A Great Sunday

A really good day at church. Lots of stuff going on. For starters, it was Matthew's last Sunday. He has made quite an impression in his two years as Music Director, and the congregation is certainly sad to see him go. He took the opportunity of his last Sunday to make hymn picks that were very indicative of his time with us. I was proud of him, and glad that he has been able to do so much to shape the musical tastes and vocabulary of the parish.

The kids prepared a little surprise for him--a hymn written to celebrate Matthew to the tune of "Lord of the Dance." Very cute. I presented him with a nice framed photograph of Matthew and some of the kids making music with signatures along the matte border. Matthew gave us a framed copy of two pieces of music. One is an anthem he wrote based on the church's history. Another is an Alleluia his mother wrote after being inspired by one of our parishioners. Very nice. I prayed for him using a collect for "Transitions in Ministry" in the Book of Occasional Services.

We also commissioned a new Warden, Caroline. I used a short ceremony that including handing her the keys to the church as a symbol of her ministry. I'm really glad to finally have a third warden, and pleased that my patience in this matter paid off. Sometimes you just have to give the Spirit time!

Preaching was interesting. I decided to go with the Song of Songs and preach about sex. It was a tight, crisp sermon that people seemed to really enjoy. It made me nervous to preach it, however, as I could easily imagine communities that would freak out if the pastor talked this way. I trusted my COTM crew to be cool with it. One of them told me afterwards about how one my predecessors preached about sex at least twice using some very personal anecdotes, so my sermon was entirely non-controversial!

We had a visitor who grew up Pentecostal who also enjoyed the sermon and told me that it was really refreshing to hear something preached that would be impossible to do in her previous community. Sweet. I love that kind of feedback. Anyway, I'm looking forward to posting that sermon soon.

We had cake (it was a "Polychronia Sunday") and coffee and much joy. Many of the kids were back from camps. Came home and fell asleep watching football.

-t

Softball, cigars, Betsy update....

Softball last night was fun. My batting was much improved from two weeks ago--I managed several base hits, two ground-outs, and a fly-out to left field. Not bad, considering. I rewarded myself with a Cigar. I don't smoke very often, but playing ball with the guys in the park, wife away, seemed like the right time to indulge. I deeply thankful that I have an opportunity like this to hang out with guys my own age and do and say the sorts of things that guys do and say when they are together. Ah... bonding!

It's starting to become a mad dash to get stuff done before my trip. I have almost exactly a week left! I have my annual ministry review with Bishop Yu this afternoon. In the mean time I'm working on several other projects. I MUST finish the job description for the Minister of Music position today or tomorrow so I can start advertising that job before I go away on vacation. That way we can have interviews lined up for when I return. I originally drafted up some notes and other stuff right after Matthew announced that he would be leaving at the end of the summer, but I'm glad I've waited this long to finish that project. The time has given me new perspective on what kind of musician and worship leader I want and how I want to present it. Interestingly, the congregation has not said much to me about this except to express gratitude and appreciation for what Matthew has done. As usual, people seem to trust that the parish leadership will make a good decision about the future of the music programme, and no one feels the need to push a particular agenda. I think I have a pretty good idea of what people liked about Matthew and would like to see retained.

I talked with Betsy today. She is well. Belly getting bigger. Athens getting hotter. She is learning a lot, but the programme is intensive. Lots of homework and memorization to do. Interestingly, her roommate in a New Testament Professor who graduated from Union Theological (where my sister is currently studying). It's a good school, and I suddenly seem to have a lot of connections to it.

-t

MLK Sunday -- We Shall Overcome

The COTM choir singing "We Shall Overcome" at the MLK service this year.

We Shall Overcome Church of the Messiah (Anglican), Toronto Martin Luther King Day
Matthew Tran-Adams, conductor, piano
Anne Adams, bass
David Pontello, drums

-t

MLK Sunday -- Lift Every Voice and Sing

Here is another video of the choir singing at the MLK service this year:

Lift Every Voice and Sing Martin Luther King Day Church of the Messiah, Toronto
Matthew Tran-Adams, piano, conductor
Anne Adams, bass
David Pontello, drums.

-t

MLK Sunday -- Deep River

Here is a music video of our choir singing the spiritual "Deep River" on MLK Sunday...

The Church of the Messiah Choir (Anglican) from Toronto performs the spiritual "Deep River" combined with Martin Luther King's last speech. This was performed for our annual Martin Luther King service.
Matthew Tran-Adams, conductor

-t

Videos By Matthew

Matthew, the Director of Music at COTM, made two music videos to promote the church while I was away. I put them up on the COTM website, but will cross-post them here for those who are interested. In both cases Matthew conducted the choir, of course.


