Mtr Taylor Devine

Dear Friends,

Yesterday we had two guests at the midday Eucharist. They came in just to visit the church, but their timing was great. Before we began the service we shared our prayers that we hoped could be offered up as intentions for the service. I learned a little bit about them—they were visiting from Colorado, here for the week. As we prayed together I noticed how well they knew the service! It turns out, of course, that she is the organist at their church, and that he is a long time Episcopalian. It was lovely to find some ease together in our prayers, though we had just met.

Before coming to Saint Philip’s I served in 6 churches either as a lay employee or intern. Among them there was only one other that was the type that someone would come into as a visitor in the midweek, typically. It was a colonial-era church close to D.C., full of historical significance and beauty. It’s a unique role, especially in this busy season, to welcome people into this sacred space, wherever they are coming from. Of course the space does a lot of the work, being open, being available, being a place that is drenched in prayer, the care taken with it speaking for itself. But it’s the many hands that care for it that stand out to me.

Whenever I prepare for a small midweek Eucharist I make up a tray of elements—the chalice and paten, the veil and purse, the water, wine, and Priest host. I clean them up when the service is done, but there are inevitably items that need additional care—a purificator to clean, a chalice to eventually polish, more wine to be ordered. The quiet but essential work of the Altar Guild and other ministries that make our life together possible inspire me in these moments. Building on a foundation laid by others, we in community benefit from each other’s work of so many types. It’s especially lovely to get to welcome strangers out of an abundance of these ties that bind us together.

As we prepare a place for Jesus in Advent—spiritually, and with our neighbors—I am grateful to get to work together and to experience God’s grace together, too.

In Christ,

Mtr Taylor