A Time for Breaking Down and a Time for Building Up

Ecclesiastes 3, in one of its most familiar passages teaches us that there is a time for every action, and everything that happens comes in its own time. The passage illustrates the cycle of life, to which no part of our lives is immune.  The life of a church also lives according to this cycle of ups and downs, of activity and rest.  It’s interesting to witness the juxtaposition of two churches in what appears to be opposite ends of the swing.  St. Mary’s in Northfield is experiencing a trending period of rest, a time marked by a contemplative period that might lead to either renewal of life and purpose or to a timely and well-earned death.  While just over the ridge in Barre, the Church of the Good Shepherd by all indications has embarked upon an upward trend of socially conscious activity.

St. Mary Church, Northfield, VT

inside St. Mary Church

The building where the congregation of St. Mary worships is actually older than the congregation itself, having been built as a Unitarian meeting house in 1843.  The Episcopal congregation was founded in 1851 and they purchased and moved the church to its current location just a year later. Even though Norwich University did not move to Northfield until 1866, the congregation has connections intricately entwined with the school.  Many of the university’s leaders and professors have been members of St. Mary’s Church. Over the years, much of the congregation’s activities and community outreach have been motivated by Norwich University as the school is such a visible and integral part of the community. The two organizations have always enjoyed a mutually beneficial relationship.  Off and on throughout the years, St. Mary has offered a “Rooks Breakfast” for the incoming freshmen at the University.  And in return, veterans of the school became actively involved with the operations of the church. Norwich University has always prided itself on being a vanguard in American education.  Taking inspiration from that legacy, in the early 1980s, St. Mary’s opened a preschool that had served the community for thirty years. But as all things change, the preschool was closed in 2008.  That, combined with the change of priestly presence and the typical declining trend of members, has served to send the congregation into a period of rest and prayerful introspection.

St. Mary's parish hall

These days, the congregation of St. Mary Church is comprised of mostly older professionals.  They are small in number of a Sunday, but consider themselves a close-knit family. During this quiet time of rest and reflection, they continue to live the baptismal covenant through their various outreach endeavors. Northfield’s Community Emergency Relief Volunteers (CERV) benefits from the congregation’s generosity of both time and materials.  Once a month, members take their turn volunteering at the food shelf, and regularly a collection of food and clothing is taken to the community shelter. Periodically, St. Mary participates in community “progressive dinner” fundraisers in support of other outreach projects like CROP Walk for Hunger. (A “progressive dinner” is one where several organizations participate by hosting one course of a meal.  During their course, they share whatever information they deem important to the diners.  The diners then move on to the next organization and course.  At the end, everyone meets in one location for networking, fellowship and entertainment.)  Yet, while the mission of outreach is still important to the parish, this is one of those periods of time they must take to consider what their new mission will be.  Right now, the greatest mission is to serve Christ in worship and prayer.

Church of the Good Shepherd, Barre, VT

As one church family experiences a slowing pace, another’s tempo is on the rise.  Just up the road, a mere twelve miles away is the Church of the Good Shepherd in Barre. As St. Mary reflects the academic and professional demographic of the community in Northfield, Good Shepherd is reflective of the granite and labor industry in Barre.  The building is constructed of sturdy Vermont granite quarried right there in the Barre area.  Even the baptismal font and the altar top are made from finely carved and polished local granite. One can see similarities in the characters of the people in the Barre community and the stone they quarry: strong, sure and solid, gritty and resolute. But people are not stone, and there is also compassion and determination to do what is right and good in the sight of God and their neighbors.

images at Church of the Good Shepherd

About a year ago, the Church of the Good Shepherd celebrated a new season of ministry with their new rector.  But the new season of ministry for this parish was about so much more than the happy arrival of the Rev. Earl Koopercamp and his family.  The congregation at Good Shepherd’s “new season of ministry” is also about their own dynamic upswing.  They celebrate young people who bring energy and direction to the parish mission. They celebrate renewed activity and awareness of their place in the community.  They celebrate the gifts they have to offer in the areas of social justice and local outreach.  They celebrate the diversity of their own community and those communities to which they belong.  Would that we all could learn from this congregation’s example!

where the mission begins at Good Shepherd

Good Shepherd has become more intimately involved with a number of social justice issues in their local area, including organized labor (especially with the quarry workers) and their focus on increased worker safety measures. There is also an active concern about the consequences of the changes in our healthcare system and the effects of Vermont’s upcoming universal healthcare program and its implications for healthcare accessibility by the real masses of middle class. Good Shepherd is already involved with the community planning group that seeks to address potential problems before they become social issues. Coping with issues such as local poverty, homelessness, hunger, criminal justice, employment opportunities can easily become wrapped up in administrative bureaucracy, so it is vital for faith communities to participate so that God’s work can be done—that those in need still warrant the respect of their dignity, and that the faithful baptized serve according to their baptismal covenant.  This is the driving motivation for Good Shepherd’s community involvement.  One of the growing hopes of endeavor for the parish includes developing a prison/criminal justice ministry. Ideas are kicking around for ways to safely and compassionately reach out those incarcerated and returning to the community.  As part of their community involvement, the Church of the Good Shepherd has a strong ecumenical connection with other area churches and faiths.  The often participates in activities with the Unitarian church (which shares a parking area with Good Shepherd), the congregational church, the evangelical church and the Presbyterian Church, to name a few.  There is a sense at Good Shepherd, that when you become an active part of your community, reaching out takes on a whole new meaning.  That is, when you have a relationship with your neighbor, you don’t have to extend very far to reach out to them; so when you do extend in your outreach, you connect with a wider and broader world. The people of Good Shepherd, led by their enthusiastic and capable rector, are encouraged to speak out and reach as diverse a population as possible.

As vast as the realm of God may be, in our little corner of it as the Diocese of Vermont, we are blessed with the fullness of the glory of the Spirit.  It is seen as simply as in the contrasting circumstances of neighboring parishes.  Yet both situations—either of seeming diminishment or apparent enrichment—demonstrate the fullness of God’s grace.  “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1).”