Akakomborerwa from the "Shona Mass"
Composed by Lee R. Kesselman


The 23rd Psalm
Composed by Bobby McFerrin

I'm amassed a big library of videos from church services and events in the last year and I really need to work hard to carve out the time to edit some of them together myself! Thank God I'm not the only creative and tech-savvy guy around here.

-t

COTM Does Gospel

In all the busy-ness lately, I haven't had chance to post about the choir's recent adventure. They went to a one-day Gospel Music workshop on Saturday. The event ended with a concert that I attended. Our choir even got to do a special piece on their own that was really nice. It was great to see our choir shine, and I think they got something out it. Matthew is already thinking about next year!

-t

The Concert

The Concert on Sunday night was a complete success. We had 88 people there, which was many more than we expected considering the blizzard that had been raging most of the day. Even better, many were people we had never seen before. The whole point, after-all, was to provide something for the neighborhood community.

The music program itself was excellent and a lot of a fun. I was incredibly proud of Matthew and the choir. I was so pleased with how everything turned out.

-t

Advent Solution Found!

As many of you who read this probably know, one of the real challenges right now is figuring out what we are going to do with Advent. In the past, it seemed like they were decorating too early for Christmas and too late for Advent (as one person puts it). I believe that we need to respect the constraints of liturgical time, and that means that we don't do Christmas until Christmas. But today in our staff meeting Matthew came up with a really good suggestion--we will decorate the church in the traditional manner, but do so in a series of steps or stages. Certain things will go up for Advent I, and then more for Advent II, etc. One of the great parts of this is that the folks who really like doing the "greening" of the church on Advent III can still do that for Advent III. Then in advance of Advent IV we'll simply add something else (perhaps the creche). Think of it an extension of the Advent Wreath becoming progressively brighter as the season progresses. So now everybody should be happy! I get my liturgically effective sense of progression through seasons and the congregation gets to decorate the place the way they've always done it. I'm greatly relieved to have a solution that ought to be workable.

We got lots of other work done in our staff meeting. I'm pleased. I'm also tired...

-t

Record Setting Sunday

Today we had 109 souls in church! To find as many on a Sunday previous, I had to go back to Easter Sunday, 2006! Before that it's Easter Sunday 2005, etc. Pretty cool, I must say, though many of those people because of the birthday of a venerable member of our congregation. Of course, it's unfashionable to obsesses over attendance to much--it's not a marker of church health at all, but I still can't help feeling pretty satisfied. It was a really energetic service, too, that included Matthew's Drum Circle kids making their liturgical debut. Meghan Bold also did a dance number with the kids.

Because it was also All Saints (transfered from Thursday) I preached about the kingdom of heaven and worked in the idea of the dancing saints (cf. Gregory of Nyssa--the Saint and the Church). The kingdom of heaven, I argued, is a dynamic and populated place of perfected and harmonious nature dancing in delight (cf. Psalm 149, 150). I went on from there and then invited the kids to dance. At the end of the dance the kids went and pulled adults from the congregation and got them dancing, too. It really got people excited and joyful, which was precisely the point!

After the service a number of people came up to me with ideas and initiatives they want to pursue. One person suggested a mural of dancing saints in the nave. Another wanted to talk about canvassing the neighborhood to attract new members. Another described plans to create a wheelchair ramp up to the coffee hour area. All worthy ideas that will have their day. Of course, it would be impossible to pursue them all myself, so I'm incredibly thankful that these ideas are coming from the congregation. So that's where I'll find the energy and people-power to develop them.

Yes, yes, a good day at church. The funny thing is that last night I was totally in a funk about the whole parish church project. I was moping about how hard parish ministry is, etc., etc. It's a little depression dance that pastors like to do sometimes. But even as I thought these things I realized that I was really just feeling stressed out and spiritually tried, so I put on some intense music (Beta Band, in this case) and got in a better mood. Playing with the kitty helped, too.

Variability in mood is a real problem for people in the helping professions. We tend to identify with our vocations in a strong way that means that we tend to take stuff way too seriously. If things aren't going well for "our people" we get gloomy. If they do well (like today) then we get all giddy. There is wisdom is seeking a more detached way, but who wants a detached priest? I mean, I know priests that try to maintain that kind of level-headedness, but it doesn't seem to be what our age is calling for. No, this is an age for priests made of fire--or at least water....

Betsy's coming home tonight. I'm pleased about that--I have an nice surprise for her when she comes home.

