Category Archives: Nurturing

Pastoral care by a lay ministry team

Why Change Faiths, Or Lose It Entirely?

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Has your faith changed? Do you even have it anymore? Do you still feel some attraction toward spirituality, but don’t believe what you thought you believed when you were younger? Changes in faith can be difficult to talk about, but they’re clearly not uncommon.

People change, and they often have questions whose answers change as they grow through life from beginning to middle to end. Some people lose any belief in God they may have had, and in our pluralistic society, this is not to be condemned; but those of us who are believers should question why some people feel they’ve been hurt or not served well by “the institutional church.”

As we heard in Father Manny’s sermon today, if we are invited to a banquet, we should sit at the lowest place so that we might be invited by the host to a place of greater honor.. and if we give a banquet, we should offer it to the poor, the friendless, the sick, the crippled, and “the least of these” in society. We’re called to invite all, welcome all, honor all… and not be downcast if the invitation is not accepted and the welcome refused, or the honor rejected.

We simply continue to invite, welcome, honor… and offer community and fellowship to all.

The recent story of author Anne Rice’s public journey away from organized religion while remaining a believer in Christ and His ministry to the poor, the sick, and the friendless has been all over the Internet – but Barna Research shows that Anne Rice is one among many Americans who on a similar spiritual path.

The Barna Group – Do Americans Change Faiths?

When author Anne Rice recently “quit Christianity” on her Facebook page, she lit up the blogosphere and sparked interest among media. Though the novelist announced that this time she was quitting “in the name of Christ,” her previous journey away from – and back to – the Christian faith had been well chronicled.

Just how common is this type of experience for Americans? How many Americans change faiths? A multi-year study conducted by the Barna Group explores the percentage of Americans who report shifting to a different faith or significantly changing their faith views during their life.

Changing Faith
Anne Rice is not alone. She shares a spiritual profile with nearly 60 million other adults nationwide. In the Barna study, the matter of faith switching was explored in several ways. First, respondents identified their childhood faith, if any, and then were asked to list their current faith allegiance. A comparison of the two answers showed that nearly one-quarter of adults (23%) had moved from one faith or faith tradition to another. This definition of faith change included those who switched from Catholic to Protestant and vice versa, but did not include those who changed from one Protestant denomination to another within the Protestant tradition. Overall, an additional 12% of adults had shifted affiliations but had not altered their Protestant orientation.

The Woman With The Alabaster Jar

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The Woman With The Alabaster Jar

And a woman in the city,
who was a sinner,
having learned
that he was eating in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment.

She stood behind him at his feet,
weeping,
and began to bathe his feet
with her tears
and to dry them
with her hair.
Then she continued kissing his feet
and anointing them with the ointment.

— from the Gospel of Luke
Signs & Wonders

This Week’s News

Can you help prepare some meals?

Kelly Klotz and her son Odin were with us for the first time this past Sunday, and a few days later while at the church, Kelly fell and tore a bunch of ligaments in one of her ankles.

She is in a lot of pain, and is also a single mom. Steve is coordinating some dinners for her and Odin while she (literally) gets back on her feet. If you can help, let him know.

Survey will help us decide Fall worship schedule

With the debut of our Saturday liturgy set for September 18, we will soon have to decide whether to continue our Sunday schedule of worship at 9 and 11 a.m. or bring together those liturgies into a single 10 a.m. worship experience.

This is a big decision and one we won’t make without your input.

We’ll have a survey available at church the next two Sundays, and we’ll add an online survey later in the month to make sure everyone has had a chance to weigh in.

Combining our two existing liturgies into one is a change we would prefer not to make and certainly will not make lightly, as we do not want to disrupt your Sunday routine.

At the same time, if a goodly number of our present Sunday worshippers are likely to become Saturday worshippers, we probably will combine the two Sunday liturgies. That’s because one larger liturgy will make for a much more vibrant experience than two small liturgies.

Before we make a big decision such as this, we want to hear from everyone who will be affected by it. So look for the survey, complete it, and make sure your voice is heard. Thanks!

