My Dear Franciscan Friends, Sunday November 27th marked the beginning of Advent. Not that long ago Advent was thought of as a kind of mini-Lent where a season of prepa- ration for the birth of Jesus was dressed in penitential clothes. More re- cently Advent has become a time of expectation and preparation that, al- lows us to wait for Christmas more hopefully while still addressing the painful realities of the world which create our need for a Savior. Little while ago I heard a statistic about how much of our lives is spent waiting. It was a significant proportion of our lifetime, something like 40 or 50%. At first this seemed almost impossible, but as I thought about it, I found an unsettling possibility. How much time do we really spend waiting in lines at the gas station, waiting for that fifth stop light in a row to turn green, waiting at Disney in longer lines than we thought were even possible. We wait in lines at school for lunch, for the teacher to call on us or hoping that the class will end be- fore we would be embarrassed to have to say, “I don’t know” once again. We wait for the doctor to return our call, for our children to come home. We wait for our driver’s li- cense. We wait for the right relationship to develop. We listen to the heartbeat of child in the womb both treasuring the moment and hoping for smooth birthing. We wait by the bedside of one we love counting their last breaths before the inevitable quiet that marks the crossing of a threshold. I think of Advent, and every season of the year, as an opportunity for us to practice our spirituality. In Advent we are offered the opportunity of learning how to live in hopeful expectation. Part of what makes waiting painful and undesirable is that we do not know how to do it well. Instead of seeing waiting in lines as annoying at best, perhaps it is a good thing to slow down, breathe and step away from the stress of our fast paced lives. Thus we may become mindful of our own inner life or of those around us who look tired and in pain so we can send a prayer of loving kindness to a stranger. During Advent we can practice right waiting by remembering at the end of Advent there is a child waiting for us. Advent challenges us to change the way we wait. Instead of seeing our waiting as something to be endured, or with nothing to be gained in the process, we are offered a way of waiting in hopeful expectation that something meaningful can unfold in its midst, and that something wonder- ful waits for us in the end, something we cannot yet see, but like the infant Jesus, something wonder- fully simple or dramatically life changing. Whatever we find it is always surprising. Peace, Michael+ December 2011 MICHAEL MOULDEN RECTOR
St. Francis Episcopal Church Greensboro NC Franciscan Newsletter
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My Dear Franciscan Friends,
Sunday November 27th marked the beginning of Advent. Not that long
ago Advent was thought of as a kind of mini-Lent where a season of prepa-
ration for the birth of Jesus was dressed in penitential clothes. More re-
cently Advent has become a time of expectation and preparation that, al-
lows us to wait for Christmas more hopefully while still addressing the
painful realities of the world which create our need for a Savior.
Little while ago I heard a statistic about how much of our lives is spent
waiting. It was a significant proportion of our lifetime, something like 40
or 50%. At first this seemed almost impossible, but as I thought about it, I
found an unsettling possibility. How much time do we really spend waiting
in lines at the gas station, waiting for that fifth stop light in a row to turn
green, waiting at Disney in longer lines than we thought were even possible.
We wait in lines at school for lunch, for the teacher to call on us or hoping that the class will end be-
fore we would be embarrassed to have to say, “I don’t know” once again.
We wait for the doctor to return our call, for our children to come home. We wait for our driver’s li-
cense. We wait for the right relationship to develop. We listen to the heartbeat of child in the womb
both treasuring the moment and hoping for smooth birthing. We wait by the bedside of one we love
counting their last breaths before the inevitable quiet that marks the crossing of a threshold.
I think of Advent, and every season of the year, as an opportunity for us to practice our spirituality. In
Advent we are offered the opportunity of learning how to live in hopeful expectation. Part of what
makes waiting painful and undesirable is that we do not know how to do it well. Instead of seeing
waiting in lines as annoying at best, perhaps it is a good thing to slow down, breathe and step away
from the stress of our fast paced lives. Thus we may become mindful of our own inner life or of those
around us who look tired and in pain so we can send a prayer of loving kindness to a stranger.
During Advent we can practice right waiting by remembering at the end of Advent there is a child
waiting for us. Advent challenges us to change the way we wait. Instead of seeing our waiting as
something to be endured, or with nothing to be gained in the process, we are offered a way of waiting
in hopeful expectation that something meaningful can unfold in its midst, and that something wonder-
ful waits for us in the end, something we cannot yet see, but like the infant Jesus, something wonder-
fully simple or dramatically life changing. Whatever we find it is always surprising.