Last night I went to the Brampton Symphony Philharmonic for the world premiere of a piece written by Matthew called "The Refugee Child." It was a lovely piece. Neat to see something a fried wrote performed by a whole orchestra. Apparently, after the show Matthew attended an "Imperial Reception" for a Vietnamese Princess who attended the show. It's not everyday you meet an honest-to-God Princess, alas, I was not invited. But that's okay--I have a Princess at home.

-t

Thanksgiving and Aftermath

(Canadian) Thanksgiving went well. We had some friends over and enjoyed the usual poultry and fixings. After everyone left I recovered by watching an incredible game of Monday Night Football. Took the trash out and went to bed.

A crazy busy day today. Can't talk about part of it for confidentiality reasons, but suffice it to say that I came away from the morning feeling thankful for the work of the Holy Spirit to inspire ministry. It's nice to know we've got a friend in the Paraclete.

We had a good meeting with Jeremy Elliot at Paul Hahn Pianos. He showed Bryan, Matthew, and I around the shop. Matthew played a few of the pianos and we had a discussion about what we want and don't want for the church piano. Jeremy had some insights to offer about what they will be able to provide for us, and the whole experience was positive. He's going to write up a proposal and we'll see where we go from there. This whole process reminds me a lot of match making.

I got back to the church just in time to answer a few e-mails and then go online for a teleconference demonstrating some church management software. This is essentially an integrated database package that can track contact information, contributions, and facilitate communications in a big way. For instance, at the end of the year you can ask the program to print tax receipts for all the givers automatically. Currently COTM does that task by hand. It also makes managing mailing lists (both e-mail and snail mail) very efficiently. There are lots of other fun and useful features as well--all part of the modern pastor's tool bag.

That reminds me... I need to get a white board for my office. I'm way too visual a problem solver not to have one.

-t

Drum Circle

Matthew leading the kids in a drum circle after Worship last Sunday.

Monday "off"

Although it's Monday, I'm feeling exhausted. Spent the last eight hours doing domestic errands with Betsy. That included yet another run to Home Depot and Ikea. At Home Depot I took an initial scout of their lighting department to see what I might use in the (old) Rectory to help it rent. There is a lot that needs updating there, and light fixtures are an easy target (so are the window treatments). There are some other details that will need to be addressed at the Rectory as well.

To tell the truth, I'm a bit annoyed that no one at the church has a made an effort to put eyes on the problem before this point. It costs us something like $1500 a WEEK when it's not rented, so changing a few sconces and window treatments is trivial. Of course, the place rented so easily last time that no one anticipated it sitting empty so long. I'm going to talk to our property management person tomorrow and see if we can formulate a plan. Organizing some kind of parish work part might be possible, but I suspect that it will take too long. We need to get stuff done ASAP. It will be an interesting exercise to see what's like to get this brick and mortar improvements to the (old) Rectory.

But the main purpose of the Home Depot part of the trip was to get trash barrels and the second part of the safety harness I need to scale the parapet on top of the bell tower. I'll need some other hardware before taking that risk, including a nice long and strong safety rope and the rope or wire I'm going to actually run up the pole.

I swung through the tools department to ogle a table saw. I've been lusting after one of these for a while. I've got several projects in mind for one of these babies. I need a little credence table, for example, that can hold a few prayer books.

Next we went to Ikea. We were quickly feeling overwhelmed, but did manage to buy some odds and ends to help our new home seem homier. Those included a few rugs, a dresser for the guest room, night stands for our bedroom, and other little bits and pieces. I also couldn't resist picking up some Elderberry juice from the Norwegian Food Market part of the store to see if it goes good with Vodka. Yes, indeed it does go well with Vodka. It's also distinctive enough to be a conversation piece when company comes.

Lest you think I've been completely domesticated with my trips to Ikea and signature cocktails, consider the dream I had last night. In it I went to Mountain Equipment Co-Op to buy climbing rope and a good knife. In the dream I spend a long time examining the various folding knives looking for the just the right blade. When you hold this kind of knife, it should beg to snapped open in a flash. It should give you the feeling of confidence, as though you could be that Man Vs. Wild guy. You want to think, yes, I could stake my life on this piece of steal.

Interestingly, I get the same feeling from the BAS I bought for myself at ABC a few weeks back. It's thinner than the pew editions, and has a vinyl cover instead of those crappy cardboard covers. Having that in my hands is real comfort. I feel even more confident with the American BCP, of course. So confident that I didn't even need it most of the time I was doing hospital chaplaincy, I had the relevant material memorized!

