5/12/2022

5/12/2022

Dear friends in Christ,

Last Friday the parish hall at Saint Anna’s rang with prayer, song, laughter, shared wisdom and collegiality, as clergy from every deanery in the diocese gathered for leadership training for a diocesan program called Vital and Thriving (V+T). Additionally, over the course of the weekend members of our congregation underwent two days of extensive training for the same program.

V+T is a program for congregations in the Diocese of California that provides resources to help congregations discern and develop missional practices to live fully into our call to become Beloved Community through the diocese’s five Beloved Community principles: Embodied Justice, Church Vitality, Rooted Spirituality, Transparent and Accountable Leadership, and Inclusive Community. (see here for more details). It invites and encourages collaboration, connection, and experimentation.

V+T has as its central component something called Dwelling in the Word. Dwelling in the Word is exactly what it sounds like. It is listening to and inhabiting God’s word as found in scripture. For V+T purposes we are using Luke 10:1-3. Dwelling in the Word is similar to Lectio Divina, which Saint Anna’s has already been practicing on some Sundays, but differs in that instead of seeking connection between scripture and personal experience, it focuses on the movement of God in the narrative and in our lives. Which makes it a potentially disruptive practice, and therefore an uncomfortable practice.

What I came to understand as we considered the role of innovation in our congregations, reflected on the challenges facing a post-Christendom as well as a post-pandemic Church, defined what we mean by a missional church, looked at concrete steps to become a missional church, and started making SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound) plans of action, is that Saint Anna’s already displays many of the qualities of a vital and thriving congregation. While we often describe ourselves as a family – we know each other deeply, care about and for each other, and are committed to our relationships with each other, we are outwardly focused, understanding our mission to be meeting the needs of and making a difference in our community and in our world, asking ourselves what it means that we are located on the corner of Marie and E. 13th Streets in Antioch, what our neighbors yearn for and how we can support them. All of which V+T can prepare us and provide resources to help us do more of.

It is going to be a lot of work, and we all left on Saturday evening feeling a little overwhelmed and anxious. But as someone said, we believe in a God of resurrection, a God who can breathe new life where the world sows only chaos and death. We have to trust that even if we might feel like we aren’t enough, our God is.

We will need your help, and over the next year there will be plenty of opportunity for you to be involved and help make Saint Anna’s the Church God intends it to be. Starting with this survey which takes about 10 minutes to complete: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/STZR8FC

Please take a few minutes to complete it. Because discerning God’s intention for our future mission and ministry starts with knowing who we are.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Rev. Jane or any member of the V+T Steering team: Michelle Price (team leader), Jeanne Virgilio, Anne Hannigan, Erin Green Astone, Mees Tielens.

Please pray for them as they undertake this work. And pray for this program.

Yours in Christ,

Rev. Jane+