Peace,
Michael+
December 2011
MICHAEL MOULDEN RECTOR
2
As many of you know, I spent the week of November 7th at Duke Divinity School for
a week of continuing education. It was wonderful to get away and be a student again. I
spent 10+ hours each day in prayer, attending classes, and meeting with professors. I
had wonderful conversations with the Rev. Dr. Jo Bailey Wells discussing the Episco-
pal studies program at Duke; the Rev. Dr. Sam Wells about preaching; and Dr.
Stanley Hauerwas on the modern Christian landscape in America. And like any good
college or graduate student, I spent many hours in the library with a book in one hand
and a coffee in the other. It was a great opportunity to refocus on reading and learning,
and I am thankful for the opportunity.
It got me thinking, as many things do, about the importance of Christian Formation.
Being at Duke, I saw many students and professors contemplating issues of spirituality,
religion and the Church. I spent time in Duke’s vast library, being reminded of the billions of words which
have been written about the faith. I then recalled the Pew Research report that came out in September 2010
which concluded that atheists are more knowledgeable about issues of religion than self-identified Chris-
tians. I suppose that in order to reject something, you have to first study it; but to accept something, you
need only claim to follow it.
Speaking of studies, many have shown that people are hungry for spiritual depth in their lives. In conversa-
tions with so many people, I hear this yearning. So why is that we, as Christians, do not avail ourselves of
these tremendous resources out there? Well, we’re busy with lots of things. And furthermore, inertia is hard
to stop. We’ve become accustomed to not feeding our soul through our mind.
To remedy this, I have a challenge for you. The season of Advent is upon us, and I invite you all to take up
the discipline of reading. We are accustomed to spiritual disciplines during Lent, so why not Advent (it’s
only 4 weeks after all)? This Advent I exhort you to learn something new about your faith, to be formed by
the wisdom of our Christian tradition, to prepare your heart and mind for the coming of Christ this Advent
season. Find a book on a religious topic that you’ve thought looked interesting, or pick up one of the sugges-
tions below, and read it. This Advent, take some time to slow down and engage our minds.
The First Christmas by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Conversations with Scripture: The Gospel of Mark by Marcus Borg (Mark will be read on Sun-
days during the next year)
The Dream of God by Verna Dozier
Advent Blessings,
The Rev. Robert Black
F R O M R E V . R O B E R T B L A C K
ROBERT BLACK ASSISTANT RECTOR
3
F R O M T H E J U N I O R W A R D E N
This is my final article in the Franciscan as Junior Warden as my Vestry term will expire
12-31-11. I am indebted to the parishioners and staff who have helped as we have been
able to accomplish many tasks and projects over the last two years.
Mike Taylor has been a valued staff member who has spearheaded many of the accom-
plishments the past two years. He was hired as Sexton over two years ago and has grown
in his responsibilities during this time. As a “cradle Episcopalian”, the job title “Sexton”
to me is more custodial in nature. Mike Taylor’s job title was changed this year to
“Facilities Manager” to better represent his responsibilities. Mike has saved us tens-of-
thousands of dollars negotiating vender contracts with HVAC, Memorial Garden Land-
scaping and Cleaning services and fixing items around campus that would probably have
had to be contracted out otherwise.
Our Roustabouts have worked closely with Mike Taylor to assist with many projects and tasks as well. They
show up most Wednesday mornings accomplishing many items and have saved us probably tens-of-thousands
of dollars as well. In a 56-year old church, many things break down, need repairing and/or renovated and we
are blessed to have these parishioners each year utilize their time and talent to help our church. Roustabouts
include: Paul Crowell, Philip Weathersbee, Lawrence Phillips, Joseph Stiefel, Brenda and Larry Hart-
sell.
As we look to 2012 and beyond, we have a major need to build our Capital Needs designated account. This
is the only church I have been affiliated in my adult life that doesn’t have any money in this reserve account.
When a boiler, water heater, air conditioning or heating unit needs to be replaced, it would be nice to pull from
the Capital Needs account instead of the operating budget or asking for special fundraising to cover the cost.
We are in hopes of funding this account from parishioner donations as well as from the operational budget.