The food was falling off the table! Sunday’s capital campaign reception after Benediction was truly a celebration of God’s abundance, and I am grateful for everyone’s hard work behind the scenes. Our first Evensong of the season was an act of thanksgiving to God for the completion of the kitchen work, and at the reception we gave thanks to Sandy Leialoha, Nanette Judd, and Theo Matsumoto for their direction of the refurbishment. The kitchen has already been put to good use. The first meal served out of the kitchen was for Youth Outreach, and the next day the church grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and served dinner for the preschool families. I also want to thank the volunteers who cleaned the windows and lined the new cabinets. Everything looks great.

Sunday evening was great for another reason too. Many times when churches want to celebrate an accomplishment, they immediately start planning a dinner or a reception. Everyone likes to celebrate over food, and this is what we did on Sunday night to an extent. But our celebration of our capital campaign achievements went deeper than just having a reception or banquet. We gathered for an act of worship to thank God for guiding us. This used to be a more common practice among Episcopal Churches, but it is not done so much anymore. Our primary celebration of the completed kitchen was Marian Vespers and Benediction. We came together to pray, sing, and give thanks to the God that is always with us. Such an act is becoming increasingly counter-cultural in our society. When many people come to worship, they mistakenly think the church is open to serve them, but this is not solely the case. The people come to serve God – to worship God in the beauty of holiness. In other words, it is never about us, but it has everything to do with God. And so now that the kitchen is finished, we gathered to thank God with public worship and praise. The reception, as marvelous as it was, was a bonus. (I am glad that those who worked so hard on the reception agree with these sentiments wholeheartedly.)

Finally, I must admit that I thought there would only be a handful of us for the Rosary. Shame on me for subscribing to scarcity! I was pleasantly surprised to see so many of you come before Evensong for the recitation of the Joyful Mysteries. We broke a record for the number of people to pray the Rosary at St. Mark’s. Many people mentioned how much they enjoy praying the Rosary, and that they are hoping we can find a time to pray the Rosary regularly. Interestingly enough, the biggest fans of the Rosary seem to be former Evangelicals and low church Protestants.

So what is next after the kitchen? There are a number of smaller projects which we need to complete, and the Vestry will be gathering for a visioning day on Saturday, October 5. In the meantime, we have many ministries to enjoy. The choir has returned to sing at the 9:15 am High Mass, Sunday School has started, the new 11:15 am mass is a joy, and Sundays are crowned with Evensong and Benediction. Church is actually church, God is actually good, and as always, Jesus Christ is Lord.

Faithfully,
Father Paul Lillie