I wonder if you’ve ever been asked to identify your favorite words from Scripture. I personally find this a difficult question to answer, because there are so many beautiful words from the Bible. In my opinion, among them are words from Matthew’s Gospel: “When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you at that time, for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (10:19-20). Similar words are found in both Mark and Luke. The context is Jesus telling his disciples that there will be coming persecutions. His words are intended to comfort the disciples and to discourage them from being anxious.
In Scripture, Jesus speaks a lot about anxiety, urging his disciples not to worry about the next day and not to be anxious about what they are to eat or drink. While Jesus never says that discipleship will be easy, he does reassure his disciples and us, by extension, that they and we are not alone in the mission field or in the Christian life. The Holy Spirit is guiding us, comforting us, and giving us the right words to speak at the right time. We can trust, too, that the Holy Spirit tells us what to say and do in our moments of trial.
Times of transition always seem to provoke anxiety, which is understandable. In the West, we tend to live in a line, wanting to know what is next. Quite naturally, living in between times is disconcerting. As you have probably read in this week’s special email, we are beginning a time of transition at Good Shepherd as our Organist and Director of Music, Robert McCormick, prepares to leave for another position in Richmond, Virginia, in late January. And this means that as Robert’s spouse, I, too, am discerning a new call so that I can eventually join him in Richmond. I realize that this probably brings some measure of anxiety to you as parishioners and Friends of Good Shepherd. I can honestly say that it gives me some measure of anxiety, too. What will happen next? What will the interim period(s) look like? Rather than feeling as if we shouldn’t be anxious, perhaps it’s best to recognize our anxiety and be honest about it.
But Jesus also comforts us in our anxiety, because in times of uncertainty and difficulty, we are not alone. If you have been at Good Shepherd for a while, I hope you have noticed the palpable presence of the Holy Spirit among us. Of course, the Spirit is always with us, praying within us when we lack the words, but sometimes the Spirit’s presence is more readily felt than at others. In the past five years, I have seen evidence of the Spirit’s movement in striking ways at Good Shepherd. I think that in my time here, I have become more adept at learning how to watch and listen for the Holy Spirit’s stirrings among us.
During tense and uncertain times, it is common for us to hold our breath, but it is also true that the best thing to do when we become anxious is to breathe. The coming months are a time for us to breathe, and for us Christians, to breathe—on a spiritual level—is to pray. For the early desert fathers and mothers who retreated from cities in order to pray, prayer was unceasing, as St. Paul enjoins. Every breath taken is a moment to utter some small prayer to God or lift one’s heart to God in thanksgiving. True prayer is as natural as breathing. And so, in this time of transition, the most important thing we can do is to ground ourselves in prayer.
Because we have prayed so much and so diligently as a parish, we have been able to discern what God is calling us to do. We pray for situations that are known to us, and we also pray daily for people whom God will send to Good Shepherd. Those people are known only to God. Our age of anxiety says that we should engage in flashy projects and gimmicks to attract people to church, but our experience at Good Shepherd shows us that all we need to do is put prayer and worship at the center of our lives, and then we will be ready to respond to those God sends our way.
In the coming months, Good Shepherd will need the gifts and support of all of us. Good Shepherd is in a strong place, with mature leadership and faithful, loving people. This parish is strong and resilient. Our 2026 pledge campaign is a reminder of how much our vision for ministry has deepened and expanded, and the vestry and I are committed to continue realizing that vision. It is a vision that surpasses any one of us but that relies on each of us to support it through prayer, action, and sacrificial giving.
If there’s anything I have learned in the past five years as your priest, it is that God is not finished with this parish. God continues to do a new thing here. Every day feels like the eighth day, a new day of creation in the aftermath of the resurrection. In the coming months, both Robert and I are fully committed to working as hard as we can to make the transition to new staff as smooth as possible. The vestry and I have been working persistently in recent months to build sustainable ministry here, not ministry tied to any one individual. And because God is faithful and good, we have every reason to hope. A new thing is only beginning in this place, and you and those whom God will send here are integral to the future.
For now, let us hunker down in prayer. And when we are anxious or worried, let us remember that we do nothing alone in the Christian life. All is with God’s help. And in those moments of testing and trial, none other than the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say and do.
Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle