November 4, 2021  A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn 

Dear People of God,

On Friday of last week, three classes of excited Day School 4^th graders, and six teachers, including me, piled into two buses to make a trip to Mesa to serve at Feed My Starving Children, the  4^th grade’s particular project for the school-wide Day of Service.

However, due to unforeseen circumstances, when they arrived at the facility, they were not able to serve, and their excitement turned to disappointment. Sadly, the students boarded the bus to return to school two hours early, while their teachers tried desperately to think of something for the children to do in place of their special service activity.

And that is when I remembered the supplies from our Summer of Service VBS that were still sitting on shelves in my office. As soon as we arrived back on campus, while their classroom teachers kept the students busy with mindfulness exercises in the Close Garden, the All Saints’ maintenance staff and three specials teachers magically (and very quickly) transformed the St. Barbara rooms into three service “stations.”

At one station, students braided strips of fabric donated by members of All Saints’ together to make chew toys for dogs in the local shelter our communications director, Nanette Towsley, had put us in touch with this past summer. At another station, students created pictures to turn into cards for the All Saints’ Prison Ministry to use to write messages to women in Perryville Prison. And at the third station, they painted enrichment toys for animals at the Phoenix Zoo, as our own Sharron Luther taught our VBS kids to do.

At the end of the day, thanks to the dedicated team effort of both the church and the school, not only did we have toys for dogs and zoo animals, and cards for women in prison, we also had 50 tired and satisfied students, who had their own special experience of the Day of Service to share along with the rest of the grades during the closing chapel in the Close.

Thank you so much to everyone who has contributed to the culture of service we have cultivated at the church, which enabled us to, with such short notice, give the students at the Day School a service experience they will never forget. Never doubt that even the smallest effort you make on behalf of others has an effect beyond anything you can imagine at the time.

October 29, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Dan Burner

Our history as a people includes many times we have come together when we experienced adversity both personal and national. Regardless of how you may feel about the COVID pandemic, I think we can all agree that this has been a time of deep crisis. In past experiences, like the Kennedy Assassination, the challenger disaster, and the 911 attack on New York and Washington DC, we have gathered in our churches for solace and consolation.

In our current crisis we could not gather because being together was part of the danger. Experiencing a strange new disease, we did not know how it was transmitted. We had to stay away from each other to show our concern for each other’s wellbeing. This has made it possibly one of the most difficult crises we have had to weather as a people. The comfort we found in being present was not available. Meanwhile, we have persevered and reached out in as many ways as we could to let people know that they are still loved by God and honored by us as fellow travelers and companions in life’s journey.

It is perfectly normal to want to grieve what we have experienced over the last nineteen months. Grief is a long process and each must navigate it at their own speed. Many people have felt great loss from the isolation. Quite possibly, we have lost loved ones or family members. But, to be stuck at one place in the process is not what a loving God wants for each of us. We are more likely to follow the will of God if we move to a point where we can accept what has happened and move forward with gratitude for what God has given us.

I am profoundly grateful for the opportunities I personally have had to reach out and be in touch with people all around the world through the mystery of technology. It has allowed me to continue to affirm and be affirmed by many people in my life. This has not been the experience of everyone. Many lack the resources and or knowledge to make this happen. And so, it’s important that we take steps to return to a life of community in as prudent a manner as possible, knowing that this crisis is not yet over. At All Saints, we are taking steps to return to community and to the familiar forms of worship. We do this knowing that we seek to follow Jesus when he proclaims that the two most important laws are that we love God and love our neighbor as ourself.

October 21, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Long ago, in my life before the priesthood, I worked in radio as an on-air disc jockey. We had two stations. One featured adult contemporary music and the other played oldies from the 1950’s through the 70’s (and even the early 80’s from time to time). This helped me to develop an appreciation for music that would otherwise been long before my time. One of the artists I learned to appreciate was a man named James Taylor.

I had known of James Taylor because my parents enjoyed his music. I also remember his appearances on Sesame Street when he sang about “Jelly Man Kelly.” Along with the children gathered around him, I remember enthusiastically singing, “Oh, can he come home Jenny? Can he come home, Jenny? Can he come?” It was kind of a gibberish song, but a fun one for a five-year old. I also remember him singing to Oscar the Grouch on the rooftop of 123 Sesame Street, changing the lyrics of one of his most popular songs to, “Whenever I see your grouchy face, it makes me wanna smile because I like you.” To this day, James Taylor remains a talented and charismatic performer. As a priest and pastor, I particularly admire the lyrics from a song he frequently performs called, “You’ve Got a Friend.”

In “You’ve Got a Friend”, Taylor, who sometimes sings a duet with Carole King, lists many of the reasons someone might need a friend. When in need, Taylor and King assure the listener, “Just call out my name and you know wherever I am, I’ll come running.” This is true in “winter, spring, summer or fall. All you’ve got to do is call and I’ll be there. You’ve got a friend.” Isn’t that beautiful? As Taylor sings, “ain’t it good to know that you’ve got a friend?” Especially “when people can be so cold?”

