Old South Summer 2007 Reporter: articles, stories, life, Old

Many of you have noticed the sign language interpreters at 11:00 am Old South worship services on the first and third Sundays of each month. They are interpreting for deaf and hard-of-hearing members and visitors at Old South. Since I’m the person who requested them, I thought I’d write a brief article about sign language and interpreters, so everyone would know a little bit more about what they add to our faith community.

My name is Wendy Harbour, and I just joined Old South with my wife and partner of 11 years, Tracy Villinski. Tracy is a sign language interpreter and I am deaf. Some of you who have met me are surprised because I speak very well and can lip-read in most one-to-one situations. That is a little unusual for deaf people, since it’s extremely difficult to learn to speak if you can’t hear. I had an unusual background compared to other deaf people: I could hear as a child, then I became hard-of-hearing, and when I was 21 years old I became deaf. In other words, I could rely on lip-reading, my remaining hearing, and hearing aids until I was 21. I think of deafness as the point where I need to stop getting information from my ears, and have to start getting information through my eyes and other senses. Doctors aren’t sure why I became deaf, but it was a long a difficult journey until I learned American Sign Language (ASL).

ASL is a unique language. As many of the children have discovered when they’ve talked with us, it does have a strong visual component and some signs are representational – pretend to hold an imaginary cup and drink from it, and you’ve pretty much learned the sign for “drink.” At the same time, ASL actually developed from French sign language (every country has its own unique sign language). So in many ways, ASL sentences more closely resemble French than English. Tracy and I have met deaf people from England, and although we share the same written language of English, we are unable to understand each other. When we meet French deaf people, we can usually get the gist of the conversation.

People who use ASL often refer to themselves as Deaf (with a capital “D”). This term indicates that they are members of a Deaf culture rather than people with a medically-defined hearing loss. Deaf people actually have a very rich history, with Deaf schools, Deaf artists, athletic teams, ASL poetry, theaters, etc. You may have also heard about Gallaudet University in Washington, DC, which is the world’s only liberal arts college for Deaf people, and everything is taught in ASL. When I learned sign language, I also quickly learned that there was a thriving culture and community existing right in front of me, but I had never even realized it.

At Old South services, you may notice the interpreters are mouthing English (a big clue they are not doing classic ASL). The interpreters have been doing something called “transliterating,” where the interpreter uses ASL signs in English word order. This method is a nice way to show the exact English speakers are using or the exact wording of songs. Some of you have noticed this, because you can “see” what the interpreter is signing as you sing or listen to the service. At other times, you may notice the interpreter doing more ASL, because there is a story or concept that translates better into pure ASL because it is a very visual story full of imagery.

I realize that interpreting can sometimes be confusing because there are so many different variations on signing (there are even regional accents in the U.S.) and deaf people themselves are so varied. You may even notice the interpreter adjusting to address different audiences, as Old South has different deaf and hard-of-hearing visitors. (By the way, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t used the term “hearing impaired” – many deaf people tend to avoid it because it makes hearing people normal and deaf people “impaired.” If any of you use it, that’s fine, but I thought you might be wondering about my choice of words.)

Tracy and I have joined Old South, and we are proudly encouraging other deaf and hard-of-hearing people to attend as well. In fact, one deaf friend of ours has now become a regular visitor. We have also been joking that the number of members who interpret may suddenly increase exponentially – every interpreter who visits Old South has really enjoyed it, and asked to come back. You all should be proud that this is such a welcoming place for deaf people and for those in the deaf community (including interpreters), before you even had deaf people to welcome!

Many religions have a long history of worrying about deaf people’s souls and providing interpreters, because deaf people were thought to be unable to “hear the Word of God” in the traditional ways. Catholic priests were the first to figure out that orphaned deaf children were communicating with their hands through a language of gestures (later called “sign language”), and they began mission work among deaf people almost immediately. This development wasn’t all bad, because it helped many deaf people get an education, but unfortunately it also means that most churches offering interpreted services (even in present times) have a very conservative theology with a missionary focus. Tracy and I have spent five years trying to find a church in the Boston area that would have open-minded views of Christianity, while still providing interpreters. Old South is rare, because it offers us both.

If you have any questions, please follow the example of the children and youth in the congregation, asking us or the interpreters whatever you would like to ask. We will soon be bringing our newly adopted child to services, as well (the baby is due in July). Tracy and I will be signing with the baby, raising a bilingual child. Feel free to even ask us about that – we are delighted about the baby meeting all of you!

If you prefer to do a little research on your own, we suggest checking out Wikipedia, which does a decent job of outlining basics of deafness at <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deaf>, although some of the information on language shows it was co-written by an English author rather than a U.S. author. You may also want to look at the “Info and FAQs” section of the National Association for the Deaf website at <hwww.nad.org>. If you’d like to learn more about interpreting, there are details at the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf website at <www.rid.org>. For those of you more inclined to sit down with a good book, Oliver Sacks’ book “Seeing Voices” offers the perspective of a hearing non-signer learning about Deaf culture and deafness, and “Forbidden Signs” by Douglas Baynton is a nice introduction to ASL and its history in the United States. Joseph Shapiro’s book “No Pity” connects Deaf culture and sign language to the larger disability rights movement for those of you hoping to understand the big picture of disability access and how interpreters fit into that. All three of these books are very “readable.”

Thank you again for the warm welcome at Old South!

It has been almost a year since I was called to St. John's UCC in Emmaus, PA and eight months since Old South lovingly hosted my ordination last November. As a teenager I compared ministry to marriage. Both require a great deal of communication and even compromise sometimes to make things work. You can love someone who is different or thinks differently than you do. We are all part and parcel of the Body of Christ. Had I painted a picture of my perfect church, it may not have been exactly what I wound up with. Had the church done the same, I may not have been the picture of their perfect pastor. While diving into the search and call process, I joked with several friends that it seemed a bit like Internet dating -- even down to one courting church insisting on seeing a picture of me. Somehow we meet in the middle with our desires and gifts. There is something magical in all of this too. Much of it comes down to this intuitive sense of call. When I hung up from my first phone interview with St. John's I felt as if this was a church where God was calling me and one I could love. Indeed, I have loved them and they have loved me in return. During long weeks or stressful meetings this love is what keeps me going. I am filled with joy when I look out on a Sunday morning knowing that we have a special connection because the congregation called me to serve them. It gives us incentive to push through the challenges and areas of growth.

People say that the first year of ministry is the hardest. In some senses I have gone through more culture shock in moving to Emmaus than I did when I lived abroad. One of my growing edges in venturing to Emmaus was traditional differences. I grew up in a little Congregational church in New England and served in churches with historically Congregational backgrounds before I made the journey to Emmaus. I am now in Reformed territory. The vocabulary and traditions are different. The church council is known as the consistory. Youth wear white robes on the day of their confirmation. We ordain elders. Overall, I am glad that I took this chance. Although there are moments when I feel uncomfortable because this is not my exact background, I am enjoying learning about another side of the United Church of Christ.

I have learned a valuable lesson that taking care of myself makes a huge difference in the way I am able to lead. All of it has forced me to be more disciplined about my schedules. Taking time for myself can be one of the greatest challenges. So many of the warnings and tips about self-care ring true. As part of my effort to build a life apart from my professional responsibilities of the church, I began volunteering with Big Brothers Big Sisters. My little sister, Tiara, is ten years old and is quite perceptive. Because of my schedule I cannot simply make a date with her without consulting my schedule. Recently she asked me about going to an activity together. I said, "That sounds nice, but . . ." and before I could finish the statement she said, “I know, you have to check your calendar.” Ministry is not the easiest vocation. I knew that it would affect my relationship with my family. I didn’t realize that a child who is not my own and I only see for a few hours a week would also be able to pick up on that.

Ministry is the most amazing journey I have ever been on. There have been times that I have wanted to laugh out loud and others that make me want to double over with pain. I did my first funeral in late September of last year. While at the funeral home I had heard rumors about a skunk. It turns out that a skunk had been hiding out in the freshly dug grave. When we arrived at the cemetery his friend was roaming the graveyard and I did the service downwind of where the first had sprayed.

Recently I sat with a man whose wife had just had a massive stroke. This was a second marriage both of them whose first spouses had died within the last ten years. They had had three wonderful years of marriage and were deeply happy together. I sat with the man for quite awhile. Through his tears he told me that his first wife had died from a stroke. To be truly present with people in their moments of great joy and sorrow is a gift.

I have been here long enough for them to see some of my weaknesses. I have been here long enough that I have closed my door after a meeting just to breathe a little deeper without witnesses. I have been here long enough to know what pushes their buttons. I have also been here long enough to know I am not here to placate and pacify. I know for instance that a sermon in Pennsylvania Dutch country on the feminine face of the divine may not win friends, but knowing I will sit beside them at their bedside may allow them to forgive me when I challenge them to think. I have been here long enough for the youth to give me the nickname “PM” for Pastor Marraine. I risked the possibility of the Patriots and Eagles being in the Super Bowl together. I joke about the church ghost. I rejoice in the pregnancy of one of the first couples I married. I applaud our fifteen recent Confirmands. There is much to be thankful for.

The first Sunday of the month is one of my favorite times at St. John's. The ranks swell that Sunday in anticipation of communion. From my seat in the chancel I enjoy looking out at my newfound church family. Not only is the air alive with excitement, but there are also heavenly smells that drift in and out. The first Sunday is also breakfast Sunday made and hosted by the men of the church. The sanctuary sits directly over fellowship hall and the kitchen. The sanctuary smells of pancakes and coffee. From my seat I can also smell the wine (yes, wine) in the communion trays. It is always a day when I feel exceptionally nourished body and soul. The presence of Christ is alive and palpable. I am happy to have pursued this vocation. Indeed, I can’t imagine doing anything else.

Rev. Marraine Kettell is the Associate Minister at St. John's UCC Emmaus, PA. The website is <www.stjohnsuccemmaus.org> or e-mail her at <marraine@ptd.net>. She was a member of Old South since 1997 and was in care of Old South until her ordination in November, 2006.

On Friday, June 22, 2007, at the Annual Meeting of the MACUCC in Hartford, the MACUCC Commission for Mission and Justice Ministries, awarded its annual Haystack Award to Casa Myrna Vazquez, Inc. (CMV). The Haystack Award symbolizes justice and compassion in the social action and social service dimensions of mission. Old South Church has been a longstanding supporter of this multi-cultural and multi-lingual organization (based in Boston's South End and Dorchester neighborhoods), which is the region's foremost sheltering and advocacy program for battered women and their children. CMV, Inc., as described in the Spring 2007 Reporter, has recently celebrated its 30th year of service in the work of justice. Old South was also recognized by the MBA Council for its stalwart, early, and ground-breaking support of CMV.

CMV, Inc. is named after Myrna Vazquez, a beloved and talented Puerto Rican actress and activist who left a flourishing film career to come to Boston to establish cultural programs at Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (IBA) during its early years of establishing housing for the Latino communities in Boston's South End.

The name of the Haystack Award is taken from a setting in which a first group of Christian missionaries made their decision to go into the mission field. In 1806, five young students of Williams College prayed together under a haystack during a thunderstorm, committing themselves to spreading Christianity overseas. Their interest led them in 1808 to form the Society of Brethren, from which they convinced the General Association of Congregational Ministers of Massachusetts to form The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Ministers in 1810. Two years later, in February, 1812, Rev. and Mrs. Adoniram Judson, Rev. and Mrs. Samuel Newall, Rev. and Mrs. Samuel Nott, Rev. Gordon Hall, and Rev. Luther Rice were commissioned at Tabernacle Church in Salem as the Board's first missionaries and set sail for Calcutta, India.

The Society of Brethren is the predecessor organization to our current United Church Board for World Ministries, the instrumentality for common global mission within the United Church of Christ. These pioneer missionaries encountered the need for social justice such as standing against caste systems and oppression of women, as well as social service in education development, health care and relief measures. The Haystack Award preserves the two-fold dimension of being in Mission: Justice (Social Action) and Charity (Social Service) as witnessed by those first missionaries who ventured abroad for the sake of the Gospel.

The purpose of the MACUCC Haystack Award is to encourage participation in charitable mission outreach and social justice ministry. In a variety of ways churches are inspired to engage in local and global mission. The aim of the Haystack Award is to recognize the exemplary initiatives currently underway in churches throughout the Conference, to express appreciation, and to offer incentives for new initiatives. Any individual, group and/or institution affiliated with the Massachusetts Conference is eligible for consideration.

In making the selection of the recipient of the Haystack Award, particular attention is paid to the nominees giving of significant time, talent and treasure to those who suffer in mind, body and spirit. Ministries in the area of Social Service are considered specifically in the categories of (1) Relief: Disaster and Famine, Food Distribution, Sheltering, Emergency Aids, etc.; and (2) Development: Home Ownership, Skill Training, Business Development, Medical School Education, Basic Education, etc. In the area of Social Justice, the Haystack Award is reserved for the individual or organization that engages in significant social actions that lead to positive changes in the socio-political system. Activities aimed at correcting injustices will be considered. Priority consideration will be given to model ministries that correct injustices by addressing the root causes of chronic hunger and malnutrition, homelessness, poverty and social dysfunction.

Although geography is not a major concern on matters of charity and justice, actions occurring in Massachusetts by members of churches based in the Commonwealth are strongly considered for this award. The duration of a particular endeavor is important and is be duly considered. However, a single event that occurred in the recent past which produced dramatic, life changing results for a significant number of people is not be excluded from consideration. Awards are given to contemporaries and are also made posthumously, where warranted.

For all these exemplerary criteria and high ideals, CMV is a very fitting and inspirational winner of the Haystack Award for 2007.

At their final Confirmation retreat this past spring, the Old South Confirmation Class, having spent two years studying and prayer together, wrote this group statement of faith to express what they believe at this point in their faith journeys.

What We Believe ...

… About God
We believe that God is forgiving. We believe that God has a son named Jesus. We believe that God is loving. We believe that God is compassionate. We believe that God rules heaven. We believe that God is with us in times of need. We believe that God is our creator.

…About Jesus Christ
We believe that Jesus aids us. We believe Jesus epitomizes compassion. We
believe that Jesus died for us, but then was resurrected. We believe Jesus
teaches us. We believe Jesus was the son of God.

…About the Holy Spirit
We believe that God sent the Holy Spirit to be with us and guide us. The
Holy Spirit consoles us. We are still working to understand more about the
Holy Spirit.

…About the Church
We believe church is where people come together to worship God. We believe church helps us learn more about God and expand our faith. We believe church gives us comfort in hard times and helps us to get through it.

…About the Christian Life
We believe to be a Christian we must be followers of Jesus and that we are
called to be disciples of Jesus. We also believe to be a follower of Jesus
you must be forgiving and follow his teachings.

Many hundreds of visitors from the around the world come to visit Old South Church each week from every state and every continent -- all without stepping outside the comfort of their own homes, thanks to the Internet and the World Wide Web.

Where earlier these web visitors were truly anonymous, we now know a lot more about where they come from, and how often and what parts of the Old South web site they like to visit. For the last year with the help of the free Google Analytics software, the Communications Committee at Old South has been able to track Internet visitors to the Old South web page at <www.oldsouth.org> on a daily basis and receive reports and statistics on how our church's website is being used by these visitors.

Some of the results were predictable but others were quite surprising indeed.

Naturally enough, our website usage seemed to follow along with our liturgical and program calendar. What it showed is that we had a high traffic rate of about 150 visits (unique visitors) per day peaking near 200 visits during the Advent season. After Christmas, there appeared a significant decline dropping to 100 visits per day until building again to 150 visits at Easter. Since then, there has been a drop to the 75 to 100 visits day.

Fun Fact: Last year, 716 visitors from California and 6 visitors from Wyoming came to the Old South webpage.

