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      Letter From The Rector
The Bishop’s Visit

 On Sunday, September 7, 2008, Bishop Gayle Harris, Suffragan Bishop of the Diocese of Massachusetts, will visit St. John’s Church. We will have one service at 10:00am on that day. Bishop Harris will preach, celebrate and meet with the congregation, the Vestry and other parish leaders after the morning service. Bishop Harris will report on the highlights of her trip to Lambeth and on the agreements forged at the Lambeth Conference. Her sermon will, no doubt, focus on recent events in the Anglican Communion but our Coffee Hour will be the time when an in-depth discussion of the issues facing the global Anglican family will take place. Bishop Harris will answer questions about the Anglican Communion, but most of all she will lead us in a conversation about our life in mission here at St. John’s Church.  

Bishop Gayle Harris was consecrated Bishop Suffragan (assisting bishop) in 2003. She is a vice chair of the Church Pension Fund Board of Trustees; serves on the Board of Directors of CREDO (a national resource program fostering Episcopal Church clergy leadership and wellness); and is a member of the Steering Committee of Bishops Working for a Just Society. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, she was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 in the Diocese of Newark. Prior to her consecration, she served most recently as rector of St. Luke and St. Simon Cyrene Church in Rochester, New York, where she was also an adjunct professor at Colgate Rochester Divinity School. (For a full biography click or enter this link in your browser- www.diomass.org/about/bishops.) Bishop Harris is looking forward to her visit to St. John’s and we pray that her time with us will be spiritually meaningful and blessed by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As I come to the conclusion of this letter, I want to encourage you to remember St. John’s Church during your summer vacation. The high price of gasoline and other increases are clear indications that we are living through very challenging economic times. In spite of these challenges, I hope and pray that you will keep St. John’s as a high priority when reviewing your financial goals. Without your continued support, the ministries of our parish will suffer. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19,20). In order to fulfill this mission, we must keep the work of Christ at the center of our lives. In so doing, we bless the world and open the door to the many blessings God has in store for those who keep the faith.

                                                                                                                          Ronald E. Ramsey   

Stewardship and Evangelism

Stewardship and Evangelism have been two important themes for the Diocese of Massachusetts and for our parish. As I have stressed for some time now, the two are inextricably bound together. The better we are at stewardship, the more evangelistic we become. The more evangelistic we are, the better stewards we become. The Christian Church is a proselytizing community. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples. Baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things as I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28: 19-20). We are called to make disciples who in turn make other disciples. We are the result of this disciple making activity. If we cease to be productive, fruit-bearing members of the body of Christ, there will be no one here to take our place when our day is done. Those who went before us understood their responsibility to blaze a trail, to chart the way, to provide for the future of the church. We now stand where they stood. We must continue to blaze the trail. We must continue to chart the way. We must continue to provide for the future.

As a collective body of believers, we have inherited many wonderful gifts, this building and the spirit of faith which inspired it, to name just a few. We have the opportunity, in fact the obligation to pass these gifts on to the next generations of Christians who will follow us. We can only do so if we follow the example of those who went before us. We must encourage others to follow Christ, to join us in our parish life, and we must be satisfied only when we have given as much, if not more than those who established this community and built this building. Those who have died have done their job. They have gone to live with God. It is now our responsibility to invite others, welcome the stranger and create a vibrant and vital parish experience.

Several years ago, as a parish, we embraced tithing as the biblical standard for giving. We are supported in this belief by the General Convention of the Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Massachusetts. The Letter to the Hebrews says, “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost, but among those who have faith and so are saved” (Hebs.10:39). We must go forward believing that our faithful stewardship will yield the abundant blessings of God.

I encourage you to reflect on the many ways God has blessed your life and then to commit to a higher standard of stewardship and a more intentional style of evangelism than you have known in the past. In his letter to the Ephesians, the Apostle Paul gives us this glowing encouragement: “Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine: Glory to him from generation to generation in the Church, and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever” (Ephesians 3:20).                                                                                                       

                                                                                       Ronald E. Ramsey