All Saints’ is the kind of place where I have seen so many people develop meaningful and lasting friendships. I pay attention to these kinds of things. I know many of you go out to enjoy a cup of coffee together after an early morning service. Many of you go out to brunch or lunch after the 10 a.m. service, and there has been a tradition of a dinner gathering after the Saturday evening service. I know of parishioners making telephone calls to one another to check in from time to time, and I know you care deeply about one another. I especially witnessed your friendships in action during the times we were not able to gather in close proximity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. You stayed in touch, prepared meals for those who needed them, and made sure your friends knew you cared.

Like Taylor sings in one of his most famous songs, “Fire and Rain,” many of us “have seen lonely times when we could not find a friend.” I am hopeful that is not the case for anyone who makes their way inside the doors of our church. I am hopeful that anyone who comes to All Saints’ for the first time or the thousandth time will find someone who will be that person’s friend. Jesus knew the importance of friendships. He called his friends to be his disciples. And he sent them out in pairs.  Two-by-two, they would go out to share the Good News. They didn’t do it alone, but instead in pairs: pairs of friends. I encourage you to continue to nurture your friendships here at All Saints’. They might just put a smile on your face. And, whenever I see your smiling face, I have to smile myself.

October 14, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Are you ready for another lesson from the religion students at All Saints’ Episcopal Day school? At the beginning of the year, fourth grade religion students learn about virtue, and the role of virtue in building good character. Virtue, they learn, is the habit of doing right, and the four cardinal virtues are courage, wisdom, temperance, and justice. The four cardinal virtues date back at least to the time of the Greek philosopher, Plato. Christianity adds the three Christian virtues of faith, hope, and love to the four cardinal virtues to create the traditional seven virtues: Courage, wisdom, temperance, justice, faith, hope, and love.

In their first few religion classes, fourth graders define these seven virtues, and discuss what they mean in their own lives. Then they present their work to their parents and fellow students in Lower School Chapel. These are the seven cardinal virtues, as defined by All Saints’ fourth graders:

Courage comes from the Greek word, andreos. Courage is the ability to do something that you’re afraid to do, like speaking to people you don’t know. You have to have courage when you lose a game. It’s easy to be nice to people when you win. You have to have courage to face the pain of losing without being mean to the people who won.

Wisdom comes from the Greek word, phronesis. Wisdom means acting with care and thought for the future, like doing your homework so you are prepared for school the next morning. Wisdom also means understanding and having good judgment. Like judging people by how they act and not by how they look.

Temperance comes from the Greek word, sophrosyne. Temperance means acting with moderation, like when you want to play a game at recess, but your friend wants to play a different game. Temperance would mean playing your game for half the time, and your friend's game for the other half.

Justice comes from the Greek word, dikaiosune. Justice is the use of power to support fair treatment, like making sure everybody gets a turn when you are playing a game. Justice also means being fair or reasonable. Like sharing the last piece of pizza with your siblings, instead of taking it all for yourself.

Faith comes from the Greek word, pistis. Faith means belief, trust, or confidence in someone or something. If someone is sick, you have faith that they are going to be ok. Faith is hope, but with trust.

Hope comes from the Greek word, elpis. Hope means trust and confidence. It is a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen. If you don’t give up, and you are confident that you will succeed in the end, you are hopeful.

Love comes from the Greek word, agape. Love in this sense means unconditional love. Like the love God has for us. Love is empathy: the ability to understand and share the feeling of someone else, and to want and work for good for them.

When we practice these virtues, we form habits that create good character. Character is the pattern of thoughts, actions, and feelings that make up who a person is. Someone with good character makes good decisions about how they treat themselves, other people, and the world they live in. The word “cardinal” comes from the Latin word, cardo, which means hinge, because the four cardinal virtues help us open the door to good character—just like a door hinge! Someone who practices all seven cardinal virtues every day for their whole life becomes a person with really, really good character.

October 7, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Dan Burner, our New Interim Rector

I have noticed more recently that I feel all of my life experience has prepared me to be where I am. Some would say “I’m more comfortable in my skin.” Maybe that is a normal part of aging.

What I do know is that I began experiencing the call early in my life, as a senior in high school to be exact. Reflecting on the possibility that I would have been successful in response to that early call, I wonder what kind of priest I would have been. Hindsight has shown me that my faith journey developed in a way that has made a difference in my personal spirituality and ability to respond to others seeking God’s grace in their lives. Meanwhile, I felt the call very strongly then and I would feel it again two more times. Eventually others would notice the call in me and comment about it to me. The last time it “took” and I committed myself to pursuing ordination to the priesthood.

Three is a significant number in our theology. It’s a message of both completeness and new life. On three separate occasions during the last time I was discerning, a hawk swooped down and lightly scratched the top of my head while I was out for my morning run in the Tucson foothills. One morning I came across a mother quail whose trailing chicks were stuck at the bottom of a tall curb and unable to follow her. I carefully arranged a stack of rocks so the little ones could follow. And off they went. Many cultures believe that birds are messengers and the encounters that I had with that hawk and those chicks made me think that their message to me was that I should hurry up and be about the Lord’s work.

