LETTER from the RECTOR

Fishing in Eastertide

The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry

And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me and I will make you fish for people.’

Mark 1:17

In this passage of Mark, Jesus is calling disciples capable of the patience and flexibility of fisherfolk. But be warned, fishing is judged to be the most dangerous profession on earth according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (116 deaths per 100,000 people).  Where there is danger, however, there is excitement.  Excitement is what the Gospel of Mark is about. There is an excitement to this thing called Christian mission (to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves). But again there is also danger.  Like we learned in this Easter season, often times Jesus has to tell us to “calm down” . . . that He has not abandoned us.   As you move from Eastertide to the turbulence of Pentecost, remember this—God’s presence never leaves us.  Such a non-anxious presence is important as thresholds are being crossed, especially in light of welcoming your new Rector, the Rev. Jane Wilson.  For almost two years you have rolled up your sleeves and kept fishing for people through the Altar Guild, ECW, Vestry, reviving ministries like Purely Social, Acolytes, and all the other ways God may be using you to fish for the Kingdom of God.  In this new threshold, celebrate your new beginnings and new leadership.

In this new beginning, we too have embarked upon a dangerous and exciting mission, but we must be more like fisherfolk than “professional” Christians.  I think this because Jesus is showing us that God’s mission is more about our being converted than our converting others.   God’s deep sea mission is messy, incarnate and seemingly chaotic--just like the style of Mark’s Gospel.  I think God’s mission is this way so that in our own frame of reference (i.e. messy, incarnate and chaotic) we learn to hear, see, smell, taste, and touch the miracle of God’s mission rather than our own.  If we abide simply in our own mission, often times we end up wandering in a desert instead of experiencing the exhilaration of the ocean tide—indeed, Eastertide.  As I end my short stint with you, I can attest to the absence of the desert and to the calming and deep waters in which you swim.

May the God of Hope fill you

May the God of Joy overflow you

May the God of Peace pour you into the world.

May God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit be with you and remain with you always.

The Very Rev. Michael Battle, Ph.D.

Interim Rector, April-May, 2012