single question I would routinely ask these young people, “What is your community?” They were, to a person, stymied. They would respond that they had a close group of friends who would go to movies and bars together. I would then ask, what will be your community when you all graduate and go your separate ways? They had no idea. How does one go about finding or creating community? I certainly had no intention of suggesting that they find a church community, but once they settled down to a career and started a family, a welcoming church community might be a good place to start.

I have heard numerous comments from parishioners about how pleased they are that Saint Philip’s has begun to attract young families with children. Let’s hope that this continues. At the other end of the spectrum, the church can take what we know about community to those in care and retirement homes. This is, in fact, being done very effectively by leadership at Saint Philip’s who are taking church to those who can no longer physically attend. Last year alone over 620 Communions were administered in just two locations, and now three more locations have been added as others have volunteered to assume this ministry from Saint Philip’s. The beautiful part of this ministry is that it is open to all who wish to attend. Kudos to Sunny Bal and Bill Sartor who started this ministry and now numerous others who have joined in this worthy effort.

God Speed!
—Dcn Tom

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson