Dear People, Neighbours, and Friends of St. Thomas’s,
This weekend, I’m happy to present a few brief updates and scattered thoughts on just a few of the many things that are in the works. In no particular order, here are some items of interest and random reflections for your reading pleasure.
All Creatures Great & Small
Two pest control companies performed thorough inspections on-site this past week, and neither found any evidence of a bedbug infestation. To be on the safe side, the second company, which specializes in the detection and eradication of these critters, has placed a special lure and trap in strategic areas around the physical plant. Developed by scientists at Rutgers University in New Jersey, the lures and traps are active for up to three months. They will be checked regularly, and if evidence presents itself, we will communicate the results and next steps at that time. In the meantime, although both companies stated that it’s highly unlikely we would be an attractive place for bedbugs to breed, as there aren’t enough opportunities for them to get the (ahem) “nutrition” they need, we have been advised that heat is the best way to eliminate any bugs and their eggs that might be here, so we are washing and drying on high heat all of our cassocks, surplices, albs, and other machine washables. After a year and a half of relative disuse, they are due for a thorough cleaning and evaluation anyway.
Cleanliness Is Next to Godliness
In fact, even before this bedbug bugaboo, efforts were getting under way to evaluate and inventory vestments, other sacristy items, acolyte and choir robes, and all the other things that have been accumulating on-site since well before the pandemic. Jessika Whitfield and her associates are undertaking an initial cleanup of the parish hall in advance of an event that J with a K Music School will be holding at the end of this month, which dovetails nicely with the planned Benedictine Day on Saturday, October 30. We have several ambitious goals for that day and can use all the help we can get, so please do plan on joining us. For instance, we intend to evaluate all of our remaining surplus ecclesiastical furniture and woodwork. Some of it will be sent out to be repurposed and returned to be put to practical use, some of it will be placed in a consolidated storage area for future projects, and some of it, if not claimed by volunteers, will end up in a rollaway bin rented for the day. By the end of the day, the main room of the undercroft should be entirely cleared out and ready to be transformed into a Sunday School space under the direction of Siobhán Dungan in anticipation of the return of our young people and resumption of in-person programs for children and youth as soon as those youth and their parents are ready and willing to return!
A Learning Parish and a Teaching Parish
We are also hard at work developing Christian formation opportunities geared toward newcomers and longtime parishioners alike. John Stuart has been working with me on something for Lent, and Fr. D’Angelo is in the midst of developing something for Advent. Most exciting of all, we are planning on launching a program for those who are considering baptism or confirmation as adults, or who would appreciate a closer look at our liturgy and the Anglo-Catholic tradition, whether as newcomers or not. While we are still in the initial stages of developing these offerings, please let the clergy know if there’s something in particular you would like to learn about. Equally welcome are ideas from the many talented people in this parish who have something to share. We are both a learning parish and a teaching parish, as our work with seminarians also demonstrates.
An Accessible Parish and a Sustainable Parish
As we speed toward the end of 2021, my thoughts turn naturally to 2022 and the hopes we collectively hold for St. Thomas’s. After a mere three months, it is clear to me that if St. Thomas’s is to be the parish God is calling us to be, we must focus on attaining two goals, with God’s help, over the next few years. Neither goal can be met immediately, but there are immediate steps we must take today and tomorrow if these objectives are ever to become a reality. First, we must focus on what it means to be an accessible parish. And second, we must do what it takes to be a sustainable parish.
But which comes first, sustainability or accessibility? It’s sort of a chicken and egg paradox. Do we wait until we can maintain a balanced budget and show signs of incremental growth, or is accessibility a key component of achieving sustainability, despite its front-end costs? From my observations and experience, I’ve come to believe that if a parish focuses obsessively on the issue of sustainability, accessibility issues will always be put on the back burner. Whereas if we address the barriers to greater participation in the life of the church, as well as openness for the sake of our neighbours and the world, we will be better positioned not only for sustainable growth, but also for material and spiritual flourishing. When we invest in accessibility, we are laying the groundwork for sustainability.
I have come to believe that accessibility must be our top priority because it isn’t just about wheelchair access (though that is certainly a big part of it), but about how well St. Thomas’s provides those things that our bodies need in order to see and hear clearly, what we need in order to be where we want to be (both physically and spiritually), and what we need to do so that we can give glory to God and serve our neighbours. When we are at St. Thomas’s, we need to be comfortable enough to be attentive, which means the lights have to be bright but not glaring, the sound needs to be audible but not blaring, and we need to be able to get around wherever we need to be in order to worship and serve without distraction, whether that’s the nave or the washroom, the kitchen or the parish hall. And we must also be as accessible as possible online, via our website, electronic communications, and livestreaming, recognizing that nowadays, if we aren’t accessible online, the likelihood of newcomers showing up in person is greatly diminished.
Imagine the (all too likely) scenario of a person who encounters our services online, growing so engaged that she wants to attend in person, only to find upon arrival that it’s a real challenge to get through the door, or that once through the door and settled in the nave, there’s no way of slipping off quietly to the washroom when the call of nature asserts itself over the call to worship!
We are in the process of drawing up detailed plans to present to Vestry in February that will finally address our accessibility issues with realistic, actionable solutions in 2022. Can we do it? I truly believe we can’t afford not to do it, if we truly want to thrive as a parish. Accessibility is an achievable goal that will directly benefit many people, not only in this generation, but for generations to come. We will know we have reached our goal when there are no barriers, virtual or in real life, to participating in everything St. Thomas’s has to offer.
Of course, for us to serve generations yet unborn, we must act in ways that sustain this community over both the short term and the long haul. On the most practical level, that means living within our means. But living within our means doesn’t mean going without those things that make parish life meaningful to begin with! We need superb music, attentive pastoral care, well-organized administration, clean facilities, and so much more in order to be (and do) what a healthy parish needs to be (and do) for its people, neighbours, and friends. In this regard, St. Thomas’s is not far from being sustainable, but we are not yet consistently measuring up; on the other hand, we are not yet out of the woods of this pandemic, and so we need to cut ourselves some slack.
Truth be told, I do not expect us to be on a fully sustainable footing for at least five years. If we invest in accessibility, that investment will not begin to pay measurable dividends immediately. These things take time. In the meantime, we must be prepared to take those risks that will keep us a going concern, serving others in Christ’s name, because if we are to be sustainable over the long term, we must become more accessible, and in order to become accessible, we have to decide that accessibility is worth the investment now, before it’s too late.
Open Minds, Open Hearts, Open Hands, Open Doors
I would never describe myself as “open-minded.” I know what I believe, and I wouldn’t believe what I believe if I didn’t believe I was right! But I want to be a part of a community that is collectively willing to have our minds opened by God, as we encounter other people who think very differently than we do, yet whose hearts have also been opened by God. When we have open hearts, we see each other as people from whom we are called to learn, and to whom we are called to listen. We may never change our minds on any particular issue, but ifour hearts are truly open to God, our minds will be open to being changed—if that is what God wills. In any event, we will, I hope, keep finding new ways to open our hands to those who are in any need or trouble, in any necessity or tribulation.
Finally, to bring it round to where we started, we can only serve our neighbours if our doors are open to them—and not just open, but accessible. An accessible community is sustainable, and a sustainable community will remain open, both in good times and in bad. No creature, however great or small, whether animal, vegetable, mineral (or viral), will be able to keep us from the knowledge and love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all honour and glory, world without end.
Yours in Christ’s service,
