Dear Friends,
The way that the dates of September fall this year means that we have a whole stream of feast days that we are keeping! This Sunday, we will keep the Feast of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist. As many of you know, the Revised Common Lectionary of the Episcopal Church – used in all the mainstream churches including the Anglican, Roman Catholic, and Lutheran Churches – has a ‘controlling’ Synoptic Gospel for a liturgical year in a three-year cycle. We are currently in the year of Matthew and Fr. Luigi tells me that there will be some classes soon on Matthew’s Gospel.
On September 28, which is the Eve of the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, we will anticipate the Feast. The Holy Angels surround us with their ministry and, in the bible, they show us how to worship, love, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. That Sunday will end with the beautiful service of Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament which gives us a foretaste of heavenly worship.
You will, by now, have received the news that Fr. Schultz is currently on leave because he is named in a lawsuit that includes serious allegations. The lawsuit is not just against Fr. Schultz, but also against Saint Thomas Church, the Diocese, and other named individuals. I know that many of you are feeling a sense of profound shock and are upset about this. Please understand that, because of litigation, we cannot enter into discussions about this matter; our clergy and staff also have no further information to share with you at this time. Because the safety of all those in our communities is of paramount importance, and in accordance with best practices and our safe church policies, the Vestry has commissioned a third-party investigation into these allegations and that is why Fr. Schultz has been placed on leave for the duration of that investigation. The investigation will be undertaken by an external specialist legal firm and not by members of Saint Thomas staff.
Many of you have been ministered to by Fr. Schultz over the past few years, and he has maintained a faithful and prayerful presence at Saint Thomas. Nevertheless, we follow ‘best practice’ at Saint Thomas, and it is right that Fr. Schultz step back at this time. We remain utterly committed to maintaining a Beloved Community where safe church policies and practices are upheld, and our safeguarding monitoring committee ensures that those policies are implemented, including regular training for all clergy, vestry members, staff and volunteers; our baptismal covenant requires this.
I am grateful to the many emails and conversations that I have had since my sermon preached last Sunday. We live in violent times when people take it into their own hands to silence free speech. I know that some of you have found the assassination of Charlie Kirk deeply disturbing; violence like that has no place in a civilized society and our hearts go out to Charlie’s wife and children. In my sermon, I quoted some words of Charlie Kirk:
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive, welcome without judgment, love without condition, forgive without limit.”
There are many things that Charlie stood for that I struggled with or strongly disagreed with but, as a Christian, there were many things – like the words above – that I resonated with. That is the reality of our human condition and learning, as the former Archbishop of Canterbury said, ‘to disagree well’ is another indication of a civilized society. If you did not hear my sermon, you can read it here.
Meanwhile, our outreach project Neighbor to Neighbor continues to feed our neighbors who are hungry; this is part of our mission statement to worship, love, and serve our Lord Jesus Christ. 120 guests were fed breakfast last Saturday, and we now have a case-worker every Saturday who can help our guests with issues from housing to health. We also have clothing, toiletries, and backpacks available for those in need. As the fall will soon turn to winter, the need for volunteers to commit a little bit of time on a Saturday morning will grow. You can sign up to be a volunteer by clicking here. After breakfast, when the team for the day meets to de-brief and to pray, I am always struck by the comments from volunteers about the conversations that they have had with our guests. As we get to know people better, they are not just seen as strangers, or client or even guests but, truly, our neighbors.
Affectionately,
Your Priest and Pastor,
Carl
A Prayer for our Parish
Almighty and everliving God, ruler of all things in heaven and earth,
hear our prayers for this parish family. Strengthen the faithful,
arouse the careless, and restore the penitent.
Grant us all things necessary for our common life,
and bring us all to be of one heart and mind within your holy Church;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