Over the course of the last year (June 2006 to June 2007), we logged in some 27,000 visitors, of which well over half were first time (or unique computer) visitors. Looking at the report map overlays, it is amazing to see how many of those visits came from people living in as far-flung places as Jakarta-Indonesia, Hangzhou-China, Abidjan-Ivory Coast, and La Paz-Bolivia. By continent, in order of most frequent visits, were the Americas (25,000), Europe (1200), Africa (200), Oceania-Pacific Rim (150), Asia (40). In the US, after the 11,544 visits from Massachusetts residents, came New York with 728 and California with 716. Visitors from every state come to the Old South website typically ranging from 100-300 visitors down to a low of 6 from Wyoming.

Fun Fact: A website visitor from St. Petersburg, Russia spent nearly 10 minutes at our website and looked at 15 different pages.

You might ask how did those people find us in the first place. Almost half found us through typing in some keywords in a search engine like Google or Yahoo. One third came in by directly typing in or having bookmarked our webpage address, so you guess that those are our "regulars" or else people who receive Old South's publications enough to know our website address. The other 15% generally come via another linked website, such as the UCC or MACUCC websites.

While our visitor rates mirror the liturgical calendar, on a weekly basis, the story is a bit different. The Old South website often has peaks on Monday and Tuesday rather than later in the week, suggesting perhaps, that many users come to hear the past Sunday's worship service (usually posted by Sunday afternoon in any given week) or the Sunday sermon. While visitation does build later in the week as details for the upcoming service are posted, the Monday-Tuesday peak suggest that we may be building a regular following of worshippers who cannot come in person on Sunday but worship with us as soon as they can after that.

Fun Fact: the 1,426 people visited the Old South webpage over 100 times this past year.

Once Internet visitors get to the main Old South webpage, most delve deeper, going to an average of 3 different Old South pages in an average visit. You might wonder what the most popular sub-pages in the Old South website are after, of course, the home page. Here are our Top Ten web pages:
   1) Photo Albums;
   2) Sermons Page (text and podcasts);
   3) Sanctuary Photo Tour;
   4) Sunday Bulletin;
   5) Music page; and
   6) Service Recordings.
   7) Worship Page (listing of upcoming services);
   8) Monthly Calendar (monthly publication of news and listing of events);
   9) Visitors Page (reference information geared to the first time visitor);
   10) Ministerial Staff Directory.

The most surprising result may be that the Photo Albums and the Sanctuary Photo Tour come in 1st and 3rd on that list. Obviously, there is a great curiosity out there to both see our facility and the people who go there. A technical term that crops up in viewing these reports is "bounce rate." This term means what percentage of people leave the whole website after viewing a certain page. The bounce rate for the Photo Albums page is an extremely low 7% and the Sanctuary Photo Tour comes in at very respectable 17%. This low rate means that these pages are hitting the mark and that visitors are delving deeper into links that branch from that page, in other words, they are continuing to look for more pictures of our church and of our people.

Fun Fact: the 414 pages available at the Old South website (who knew we had that many!) were viewed over 77,000 times in the past year.

These statistics will help us do a better job with improving the Old South webpage. Now that we have had a full year under our belt, we will be able to track trends from year to year, as well as from week to week. We will spend more time keeping high-traffic web pages updated with new items. We will make it easier to find our most popular site by placing those links more prominently on our main page. In fact, we have a new webpage design under development that should debut later in the year that will make things even more convenient and attractive to convey the image and mission of Old South Church.

While statistics are sometimes misleading and can convey mixed messages about underlying truths, the past year’s Old South website usage numbers are fairly clear in their message. There is great interest "out there" from first-time visitors with an appetite to see our beautiful historic church, to read and hear the sermons from our excellent staff, and to experience the music and content of Old South’s Worship Services -- all before they step through our front doors. We hope the numbers continue to bear out that, in some significant ways, the Old South Church website can help satisfy that hunger and be an important and critical form of outreach.

The Spring 2007 edition of the Old South Reporter presented a fun article “Giving of the 6 Discernment Commandments” penned by Rev. Quinn Caldwell that described the rules of engagement for our 2007 Lenten Spiritual Discernment program. This program was another important step on Old South’s journey to discern and understand the question:
“What is God calling Old South Church to be and do in the first decades of the 21st Century?”

The journey began with Rev. Nancy Taylor’s presentation at the 336th Annual Meeting in January 2006 when she invited us to “Listen together for the voice of the Still Speaking God.”. This was the first of many steps we have taken over the past two years to understand how we might answer the question above. We learned about our Congregational heritage and the Congregational Way during the 2006 Lenten “Church in the World” program and then went deeper into a core practice of our Congregational forebears with Rev. Martin Copenhaver’s presentation on Spiritual Discernment during the 337th annual meeting. (The Spring Reporter and all of these presentations, together with MP3 audio, are still available on the OSC website at <www.oldsouth.org> and are a rich source of education and inspiration.)

The ‘07 Lenten program embraced the practices re-introduced to the Old South congregation by Rev. Copenhaver. To support the congregation through these practices, the church council established the Discernment & Vision Process Steering Committee in September ’06 and hired Rev. Larry Peers from the Alban Institute. Together, we learned about the power of prayer, silence, listening, listening to each other and listening for the Holy Spirit speaking through each person. We learned about patience and the need to understand the questions before jumping to answers and conclusions. We used ritual and Tibetan chimes, hymns and candlelit spaces to create a worship-like atmosphere instead of a business meeting atmosphere. During the 8 discernment sessions (2 session on each of 4 Lenten Sundays), between 40 and 80 people participated in groups of up to 8 people gathered around candlelit tables. And we prayed; and spoke and listened -- one by one. Each person in turn reflecting on a question or topic; and each contribution was acknowledged by the table using the phrase “May the Holy Spirit Speak through Us”. The people around the tables shared aspects of their faith journeys, their experiences of Old South and their hopes for the future. And then they reflected on what the Spirit might be calling Old South to be and to do. New relationships were formed around those tables during the Sundays of Lent and a strengthened sense of community and deeper connection to Old South developed. 122 different brothers and sisters of our congregation came together for one or more of these moments of worship.

In preparation for each Sunday, the steering committee developed a series of two or three questions as the basis for the coming discernment sessions. Different questions were used each week; building from one Sunday to the next towards the core question shown above. The Spring Reporter includes some of the formative questions we worked with. The committee gathered supporting materials, facts and historical points of interest relevant to the questions for each Sunday. Shared with the gathered people, these materials created a common understanding of Old South’s story for our long term and newer members. We assigned recorders to each table who faithfully recorded each person’s response and we assigned facilitators to help guide the people through the discernment commandments.

The steering committee gathered the recorded responses from the tables for each Sunday; many hundreds of individual contributions in all. We worked through these gifts of the Spirit, looking for common threads and insight. On March 25th we gathered again for the Discernment Summit, where the committee presented the outcome of our work to more than seventy members of the congregation. The results reflected the rich diversity of our congregation and our history. There was no single new thing, no single new direction or initiative that emerged from our discernment so far, but instead we learned of a renewed commitment to paths our congregation has walked already; but we heard of a desire go deeper along these pathways. And we learned that this method of spiritual discernment, especially in a small group setting, was in and of itself a powerful way to build community.

The committee, through Quinn’s creativity, mapped the results of the discernment Sundays onto the image of a T Map; with each track following a path that God wants us to travel. (See illustration below.) The people at Summit heard a presentation and discussion of the outcomes and accepted the report of the committee. (The presentation and audio recording of the Summit meeting is also available on the Old South website.) But our discernment work is not done. The next step is to go deeper and determine what it means to travel along one of these tracks.

Following the Summit meeting in March, the steering committee met a few more times to determine our recommendations to the church Council. There are 8 ‘tracks’ on the T-like system map that describes Old South's mission. We recommend that two tracks, Looking Up (focusing on worship) and Welcoming In (focused on hospitality), are areas that do not need a discernment focus in the near term. The current activities of the church in these areas were the subject of many expressions of deep thanks and appreciation in the collected responses. For two of the other tracks, Reaching Out (which includes a broad understanding of outreach and education) and Taking Care (including stewardship of our building, legacy, people and financial resources), the committee recommends that given the very broad scope of these topics, we need further discernment to prioritize areas of interest and action. Indeed, we recommend that we have dedicated retreats with our church community for each of these areas. For the four remaining tracks, the committee recommends that we establish specialized “Theme teams” who will further discern the next steps on the tracks: Acting Out (Music and the Arts), Meeting Up (Small Groups), Shaping Up (Spirituality and Formation), and Speaking Out (Public Voice).

