A GREENER CALLING
Amesbury - The congregation of St. James Episcopal in downtown Amesbury took the mission to honor God's creation to a level green.
The Rev. Susan Esco Chandler has a look at the energy bills of the church to see that the effort pays off. Soon she will be able to add the savings from a new series of initiatives that received support from the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts.
The diocese recently awarded a grant of $ 10,000 Saint-Jacques to help green with four draft energy conservation. Most of the money will be used to defray the cost of replacing a 13-foot-tall, leaky stained glass window and repairing and insulating the back wall of the sanctuary, according to Doug Hoyt, a church member overseeing the project.
Although the repairs and window installation come with a $71,000 price tag, the wall's thermal efficiency will improve by 300 percent, Hoyt said.
Established in 2010, the diocese's Green Grants Initiative was created to encourage, challenge and support congregations in environmental stewardship, a philosophy that fits perfectly with the green agenda that St. James adopted two years ago, Chandler said. The program is open to all 185 churches in the diocese; selected applicants receive up to $10,000 out of the $50,000 total available.
"We're all stewards of what we've inherited and what we've been given, so that stewardship is an important part of how we take care of our buildings and properties and how we take care of our people in the church and outside of the church," Chandler said. "It's all part of the big package."
Even before Hoyt and three other church members teamed up last fall to write the grant application, the concept of going green was driving investments and decisions. A high-efficiency furnace and barrels for the collection of rainwater were purchased, and energy-saving lighting was installed. The congregation especially welcomed the programmable thermostats, which eliminated the need to crank up the electrical baseboard heating and, as a result, cut utility costs by $1,000 last winter, Hoyt said.
Lent Sermon Series - News
The Season of Creation, which runs until the first Sunday in November, also lent itself to sermons about the environment, she said. "It's definitely something many churches are very interested in pursuing," she said. "I think we're all more aware of
Emerson did preach in St. Augustine the same sermon he had used to qualify to preach in New England several months before. No word on how that was received, Griffin noted. For the first time he saw the system of slavery in practice.
For Matthew, I've been sending an e-mail to the congregation weekly with the full chapter for the week, but in worship we only read the section on which my sermon is focusing. However, members of the congregation do bring up questions from time to time
The exceptions to all of this will be Advent and Lent, when we will go back to the lectionary. I think that a request for a pastor's sermon's to Go deeper could be a cop-out for the congregation not going deeper themselves. “going deeper” means to me
“There are priests who really deliver their sermons at performance level and it really works. But I guess you have to find your own style. I accompany my homily with a Keynote or Powerpoint presentation. I have been working with students in Xavier
Passionate Worship - Skokie Central Church Sermons
(2010). So my summary of the Bishop Schnase Five practices a combination of hardware and Bishop Schnase mine. For a more complete version, see the books of Bishop Schase. You can also learn more Bishop Schnase Five Practices http://fivepractices.org/ site, or instead http://www.fivepractices.cokesbury.com/ Cokesbury - Pastor Haley]
If we are gourmets and gourmands, people who enjoy cooking and eating food (and some of us are), the most important thing is the meals, the dining experience.
If we are sports fans (and some of us are), whether Cubs, Sox, Bulls, Bears, or Blackhawks, who follow the game and wear the gear, the most important thing is the GAME.
If we are musicians (and some of us are), having learned and practiced for years, followers of the great artists and orchestras, the most important thing is the CONCERT.
If we are travelers (and some of us are), we drive old cars and budget and plan for months, all for the sake of the TRIP.
I could go on, but you get the point. Just as the meal is to eating and the game is to sports and the concert is to musicians and the trip is to travelers, so is WORSHIP to those of us who love God and follow Christ. Worship is where it all happens and comes together, the most important hour of the week. The congregation gathers, we praise God, we read the Scriptures, we pray, we give, we gather around God’s table, and we go forth to serve. Through worship, vibrant, fruitful, growing churches connect people to God and to each other.
We continue today with our study of the Five Practices for fruitful congregations and fruitful living.For those not here last week, the five practices from two books written by Bishop Robert Schnase, Bishop of the Missouri United Methodist Church of the five practices of fruitful congregations (2010). These five practices are radical hospitality. Passionate worship. Intentional faith development. Risk-taking mission and service. Extravagant generosity.