Week of February 5, 2023

At our annual parish meeting a couple of weeks ago, I invited the parish into a corporate rule of life. The foundation of all that we do as Christians is worship. Everything else flows from that worship. The life of the Christian is rooted in the praise, adoration, and worship of God. Although some may think that such a focus on worship neglects acts of charity and social justice, nothing could be further from the truth. As the late Roman Catholic monk and spiritual writer Thomas Merton said, contemplative prayer is the root of social justice. We only know how to respond to the world’s injustice if we are grounded in true prayer.

Putting worship first (and not mere programming, activities, or “fun”), is how we are shaped into a Christ-like people. Worship is not something we can control, even though some try to. Worship is pure and unadulterated adoration of God, with no objective other than to give God the glory due his Name and to enjoy God’s presence. There is no hidden agenda. There is no ulterior motive. We don’t (or shouldn’t!) worship in order to gain favor with God or get into heaven. We worship because that is what the Christian does. Worship is the only fitting response to what God has done for us.

I’m now inviting you to consider making intentional worship a part of your own spiritual life. I’m inviting you to think about living into a shared rule of life. But this rule of life is not just some vague thing; it’s a particular way of worshipping in a particular place and location. This rule is enacted geographically in a local context here at Good Shepherd. The late Anglican writer on ascetical theology Martin Thornton said that the “remnant” of the Church consists of those who abide faithfully by a rule of life in a particular parish church. When they do so, they are not narrowly interceding for the parish alone; the parish itself is a microcosm of the entire Body of Christ. Through the deep prayer of the remnant, others are drawn into this “core” of the parish. The remnant at prayer in a parish church (even if only three people) is praying for the entire world.

Thornton notes the threefold structure of an Anglican rule of life: 1) the Daily Office; 2) the Mass (without question on Sundays and Major Holy Days, and perhaps more frequently); and 3) private prayer (including meditative prayer). Good Shepherd’s liturgical life is built around this rule. Will you consider embracing this rule in our own local context? When you can’t be physically in the church on a weekday because of work or other obligations, consider adapting it to your own situation. Mark your day with prayer, wherever you are. A rule of life also demands flexibility.

The advantage of a rule is that we are shaped into the people God is calling us to be. The rule shapes us; we don’t shape it. God is the potter; we are the clay. We don’t observe the rule only when we feel like it. We don’t go to Sunday Mass when it’s convenient; we go when it’s demanded because what has distinguished Christians from the earliest days of the Church was keeping the Lord’s Day. Precisely when we don’t feel like attending Mass, we should go! The most effective way we can all support the work of this parish is to show up constantly to pray together.

One final word: we don’t observe a rule of life to “get” anything. We don’t do it so that this parish will grow. But, if we are indeed to continue to grow for the sake of the Gospel, we will only do so by being a faithful people, praying together (in person) in a particular place and time. We will not attract others to this parish through gimmicks or flashy initiatives. Yes, we absolutely must look outward and be in the community, but only God gives the growth. We pray. We plant seeds. We water them lovingly (frequently in our prayer), and then God gives the growth.

Beginning next week, weekday Masses will be held on Thursdays at 6 p.m. and Fridays at 8 a.m. There will be no Mass on Wednesday mornings. This new schedule will ensure that a congregation will be present for Mass. It seems that the morning Mass time on Wednesday is not good for many people’s schedules. Masses on Major Holy Days will be offered as announced, usually at 6 p.m. on those days. I hope that this new schedule will make it easier for some of you to more fully inhabit our parish rule of life.

Whether you are rejoicing or mourning, busy or underworked, “feeling it” or not, come to church. There is always a good reason to go to church, even if you don’t know what that reason is. Mark your day with prayer. This parish’s doors are open always. We are porous to the world, and we intercede on its behalf daily. How will you participate?

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of January 29, 2023

I’m currently making my way through The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke out of Auschwitz to Warn the World by Jonathan Freedland. The book tells the story of Rudolf Vrba (born Walter Rosenberg) who escaped the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944 and then detailed the atrocities happening inside the walls of the camp. While a prisoner at Auschwitz, Vrba utilized the gift of his prodigious mind to memorize the statistics of horror that he witnessed. From the time he entered the camp, Vrba realized that the most effective way he could respond justly to the evil injustice of the Nazi regime was to escape and then warn the world about what was happening at Auschwitz, because the world outside was in many ways blind to the gruesome realities within the concentration camp. This drive to escape and announce the heinous injustice of the Nazi regime was Vrba’s motivation to survive in a place oriented only towards death.

Reading this book has roused many questions for me as a Christian, especially since many of the perpetrators of the Holocaust were self-professed Christians. It brings up the larger question of how any Christian could justify the hideous actions that occurred in the Holocaust. Indeed, vile injustice is rampant among us even today, much of which we are not aware. Undoubtedly, there are people responsible for such injustice who purport to be Christian. How is this so?

And this causes me to think about Christian worship. Worship is not a means to an end; it is the end, but the end should have a transformative effect on our lives. Because of what God has done for us, we can only respond with adoration and praise. And yet. . . there are ethical dimensions to our worship. So, what does it mean when some people attend church faithfully but do not act in love towards their neighbors? What does it mean to be in church every Sunday (or more) and not feel the stirrings of change within oneself? Worship should eventually turn our cold hearts of stone into warm hearts of flesh, on fire with love for God, self, and neighbor. How can one not be changed by the efficacy of the sacraments administered and received? A sacrament might be valid under the right conditions, but what does its efficaciousness look like?

Much of this is a mystery that we will never know, but it behooves us always as Christians to be mindful of the way worship does and should shape our lives. For centuries, many Christians have turned a blind eye towards injustice. Many still do. Christian discipleship demands that we be prepared to let any dissonance between what we profess and what we do disturb us. We are always called to repentance.

On Friday, January 27, we will be holding a Holocaust Remembrance Service at 7 p.m. This is deliberately not an interfaith service because the focus will be on Christian repentance for complicity in injustice. While it may not seem entirely integrous to ask for repentance for those heinous crimes we did not personally commit (such as those in the Holocaust), each of us is always at risk of turning an blind eye to injustice. It is no secret that antisemitism is currently alive and well across the world, and recently it has been given more of a public platform in this nation. Tonight’s liturgy will invite each of us to examine our own sinful behavior and proclivities towards ethical apathy and to ask for God’s forgiveness where such forgiveness is due. This evening’s service will follow the Book of Common Prayer’s “Order for Worship in the Evening,” which has a similar pattern to the evening Office. As permitted by the prayer book, we will say together the Litany of Penitence, found in the Ash Wednesday liturgy but also allowed on other penitential occasions. This evening is one such occasion.

My prayer for the Church of the Good Shepherd is that our robust schedule of liturgies will not become a perfunctory performance of mindless rituals but instead work on us in slow and subtle ways, to shape us and mold us into people who are truly alive in God. Perhaps the words of the prophet Micah, which we shall hear in Mass this Sunday, says it best: “what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” (Micah 6:8).

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle Babin

Week of January 22, 2023

If you are sitting near your calendar, please mark this Sunday, January 22, on it. After Sung Mass, in accordance with our parish bylaws, we will hold our annual parish meeting. As I mentioned last week, we will elect new vestry members and lay delegates to diocesan convention. We will learn more about the 2023 budget. But most importantly, we will be together as a parish family. Please see this occasion as more than a business meeting; see it as an opportunity to meet together in one space (other than for worship) and to talk about what God has in store for our future. Before Sunday’s meeting, I ask you to please read the 2023 Annual Report. Although I will offer an oral report at the meeting, it will be different from what is written in the annual report. I hope that Sunday’s meeting will be more conversational in tone. Please bring your questions about the 2023 budget or anything else related to the life of the parish. The vestry and I want to hear from you.

In particular, on Sunday, I would like all of us to reflect on our individual role in this parish’s life. We will hear more from St. Paul in Sunday’s second lesson at Mass (as well as in the sermon!), but suffice it to say that St. Paul gives us a robust theology of the Body of Christ. It should go without saying that each of us has particular, unique gifts given by God, not to be squandered or filed away, but to be used for his kingdom. They are to be used in this place. I have said before that I believe each of you has been brought to Good Shepherd because you have some specific role to play in building up the Body of Christ in this local community. It requires prayerful discernment to figure out what that role is. At the end of Sunday’s parish meeting, we will look at all our parish ministries, and I’ll invite you to consider playing an active part in sustaining those ministries. We need your help. But above all, God’s mission needs you, too.

And at our meeting, I will also be asking all present to take a brief survey. Part of this survey is a direct ask for your participation in living into a parish rule of life. Some of the questions will pertain to the need for a slight shift in our daily Mass schedule (not Sundays), and some of them will ask about what other parish ministries you hope might be created and formed over time. For us to grow as a parish, we need to give voice to our hopes and concerns. This Sunday’s meeting is an opportunity for you to do so. I do hope you will make attendance a priority.

As you will read in the Annual Report and hear about on Sunday, despite our challenges (which every parish has), the state of the parish is strong. Hardly a day goes by when I’m not surprised by what God is enabling us to do through his grace. Thank you for your commitment to walking the Christian Way in this place, for sharing your gifts, time, talent, and money. I will look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of January 15, 2023

Family dinners were a treasured part of my childhood. It was a beautiful ritual of designating a particular time for dinner, stopping work at that time, washing hands, sitting down, and then enjoying a meal and conversation together. I wonder how common such meals are these days, when we have much more to distract us than when I was growing up. I sincerely hope that even today people are able to put down their smartphones, turn off the TV, and share food and fellowship together.

This is, after all, a part of what we do every Sunday (and even on weekdays) at the Mass. The Mass is a meal, but much more than a meal. It was no coincidence that Jesus chose to gather his disciples (and later, the Church) around food and the act of eating. But the Mass is no ordinary meal. The Mass is not a time for social conversation or casual dining. And so, although we are called to deeper communion with one another at every celebration of the Mass, we must also designate other times in which we can have real conversation, check in with one another, and deepen our bonds of fellowship.

This is one reason our annual parish meeting is so important. True, it is partly a business meeting. We review the previous calendar year, with its accomplishments and challenges. We introduce the vestry-approved budget for the coming calendar year. We elect new vestry members and lay delegates to diocesan convention. But it is much more. It is our family meeting.

I’m aware that some family meetings are contentious and painful. Sometimes, letting those emotions out is necessary to heal, but I can assure you that our recent family meetings at Good Shepherd (and this year’s family meeting!) are not so. I am surprised anew nearly every day with what God is working out within this parish, through your hearts, minds, and many gifts. Undoubtedly, we have challenges, as does every parish. But we are well on our way to finding an even greater place of financial stability. And we are a growing parish, which is quite rare in the Episcopal Church these days and especially because of the COVID pandemic.

On Sunday, January 22, after the Sung Mass, we will hold the 2023 annual meeting. There will be coffee and food, as usual. I encourage each and every one of you to attend. Please make it a priority. This is your opportunity to hear and learn about all the things that happen quietly under the radar in the parish. I want all of you to understand the decisions behind the 2023 budget and to know the financial challenges we face, not so that we can wallow in anxiety but so that we can work together, fervently, to move to greater financial health. It is already happening, but there is much, much more work to be done. We will also do something different in the second part of this year’s annual meeting. We will highlight the many ministries of the parish, noting where we could use more participation, and we will invite you to prayerfully consider taking on a new ministry if your particular gifts align with it. Representatives from the various ministries of the parish will be present to answer questions.

As I noted to the vestry in my report for our January meeting, I believe we have turned a significant corner in the life of this parish. It is now time to share ministries even more broadly among all who worship here. This will help prevent burnout among some. It will make our parish stronger, and it will ensure that ministry here can be sustainable in the long run.

Please mark January 22 in your calendars. Because we are still a small parish, every single person matters enormously. Your participation in the meeting is an investment in the future of the parish, so that God can continue to bless ministry here, further the sacramental witness of the parish, and advance the proclamation of the Gospel. Let’s rejoice in what God is doing among us, and I’ll look forward to seeing you on Sunday, and especially on January 22!

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of January 8, 2023

Twelfth night has just passed, the Christmas season officially ends, and today we arrive at the manger with the magi from the East. This day, the feast of the Epiphany, gets more attention in some corners of the world than in our country and culture. Some churches have even begun transferring this feast to a Sunday. But I relish the fact that the Episcopal Church has committed itself to observing this feast on the day, on whatever day January 6 falls during the week.

Epiphany is one of the seven Principal Feasts of the Church year, an echelon of feast days that surpasses even Major Holy Days in stature. The Biblical story that undergirds this feast, at least in the West, is that of the journey of the magi/wise men to pay homage to the Christ Child in Bethlehem, while also bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to offer him. But Epiphany is so much more than this familiar story. Epiphany celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the world—significantly, to both Jews and Gentiles. This is represented in the pagan magi (perhaps astrologers) meeting Jesus Christ in the manger. Epiphany is also an invitation for us to consider how we, as Christ’s living Body on earth, are able to manifest his good news to the world. What do our actions say about our faith? How do others see Christ in us? Perhaps even more mysteriously, if the magi could somehow find themselves at the manger despite their own religion, can we imagine the ways in which others in our own day are surprisingly finding themselves at the manger without our control or manipulation? Today we rejoice that the glory of God, revealed in human flesh, was not kept secret in some remote corner of the world but was revealed to all peoples and nations. Likewise, today, there is no place on earth that is immune from the reach of the living God.

I hope you will join us for a Procession and Sung Mass this evening (with choir) at 7 p.m. We will also bless chalk for the marking of doors at homes, an Epiphany tradition. You are also invited to bring warm clothes (such as warm shoes, boots, and socks) that we will collect near the crèche for refugees who have been bused to the Philadelphia area. May this be a kind of manifestation of our Christian love and compassion, a gift brought to Christ in the crèche and to Christ in the persons of those refugees in need of care. After Mass, we will have a potluck dinner in the retreat house; bring a dish (and a friend, too!).

If you would like your house blessed during the season after the Epiphany, it is an appropriate time to do so. Please reach out to me. And I pray that the blessing of God will extend through your lives to be a manifestation of his love to the world.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of January 1, 2023

Especially at this time of year, even in the afterglow of Christmas Eve and Day, I am grateful that the Church of the Good Shepherd is not just a Sunday-only parish. Although Sundays tend to be quite full with morning Masses, formation, monthly concerts, and frequent Evensongs, the church is open every single day of the week for public worship (with rare exceptions). In this, we are nearly unique on the Main Line. The Daily Office is prayed Monday through Friday with Morning Prayer at 9 a.m. and Evening Prayer at 5:30 p.m., and with Morning Prayer at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. The Daily Office is also livestreamed, and people join us from across the country. On Wednesday and Friday mornings at 8 a.m., Low Mass is offered. And Low Mass is offered at 8 a.m. on all Major Holy Days (see the calendar of the Church year, beginning on p. 15 of the Book of Common Prayer). On Wednesday evenings at 7 p.m., Dr. Donald McCown, our People’s Warden, leads a new contemplative prayer group, followed by dinner. All are welcome to attend. On Thursday evenings, from 7 to 8:30 p.m., I lead the Pilgrims in Christ adult formation class, a deep journey into the heart of the Christian faith, which also prepares participants for Baptism, Confirmation, Reception into the Episcopal Church, or Reaffirmation of Baptismal Vows.

The former rector of the parish that sponsored me for ordination—an Anglo-Catholic parish—used to say that the daily Mass was the heartbeat of that parish. I would love for us to return to a daily Mass at Good Shepherd, but that will take some time (I can’t say Mass by myself!). But perhaps we could say that the heartbeat of our parish life, for now, is what happens every day—the subdued, consistent worship that happens on days other than Sundays. Yes, Sunday is the day of prime importance as the Lord’s Day, but it spills over into the heart that keeps beating during the week. While the body sleeps and works and does other things, the heart can’t rest. So, daily prayer sustains the spiritual life of our parish.

I have been reflecting on this rhythm of prayer especially this past week, as we have celebrated three Major Holy Days on December 26, 27, and 28. The Church’s calendar takes no break even after Christmas! The Book of Common Prayer (which orders our common life of worship) states that “The Holy Eucharist, the principal act of Christian worship on the Lord's Day and other major Feasts, and Daily Morning and Evening Prayer, as set forth in this Book, are the regular services appointed for public worship in the Church” (p. 11). The prayer book expects that Masses will be offered on Major Holy Days, and so we do at Good Shepherd.

I grew up in a tradition that designated “holy days of obligation.” In my humble opinion, that is not the most enchanting way to speak of sacred days in the Church year. On the one hand, I respect the spirit of making it clear that the faithful will enrich their souls by attending Mass on certain days. On the other hand, “obligation” can lead to a sense of perfunctory observance, with little spirit behind the ritual performance of certain duties and “obligations.” So, to deepen one’s commitment to regular prayer, especially the Mass beyond Sunday, could we, as Christians in the Episcopal tradition, try to see how attending Mass on Major Holy Days is spiritual advantageous? How is it a gift? It is a gift in that we are corporately thankful for God’s gift of Jesus in our lives, and specifically in the Sacrament of the Altar. I do think it is helpful for us to stretch ourselves from time to time, making Church attendance a priority even when we might be tempted to sleep in or do something else. The first step is just to do it, even when we don’t feel like it. I suspect that after we institute this kind of sacred rhythm in our lives, we will feel the benefits, which are part of God’s mysterious workings within us.

It is becoming known that Good Shepherd once again has its doors open on a regular basis. On some of the quietest days during the week, you might be surprised at who comes through our doors for prayer and solace. People light candles at the shrines. They leave prayer requests. Sometimes people in distress come here because they have nowhere else to turn. They know we are here, that we will show up for them. Aside from the inestimable value of prayer itself, this is why keeping the doors open for prayer is so important.

As we begin a new secular year, we might consider some new year resolutions for our parish. Could one resolution be to recommit ourselves anew to inhabiting and living more deeply into the rhythm of prayer already established here? The Daily Office can be led by any lay person, even alone. But for Mass to occur, there must be someone present in addition to a priest. And especially as we invite retreatants into our new retreat house, we are also inviting them into our life of prayer. It is my hope and prayer that this life of prayer will be shared as fully as possible by the parish. If you live relatively close to Good Shepherd, would you consider attending Low Masses on Major Holy Days if your schedule allows? What about the Daily Office? If you can’t make it in person, what about tuning in online (with prayer book in hand!) at 9 a.m. or 5:30 p.m.? Or if even that doesn’t work, perhaps consider praying it on your own at home. While it may seem a chore at times, more often than not, it will become something you find yourselves dependent on, and when you miss, you will feel “off” for the day.

I will close with a bold statement. I’m convinced that the noticeable growth that is taking root again in this parish is because of the rigorous life of prayer we are sustaining. And it’s not about works righteousness. It means that when we pray together we discern most clearly what God is calling us to do and be. Prayer is aligning ourselves with the life of prayer already happening within the Triune God, and then God will use us to work his purpose out in the world.

Please mark Friday, January 6 on your calendar. It’s not only a Major Holy Day but one of the seven Principal Feasts of the Church year. There’s no “obligation” to attend, but I hope you will come to the Procession and Sung Mass at 7 p.m., where we will also bless chalk for the chalking of doors at home. And then bring a potluck dish for a supper afterwards in the retreat house. I also ask you to consider bringing warm shoes and boots (but not sneakers) as well as socks for refugees who have been bused to the Philadelphia area. We will collect them and ensure that they go to those in need. You will be invited to leave them near the crèche at the Epiphany Mass.

May God’s blessing be upon you for the remainder of this Christmastide, and I hope to see you in church on Sunday, as we observe another Major Feast, the Feast of the Holy Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of December 25, 2022

In our children’s Godly Play class, each Sunday during Advent, we have been preparing to enter the mystery of Christmas. I particularly like the way Godly Play talks about entering that mystery. We are told that you have to take time to get ready to enter a mystery. Advent is four weeks long because Christmas is such a great mystery that you have to take enough time to get ready for it. This time of year, people are hurrying through the malls, shopping, and doing all kinds of things, but they miss the mystery of Christmas, as Godly Play tells us. They don’t know how to enter a mystery, or maybe they forgot.

Do we know how to enter a mystery? Has Christmas become just one more “thing” we have to do? Is it possible to reclaim its mystery in spite of the busyness, stress, and tensions of Christmas “outside the Church”? It is also true that this time of year can be difficult for some. The days are short and dark. Lost loved ones are on our minds. For those who have no family and few friends, it is a lonely time. This, I think, is part of the mystery of Christmas. The mystery of God’s time, of liturgical time, is truth expressed in the only way we can try to express it—in poetry. Jesus was born in a historical year, but he is born anew each year—each day, in fact—in our hearts. The Baby’s birth did not eradicate our darkness, suffering, and problems. It reframed them, it subverted them from below. This is how God works.

This year Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, and there is a particular poetry in this. This is one of the reasons I am in awe of the liturgical/Church year. God’s time breaks in and unfolds in different ways in our own chronological time. The poetry in Christmas Day being on a Sunday is that we celebrate Jesus’s birth on the Lord’s Day, the day we also celebrate his victory over death. And this means that on the day we honor his birth, we also acknowledge his death. This is the mystery that much of the world does not understand or want to understand. The Gospel evangelists were not unaware of this mystery. In St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus’s swaddling bands also point to the grave clothes he will wear. Each Christmas, during Communion, we sing the wonderful hymn “A stable lamp is lighted,” which brings Jesus’s passion into his birth. We sing the same hymn on Palm Sunday.

This is the heart of the mystery of Christmas and is why it’s good news. At Christmas, we bask in joy and hope, yes, but the Gospel truth is that tied up in all that joy and hope are all the things that afflict us and from which we can’t run. In all that, God comes to us. This is the mystery of God-with-us, Emmanuel.

At this time of year, I’m especially grateful for the faithful service of our hardworking staff, Chris Wittrock, Mary Campbell, and Matt Glandorf. I’m thankful for the presence of Emily Amos our organ scholar as the choir tackles extra music this season. Thank you to our wonderful choir. Thank you to all of you who are making Christmas possible liturgically, but who are too many to name: the acolytes, the Altar Guild, the lectors, the livestream team, and the ushers. So much happens behind the scenes every day at Good Shepherd but especially at this time of year. If you can, come and help us decorate the church today. Pop by at any time or after Evening Prayer.

Finally, I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas. It is my prayer that you can begin to enter into the mystery of this time of year, despite all that makes that difficult. If you are in town, I do hope to see you on Christmas Eve at 6 p.m. (note the time change this year). And since Christmas Day is the Lord’s Day, would you consider coming to Mass on Sunday, too? We will keep our usual schedule. Christmas (The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ) is one of the principal feasts of the year. I think it deserves all our attention, even attending Mass twice in the span of two days. Let us enter into this mystery will all the vigor, faithfulness, and humility that we can muster. Christ is coming soon. He is knocking at the door. May we open the door and let him in. Merry Christmas!

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of December 18, 2022

I find it difficult to live in 2022 without being a bit impatient. Technology has conditioned me to expect immediate answers. If I need to know the answer to something, I Google it. If I need to look up a word when reading on my Kindle, I tap my finger to the word, and the definition appears instantly. When driving, people will honk at me if I don’t accelerate within a nanosecond of the light turning green. These are superficial examples.

But there are more complex ones. How can we not be impatient for peace when we read of one more mass shooting or consider the war in Ukraine? How can we not yearn for justice for those whose voices are squelched? How can we not be impatient for the truth to be told in the midst of lies?

This is the tension of Advent. It’s difficult to be immersed in Church life and not deal with tension. There’s the already-not yet tension of God’s kingdom partially realized on earth and hardly here in full glory. We carry the image of God, and yet we sin, and so we must journey towards growing more and more into the likeness of God. The entire Church year is an exploration of theological tensions and resolutions.

I admit that I find it difficult to wait. As a former mentor of mine said, I’m impatient for the sake of the Gospel. That’s not a bad thing, if you ask me. We rightly honor the urgency of proclaiming the good news in an age when so many things seem to be working against it. Since coming to Good Shepherd, I have felt the urgency of making haste to grow this parish, move towards greater financial health, and boldly emerge from the cloud of past turmoil.

And yet. . . Advent waiting is more than a guilt-ridden attempt to temper our impatience. Advent waiting is a gift that can allow us to remember that, ultimately, God is in charge. God’s time does not correspond to the urgency of the chronological time we inhabit. This is no excuse to rest on our laurels and support so-called Church decline. Advent waiting is an invitation to let God surprise us with his grace.

I cannot recount how many times I have seen that happen here at Good Shepherd. Waiting on God to act is humbling, and it is one of the most helpful counters to our Pelagian tendencies. When I have felt that we are not growing quickly enough or that we don’t have enough money or resources to move forward, I have always been surprised. New faces have appeared in our midst, eager to be a part of life in this parish. God sent them here; I had nothing to do with it. When I weather a frustrating day, inevitably a thoughtful email or phone call appears. It’s a seemingly small thing, but I’ve learned to be more patient and to look expectantly for these surprising graces from God. In those ways, God encourages us and pushes us along. I wonder how God is doing the same with you.

Some of our Christmas trees may already be up at home. We are purchasing gifts and making travel plans for Christmas. I understand, because fighting “secular culture” is not always the most helpful thing. But inside the Church, we will wait on the Christmas carols. The Christmas trees will not go up until next Friday. And the baby will not be placed in the crèche until the First Mass of Christmas. We will learn to wait on God, because the most surprising blessings happen in that way, if we can wait on them with hopeful expectation.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of December 11, 2022

Church during Advent might look a lot like Lent, with the violet altar frontal, Great Litany on Advent I, and omission of the Gloria in excelsis at Mass. Advent, like Lent, is a penitential season, but it’s also different from Lent. Lent prepares for the mystery of Easter, with a specific focus on living into our baptismal identity. Advent prepares our hearts to greet our Lord at Christmas, in the day to day comings of our Lord into our hearts, and in his full majesty and glory at the end of time. These penitential seasons of the Church year are not intended to be gloomy, although Lent does feel a bit austere when the Alleluias go on vacation for a time. As seasons of preparation, both Advent and Lent call each of us to self-examination and repentance. And yet they also call us to hope.

It is the habit of many Christians to mark these penitential seasons with special spiritual practices. Perhaps you are engaging in some holy reading this Advent. I hope you will take some time to embrace the short season of Advent, even though the world outside the Church is in full-blown Christmas mode. I’d like to suggest some other spiritual practices that you might consider this Advent to prepare your hearts to greet Christ in the manger at Christmas and when he comes again on the Last Day.

This is not the first (and won’t be the last time!) I write about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, or private confession. Before you stop reading (especially if you have had a hurtful or unhelpful experience with confession in the Church or another denomination), I invite you to stay with me just a bit longer. Private confession is not required in the Anglican tradition. The old adage stands: “All may, some should, none must.” God forgives before we even ask, but a gesture of turning again to God—metanoia, repentance—is necessary to see that God has always been standing with arms wide open to welcome us home again. To accept God’s forgiveness, we have to turn. And turning can sometimes be the most difficult thing to do. But if God forgives so readily, why confess one’s sins before a priest? The answer, in my view, is because it’s spiritually beneficial for our souls. It keeps us honest with ourselves, others, and God. It humbles us before God and requires that we not take God’s boundless forgiveness for granted. The general confession at Mass is simply not enough time to do a proper self-examination. Moreover, people often confess “sins” that a priest might counsel are not actually sins. The spiritual counsel of a priest can be valuable in coming to terms with the state of one’s own soul. I believe the world would be a holier, better place if more people practiced private confession. There is no room for dissembling in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Private confession before a priest requires that we be specific about our sins, but then hand all of them over to God. Once they are confessed and absolution is given, they are erased. They are no more. We must move on.

If you would like to make a private confession this Advent (or at any other point), you may contact me to schedule one at any time. You should know that the seal of the confessional is inviolable. I may be your parish priest, but coming to me for confession will not change my attitude toward you. Confessions are absolutely private, even though they are held in the fullness of the Church’s embrace (represented by the priest hearing the confession). The best book I know for preparing for confession in the Episcopal Church is Martin Smith’s Reconciliation. I wholeheartedly commend it to you. I will be teaching more on private confession in an adult formation class in the spring.

This Advent, you might also consider attending a weekday Low Mass on Wednesdays or Fridays at 8 a.m. or on Major Holy Days. And after Christmas, don’t forget that we keep the Major Holy Days during the twelve days with Masses. Maybe this Advent you want to try attending Morning or Evening Prayer one day a week. This parish offers many opportunities to help you prepare room in your hearts for Christ as we approach Christmas.

Whatever you choose as a spiritual practice, I pray that this Advent is a season of blessing for you. The light shines in the darkness. Salvation comes to us in the midst of our sorrow and in a world riddled with deep darkness. Christ is coming again. He comes even now. He is knocking at the door. Let us keep awake and be ready to greet him with plenty of oil in our lamps and candles burning.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of December 4, 2022

We are in the midst of a rich week at Good Shepherd. We have just concluded our second three-day program retreat in our new retreat house. This week’s retreat was entitled “To Charm and Attract: The Mutual Ministry of Priest and Musician” and was led by the Rt. Rev. Frank Griswold, XXV Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church and a good friend of this parish. Gathered for this retreat were clergy and musicians from across the country and Episcopal Church, some of whom work together in parishes. Over the course of three days, Bishop Griswold led retreatants in a conversation about how to prayerfully reclaim “our first love,” referring to the indicting words in the Revelation to John addressed to the Church at Ephesus. The pressing question over the course of this retreat was how, in the midst of the busyness, challenges, and frustrations of ministry, to hold on to that first love of a vocation to serve God in the Church. Over the retreat’s three days, we heard from early Church fathers and the words of holy Scripture. We were honest about the difficulties faced by those in ministry, and we acknowledged that there are few easy solutions to conflicts and tensions within working relationships in the Church. And yet, in the joys and stresses of service to the Church, this week’s retreat was a gentle reminder that it is possible—indeed necessary—not to forget that “first love” and passionate desire of a call to serve our Lord

It just so happens that this weekend we will further reflect on theological desire when we welcome another prominent cleric to Good Shepherd, The Rev. Dr. Sarah Coakley, formerly Norris-Hulse Divinity at the University of Cambridge, UK, and one of today’s foremost Anglican theologians. Mother Coakley has explored issues within religious feminism from an Anglo-Catholic perspective, rooted in patristics and the Church’s deep spiritual tradition. Mother Coakley will lead an Advent Day of Prayer and Reflection this Saturday, December 3, at Good Shepherd from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., focusing on “The Asceticism of Desire in the Anglican Tradition.” Perhaps the main thesis in one of Mother Coakley’s books can serve as an invitation into the upcoming weekend with her: “only a revived, purged—and lived—form of ‘ascetic’ life will rescue the churches from their current theological divisions and incoherences over ‘sexuality’; and only the same authentically ‘ascetic’ life will be demanding enough to command the respect of a post-Christian world saturated and sated by the commodifications of desire” (The New Asceticism, London: Bloomsbury, 2015, pp. 5-6).

In her rigorous scholarship and prayerful practice as a priest in both the Episcopal Church and Church of England, Mother Coakley has sought to address current challenges that modernity poses to the Church without eschewing the deep well of the Church’s spiritual and ascetical tradition. in fact, the Church’s rich spiritual tradition speaks powerfully and freshly to contemporary challenges. As she poses later in The New Asceticism, how do we move “beyond ‘libertinism’ and ‘repression’” (p. 140)? The underlying question to her work on asceticism, as I read it, is this: how can the Church reclaim authenticity, honesty, and unity by engaging theology with faithful and prayerful living, rather than devolving into superficial and divisive polarizations, whether from liberal or conservative points of view?

In addition to her discussions on Saturday, Mother Coakley will also lead periods of contemplative prayer, a kind of prayer that is perfect for Advent, where we wait silently on God’s grace to purge and purify our desires. Mother Coakley will also celebrate Mass as part of Saturday’s day retreat. And on Sunday, Mother Coakley will be the preacher at Sung Mass and then lead us in a conversation on “Advent Fire and the Call to Transformation” after Mass.

It’s not too late to register for Saturday’s day retreat and Sunday’s adult formation class. I hope you will make time in the busyness of December to join us in reflection on the great benefits of the ascetical life and how it can be integrated into our own “secular" lives outside the Church. Please join me in welcoming Mother Coakley to the parish, and I hope to see you on Saturday and Sunday!

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of November 27, 2022

Living into the season of Advent is to live strangely, counterculturally, but wonderfully. Keeping the full season of Advent is strange because around us in CVS and along Lancaster Avenue, Christmas lights and decorations are up. For many, we are entering the “Christmas season.” But we Christians are entering Advent. Advent is also a bit strange vis a vis our culture because it begins a new year—a new Church year, at least. This Sunday, we begin Year A of the three-year lectionary cycle, which is the appointed series of readings for Sunday Masses. In each year of the lectionary cycle, the Gospel readings focus on a particular evangelist for much of the year: Matthew in Year A, Mark in Year B, and Luke in Year C (John is thrown in throughout those years at various times). It’s a gift to journey through the lectionary cycle and hear the good news proclaimed through the particular lenses of the evangelists’ different voices.

I encourage you to be intentional about keeping Advent, not as a defiant churchly stance against “the world,” but as something beneficial for your spiritual lives. Advent is laden with many theological themes: waiting, judgment, eschatology, repentance, and the Incarnation, to name a few. In Advent, we are not only waiting for Christmas and the birth of Christ, but we are waiting for the Second Coming, when as the creeds tell us, Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead. During Advent, we attempt to temper our impatience with a patience for a clearer understanding of God’s movement in our lives. We could even say that Advent has an apophatic character, meaning that instead of throwing a bunch of words at God to get him to do something for us, we wait, perhaps in silence, for God’s action. We might more accurately say we wait for an awareness of God’s action among us.

At Good Shepherd, we are intentional about marking the season of Advent and trying to keep it distinct from the Christmas season (which, after all, lasts for twelve days). Vestments and liturgical colors change to violet, the color of kings, as we await the King of kings. We begin the season of Advent with the chanting of the Great Litany in procession at the beginning of Sung Mass, noting that there is a somewhat penitential character to Advent, although it is quite distinct from Lent. This Advent, can the chanting of the Great Litany be for us a way to lament the destruction around us: the mass shootings, the earthquake in Indonesia, the trenchant political divisions, and the lingering illness wrought by a pandemic?

There are also planned events during Advent that can enrich your own spiritual journey this season. On the weekend of December 3-4, the Rev. Professor Sarah Coakley, formerly Norris-Hulse Professor of Divinity at the University of Cambridge and an Anglican priest, will be with us to to offer an Advent Day of Prayer and Reflection on “The Asceticism of Desire in the Anglican Tradition,” preach at the Sunday Sung Mass, and lead adult formation after Mass. Register here for the day of theological reflection and contemplative prayer, and here for the Sunday adult formation presentation and discussion. And on Sunday, December 11, we will offer a beautiful candlelit service of Advent Lessons and Carols, sung by our choir, at 3 p.m. Please mark your calendars and consider inviting a friend to attend.

Finally, you may wish to engage in some intentional spiritual reading this Advent as we wait on God. There are many books out there designed to aid your journey through this season, but might I offer a few suggestions? Rowan Williams’s Ponder These Things: Praying with Icons of the Virgin is a beautiful theological and pictorial foray through meditating on images of the Incarnation. You might also like to look at some of Sarah Coakley’s works in preparation for her visit to the parish. The New Asceticism is a good place to start. Other important works are God, Sexuality, and the Self , and for the ambitious (!) Powers and Submissions: Spirituality, Philosophy, and Gender. And as we enter the “year of Matthew” in our lectionary cycle, perhaps you would like to find a commentary or book that will guide you through a prayerful reading of that Gospel. For those of you who love poetry, I also highly recommend Malcolm Quite’s fantastic book Waiting on the Word: A Poem a Day for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany.

May this Advent be for all of us a prayerful and intentional season of waiting on Christ’s coming at Christmas, on Christ’s coming at the end of time to judge the living and dead and bring justice to a broken world, and on Christ’s daily coming into our hearts. Let us open our hearts, make room, and let him in.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of November 20, 2022

If there is one word that encapsulates the heart of Christian worship, prayer, and action, it is thanksgiving. We are a Eucharistic people. The word Eucharist comes from the Greek word eucharisteo (“I give thanks”), and the Eucharist/Mass is the central act of worship for us. Attending Mass is not a mere perfunctory obligation; it is a genuine act of thanksgiving. It is a heartfelt response to God’s first love for us and for all that he has given us. Properly understood, it is never a mere obligation.

Hardly a day goes by in ministry at Good Shepherd when I am not called to pause and give thanks for some blessing, big or small. This week I have been giving thanks for the generosity of those who have pledged towards ministry in 2023. Some days, it’s a kind word from a parishioner or someone else that causes me to render a small prayer of thanks to God. What is it for you? Is it the good news of someone’s recovery from an illness? Or in times of difficulty and trial, is your expression of thanks simply that God has given you the strength to tough it out?

There is very little we should fear more than an ungrateful heart. Ingratitude starts in small ways, and then it begins to ossify our spiritual arteries. Before long, all we can see is negativity. All we can offer are biting words, and the glass is always half empty. This is what Scripture calls sklerokardia (“hard-heartedness”).

Truth be told, gratitude does not always come easily. That’s why it must be practiced, as with any spiritual practice. Have you considered ways to incorporate intentional gratitude in your own lives? Perhaps it’s as simple as making a list each day of everything for which you’re thankful. Perhaps you might practice the Ignatian examen, prayerfully reviewing your day to recall the ways in which the Holy Spirit was speaking to you and finding gratitude even in those frustrating moments. At the very least, disappointments teach us to be humble. One of my favorite lines in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer is in “A General Thanksgiving, p. 836), where we thank God “for those disappointments and failures that lead us to acknowledge our dependence on [God] alone.”

As we approach the American holiday of Thanksgiving, can we allow Thanksgiving to be more than just one secular holiday for us? Can we reclaim the core of what it means to be a Christian? I firmly believe that if we are grateful we are more generous. And generosity begets generosity. I have seen it in my own life. I have seen it in this parish. Precisely when you don’t believe you have enough time or money to give is exactly when you should give it. You will be changed.

We have much to celebrate and give thanks for in this parish. Because I will be away from Tuesday to Saturday of next week, we will celebrate Mass using the Thanksgiving Day propers this Monday, November 21, at 6:30 p.m. in the Lady Chapel. Please come! Sign up here, and bring a potluck dish from your family’s heritage for our simple feast afterwards in the retreat house. The house will be open before Mass, so you can leave your dish inside before heading to the Lady Chapel. Let’s celebrate together as a parish.

Should you have any pastoral emergency next week while I’m away, you can call the parish office (610-525-7070), and you will be directed to my cell phone. I will then put you in touch with a local priest on call for such emergencies. I wish you and yours a wonderful holiday, and I hope to see you on Monday for our parish celebration!

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of November 13, 2022

For the past six weeks or so of our advancement campaign, you have been hearing a lot about the practical reasons why giving to ministry at Good Shepherd is important. Those reasons are obvious: to keep the lights on, pay staff, and fund ministries, money is essential. But, by far, the most important reason to give towards ministry is because it is one of the most beneficial spiritual practices possible.

Is there any other material thing in our lives than money that gets more of our mental bandwidth, worry, and planning? Which of us doesn’t constantly check our bank balances or watch how our savings accounts are doing if we even have such savings? Day after day, we receive constant messages, whether explicit or implicit, that we need to worry about our finances. There is something practical to all this. And because of all the attention we give to money, parting with our money is perhaps the most difficult spiritual thing we can imagine. Which is why it’s spiritually beneficial for each of us to give money to ministry. This is not giving something that is ours, but, rather, giving back to God what is rightly God’s.

Giving is a spiritual discipline because, at its heart, it reminds us that all the stuff of our lives that we think defines us and protects us really doesn’t. Giving reminds us that we are completely and utterly dependent on God. Like any discipline, the practice of giving is painful at first. I dare say that it is always a bit painful, but over time, it expands our hearts so that the pain is less palpable. The pain is simply a part of the purgative and healing process, for we find that our priorities change. Perhaps we find ourselves less anxious. Above all, we find that we are putting our complete trust in God. In some small way, we are assuming the self-emptying posture of a Christ-shaped life.

I have heard advice given in stewardship campaigns that one should give until it feels good. I think I understand what this means: give until your generosity feels like the right thing to do. But I wonder if it’s better advice to encourage giving until it is a bit uncomfortable. If our financial gift to the church is not making us a bit uncomfortable, then perhaps we need to give more. This is countercultural, because we are usually told to prioritize all the practical aspects of our household, then give what we can to God. Sacrificial giving operates in the opposite way. Give to God first, then figure everything else out.

As we approach Commitment Sunday this weekend, I offer thanks to those of you who have already made pledge commitments for 2023. The future of this parish and its life-changing ministry is dependent on your generous gifts of money, time, and talents. Even if you have pledged online, please bring a pledge card on Sunday to offer as a visible sign of your support for God’s work in this parish. And if you have not yet pledged, please join me in prayerfully considering how much to give as a spiritual practice for the health of all our souls. If you have pledged before, would you please consider increasing your pledge to match with rising costs of utilities and other cost of living increases? If you are new to pledging, would you consider making a tithe (10% of one’s household income) or at least setting a goal to work towards a tithe? Please recall, too, the distinction between pledging and plate giving. They are not the same, nor are they mutually exclusive. Nor are our gifts of time and talents interchangeable with financial giving precisely for the reasons I have mentioned above. We are to give to God something of all of our lives.

There are manifold reasons to financially support Good Shepherd. But above all, our own giving models God’s abundant giving to us. God gives generously to us even when we fail to give to him in return. Good Shepherd, while confronting its immense financial challenges is giving in so many ways to the community and church in spite of its situation; our giving to the world is not tied to expectations of reciprocity. And each of us is called to give in such a reckless and extravagant way. It’s good for God’s mission and the proclamation of the gospel. But above all, it is good for our souls. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of November 6, 2022

Because you are reading this weekly message, God has brought you to the Church of the Good Shepherd, for whatever reason. I don’t believe in coincidences, and so I believe that God has connected you with this parish because you have some particular gift or wisdom to share for the sake of God’s kingdom. Some of you who are reading this message may be regular recipients of our weekly email. Some of you may worship at Good Shepherd on Sundays, others on special occasions. A number of you may live far from southeastern Pennsylvania and have been prompted, for whatever reason, to establish a relationship with the Church of the Good Shepherd. I am thankful for that.

Not only do I believe that God has brought each and every one of you to this parish, whether virtual or physical; I also trust that each of you has a particular gift that is needed for the flourishing of Christ’s good news in this small parish. Is there anything that is more countercultural in today’s age than to acknowledge the value of every single person and their unique gifts? We are too often told that we must be geniuses or prodigies in our respective disciplines in order to receive recognition. Bigger is better. Loud voices gain the most attention. Flashiness wins the day. But the Gospel tells us that the world is bereft if one person’s unique gifts go unused.

I wonder what gifts you have that God desires for you to use, in your careers, in your social relationships, in your local community, and certainly in this parish. Setting aside any possible objections, would you consider with me for a minute that even geographical distance is no longer necessarily a barrier to participation in ministry in this parish? The digital world has opened up possibilities for expanded connections and, if we think creatively, for harnessing heretofore unseen power to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. How can we claim this power as a gift from God, in the face of the darker side of technology and social media?

Just as I believe you have been brought to Good Shepherd to participate in some particular way in ministry, I also believe that there are many, many others whom God would like to bring here. Many of them, I dare say, don’t even know they have certain gifts. Many have gifts that are shunned outside of the Church. Many could never imagine that their true home might be as part of a community living intentionally as the Body of Christ. Just as I believe that God moves people to find particular communities of faith, I also am convinced that we as representatives of one community of Jesus’s disciples must be actively open and alert to who those people are around us. God longs to use us to help them find their true home in God.

I believe that God yearns for you to use your gifts for his kingdom. It may seem like there are too many demands on your time, but I encourage you to consider that there is some way you can serve the work of the Gospel. In fact, I would be so bold as to say that serving God’s kingdom should surpass any other claims on our time. I would eagerly welcome the opportunity to talk more with you about how to discern ways in which you can serve Christ here. Please contact me.

But beyond your own individual discernment, I also ask you to consider some easy ways in which God might be using you to bring others into Christ’s good news. You are probably aware that there is much worship, as well as programs and activities, happening in this parish. It is not just busyness. I’m convinced that all that is occurring here is a ripe field for harvesting fruit for God’s kingdom. Will you help invite people into this labor? Might I suggest a few easy ways?

Let people know honestly but without pressure why you take time to connect with the Church of the Good Shepherd. Tell others why you value this community of faith. Let people know that, contrary to what some Christians are claiming, the Gospel is the good news of God’s love for all of us. If you live locally, invite someone to any of our upcoming events. Offer to give them a ride and bring them here. If you live far off, share one of our events on Facebook. I don’t think we should ever underestimate the power of personal invitation. And don’t underestimate the desire of some people to be invited or asked to attend a service or event. Some of your friends and acquaintances just might be longing for you to do so.

There are many other ways that every single one of you can be a part of harvesting the abundant fruit of the harvest God has prepared for us. But start small and start in ways that are authentic and honest for you. Each of you has been brought here, physically or virtually, for a reason. Pray that God might help you use your own unique gifts to his glory and honor. And if I can assist your personal discernment in any way, I would welcome the opportunity to do so.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of October 30, 2022

Last Saturday, at the 239th annual convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania, our bishop encouraged all parishes in the diocese to celebrate what God is doing among them. Bishop Gutiérrez said that, regardless of whether we see 5 or 50 people at something we’re doing, we should give thanks for it. As we turn towards the final two weeks of our 2023 advancement campaign at Good Shepherd, I hope we might celebrate what is happening among us.

Celebration is, in short, giving thanks. We Christians should be a Eucharistic people, the word “Eucharist” coming from the Greek word for “giving thanks.” A theological vision of advancing ministry at Good Shepherd must be based on thanksgiving. Our initial starting assumption is that God has blessed us tremendously, and our response is to give back generously to God. How could we do otherwise upon being in awe of God’s gifts to us?

I am enthusiastic about inviting you to give generously towards God’s kingdom by making a pledge in 2023 towards ministry at Good Shepherd, because I believe we have been blessed enormously by God. I do not think we should underestimate what the Church of the Good Shepherd is already doing for the sake of Christ and the world. It is significant. Do not underestimate what your gift can do for this parish and for the Gospel.

I would like to share one example of how your faithfulness and trust in God, as well as your financial support, are making an impact within the Church. This past week, we welcomed nine guests to our retreat house from across the nation and Canada to participate in our very first program retreat: “The Church Musician as Preacher: Expanding Skills in Hymn-Playing and Liturgical Improvisation.” The presenters were Matthew Glandorf, our Organist & Choirmaster, and Robert McCormick, Organist & Choirmaster at Saint Mark’s Church, Locust Street.

Seven participants stayed in our retreat house, while two were commuters. In addition to spending time at the organ with Matthew and Robert, retreatants participated in the round of daily prayer in the parish. We sang Evensong each day and Compline one night. Don and Gail McCown provided incredible hospitality and meals, and we were blessed by other helping hands who served and readied the house for arrival. The retreatants were overwhelmed by the hospitality they received, and they repeatedly said what a difference this retreat had made in their own professional careers. Each night the dining room of the retreat house was abuzz with conversation. New friendships were formed. As I’ve already mentioned, we should never underestimate the power of what we are doing in this new ministry.

There will be more moments like this to come, but I ask you to join me in celebrating a remarkable accomplishment for a parish that even just a few years ago was wondering whether it had a future. The answer is yes, God has always had a future for the Church of the Good Shepherd, and God has a marvelous future in store for us. No amount of conflict and challenges from our past can disturb that future. The future is waiting for us. God has prepared it. God is making something new from the old.

The retreat house is only one reason that I can confidently ask you to join me in making a pledge to Good Shepherd in 2023. I have already asked you to consider joining me in making a tithe, which is giving 10% of one’s household income back to God. Tithing is not easy, and it looks different based on one’s own situation. But I can in good conscience ask you to consider a tithe in good faith because I believe it’s crucial for the health of our souls. Tithing is a spiritual practice, even though we may very well want to keep talk of money separate from talk of God. Tithing is the goal that the Episcopal Church has set for us based on traditional Jewish and Christian understandings of giving to God’s kingdom. And yet, some of us may need to work towards a tithe. A runner can’t expect to run a marathon without practice! If you are unsure about how to establish a standard of giving for yourself, I encourage you to read this helpful article by an Episcopal priest with suggestions for working towards a tithe over several years. It includes a table for calculating percentages of one’s household income as one works towards a tithe. As with any spiritual practice, there is grace in giving oneself time to move towards a goal.

I believe that with your own financial contributions, as well as your gifts of time and of the heart, God will work wonders in this place. We are in the midst of a countercultural season. We are usually told to acquire as much as we can because we should be fearful about our future; the message is that we should be fearful about not having enough to live and survive. If we’re not fearful, we’re not being practical. In contrast, stewardship and giving to God’s kingdom asks us to be a people of abundance, trusting that there is always enough, and that God is ready to pave our future for us, apart from the world’s anxiety. We are beginning to see the first hints of God’s glorious future for this parish. Just when we believe there’s not enough, we should never underestimate God’s power to do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Thanks be to God!

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of October 23, 2022

Two of the lovely banners that hang on Lancaster and Montrose Avenues (designed by one of our own regular attendees, Shushi Yoshinaga) have this invitation: “Come, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.” In this year’s advancement campaign, we have been emphasizing the distinctive witness of the Church of the Good Shepherd within the local community and wider Church. There are many distinguishing characteristics of Good Shepherd, but one that stands out is its beauty—the beauty of the church building that God has given us, the beauty of worship and music, the beauty of its people, and, I would add, the beauty of the healing it offers. Beauty itself is indeed a source of healing. It sometimes seems that the world around us has become mechanical, cold, even sterile. But when you walk into the Church of the Good Shepherd, you will undoubtedly encounter beauty.

As parishioner Barry Levis will tell you (and will describe in more detail in the November 6th adult formation class), Anglo-Catholic parishes were historically established in gritty, slum areas of industrial England. The buildings and worship were meant to bring the beauty of Jesus’s good news into dark, oppressive contexts. This is not so much the geographical context of Good Shepherd, but dare I say that if we inhabit a culture decreasingly interested in beauty, we, by valuing the beauty of holiness, are living faithfully into our Anglo-Catholic identity?

During the 2023 advancement campaign, we have emphasized the need for us to rely less heavily on our parish investments. In the last quarterly statement, they were reported at below $400,000, the result of a volatile market at the present time. Drawing from the investments at a ten percent rate each year is not sustainable. We know that, which is why we have unfolded a five-year plan to reduce investment draws.

And at the same time, drawing at a ten percent rate at the current time while we build and plan for a reduction in such draws is not, in my estimation, irresponsible. It is investing in what makes Good Shepherd a powerfully distinctive witness to Jesus’s Gospel. We would not be the same parish without such glorious music and worship or without the ministries we are building and growing with God’s help. Recall that even in spite of our financial hardship, you, God’s faithful people in this parish, have committed to expanding ministry, to investing money and labor in opening a new retreat house.

In an unstable economy, with a small congregation and numerous challenges, it would have been easiest to hold still until we reduced endowment draws. But anyone involved in ministry knows that Gospel work never stands still. I admire and commend your commitment to supporting the life-changing ministry that is characteristic of this little corner of God’s kingdom.

In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus says, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven” (5:16). This is no incentive to brag. It is an encouragement to break out of insular molds that come so easily to us and to share God’s gifts with the entire world. Beauty, in and of itself, in worship and music and in the interior glory of a building like Good Shepherd’s, could very well remain insular. But the ministry that is being shaped by God with your participation is breaking outside the church walls to touch the world. Our church doors are open to all.

Here are a few examples. In keeping with the Anglo-Catholic commitment to social justice, our Social Concerns committee has been prayerfully discerning how this parish can play some small part in responding as Christians to the social injustice of our own day. Namely, this new committee, under the leadership of John Williams, has been praying about how to respond to the ever-increasing problem of gun violence in American society. This Sunday after Sung Mass, please stay for food, fellowship, and a presentation by the Social Concerns Committee.

Additionally, one of our parishioners, Jennifer Dee, who is Vice Chair of the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), is coordinating, along with parishioner Don McCown, a series of online classes to help families manage stress and maintain emotional and physical well-being in stressful times. The final meeting will take place in our new retreat house. Learn more here.

We now have a new contemplative prayer and mindfulness group guided by Don McCown that meets in the retreat house every Wednesday at 7 p.m., with a light dinner included. This is a wonderful opportunity to meditate on ancient and sacred words in the contemplative tradition and to rest in silence, God’s first language.

I believe that the ministry to which a parish is called by God is discerned by looking at the gifts of the people in a particular community. God has given this parish incredible gifts in areas of healing, mental health care, and formation. And our new retreat house ministry is beginning to draw on these gifts for the benefit of the wider community.

The recent past of this parish has left a number of wounds, especially a drastically reduced endowment, financial challenges, and much deferred maintenance, among others. These are not small problems, and yet, our mindset is being shaped as one of abundance, not scarcity. It seems that a way for us to heal from our past wounds is to be a source of healing to others. I’m convinced that God is helping us do this. Thank you for your part in this healing process, which we are beginning to see as we become a place of warm, inviting hospitality to others who stay in our retreat house and are fed by the ministries based there.

During this advancement campaign, as we prayerfully reflect on how we are called to financially support ministry at Good Shepherd, know that your gifts of time, talent, and treasure are being used as part of God’s healing of the world, even if in small part. Your gift, no matter how small it may seem, is essential to ensuring that Good Shepherd can be around for the future to share the gift of beauty and healing with all.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of October 16, 2022

At our last vestry meeting, I asked for the vestry’s support in designating Dr. Ellen Charry as our theologian in residence, and they enthusiastically approved. Ellen should be no stranger to many of you. She is active in many aspects of our parish life, from lectoring at services, assisting with cleanup days and retreat house work, teaching adult formation classes, and at the moment, chairing our 2023 Advancement Campaign. Dr. Charry is also a formidable theologian, having published and lectured widely. She has also been involved in theological formation within the Episcopal Church at the national level, most notably in chairing the panel on same-sex relationships in the life of the Church from 2008 to 2010 as part of the theology committee of the Episcopal Church’s House of Bishops. In 2017, she retired from twenty years’ service on the faculty of Princeton Theological Seminary.

It goes without saying that Ellen is a gift to this parish. She takes her place among so many other gifts in the parish, including others who contribute greatly to theological formation. She has taught as part of our Pilgrims in Christ formation class, has led several adult formation sessions, and will be leading others to come. It is a great resource to have access to her theological wisdom. Her probing mind helps keep us honest as Christians, and she has helpfully pushed us to confront the hideous legacy of anti-Judaism within the Church.

What does a theologian in residence do? Well, many things! First, in her role at Good Shepherd, Dr. Charry will continue to be a teacher of the Christian faith. She will do what she has already been doing. She will be a wonderful resource for those with questions about the Christian heritage, and she will be a sounding board for theological questions, bringing a veritable treasure trove of knowledge to engage with us as we journey to greater theological depth.

Dr. Charry will being offering a four-week class on Biblical interpretation in the spring (stay tuned for more details), and because the Bible is of particular interest to her, she will continue teaching about the Bible here at Good Shepherd. We live in an age of increasing Biblical illiteracy, and I hope you will take advantage of Dr. Charry’s knowledge in this regard.

Finally, Dr. Charry will consult with me on occasion to suggest ways in which the parish might speak with a theological voice to pressing issues of the day. In her words, Dr. Charry will help us interpret the Christian heritage to the culture, and the culture to the heritage. (Dr. Charry is already serving on our parish’s Social Concerns Committee, which is discerning how to respond to the problem of gun violence in our nation.) I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn and seek guidance from an experienced theologian as this parish connects the Gospel we proclaim and the community and world in which we live.

As rector, I will, of course, continue teaching regularly in the parish, since the role of parish priest should always be one of teacher. But it’s a blessing to me not to teach in a vacuum! I’m grateful to Dr. Charry, as well as to other scholars among us like Dr. Barry Levis and Dr. Donald McCown who constantly enrich the formation of Christian disciples here at Good Shepherd. Dr. Charry is among many notable and generous teachers in our parish, but in her role as theologian in residence, she will endeavor to help this parish think and live more deeply on a theological level.

Should you like to consult Dr. Charry as a resource on theological matters, you can reach her by email. You can learn more about her experience and expertise here.

This Sunday, I will miss being with all of you at Mass, since I will be away preaching at my former field education parish from seminary days (in northern Virginia), which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary as a parish. Thank you to Father Gordon Reid for filling in as guest celebrant while I’m away.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of October 9, 2022

One of the gifts of the English Reformation was the reclamation of the Daily Office, the daily recitation of prayers at fixed times during the day. Historically, the Offices were limited to the monasteries, where communal prayer occurred eight times a day. But when the English Church separated from the Church in Rome, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) ingeniously adapted the historic offices into a twofold form that could be easily prayed by the common people, in any parish church or cathedral. In Cranmer’s version, the first Book of Common Prayer (1549) bequeathed to us Morning Prayer (Matins) and Evening Prayer (Evensong). In practice, these Offices mainly persisted in the English cathedrals, but in many Anglo-Catholic parishes, such as Good Shepherd, it has been a common practice to pray the Daily Office. Interestingly, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic, many parishes (unable to gather for the Eucharist at times) found themselves reclaiming the Daily Office, which can be led by lay persons. At Good Shepherd, Morning and Evening Prayer are prayed Monday through Friday at 9 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. respectively. Morning Prayer is prayed at 9 a.m. on Saturdays.

The Daily Office, along with the Mass, is at the heart of our parish’s “rule.” A rule of life is a way of giving banks to the river of our prayer life. I will not say any more about what a rule is because this Sunday after Sung Mass you will have the opportunity to attend Dr. Donald McCown’s adult formation presentation entitled “What Is a Rule of Life?” Please stay after Mass for this first of our monthly adult formation classes on Sundays. A light lunch will be provided. I hope this presentation and conversation will inspire you to develop your own rule of life and consider what our own parish’s rule is. How can it deepen your own prayer life?

Then, having listened to Dr. McCown’s wisdom and partaken of some lunch, stay for Choral Evensong and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament at 3 p.m. (Please note the time change from previous years.) Evensong is one of the great riches of the Anglican tradition. Very few parish churches sing Evensong on a regular basis, so these frequent services at Good Shepherd are a treasure. To help you appreciate the gift of Evensong, I’d like to share here what our own Organist and Choirmaster, Matthew Glandorf, wrote some years ago about Evensong.

EVENSONG: CRANMER'S REVOLUTIONARY IDEA OF PRAYING THE DAILY OFFICE FOR
THE PEOPLE. — Matthew Glandorf
O Lord, support us all the day long, until the shadows lengthen and the evening comes, and the busy world is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then in thy mercy grant us a safe lodging, and a holy rest, and peace at the last. Amen.

In Cardinal Newman's great evening prayer for a peaceful night, we find encapsulated in poetry what Anglicans all over the world have been experiencing for about 450 years: the powerful experience of Choral Evensong. In a cathedral or parish church around twilight, the light of candles begins to overtake the natural light from outside, the organ plays in a vested choir. A bow toward the altar, a brief silence, and the responses begin: "O Lord, open thou our lips, and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise." This is followed by the appointed psalm of the day, usually set to what is uniquely known as "Anglican chant," a harmonized system of ten or twenty notes, in which the Psalms of David are recited. Two readings from scripture, to which the response is Mary's canticle the "Magnificat," in which we learn of God's plan for the rich and powerful, and redemption of the humble, meek and the hungry. The "Nunc Dimittis" draws us into the Temple when the aged Simeon holds the Christ child in his arms and exclaims that he can now depart in peace. This is concluded, as the original Prayer Book says "In Quires and Places where they sing, here followeth the Anthem" - a rubric that gives musicians ample leeway to sing music specifically designed to offer what one might consider a "musical sermon." The perfect symmetry of responses, psalms, canticles, the reading of scripture have guided the Anglican Communion into the morning (with Matins) and into the night (with Evensong) since its very beginnings with the first Book of Common Prayer in 1549. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer did what Martin Luther initiated in Germany, namely to make the monastic offices available in the vernacular in the morning and the evening. It could be prayed with elaborate music, as in the cathedrals, or sung or recited simply in the village parish church, or even, recited quietly at home.

A NEW AWAKENING
It is interesting to note that despite the sweeping reforms of Vatican II, with its emphasis on lay participation, modern language, etc., in those places where Evensong is still sung with any regularity, most often it is done in its version from the Prayer Book of 1662 . This may seem at first somewhat counterintuitive. However, some of the greatest music written in English was composed specifically for Evensong, thus the settings of the Responses the Magnificat and Nunc Dimittis (known as the Evening Service) use the language of the sixteenth and seventeenth century. Much ink has been spilled over the past forty years or so about declining church attendance and how to "reach out to the young" in a way that speaks to them, etc. Especially in England, the decline is church attendance and the increasing secularization of modern society has been profound. And yet, many cathedrals and more than a handful of parish churches have seen a marked increase in attendance at Evensong. What may seem puzzling at the outset can be explained by what this service has to offer: it is a form of worship that speaks through poetry and music. For the unchurched, those who are on the edges of the faith, and those who are simply looking for spiritual grounding, find a quiet space where nothing is asked of them, and they can enter through the "side door" as it were. Therefore, listening becomes "active participation" similarly to the act of standing in front of a beautiful painting and being given a revelation through the eye and imagination and vision of the artist.

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I hope you will join us for part of our parish’s rule as we sing Choral Evensong this Sunday, followed by the great devotional service of Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament, which is a time to rest, adore, and praise the living God in the most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar. Come, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of October 2, 2022

On Saturday, right before our block party and retreat house opening, a parishioner said to me, “You know, I’m always surprised at how things just come together at the last minute around here.” I had to agree with her. I’m sincerely grateful to all who assisted with last Saturday’s joyous event. As wonderful as it was to welcome new faces into the retreat house for tours, it was meet and right for us as a parish to celebrate a year of hard work in preparation to open our new retreat house ministry.

Perhaps the parishioner’s observation that things just come together at the last minute—by surprise it seems—is applicable to the many ways in which God surprises us with his grace. And this parishioner’s comment is a vivid testimony to the power of St. Paul’s theology of the Body of Christ. As much as it seems like things are just falling into place almost by happenstance, it is, instead, a remarkable meshing of many gifts from God being used in service of ministry.

The visioning, planning, and execution of the Rosemont Community Retreat House could only have happened in this time and place with the many people of various gifts that God has brought together in this parish. Over time, our vision for this ministry has shifted and morphed to lead us to the present. It will continue to shift and morph, I’m sure. But the realization of this ministry as it currently is has only been possible through the generosity of so many people, too many to thank individually.

While I learned much in previous years of parish ministry before arriving at Good Shepherd, what I have learned most acutely in this parish is the importance of faithfulness (showing up), paying close attention to the gifts of the people around you, and the necessity of taking risks in the pursuit of gospel ministry. Although I have said it many times before, it bears repeating: Christian discipleship that is oriented towards God’s abundance will always necessitate risk-taking.

As we speak, the parish Finance Committee is drafting the 2023 budget. In doing so, the committee is mindful of being more than just good stewards of what God has entrusted to our care. The committee, as well as the vestry, knows that there is no point in living in Christ if one is not living fully, courageously, and generously. To do so on a practical level at Good Shepherd means that our budget cannot remain static as we seek to advance ministry to live into God’s vision for us. It means that investing in staff, vital programs, and ministries is essential to living faithfully into our identity as an Anglo-Catholic parish that prizes the beauty of holiness and service in the Name of our Lord.

Our new parish video sums it up precisely: we are beginning to realize God’s vision for us. We are beginning to see it, hear it, taste, it smell it, and touch it. It is a new creation, rising from the ashes of the old. Please pray for continued guidance as this parish revives and holds true to the gospel of Christ, and I ask you to prayerfully consider how you are being called, with both time and talent, to support God’s vision here at Good Shepherd. I am grateful for your presence here. You can safely assume that you have been brought here by God because your gifts are needed in this place. So, how will you use them?

Yours in Christ,
Father Kyle

Week of September 25, 2022

Saturday is the big day! On September 24, we will officially bless and open the Rosemont Community Retreat House. The day begins at 10 a.m., and around 10:15 a.m., we will have an official blessing of the newly-renovated house. Please plan to be with us as we pray for God’s blessing on the house as well as our newest ministry at Good Shepherd.

The day will continue with our community block party, including tours of the retreat house (and church), live jazz from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. by The Jazz Sanctuary, food, and games for children. There will be an opportunity to purchase apparel branded with the name of our new retreat house. You will also have a chance to learn more about Hosts for Hospitals, with whom we’ll be partnering in order to provide lodging for families seeking medical care in the Philadelphia area.

It goes without saying that our new retreat house ministry will demand much from our small parish, but I’m proud of the parish leadership, who have committed themselves to supporting this new venture even as we seek to grow as a parish and become more financially sustainable. The decision to invest in a new ministry in a time of pandemic and in the midst of a volatile economy demonstrates that the Church of the Good Shepherd is living out of an appreciation for God’s abundance.

But in order to enable this new ministry to flourish and minister in the name of Christ, we need your help. Our first guests will be the board of the Association of Anglican Musicians, the official organization for musicians serving the Episcopal Church. The AAM board arrives on October 9. Our first program retreat begins on Monday, October 24. And we hope to soon welcome families from Hosts for Hospitals. We will need assistance doing laundry, providing meals for families, and welcoming guests. Consider this your invitation to heed the advice of St. Benedict of Nursia (480 - 547), who taught those in his Benedictine Order to welcome others as Christ himself. Will you help us? Perhaps you can spare a few hours one evening to wash bedsheets or linens, or maybe you can make a casserole that can be frozen and served later to a family staying with us as they seek treatment in a local hospital. We welcome your help. We will need it!

Please email me if you are interested in helping. And I hope you will join us on September 24 as we officially open our doors to the local community and beyond!

Yours in Christ
Father Kyle