Hope Found in New Beginnings

Church of Our Saviour, Killington and the "old" Christ Church, Bethel

There is a certain excited energy in the hopes and expectations of new ventures. And when the Holy Spirit is present, the fear of the unknown is transformed into the delight of adventure!  This is the case with both congregations of Church of Our Saviour in Killington and Christ Church in Bethel. This weekend, both congregations will celebrate new seasons of ministry.  At Church of Our Saviour, they will begin their new season with the installation of their new vicar, the Rev. Lee Alison Crawford.  At Christ Church, the Covenant Group will be installed as the new Local Ministry Support Team. The atmosphere in both parishes is akin to that of runners taking their marks for a race—and they’re off!

Church of Our Saviour, Killington

Church of Our Saviour is unique in our diocese, both in its history and its position for service. Still known as “Mission Farm,” the parish is no longer a working farm, but retains the earthy, prayerful serenity of a monastic-like farm.  Its historic connection to the Order of the Holy Cross reverberates in today’s contemplative ambience of the place. Vicar Crawford likens Mission Farm to the famous Carthusian monastery La Grande Chartreuse, calling the church “La Petite Chartreuse.” (No plans—as yet—for supporting the parish by brewing liqueur, however.) The monks of the Carthusian Order are equally famous for the vow of silence they take.  And to parishioners and visitors alike, there is a similar spirit of silence and quiet that permeates Mission Farm.  When I spoke with Senior Warden Donna Abramov, she agreed that the peace of the place wraps you up and makes it hard to leave even knowing you’ll be back soon.

"La Petite Chartreuse" Church of Our Saviour and trails

It is the fervent hope and wishes of the vicar and the congregation to translate that sense of the Spiritual within the Natural to inspire others to come and experience “la petite chartreuse.”  The Church property includes a guesthouse that is open to individuals and retreat groups, the vicarage, a bakery which produces wholesale baked goods for local establishments, and of course, a beautifully picturesque stone church nestled between the Ottauquechee River and the base of the Green Mountains. There are abundant mowed trails through the fields and woods for visitors to walk; and the river provides water-play opportunities like kayaking and tubing. The congregation has a garden that offers its own kind of silence in communal solitude.  The produce of the garden is offered to parishioners and visitors each Sunday after worship. Yet, the tranquility of Mission Farm ought not be mistaken for stagnation or non-progress. The

Mission Farm Guesthouse

quietude has a dynamism that the Rev. Crawford intends to offer to neighboring Killington (both the village and the resort). Church of Our Saviour is negotiating with the ski resort to offer on-site tri-lingual worship services (English, French and Spanish) to allow seasonal employees an opportunity to worship where they work.  Another hope, albeit far distant and more dreamlike, than hopeful at this point, is to combine the traditional with the contemporary. They would like to connect more intimately with the nature of the area, perhaps installing solar panels for power or using geothermal for heating and energy. A more immediate and potential plan for Mission Farm includes developing a Nature Camp for all and various ages at the guesthouse. Each plan, hope and prayer at Church of Our Saviour holds within its core the quiet yet adamant breath of the Spirit, gently stirring the souls of congregation and visitors alike.

Christ Church, Bethel -- the "Village Church"

Like Church of Our Saviour, the congregation of Christ Church in Bethel is also celebrating new beginnings.  Several years ago, this small congregation stood at a crossroads.  They knew they were a vibrant congregation, lively, caring and God-loving.  Yet they also knew they were too small a group to be able to maintain even a part-time priest.  So they decided to look into alternative ways to meet the needs of the congregation and its community.  Having assessed the gifts and talents within their own congregation, they discovered that they had the gifts and the means right here to create a Covenant Group—a priest (currently in the ordination process) who presides over worship needs, a stewardship minister who coordinates outreach and all other things stewardly, a preacher liaison who coordinates preaching voices and Christian Formation, and a mutual care minister who coordinates pastoral care needs. This Covenant Group has been in formation for the past two years, discerning exactly what needs require addressing and working out just what tasks each role will assume.  The members of the Covenant Group have generously and completely volunteered their services, thereby freeing up finances that can be used in other meaningful ways such as providing significant relief assistance to the Bethel community following the devastation of Tropical Storm “Irene.”  And at last, the group is ready to be installed as the Local Ministry Support Team on June 15! By the way, Christ Church would love to have you help them celebrate at the “old church” at 5:30pm on June 15.

The congregation at Christ Church whimsically refers to itself as “nomadic” as they worship in several

the "Old Church" Christ Church by Gilead Brook, Bethel

different locations throughout the year. During the darker, colder months of autumn, winter and early spring, they worship in the “village church” located in Bethel’s downtown.  When it gets really cold and prohibitively costly to heat the lofty sanctuary, they pack everything up and move it next door to their parish house.  They worship in that location usually from just after Christmas until Holy Week.  In the summer, from Memorial Day to Labor Day, everything lightens up and they once again turn into Vermont’s Bedouins.  They pack up once again and move everything to the beautiful old Federal-style church with its soaring multi-paned clear glass windows, gleaming aged wide-planked floorboards, and pew boxes complete with doors.  There’s pride they take in their buildings, for the old church (which was built in 1823 a mere 24 years prior to the church in the village) is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Like our own Trinity Church in Rutland, the village church was designed by Bishop John Henry Hopkins.  Both churches stand on a firm foundation, yet suffer at the steeple.  There is currently a fundraising campaign in effect to restore the steeples on both buildings to restore the facades to their original appeal.

As Church of Our Saviour and Christ Church embark upon their new paths of ministry, the energy of hope dynamically permeates both parishes in markedly different ways.  Church of Our Saviour, with its bucolic setting, conveys a Spirit of gentle peace and quiet labor.  Christ Church, on the other hand, seems stirred by a Spirit of history and industry. Regardless, it is the same Holy Spirit that stirs both congregations as they anticipate their futures with loving trust in God.