Tomorrow will be a big day. It starts with a walk through of the church with a contractor. Soon after that I'm having lunch with Doug C. (former Music Director at COTM). In the evening we are having dinner with (Betsy's) Uncle Michael. He often comes to Toronto on business and we try to get together with him when he does. He is a marvelous spiritual support for Betsy and me. The kind of man that means it when he says, "We are praying for you."

The more I think about it, the prouder I am of Sunday night's service. We really pulled together a marvelous liturgy. Better than I even expected. A lot of that was because Matthew did a fantastic job planning, preparing, and executing his parts. But the rest of us contributed our parts, as well. I'm looking forward to praising the whole team this week.

Right now I'm going to finish watching the Monday Night Football game that I recorded on my PVR while we were out at Ikea. God is really good to me these days.

-t

Quick Sunday Recap

Today is a crazy day--as Sundays often are for me. We just wrapped up this morning's service and it's coffee hour. Now I have to go home to get ready for a party we are having at our house for the medievalists in Betsy's department. Yes, there are people called "medievalists"--which is kind of cool.

The service went well. I preached okay--but not as passionate as I sometimes get. That's probably just a function of settling in and getting to know the place better.

Matthew did a drum circle with the kids during coffee hour--they did an impressive job. This is an incubator project for future things that might happen during the liturgy, of course.

After the party this afternoon we're coming back for my Induction service at COTM with the bishop.

Busy, busy, busy...

-t

Piano

The Paul Hahn and Company have graciously lent us one of their pianos for this weekend's services. Here is a picture of a happy Matthew Tran-Adams on the keys...

Hopefully we'll be able to find the money or a patron so that we can get one these babies permanently. Matthew's training was in piano performance--so we are looking forward to letting him loose with a proper instrument...

-t

Holy Cross

On Holy Cross day I went back to SMM for a farewell mass. It was a rainy night, and the sound of the rain on the roof and coming through the open clerestory was quite romantic. I preached a solid sermon that people liked. At the offertory Stephanie Martin premiered a beautiful piece dedicated to me. Matthew (COTM's Director of Music) was impressed and wants to do it here, too. I was quite moved by the music and almost missed the moment when they cense the lady chapel. There were a lot more people than expected--so many that we nearly ran out of bread at the service and definitely ran out of chairs at the potluck! Rob Castle said some nice things about me and presented me a purple stole as a gift from the parish. I also got to say some things.

It was great to see everyone, but I definitely felt as though I had already moved out. No doubt the general busy-ness of COTM has contributed that feeling.

Worship this morning at COTM went well. We are starting to get a bit more dialed-in. The chancel guild even "vested" the chalice in a more traditional manner for me--though the corporal wasn't folded quite correctly, yet. No worries, we have years to get it perfect and there are many other things that are of larger concern. For example we have a big meeting of the "Corporation" (Wardens + Clergy) on Tuesday. Many things to discuss and decide.

Now it's time for some football!

-t

Finlandia

Matthew was playing the tune for "Finlandia" by Jean Sibelius a second ago. It's a hymn tune that really stirs my soul. We are singing it this Sunday.

This morning Megan and I went Belmont House to do a Eucharist service. We said a short version of the 1962 Mass downstairs in the chapel and then upstairs to a floor with folks with mental impairments to do an even shorter service of worship (complete with Don on peppy keyboard doing "Jesus Love Me" and other hymns familiar to an older generation). It was a really lovely experience. As I was riding down the elevator afterwards with Megan and Don I had to tell them what a luxury it was to have them with me to do this ministry.

Back at COTM we had a flurry of e-mails and phone about administrative matters. There has been a lot of stuff that was put on hold with the mantra "When the New Incumbent Comes" that is suddenly on my shoulders. So now we are moving on all sorts of fronts all at once. It does feel very satisfying, though, to feel like we are making rapid progress on getting stuff under control. We are evening starting to establish important pieces of the leadership infrastructure--not just regular staff meetings and other rituals of connection, but also deeper rhythms of trust and communication. As a result we are already outlining our creative liturgy plans between now and the end of December. It's a beautiful moment!

Speaking of staff meetings, we had a two hour one today--longer than is ideal, but necessary given all the stuff to be discussed and decided.

BTW, have I praised my most excellent ministry team today? They rock. Megan even brought cinnamon buns to the staff meeting!


Doesn't that look inviting? I climbed the first ladder today just to see what was up there--I saw several stages of aluminum ladders. They are all quite dusty, but the actual heights between stages looks entirely doable. I once climbed a truly scary ladder in the Holy Cross bell tower that had me suspended 25 feet or more on nailed-together 2"x4"s that kept springing up and down with every slight movement of my shivering body. Ain't ministry grand?

-t

Staff Meeting

Megan (Pastoral Associate), the Parish Administrator, Barbara, and I had an informal Eucharist this morning. The intimacy of such a close quarters liturgy was quite nice, actually, and prayerful. This kind of "staff" Eucharist is likely to become a regular thing for us--really continuing a tradition of the parish that I inherited anyway. Also said Morning Prayer with the crew.

These kinds of intimate prayer moments are suddenly coming a lot to me. Last night I was at Bishop Colin's house for a meeting of young clergy and lay leaders. Because it rained, we ended up having much of our conversation in his living room. There weren't enough chairs, so many of us (including the Bishop and me) ended up sitting on the floor. By that time there was significant sharing of experiences going on and it felt wonderful. The bishop was clearly enjoying the moment as well, and ended the night by reading a passage of scripture, reflecting on it with us, leading us in the Lord's Prayer, and then blessing us. I'm sure these kinds of high-energy conversations about active ministry are much more satisfying to him than many of the things that fill his days.

This morning at church I was still feeling the buzz from that pleasant evening with burgers, ice cream, and ministry talk. No doubt it left me in the perfect frame of mind for all the team building that today involved. After Morning Prayer there was some e-mail and phone calls to deal with. Then Matthew (Director of Music) arrived and we went to lunch at the Pour House. That gave us a chance to tell some stories and enjoy each other's company.

After we got back, Megan joined us again and we had a marathon staff meeting. After we did some planning for upcoming events (including Friday morning's meeting of the Corporation) we did some brainstorming about projects and priorities for near and long term. Lots of great ideas made it onto the flip chart I was using. Some are going to have to wait a bit--others can be implemented easily. For example, our Cantor, Laura, is going to teach the kids some Taize music and then they are going to teach it to the congregation. We are also going to change the position of the organ console slightly and fix some light switches and start working two grant proposals and on and on and on.... Pretty soon it was 5.30 and time to wrap it up--but we all felt as though we had accomplished a great deal. I have a fantastic Ministry Team that is showing every sign of coming to a groove!

I still haven't climbed the belltower--but I will soon. First I have to make a trip to the hardware store so that I have some line to run up the flag pole once I do get up there. I'm also thinking that I should think about getting a safety harness so that I can climb the tower with some security. I'm told that the rungs are very far apart toward the top!

BTW, heard today that there is a rumor going around the parish that I'm only going to stick around for two years. It's untrue, of course, and may simply be based on speculation that I'll leave once Betsy's degree is finished. I suppose I wasn't clear enough in my sermon when I said, "This is my dream job." I should have said, "I'm not going to abandon you!" Anyway, I'm going to squash this rumor on Sunday with a friendly announcement about my intention to stick around for good long while.

Made more progress getting my office organized as well as the house (once I got home). Both are looking more and more like we want them. Really starting to feel at home, now...

Time for bed!

-t

Messiah...

I'm here, at Church of the Messiah. Got my computer working and some of my books unpacked. Today was a day for unpacking and for making decisions about things coming up this weekend that simply must be decided. For the moment I'm taking the advice of my wiser friends (such as Mary Gates) and making few changes at COTM. This first Sunday or two is a chance for people to meet me and for me to begin to get to know them. No need to scare them utterly this first few weeks!

My "Induction" Service has been scheduled for Sunday, 23 September, at 7 P.M. This is the occasion for Bishop Patrick Yu to welcome me to the parish and for everyone to celebrate the beginning of a new ministry. It fits alongside my "Welcome Sunday" this weekend and the "Institution" service held in the Diocesan Chapel last week and my farewell service at SMM on the 14th of September. I don't anyone can say there hasn't been sufficient liturgy to mark the beginning of my term here!

So far--so good. The Parish Administrator and Megan and Matthew have all been very gracious to me. It feels great to be here. My wings feel less cramped already!

-t

Updates

Megan, her husband Chris, and Matthew were over last night for dinner. They left 5 1/2 hours later after a very stimulating night of talk and food. There are so many juicy projects to start at COTM its hard to know where to start. Yet I know the answer to that: "it's about the people, stupid."

We might have come up with a T-Shirt design, as well. Imagine a picture of COTM converted to black outline with a pirate flag flying off the bell tower. The caption would read: "The Church of the Messiah / Under New Management." Lol. I think that might be too cocky even for me! Perhaps just as a coffee mug?

-t