Dear Beloved Community,
[Bishop Diana Akiyama blessed our newly re-painted St. Gabriel labyrinth Sunday, September 20].
Our labyrinth was a passion project of our former rector, The Rev. LouAnn Pickering (Mother LouAnn to many folks). It was created for us by the artist D.C. Donohue, and it is a replica of the labyrinth on the floor of Chartres Cathedral in Chartres, France.
Mother LouAnn is quoted as saying, “[Our labyrinth] is a symbol of hope to me of a community working together, trusting in the journey we’re all on and trusting in the Creator who fills our lives with so many gifts in so many ways.”
You might remember that more than a few weeks ago, I wrote about discovering a description of St. Gabriel, written by The Rev Craig McColl, calling us a “pilgrim congregation.” I went on to explore what that might mean for us now.
I’m going to quote myself here:
“[Being a pilgrim congregation] defines us as a congregation that is always seeking, always exploring, always wandering, and always wondering, not from a sense of dissatisfaction or dislocation from the place we find ourselves but because we are always being called by God to keep going deeper, to keep growing, to keep desiring to draw closer. We are pilgrims not of location but of spirit. The mystery of God is beyond our comprehension but that doesn’t mean that we should stop trying to experience that mystery.”
I think of these ideas of pilgrimage and journey with God whenever I walk our patio labyrinth.
This year we are calling our annual giving campaign, “Walking The Way,” which is meant to be evocative of The Way, one of the names given to the Jesus Movement by his followers. It is also meant to call to mind the idea of journey and pilgrimage.
The central image of our campaign is a labyrinth representing our labyrinth and we built the campaign around the idea of walking a labyrinth as a representation of walking The Way of Jesus. This year’s giving campaign is meant as a journey of faith which we describe as having four steps or themes: Connect – We enter the presence of God, Reflect – We listen for God’s voice, Rejoice – We rejoice in God’s love, Commit – We go forth to live it out.
Starting September 25 and in each issue through October 30th, we will focus on one of these four themes of the campaign. Each week, a member of the campaign team will be sharing their reflection. They will also be speaking about it at both Sunday services.
We come to God. We listen to God. We delight in God. We are sent by God.
It all begins Sunday, September 27 when we celebrate St. Michael (it’s St. Gabriel here) and All Angels when we invite you to join us Walking The Way, a journey of faith on the labyrinth.
In the peace and love of Christ,
Everett+
