Jered Weber-Johnson writes: Our diocese of ECMN includes a staff of missioners and deans supporting our faith communities. (You can see more about the staff and what their roles mean here on the ECMN website.) Every week, any of the missioners or deans who have made a visit to one of the ECMN communities will write a report to share their experience with the other members of the staff, offering a sort of “field notes” to keep everyone in the know about what is happening in near and far-flung places across the state.
The Very Rev. Cindi Brickson, the Dean of the Southern Region, came to worship at St. John’s last month to hear her child James Elaine Lofgren Brickson preaching. Although she wasn’t here for an intentional Dean’s visit, she filed a report with the staff of missioners and deans anyway, and gave us permission to share her report on the E-vangelist. I encourage you to read it; getting the chance to “see” your home parish through the eyes of a visitor can be a validating and enlightening experience. Thank you for worshipping with us, Cindi!
by the Very Rev. Cindi Brickson
On May 28, I went to a service at St John the Evangelist to hear my eldest, James, preach. I found myself in the midst of a community of lively, faithful people and spent a lot of time connecting with folks I already know as well as meeting new ones.
I didn’t attend the 8am service; I was told it’s fairly traditional, tends to be quieter, and draws a smaller crowd. But I did arrive in time for the 9am forum on Celtic Spirituality, led by retired priest Ernie Ashcroft, partially as a preparation for an upcoming pilgrimage.
There were about 80 people at the 10am service. The group included folks of all ages, including families with children. I noted one family, who had recently moved to the neighborhood and spoke only Spanish, had already claimed St. John’s as their home and used the word “family” to describe others. (It was fun to see how much the family valued their new community despite obnoxious language challenges, most certainly at least in part because a number of parishioners made it a point to visit with them, even if their Spanish fluency was fairly minimal. They seem to be learning together. )
This service on the 4th Sunday was a Racial Healing Eucharist, part of their ongoing work of racial reconciliation. Everyone at worship seemed very connected to each other and to the service itself. Music (both hymns and songs from LEVAS) was led by the music director. The choir had the weekend off, and the community sang confidently and very well.
Also present for worship were Cynthia Bronson Sweigert (ECMN ecumenical officer) and another retired priest whom I met for the first time and whose name I do not recall; later, the Rev. Kate Maxwell came in to teach Community of Hope classes. The presence of so many clergy in a neighborhood parish always seems like an endorsement of the good ministry happening there, and I believe that is true in this case.
It is notable that this large building is very busy on Sunday mornings, with events that overlap each other in different spaces and the engagement of so many people. Inside of this old, impressive, historic church is a lively, relevant, growing faith community.
It was a great experience and I look forward to seeing how they continue to witness and worship in St. Paul.
