Fuel

This is what I saw when fueling my car yesterday. In Georgia it is $3.55 a gallon (at least it was yesterday). Just under 12 gallons cost more than $42. It wasn't too long ago when 12 gallons would cost $12. I even remember one time fueling up for 66 cents a gallon (and I walked to school in the snow uphill both ways, too!). Very few in the world aren't feeling the financial crunch of rising gas prices. We are having to make adjustments in our budgets and make hard decisions about what we can and cannot afford. Yet, anecdotally at least, we aren't cutting back at the pump. Where did I go with my $42 tank of gas? Some of my destinations were important and necessary, but not all of them. Do I always get a good return on my $42 investment? Not really.

The average Episcopalian gives about $1800 a year to the work of the Church. The biblical tithe is 10% of our income and one would think that the average Episcopalian (or family) earns a little more than $18,000. $1800 a year is about $34 a week, or less than a tank of gas. Tithing is hard at first and most of that difficulty is psychological ("there's no way we can do that!"). Very few people can jump from giving 1% to 10% in one week - it's something we work towards.

But image the investment we make when we 'fuel' the church. By giving a a minimum of a tank of gas a week to the work of the Church, imagine the places the Good News of God can go! Imagine the things that can be done locally and the things that can be done globally. Instead of pain at the pump - this is certainly gain at the pump.

The ABC on YouTube

The Archbishop of Canterbury (The ABC) is the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion. He has no real authority outside the Church of the England, but since the See of Canterbury holds such a prominent role in our Anglican history, he continues to be spiritual head of over 77 million Christians worldwide that trace their ecclesiastical history back to England. Our current Archbishop is Dr. Rowan Williams. Adapting to the changing way in which we communicate, Archbishop Williams has sent a message concerning Lambeth Conference, the gathering of Anglican bishops every 10 years to Lambeth Palace, via YouTube.

For Sunday

"If Christ is Risen, nothing else matters. If Christ is not risen, nothing else matters."
- Jaroslav Pelikan

Breaking Bread

It is truly amazing to skim through the Bible and see just how many times the biblical writers paint scenes of people gathering around a table or a pot eating together. Preaching on the story of the walk to Emmaus I recently commented,

Abraham and Sarah encountered three angelic men near their camp in the book of Genesis – and they did while eating cakes.
The Hebrews celebrated God’s deliverance from Egyptian slavery – and they did it with a meal. In fact, God used the meal itself to deliver the people from Egypt. The very blood of the lamb they ate was placed above the doors to signify the angel of death to pass over their homes, hence the Passover meal.
And in the New Testament, Jesus performed his first miracle – the turning of water in wine – at a meal.
When he saw over five thousand hungry souls – hungry not only for hope, but for food, he took five loaves of bread and two fish – and fed them all. The first biblical buffet!
And then there was the Last Supper. Jesus gave his disciples their new commandment – that they love one another. He told them to continue in his work and to remember him always – and it all happened over a meal.

When people come together over a meal, we are not only putting food into our bodies, we are making a statement of faith that life is worth living (I've been reading Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisypus" in which he argues that the greatest philosophical question is not 'what is life' but 'is life worth living.' Eating affirms that it is!). And in breaking bread and affirming life communally - God's goodness inevitably shines through.

Cherilyn and I enjoyed a wonderful meal with the Vestry and Fr. Randy last night. No agenda, no topics, no plan - just food and the presence of each other. And God's goodness shined.

Do you have memories of God's presence when you break bread (other than the Eucharist!)?

Fr. Steve+

Home, Sweet Home

Here's a sampling of a conversation I've been having recently.

"I heard you're moving."
"Yes, we're excited."
"Where are you going?"
"Winston-Salem."
"Witch trials?"
"Cigarettes."

My answer is always tongue-in-cheek. Of course Winston-Salem is far more than the RJ Reynolds company. When we first experienced Winston-Salem, Cherilyn and I fell in love with the city. We loved the setting, the history, the diversity, and above all - the people. Today we are in our new hometown looking for a new address. Cherilyn and I have been married for seven years and this will be our third state we've called home (South Carolina, Georgia, and North Carolina). We have collections of license tags and voter IDs, but everywhere we've lived has been home. We are looking forward to finding a space that will be ours in our new hometown - a backyard for our children to play, a nook to have breakfast, and a porch to swing. But we are most looking forward to expanding our family and being a part of the family tree that is St Timothy's.

Fr. Steve+

A Fly Went By

Recently our three-year-old daughter, Abby, has been reading (or rather we have been reading to her) a delightful book, A Fly Went By. The gist of the book is this: a little boy was sitting by a lake and watched a fly zoom by. The fly was chased by a frog. When the boy stopped the frog, he learned the amphibian could care less about the fly, he was worried about the cat. When the cat was stopped, "What frog?" he said, he was running from the dog! This went on until the end where we rhythmically say:

The fly ran away
In fear of the frog,
Who ran from the cat,
Who ran from the dog.
The dog ran away from the pig,
Who ran from the cow.
She was so big!
The cow ran away
From the fox, who ran
As fast as he could
In fear of the man.
That man heard a thump,
And away he ran!
It was just a sheep,
With an old tin can!

A benign little lamb with a tin can tied around her leg startled the man and the whole domino effect ensued. All of the chaos, all of the fear, all of the running, was based on a false assumption.

How many of our conflicts - personal, professional, or in the church arise from something as harmless as a lamb? Without patience, perseverance, and trust, we run, we assume, we react. And when we do - a series of events follows.

May we slow down and look, listen, and love. Conflict happens. But not all conflict comes from a desire to cause harm. Sometimes a fly just goes by.

Fr. Steve+

Politics and Religion

The democratic presidential race is not over. Last night, Hillary Clinton defeated Barak Obama in the Pennsylvania primary. This means, of course, that the primary battle will come to North Carolina for the May 6 contest.
On a national news website I noticed this church sign. Reading the story, I realized this church is near where I grew up in SC. The church sign (I cropped it so the name of the church isn't visible) asks, "Obama, Osama...hmmm are they brothers?" Now, this blog is not political. This priest is not political. But it is fair to say that politics and religion are sensitive and volatile issues - or more specific politics in religion and religion in politics. Problems arise when religion is used for political gain and when politics is used for religious gain. This sign, I think, is an attempt to use politics for religious gain. It is relying on the assumption from many that since Obama's name sounds similar to Osama bin Laden, an Islamic connection can be made (Obama is a member of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago - a mainline Christian denomination).

Interestingly enough, whenever I stumble into a conversation of religion and politics, I find that the participants' faces turn red more and blood pressure rises higher when talking about politics than religion. We seem to be more willing to 'agree to disagree' on matters of faith than we are matters of state. Does that mean matters of state matter more than matters of faith?

I think Christians should be politically active. I think churches should be active in proclaiming the Good News of God in Christ and calling the world to love, serve, worship, and be agents of reconciliation and change. But I don't think churches should endorse candidates (or do the opposite). When Election Day rolls around, Christians should be able to vote according to their convictions - convictions informed by the message, life, and witness of Christ.

The church's politics should be faith, hope, and love. What do you think?

Fr. Steve+

PS: Many times I will ask "What do you think?" Please contribute to the conversation. One of the purposes of this blog is to stimulate and encourage theological thinking, writing, and speaking past Sunday morning. Click on the Comments link to post your thoughts (and you don't have to agree with the post!). Also take a look at the map on the right sidebar. Every day, this map will be updated to show how many view this blog and where in the world they are.

Breakfast with the Girls

Every Tuesday morning for the past two years I have had breakfast with six nuns - specifically sisters from the Order of St Helena. Truth be told, they make me work for breakfast. I celebrate the Eucharist at the Convent every Tuesday morning at 7:30am. Most Episcopalians don't realize that we do have monks and nuns in the church. The Order of St Helena has three houses; two are in New York (one in Manhattan) and one in Augusta, Georgia. I celebrate at the Convent each week not because they need me, but because it energizes me. When I first starting celebrating at the Convent, I was frankly intimidated. How do you preach to nuns? It's not as if I could simply challenge them to give their lives to God - they are nuns! They live in community and have taken vows of obedience, poverty, and chastity. What do I say to women who live every day in prayer? One of the many wonderful things that I have learned having 'breakfast with the girls' is that even though they are nuns, and even though some of them have been so for over 30 years - they are human beings. They have the same ups and downs as those whose only experience with nuns has been with Sally Field or Whoopi Goldberg. They struggle as we (non-monastics) do. They laugh as we do. They cry as we do. They, thanks be to God, are real.

I look forward to introducing some of the sisters from the Order of St Helena to the family at St Timothy's. Part of their ministry is to offer retreats and quiet days and teaching opportunities at parishes all across the country. And do they travel! Rarely is there a week when all of the sisters are present at once. But most important, I look forward to everyone coming know men and women who have given their lives to prayer and service in a unique way - and are still real human beings.

Fr. Steve+

The First of Many

My family and I are so excited to be a part of the family at St Timothy's and the larger community of Winston-Salem, that I'm not sure I can wait until May to say hello! Welcome to this blog - or online journal - of St Timothy's Episcopal Church. If you are new to the blogosphere, I'll walk you through this new frontier of virtual communication. My goal, starting today, is to write something every day. Sometimes it might be (or at least will attempt to be) profound and theological, while other times it might be completely silly, but the goal will be the same every day - to explore the intersection of our Christian faith and our daily lives. Of course this blog is not just for me to write. In the future, I'll show you how you can contribute, not only by responding to the posts I and others leave, but how you can journal online too!

But first, I imagine you are a little curious about the Rice family. I am originally from South Carolina. I grew up in a wonderful town called Greenwood. My mother was and still is an elementary school principal and my father is a retired SC State Trooper and now runs a video production studio. I played football and basketball (and one track meet) and I still hold the distinction of being the captain for the worst football team in school history! I grew up in the United Methodist Church and sometime between graduation from high school and the first day of college, I accepted God's call to serve in some capacity in the church. The first week of college I was hired by Main Street United Methodist as the youth director. I had a youth group of about 75 kids. While at Main Street I learned how to make Nickelodeon slime and hold the attention of 35 middle schoolers. Just before I started my junior year in college (Erskine College), I was appointed by the United Methodist bishop to serve as pastor of Calhoun Falls United Methodist Church in Calhoun Falls, SC. The United Methodist Church allows those preparing for ordination to serve churches as pastors, granting them full responsibility in those parishes. I served Calhoun Falls through college (graduated with a B.A. in psychology) and the first year of seminary. I was then appointed as the associate at Grace United Methodist Church in North Augusta, SC.

While in seminary I began to wrestle with my call. I wasn't in doubt as to whether God had called me, but I was in doubt as to where God had called me. My theological and liturgical intuition seemed constantly at odds with the church of my upbringing. I craved the sacraments and the mystery of worship. I envied the historical lineage of the Roman Catholic, Orthodox and Anglican traditions. And I loved the Anglican pastoral sense. I liked their (our) sense of humanity and how Anglicans laugh and put their actions where the words are. This is but a sense of my internal dialog but the point is - I had to do something.

Shortening a long story, I left the United Methodist Church, was confirmed in the Episcopal Church and was ordained deacon and then priest. For the past three and a half years, I have been the rector of St Michael's Episcopal Church in Waynesboro, Georgia. And now, thanks be to God, I have been called as the rector of St Timothy's.

If you want to more about my past experiences in churches, my short stint teaching in college and other tidbits, my C.V. can be downloaded here.

In 2001, I married the prettiest girl from Erskine College, Cherilyn Walker. She has two bachelors degrees (she's smarter than I) and is a Labor and Delivery nurse. In August 2004, our lives were changed with the arrival of our first child, Abby and in October we expect the arrival of our second.

Right now we are looking forward to becoming a part of Winston-Salem and the family of St Timothy's parish. I look forward to sharing more with you on these pages before and after I officially arrive in Winston. Please share this blog with others and I hope to see you tomorrow.

Fr. Steve+