At the June meeting of the church Council I presented these recommendations as part of the final report of the committee. (This presentation is also available online at <www.oldsouth.org>.) The presentation also included the recommendation to establish a new Discernment Support committee to help the congregation continue along the tracks. This new committee will aim to start the new process off with a kickoff lunch on Sunday, September 23rd, aiming for a new report to Annual Meeting the following February. The Council accepted these recommendations and report of the Discernment Steering Committee.

The Council also extended its thanks and appreciation for all the work of the Steering Committee over the past year. The committee gave many, many hours to this labor of love and Spirit. They are: Jay Blackwell, Larry Bowers, Quinn Caldwell, Lois Gorman, Bill Ghormley, Russ Gregg, Tom Hehir, Judie Pierce, Ruth Purtilo, Pam Roberts, Laurel Smith-Doerr, John Stainton and Nancy Taylor. As Chair of the committee, it was a blessing to work with this fantastic group.

As we have seen, the process of congregational spiritual discernment is a radically rich and inclusive approach to the business of church life, engaging as many of the people of the church as possible. But it is a patient process, leading us through stages of understanding and insight, with the Holy Spirit as our guide. So here we go on to the next stages!

United Church of Christ congregations in New England are proud to refer to ourselves as the churches of the Puritans and the Pilgrims. But the Pilgrims gathered by God into those first churches were not the first Christian pilgrims—nor will they be the last. As many of you know, I spent a week this past April on a pilgrimage of my own, to the cathedral in the French city of Chartres, a site which has been a destination for Christian pilgrims for over a thousand years. There is much to say about that remarkable place, but others have done it in other places far more expertly than I can.

What I offer instead is an invitation for you who read this Summer Reporter to reflect on the idea of pilgrimage. Many who read this article will do it either right before, during, or right after a trip to somewhere this summer. While in the strictest sense, a pilgrimage is an intentional trip to a holy site, in truth a pilgrimage is any intentional journey we undertake that removes us from our regular surroundings, the needs and cares and responsibilities and decorations of our normal days, and takes us out into the world and to a place on which our hearts are set—known or unknown. It is both a journey away and a journey toward.

In the Middle Ages, pilgrimages were deeply important to the individuals that undertook them, to the churches that sent them, and to society as a whole. Pilgrims were set apart by religious and civil protections; to attack or rob a pilgrim was both a grave sin and an offense punishable by civil law. To complete a pilgrimage to, say, Santiago de Compostela in Spain or Chartres in France or—best and most dangerous of all—Jerusalem, was to earn the respect of the people, merit in Heaven, the forgiveness of the church, and the favor of God (however much this last might grate on our Protestant sensibilities today, it was deeply true for Medievals). At least as important for most pilgrims, it was a chance to escape from lives at home that were for most small, immobile, dirty, deeply unprivate, and powerfully bounded by family, village, and class. Like Australian aboriginal walkabouts or Native American vision quests or the Islamic hajj or—maybe—modern American vacations, it was a chance to go on an adventure, and on the adventure to remind oneself that with God, even the most sedentary among us is homo viator, one on a journey.

In the case of medieval Christians, just before leaving one’s village or town, a pilgrim would be blessed and invested with the uniform of the journey in a long religious ceremony presided over by a priest. The parts of a pilgrim’s habit were carefully chosen both for utility and for their symbolic meaning. Every pilgrim wore a wide-brimmed hat, often with the brim pinned up at the front, both for protection from the elements and to remind him or her of God’s grace overshadowing the journey. Should the pilgrimage be successful, the pilgrim would return with a medal, imprinted with the particular symbol of the pilgrimage site—a shell for Santiago de Compostela, an image of the Virgin and child for Chartres—triumphantly pinned to the brim of the hat (and you thought it was Disneyworld that invented souvenirs!). A long veil wound around the brim of the hat and trailing down in back could be used as insect netting or to preserve modesty, to keep the sun or cold off, or as a scarf. A leather bag called a scrip was worn slung over one shoulder to hold money and food. The bag was kept always open, so that the pilgrim was at all times ready both to give and to receive gifts. The last piece of gear was perhaps the most important: the pilgrim’s sturdy wooden walking stick, tipped with a metal foot, could be used not only to help keep one’s footing on treacherous ground but to fend off thieves and wild animals, of which there were plenty, along the way.

There were and still are well-worn paths and carefully marked Christian pilgrimage routes stretching back and forth all across Europe and the Middle East, but every single pilgrimage starts and ends in exactly the same place: on the doorstep of your home. As you prepare for or reflect on your summer journeys this year, whether they be around the world or just down to the park and back, I invite each of you to spend some time in reflection on the ways your journey is a pilgrimage. Who are you when you’re at home? What defines you—maybe even bounds you—there? And who do you become on the road? What freedom do you find when you step across your threshold and onto the path? What symbols of the journey do you carry with you? What is the uniform of the journey that you wear and what do you bring to protect you from the elements and remind you of God’s grace? What is the scrip that reminds you to give and to receive gifts along the way? What is the staff that gives you stability and protection as you go? When you reach your destination and begin the trip home, what will you bring with you to symbolize your successful trip?

And, at the very end, when you step back over your threshold, having left the home you know and now returning to it as we all must do at the last, who will you be? How will you be different? What is the story you will tell? And what will you know of God?

Traveling mercies to you, O pilgrim, O homo viator. Come back to us soon!

In Cana of Galilee, on the third day, there was a wedding
And on the hillside, mossy grass was gathered the invited.
This was a celebration day. And each was served the finest wine.
And none was left without. Who could have concern? Still gallons
More were stored among the multitude of jars
Which in formation flanked on either side the Bridegroom.

So into the thronging crowd went the Bridegroom
And his Bride and this grew into a hillside wedding
March. Glorious it was. Sunlight filled the sky, like jars
Overflowing, drenching each and every one of the invited
In celebration. Like up-turned flagon-flasks, it flowed. Gallons
Poured out. Who can forgive a guest his thirst for wine?

But Mary saw what was to come, and lo, the wine
Was drawing near its end. What shame befalls a Bridegroom
On his marriage day, when nothing’s left to serve. And surely gallons
More were needed. It troubled Mary’s heart to think—that here—the wedding
Revelry would die, in this, its fullest flower, disrupting what’s invited.
No, something must be done before the emptiness, might jar

The blessed moment. So stealing from her place, she left ajar
Her hope, that once fomented to her cause, her son might then entwine
His power, with yet all-knowing grace, and thus forestall the un-invited.
“Woman, of what concern is this? I cannot take the Bridegroom’s
Part—it’s not my time.” She spoke again. “Do as he says, and let the wedding
Thus proceed; for time, like water measured out, does from its gallons

Pour—let it be your choice.” So Jesus looked and saw what might in gallon
Stores contain a plentitude for all. There stood nearby six stone water jars
Soon filled to their brim. He saw the bridal couple take their wedding
Dance and prayed for everyone assembled. Now drawing, thus, the wine
He said, “Take this to the chief steward and let him tell the Bridegroom
That there is more of this—for all—not only the invited.”

So when the Steward took his taste, in praise, he boasted to all persons there invited:
“See, our gracious Host, saves—for last—the best of all his gallons
Stored—where others serve their good wine first—not so, does he—our Bridegroom.”
What threshold then was passed that day! A future stood ajar.
So few had seen what’s hard to fathom—where once stood water, now there’s wine!
It was a sign for sure—a miracle transpired—upon the Canaan wedding.

Let’s hope this wedding tale imparts—to everyone invited
Belief that this, his gift of wine, pours out to all in gallons
Free—for Love’s not stored in jars—but lived—when offered like a Bridegroom.

Author's Note: The poem is in Sestina form - this particular form repeats the same 6 ending-words in each stanza and then finishes
with a tercet that uses two of the repeated ending-words in each line. I have left the repeated words highlighted; This is an
example of a cyclical poetic form, since the ending word in the first stanza are reprised in the same order in the final tercet.