New Bishop’s Committee members

During the very brief business session we held at last week’s parish potluck — we were having so much fun, leaders decided all the other business could wait — Steve Raftery and Jessica Tamaski were elected to the bishop’s committee. The congregation also ratified the earlier selection of Paul Swanson Jr.

Celebrating fathers

Now that our May celebration of mothers has ended, Manny is inviting us to celebrate fathers during June.

If you’d like, bring a photo of your father — or of anyone who has been like a father to you — and place it on the table set aside for photos.

WHAT A GREAT DAY

Toward the end of this past Sunday’s potluck, I was in the sacristy saying goodbye to Manny Fr. Steve Martzas he prepared to head to Detroit to spend time with his family.

I commented that the spirit and energy of the day had taken my breath away. “Sometimes,” I said, “I become so caught up in the day-to-day activities here that I lose sight of what an incredible place this really is. Then we have a day like today and I just want to pinch myself so I never again forget how amazing this church really is.”

“I know,” said Manny. “I try to describe what St. Nick’s is like to other people, but it is something you have to experience. It’s unlike any other congregation I’ve known. I just really love everyone here.”

The journalist in me wishes I could remember word-for-word what Manny said next. I don’t want to get the quote wrong, so I will just say the gist of it was that St. Nicholas elicits in him some of the same feelings his family does.

Given the depth of his affection for his family, that is high praise for St. Nicholas.

Indeed, it is hard to describe what makes this congregation as special as it is. None of us can exactly put our finger on it. But most of us can feel it. This past Sunday, it was palpable, and it was amazing. Joy seemed to be floating among us.

I share all of this to make sure you know how loved and appreciated you are. And to thank you for being who and what you are.

— Steve

PS — As always I welcome your thoughts.

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Father Steve’s Corner

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Steve headshot

Who knew meetings could be this much fun? I sure didn’t. I reported last week on the great meeting we had October 4 about children’s formation.That was followed on Thursday the 8th by a phenomenal meeting of a team that will guide development of our new Saturday evening liturgy. The meeting was filled with laughter, energy, and good ideas. (By the way, that team is being led by MaryAnneO’Rourke. Contact her at mor1313@yahoo.com if you are interested in helping with that liturgy.)

Then this past Sunday we had an equally phenomenal parish meeting. We broke into four groups to consider the four different aspects of what I call the “Invite-Welcome-Nurture-Share” paradigm for growing our church. In that paradigm, we think carefully about effective ways to invite people to St. Nicholas, how to welcome them and help them become a part of the congregation once they come, how to nurture our spiritual growth and meet their – and our — spiritual and human needs, and, finally, how to share with others the gifts of faith and inner growth that we experience.

Each of the breakout groups did a fine job and we were able at the end to react as one large group to their work. We also decided that we will meet again soon to continue our work, focusing on the Invite aspect of the paradigm.

Subsequent meetings will focus on the three other topics. A summary of the ideas generated during this past Sunday’s meeting will be compiled and printed in next week’s One Bread, One Body. For now, two quick comments.

First, thank you to everyone who participated. The turnout was strong and the discussions thorough. There is a lot of energy and commitment at St. Nicholas, and that bodes well as we move forward.

Second, as I said on Sunday, we are clearly in a major structural transition. We have outgrown our old ways of governance and need to grow into new forms. This will not happen overnight, but Sunday’s meeting reassures me that we are on our way.

In particular, we are moving from a system in which I and a few other leaders have been the “visioners” (my awkward term) and “deciders” (W’s awkward term) to one in which many voices contribute and decision-making is more broadly shared.

This is going to be an exciting and engaging transition for both the congregation and for me. On the one hand, my longstanding preference for collaborative leadership will urge me to give away “power” quickly, even gleefully. It is exciting to have people stepping forward, with all sorts of good (if occasionally competing) ideas.

On the other, I know we will need to move forward in ways that a) create a safe container for divergent (and occasionally competing) voices and viewpoints, and b) maintain continuity with — while not genuflecting before — the vision that has attracted so many of us to St. Nicholas.

No doubt this will be challenging, but what a delightful challenge to have before us.

Lots of love,
Steve

Please continue to share your thoughts anything that’s on your mind. Email me at 1bread1body@sbcglobal.net. Or contact me by phone at 630.476.6425.