Another thing that has me thinking that I have been prepared to be where I am is the confluence of all my life’s work to this point. Human resource work when practiced well is a way of being pastoral in a business setting, and yet for me there was something missing. After earning my MBA, I found myself using the skills I learned to benefit my church on various committees that dealt with financial matters.

All of this use of my talents for the church were rewarding, and still something was missing. Those business and pastoral skills are important as a rector, even one that is only serving a parish for a season, but the desire to be at one with God through servant ministry as the great mystics seek to be is the part that was missing before my ordination.

The work I performed in a marketing function helped me to learn the difference between how businesses and churches engage with people. Businesses try to make people feel that there is something missing or deficient in their lives that their product will solve, only to continue to promote that same feeling of deficiency to sell more or something different. The church on the other hand is offering a way of life that allows people to grow into fullness with God and all Creation.

As Saint Gregory of Nyssa reminds us: The only honor or pleasure to covet is to become God’s friend. As our companion on the way of Emmaus, the risen Christ reveals itself walking with us, in our hopes, in our doubts and on the road.

September 23, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

The gospel story we heard last Sunday gives us some helpful guidelines for growing the Church. Jesus holds a child and says, “Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me” (Mark 9:37). What does that mean to you when you hear it? When I hear these words, it means that I had better be welcoming to children!

When I was a young boy, the parish I attended had what was known as a “cry room” or a “mother’s chapel”. The cry room had a window that looked out into the sanctuary and a low-quality, overhead speaker gave parents of young children an opportunity to hear the readings and sermon. I did not like sitting in the cry room and I remember feeling disengaged and bored. Cry rooms became popular in churches built in the second half of the 20th century. You might notice All Saints’ does not have a cry room. And I think that is a wonderful thing!

I am a proponent of children in church. In fact, I am a proponent of children sitting right up front! I think children should have seats up front where they can see and hear what is going on, and where they can feel like they are part of the community. Jesus tells us to welcome children, after all. And Sunday’s gospel wasn’t the only time Jesus talked about the importance of welcoming children. In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus says, “let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs” (Matt. 19:14).

You may have noticed that we have not yet had an announcement for nursery services. This is because the organization we normally partner with is short staffed as a result of COVID-19 protocols. The sitters who staff our nursery must meet certain criteria by both their employer and by the Diocese of Arizona, so for the time being, they do not have sufficient staff to meet both sets of requirements.

I refer to last week’s gospel as I ask you this: Please do not let this be the reason you do not come to church. Bring your children to church. In fact, I invite you to bring them forward and sit right up near the front, where they can see what is happening. I invite you to bring them forward when it is time to receive communion and I encourage you to teach them what is going on during the liturgy. “What if my child talks, coos, or squeals?” you might be asking. Well, if we look at the King James version of the Jubilate (Psalm 100), we notice it says, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord.” Our children are children of God. God understands children and their joyful noises. And here’s a little secret: our children often understand God so much better than even the most studious theologians! There is nothing that warms my heart like the joy on children’s faces when they receive communion in their little hands.

We are a welcoming parish. We welcome all who seek God to the table of the Lord. There are no qualifiers here. As St. Paul writes to the Galatians, “there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28). It takes all of us, including our children, to make up the body of Christ. Bring your children to worship. Let us at All Saints’ follow the teachings of Jesus and welcome children, because when we welcome children, we welcome Jesus.

September 16, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

As many of you have noticed, I leave a much smaller footprint around the church side of our campus these days, especially during the week. This is because I am spending 80% of my time this year teaching religion at the Day School. Beginning this August, I began teaching Pre-Kindergarten—5th Grade Religion, and although I miss being around the church during the week, and seeing all your beautiful faces, I am loving every minute of the time I am spending with the children of All Saints’!

In pre-kindergarten and kindergarten, we are learning the basic stories of the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels. In first grade, we are learning about saints. In second grade, we are learning about different religious holidays around the world. In third grade, we are studying creation stories from around the world. And in fourth grade we are studying virtues, and how they create character. The students are insightful and articulate, and as is always the case with teaching, I am learning as much from them as they are learning from me!

In fifth grade, we look at what religion is, what it means to believe and worship, and what the word “God” means in different contexts. As we dive deeper into the subject, the 5th grade students are very aware that we are treading on sensitive ground. My most deeply held belief might not be the same as my best friend’s. What do I do if it isn’t? Your religion might contradict mine. How do I know what is true?

This past week, I asked the 5th graders to think of a group they had been a part of, where they felt the most safe, and the most able to be completely themselves. Then, I asked them to tell me what it was about those groups that made it safe. Together, out of their answers, we have created a set of group norms for each class, written by the students. These are the things they have agreed to do, and not to do, throughout the rest of the year, to keep each other safe as we learn about and discuss one another’s most deeply held beliefs and values.

These students showed wisdom beyond their years in creating their group norms, and, as we kick off our program year here in the church, and begin to discern in earnest who should lead us as our next rector, I offer you a compilation of their thoughts on what it means to be a safe and loving community, in their own words:

“We will: Be friendly, welcoming, inclusive, kind, honest, loyal, humble, cheerful, understanding, trustworthy, flexible, and forgiving. We will be good sports. We will care about each other, be there for each other, listen to each other, respect each other, and help each other. We will stick together and protect each other. We will work together when we need to, accept each other’s differences, and be open about our feelings. We will talk directly to one another, and not behind someone’s back. We will keep an open mind when others are talking, and give and receive honest and constructive feedback without hard feelings.”

“We will work to understand and respect each other’s boundaries, allow each other space to do things their own way, and allow each person to grow and change. We will believe in ourselves, build each other up, and respect each other’s interests and beliefs. We will be kind to everyone, and not just to members of our own group. We will keep each other’s stories private unless we have their permission so share them (or someone isn’t safe). We will be our unique selves, we will allow each other to be weird, and we will allow each person to choose their own labels.”

“We will NOT: Be judgmental or violent, get mad about each other’s mistakes, be afraid to make mistakes, point out someone’s mistakes unnecessarily, talk over each other, talk behind each other’s backs, make fun of each other, or judge each other based on looks. We will not be easily offended, put other people down to make ourselves feel better, blow other people off, put other people in danger, or label each other.”

I think, if we follow our students’ lead, our community at All Saints’ Episcopal Church & Day School will continue to be a strong and consistent oasis in in the desert for many generations to come. May God bless us and our many and varied ministries as we begin a new program year! 

September 9, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

When I was a young boy, it was common for adults to ask one another, “Where were you when you found out President Kennedy was assassinated?” I suspect that in earlier days, it was common to ask, “Where were you when you found out about the attack on Pearl Harbor?” Now, we ask, “Where were you when you found out about the September 11^th attacks?” Have you ever wondered why we are able to answer these kinds of questions with near perfect certainty? When we experience traumatic events, our brains release stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine. The release of these hormones allows for events to be seared into our memories, often vividly.

I remember where I was on that fateful Tuesday morning. I was leaving my grandmother’s house on my way to attend class at the University of Utah. My radio was tuned to the same morning program I listened to every day. And when I heard about a plane crashing into the towers, I crossed myself. I also remember assuming that “airplane” meant a small aircraft. I thought perhaps a Cessna pilot had become disoriented and meandered too close to downtown New York City and was caught in some kind of an updraft that pushed it toward the World Trade Center. It was only as my drive moved forward, and reports continued to flood in, that it became clear that not only was this a commercial airliner, but also that the United States had been attacked. The weapons the terrorists chose, it turned out, were our very own airplanes. After that became clear, it was not surprising that the airlines used in the attack bore the brand names “American” and “United”.

Many human lives were snuffed out that day. Many, many more lives were changed forever. To this day, air travel is different than it was before. Gone are the days of waiting for Grandma’s plane to arrive at her gate. Gone are the days of leaving our shoes and belts on as we go through security. Gone are the days of young children receiving an invitation to visit the cockpit during their first airplane flight. These all seem minor compared to the other losses that have occurred over the past 20 years.

A seemingly endless conflict began in Afghanistan shortly after the attacks. Now that America’s involvement in the conflict is coming to an end, a new era of trouble is plaguing the region. Many soldiers and civilians have been wounded or killed, and some of the service members who are enlisted now were not even born when the attack took place.

This week we remember the 20^th anniversary of the horrendous loss of life in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Shanksville, Pennsylvania. We remember those whose lives were ended and we remember those whose lives were changed. We remember those who have grown up missing loved ones. We remember those who rushed in to help. We remember those who suffer long-term trauma from witnessing the attacks and we remember those who never got to come home. We remember the firefighters, the police officers, and the paramedics. We remember the priest and chaplain, Fr. Mychal Judge, who was the first certified fatality as a result of the attacks. We continue to share their stories.

Perhaps it is appropriate that memories of events like the September 11^th attacks become seared into our brains. When we remember, we can continue to hold the victims in prayer. And when we remember, we can work to ensure that attacks such as these are never carried out again. May God bless the United States of America on the 20^th anniversary of the September 11^th attacks. May the souls of the departed rest in peace, and may the survivors be assured of comfort and peace.

September 2, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Have you ever thought about how healing tears can be? I’m guessing that many people have not stopped to think about what exactly it means to cry. When I was going through my pastoral care training, I discovered that tears made me uncomfortable.  I discovered that I had a tendency to help others to hide their tears or to cry in private, “safe” spaces. This was something I was doing unconsciously. Part of pastoral care training is to discover pieces of ourselves that we don’t already notice and to begin to notice our “blind spots”. Once I was asked, “why do tears make you uncomfortable?” and my answer was, “they don’t!”

“Well, then why do you escort people to private areas when they are crying?”  I had no idea I did this. And when it was brought to my awareness, I stopped immediately. I became an advocate for public tears. To this day, I reassure anyone who apologizes to me for crying that no apology is necessary. I even want to have a sign made up for my office that says, “Tears Welcome Here”.

I don’t think I was the only one who demonstrated discomfort around tears. So why does society disapprove of public crying? Is it because of a perceived weakness? Are expressions of emotion “bad”? Are certain expressions fine, but others are not? In the secular world, it certainly seems that way. We are most certainly allowed to laugh. We can laugh during funny movies.  We can laugh when someone tells a joke. We can laugh when something silly happens to us. We also are allowed to express joy. We can jump up and give a “high five” when our team scores a touchdown. We can smile when we finally get that promotion at work. We can express joy when our children do well in school. We can even express public anger. But seldom are we allowed to cry.

Why should we cry? Crying jumpstarts the healing process. It is part of being a human. In the shortest verse of scripture, Jesus demonstrated his human nature through tears. John 11:35 tells us, “Jesus wept”. We cry when we are hurt, sad, angry, or otherwise upset. Emotional pain activates the same part of the brain that is activated when we experience physical pain. When we cry, our bodies release hormones that help to relieve our stress and alleviate some of the pain. When we cry, we simply feel better.

Some studies have shown that in the United States, women cry as much as 10 times more frequently than men. Based on my own crying output alone, I must assume that some men must never cry at all! After my own awareness about crying changed,  I became more open with my own tears. I cry in public and I do not feel ashamed of it. I have cried tears of joy, pain, sadness, and anger. I have cried in church, at school, at work, and at home. I have cried when loved ones have died, when my feelings have been hurt, when I’ve been extremely frustrated, and even when I just needed an emotional release. I’m guessing you have cried under similar circumstances.

I encourage each of us to look deeply within ourselves to explore our own feelings about tears. Are we comfortable crying in public? When is it OK to cry? Are some people “safe” to cry with? How do we feel after we cry? All of these questions are very human. Being in touch with ourselves more fully can help us to deepen our relationships with God and one another. Crying is certainly a piece of our human selves. And tears can heal.

August 26, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Dear Friends,

Next Tuesday (August 31) will be my last day with you as your Interim Rector. As you have probably heard me say before, I have enjoyed my time with you immensely. You are a very strong parish with great leadership and are poised to prosper this year as you call a new rector and embark on a new chapter at All Saints’.

I’ve noticed many strengths at All Saints’, the primary one is the intelligence, talent and faith of the membership – that means YOU. I am confident that your new rector will see your strengths and help you build upon them in the days ahead. 

Your staff and leadership have planned a full year of programming and worship and you have seen every permutation of Covid. You are prepared for whatever you may face these next few months until your new rector arrives.

As they say in England, Keep Calm and Carry On!

Kimiko and I will be moving to Aspen, Colorado in early September to join Christ Episcopal Church for a couple of years. Then we plan to retire and move back here to our new home which we bought this year (near Lookout Mountain). 

Some of you have inquired about how our relationship might continue in the future. The good news is there are clear norms in the church. Once I leave here as Interim Rector, I will not be able to have a pastoral relationship with you (no weddings, funerals, etc.). But I can be your friend. The only topic we will not be able to discuss is All Saints’. So it’s pretty simple and easy. In early 2024, Kimiko and I expect to return to Phoenix and will be looking for friends, so look out!

Starting September 1, my All Saints’ email will be deactivated and you can reach me at my new email address wlupfer@christchurchaspen.org. 

Please know of my deep admiration for you and the love that you offer to the world through All Saints’. Count on my prayers for you in the days to come.

August 12, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Do you ever wonder where the time goes? I have always been fascinated with the psychology of the way humans perceive the passage of time. “Time always flies when you’re having a ball,” they used to say. Scientists have found this to be true. When we’re doing something fun for eight hours, the day seems shorter than it does when we’re doing something mundane. Time also is perceived as longer when we’re actively waiting for something. Have you ever heard someone say, “a watched pot never boils”? If you put a pot of water on the stove, it certainly will boil eventually. But it seems to boil so much more quickly when you set it and go do something else in the meantime. How is it possible that our perception of the passage of time seems to fluctuate on a whim? Why does that vacation we’ve been planning take forever to arrive, when before we have the chance to appreciate it, we’re on our way back home? The perception of the passage of time is baffling.

 “Kids grow up so quickly!” That’s another thing people say a lot. And that is what I was thinking about as we prepared to welcome our students back to campus this week. I thought about how quickly this summer break seemed to come to an end. I thought about how much taller the kids were going to be. I thought about how they would return with new experiences. I wondered about whether they would be eager to come back to campus and how eager they would be to learn.

When I was a child, I attended a parochial school very similar to All Saints’. When I was young, time seemed to pass so slowly. I remembered waiting anxiously for the summer vacation period at the end of the school year. It seemed to take forever! And then the summer went by so quickly. As an adult, it seems that time goes by much more quickly. I don’t have those same markers anymore that tell me when time ought to speed up or slow down. It simply seems to move by at a constant clip.

When I notice time passing by at a quick pace, I find it helpful to make myself present in the moment. I try to clear my thoughts from those things I just did or from things I’m about to do. Instead, I focus on what is going on right now. How do I feel right now? How does my head feel? How does my tummy feel? How do my legs and arms and hands and feet feel? How does my breathing feel? I find that grounding myself helps me to pay attention to living in the moment and appreciating the day that God has given to us. Sometimes I notice things I’ve never noticed before. “Is that a palm tree, swaying in the breeze? Wow. It is! I never noticed it before.” Or, “wow! I can feel the combination of the breeze and the sunshine as they take turns kissing my cheeks!”

Do you find it useful to become grounded? Do you notice the fluctuations in the passing of time? Where do you find appreciation in the gifts God has given you? When you find them, how do you say thank you? I hope you are able to take the opportunity to smell the flowers, feel the breeze, and to experience the world around you. I wish students (those who attend All Saints’, and those who attend schools all around the world) many continued blessings during this academic year. Wherever they are in their journey, I hope they don’t try to “grow up too fast.” Enjoy your year. Enjoy this gift of time, and make the most of the journey!

August 5, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

We have arrived in August, which means things start to pick up a little bit of steam here at All Saints’. August brings with it some special feasts in the Church, including the Transfiguration and the feast day of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It also means school is coming back into session and we have important rituals like the blessing of the backpacks. Our teachers and staff are already back on campus, preparing to mold young hearts and minds, and we celebrated our welcome back chapel this week as a reminder that the mission of our school is grounded and rooted in faith. At All Saints’, we also have a tradition of celebrating baptisms on a Sunday early in August. This Sunday, we will welcome two baby girls into the Body of Christ as we celebrate their baptisms at the 10 a.m. service.

Last week was special for me because I planned three funerals, but four baptisms! Two of those baptisms will take place on our patronal feast day, the feast of All Saints. The other two will take happen on Sunday. While funerals are indeed important, planning baptisms is so much more joyful than planning funerals. I love celebrating baptisms. I love welcoming new Christians into the Church of God. It is perhaps the most joyful action I perform as a priest. I am hopeful it is among the most joyful celebrations for you as well.

From time to time, someone will ask me why we celebrate baptisms in large services. Parents will sometimes ask, “Will you do a private baptism for just our family?” I also have heard minor grumblings about baptisms making the service take a little longer. “Can they do that after the service?” I have heard people wonder aloud. The answers to these questions are rooted in the theology of our Book of Common Prayer. Whenever it is at all possible, baptism ought to take place in public, with as many people present as possible. But why?

Baptism is not supposed to be a private experience. The people gathered have a very important role in the celebration of the sacrament! The Prayer Book tells us that ideally, baptism is always celebrated during the chief Sunday service. After what we call the Presentation and Examination of the Candidates, those in attendance are asked, “Will you who witness these vows do all in your power to support these persons in their life in Christ?” The answer is a very enthusiastic, “We will!” We then join the candidates as we all renew our baptismal covenant together. 

This Sunday, I want you to pay extra special attention to the “we will!” I hope you say it loudly and enthusiastically. I want you to reflect on those times you’ve said, “we will!” during a baptism. I hope you will reflect on how you live into what you agreed to. We are responsible for contributing to the nourishment of the faith lives of each and everyone one of our siblings in Christ. I think it is important for me to admit that I have not always lived up to my end of this agreement. Sometimes I have been a better support to my fellow Christians than others. Yet, it is in our baptismal covenant that we are reminded that when we fail (when, not if!), we will “repent and return to the Lord.” We are given grace at baptism and we are beneficiaries of that grace throughout our Christian lives.

Let’s celebrate joyfully this Sunday as we welcome our new Christian sisters into the Christian Church. Let’s watch together with awe and wonder as these children have the mark of baptism imprinted on their souls forever. Let’s respond enthusiastically when we’re asked to renew our baptismal covenant, and let’s do our best to uphold our fellow Christians as we share in nurturing our relationships with God and with one another. 

July 15, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

I’m the kind of person who has frequently found rules to be ambiguous. In fact, people in my life have told me, “Fr. Tim, you’re the kind of guy who likes to break the rules.” Oddly enough, I have also been told, “Fr. Tim, you’re the kind of guy who always follows the rules.” It seems like these two statements ought to be at odds. So how can they possibly be accurate about the same person?

The truth of the matter is that there are different kinds of rules for different times and different places. For instance, the United States Golf Association has a very strict rulebook when it comes to the rules of golf. But rest assured, if you ever hit the golf course with me (and if you’re looking for a golf buddy, hit me up!), you don’t have to worry about me counting every single one of your strokes or charging you with a penalty stroke if you take a mulligan or use a “toe wedge” to escape the overhanging branches of a tree in your way. Playing by the USGA’s rules during competition is important because it upholds the integrity of the game. But playing by “house rules” when you’re playing with Fr. Tim, gives us a chance to laugh at ourselves, to have a little more fun, and to not worry about things that are somewhat trivial at the moment.

What about liturgical rubrics? Are those rules that can be broken? If so, when do we break them? To answer this question, it is important to outline the difference between “rubrics” and “customary”. The rubrics are rules in the Prayer Book that must be followed. The customary is the set of guidelines most frequently used in a particular place. You might notice, for instance, that the rubric for the Lord’s Prayer allows us to use two different translations. At All Saints’, our customary informs us that we use the traditional translation virtually without exception. In this case, neither option is wrong, per se. However, using the contemporary translation might feel much more out of place. From time to time you might notice a different option in use. When the option chosen is not of your preference, I encourage you to take a deep breath and notice that the decision was very likely made in an effort to make sure the worshipping community is aware that there are simply other ways of doing things. These “rules” might be broken as an educational tool.

Other rules keep us safe. For example, everyone who works or volunteers at All Saints’ (or any organization within the Diocese of Arizona) must complete regular certification in Safe Church Worker training. This training teaches participants how to observe inappropriate, damaging, and/or illegal behavior, and it gives us “best practices” we can follow for keeping ourselves and our fellow parishioners safe. The rules within this Safeguarding training are not flexible at all. We must follow them at all times and in all situations. One important reason for this is the promotion of good Christian stewardship. We are called to care for one another.

If you know me (and I’m guessing you probably know me pretty well by now!), you know that I love to have fun and I love to model having fun as we live into our Christian vocations. I can say with authority that some unimportant rules are fun to break (go ahead, use that toe wedge!). But other rules must never be broken. For the sake of promoting a fun, healthy, and safe environment here at All Saints’, let us remember that rules protecting the safety of the people of God must always be followed under every circumstance. All Saints’ is a wonderful place where we glorify God through beautiful liturgy and music, praise, and thanksgiving.

If you’re ever in doubt about why rubrics are modified, please ask a member of the clergy. We love to “talk shop” and we’re eager to share what we know with you! And if you’re ever in doubt about a rule regarding public safety, always err on the side of caution until you have a chance to gain clarity. All Saints’ is a safe space. Each of us has to do our part to keep it that way.

July 8, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

I wonder what the best part of this summer has been for you so far? Many of us have been able to do things this summer that we have not been free to do for a long time. Perhaps for you the best part has been getting to hug members of your extended family, or meeting new grandchildren for the first time. Perhaps the best part of summer has been traveling out of state, or even just driving up north for a few days to get out of the heat. Perhaps the best part has been attending a sporting event, or a concert, or a worship service. Or perhaps the best part of summer for you is still to come. What are you still looking forward to in the next month or two?

For me, the best part of summer has been being able to spend time with both my mom and my sister for the first time in almost 2 years! But another part of summer that I really enjoy is the opportunity, with the end of the academic and program year, to take a breath, reflect on the past year, and do all the little things that I can’t do during the year when I am so busy, to prepare myself for the year to come.

This month, as I made a list of the things I wanted to accomplish this summer, both personally and professionally, I was reminded of something I used to do every summer when I was in high school and college. I would list five or six things that I wanted to accomplish that summer, and make what I called “summer goals.” They were always simple things, and I was always careful to keep the list of goals small enough that I could actually accomplish them during the summer. One year I remember I wanted to read a particular history book, learn to play all the minor scales on my clarinet, walk my dog every day, and spend time with a particular friend.

What I didn’t realize in my teens and twenties when I did that, is that I was making for myself what is known as a “rule of life.” Now, a “rule” in this context is not something imposed on you from the outside that you must conform to, but rather a set of guiding principles you develop for yourself, and by which you govern your own life. As we learn the things we want to learn in order to be the person we want to be, most of us are already practicing a rule of life, we just don't always consciously know what that rule is.

To begin the process of discovering your own personal rule of life, you can ask yourself one simple question: “What things do I already do to keep my life from unravelling?” Be sure to note the most simple and obvious things, like getting enough sleep, daily exercise, eating nourishing food, checking in with and listening to your life partner and/or children, Sunday worship, reading the Bible, saying morning prayer, faithfulness in work or study, paying bills on time, keeping in touch with friends and family, favorite hobbies and creative work, and your list will go on.

Then, if you would like to make your own goals for the rest of this summer, try this simple exercise: Find a piece of paper and divide it into four sections. Label the four sections “Mind,” “Body,” “Spirit,” and “Relationships,” respectively. Then, look at each category in turn and ask yourself: What one thing do I want to do this summer to keep myself physically healthy? What one thing do I want to do to keep myself mentally healthy? What do I want to do to keep myself spiritually healthy? And what do I want to do to keep my relationships with the other people in my life healthy?

When you are done, look at your lists one more time, and ask yourself if there is adequate time in your rule for rest, for play, and for reflection and creativity. If not, try to think of one single thing you can add to your life this summer, purely because you would enjoy it!

July 1, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

For all my life, I have had a dream to study at the University of Notre Dame. I was kind of set up for this dream based on circumstances. I was raised in a Roman Catholic household, I attended my parish’s parochial school, and I loved football. Fitting the stereotype of a Catholic school boy, I had dreams of one day suiting up in a blue football jersey (maybe green for special occasions!), and running out of the tunnel at Notre Dame Stadium with my gold helmet shining in the sun as I helped lead the Fighting Irish to another victory over Southern California. Unfortunately, I discovered that I was not big enough to play college football. I also did not believe I had a grade-point average that would earn me admission into the university. My high school grades were solid and I graduated in the top 30 of my class of 2,000 students. But Notre Dame, I convinced myself, only accepted valedictorians. They wanted students who had resumes chock full of club memberships, academic accolades, athletic championships, and extracurricular activities. Sadly, I never even applied to the university. I regretted it ever since.

Fast forward some 15 years and there I was, now an Episcopalian, studying at an Episcopal seminary, on track to become an Episcopal priest. I discover that one of my liturgics professors, the Rev. Dr. Lizette Larson-Miller, once was a member of the liturgics faculty at Notre Dame. Another professor, the Rev. Dr. Ruth Meyers, earned her Ph.D. in liturgy from Notre Dame. When they learned of my unfulfilled dream, they shared with me that Notre Dame offered one of the world’s most highly rated theology graduate programs. The degree was offered through a distance program, designed specifically for working lay and ordained ministers of all faith traditions. If I kept my grades up in seminary, maybe my dream could be resurrected. Maybe it wasn’t too late.

I’m happy to say that I was admitted into Notre Dame, beginning in May of 2020. I have had classes about Christian revelation, the Trinity, artistic expressions in Christianity, evangelism in media, and the lives of the saints. Recently, one of my classes required me to go to South Bend, Indiana, for a weeklong intensive course. I felt like I was living my childhood dream, some 20 years late. I walked the quads, ate in the dining hall, studied in the Hesburgh Library, and learned in the classrooms. We even had conferences and fancy dinners in the ballrooms overlooking Notre Dame Stadium, where I was invited to offer the benediction before some of our meals.

This degree program has given me an opportunity to look at theology in different ways than I did in seminary. Some of the material is the same, but viewed through a different lens. Some is completely new. I think it is safe to say I have used the material I have learned in the program in my ministry here at All Saints’. I think differently as I prepare sermons. I have new pastoral tools to use when people ask questions about the Christian faith. I also feel like I no longer need to regret passing up my childhood dream.

My time in South Bend was very fulfilling. I met professors and classmates from all around the country, in all walks of ministry. I spent way too much money at the campus bookstore, buying Notre Dame souvenirs. I had very touching conversations about inter-denominational dialog, and I met friends I will likely keep for the rest of my life. I hope to return to campus two more times in the next 12 months. Once for a home football game and once for my graduation, which will take place next May.

I know Notre Dame isn’t everyone’s dream. But it was mine. I feel very fortunate that I got this chance to revisit my dream. God prepared my path so that I could make it happen. God continues to prepare your path as well. Maybe you have clarity in your life looking back that you didn’t have looking forward. What was your dream when you were a kid? Is it still your dream? Is it still important to you? If it is still important and it is still your dream, it isn’t too late. Never give up on your dreams. Be your best self. Be the person God called you to be.



June 24, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Two weeks ago, twenty-three All Saints’ children & youth volunteers, and their Sunday school teachers and adult mentors, gathered each morning, to learn, pray, play, and work together to serve others. We had a lot of fun and learned a lot, and together, we donated over 400 hours to the service of our neighbors this summer. Thank you to all the children, volunteers, donors, and their families, who participated in the All Saints’ Summer of Service Vacation Bible School program this year!

On Monday, Juliaette Chamberlain from the All Saints’ Prison Ministry talked to our students about the women at Perryville Prison, and All Saints’ card-writing ministry, and helped to guide our children as they designed cards for Prison Ministry volunteers to use, and wrote their own messages to the incarcerated women.

Our friend Sharron Luther from the Phoenix Zoo talked to us on Tuesday about the animals in the zoo, and taught us how to create behavioral enrichment toys for the animals, which was a favorite activity for our students!

On Wednesday, we packaged shampoo and laundry detergent for NourishPHX, and learned from Irene Tseng about the working families who receive assistance there. Our VBS families also donated peanut butter and jelly to help feed the children of working families during the summer when school lunches are not available.

On Thursday, we talked together about military veterans, and discussed the kinds of assistance some veterans need when they come home injured in body or mind. Then we decorated beautiful paper bow ties for the All Saints’ Ties for Guys fundraiser for Disabled American Veterans (DAV).

All Saints’ members can still purchase a tie or two this Sunday for a donation, write the name of a man they want to honor on each one, and see them displayed in the church on June 27! All proceeds will go to DAV. Our VBS families also donated cases of bottled water for cooling stations provided throughout the city by NourishPHX to keep our homeless brothers and sisters safe during the summer heat.

On Friday, our new friend Lisa Harmon and volunteers from the Love for Dogs rescue shelter talked to us about the animals they rescue, and brought us puppies to cuddle! We baked treats and made chew toys and blankets for the dogs in the shelter, and VBS families donated bags and cans of dog and cat food to the shelter.

Throughout the week, our children also learned the stories of the good Samaritan and the fruit of the Spirit, sang, prayed for those they love and those they were serving in chapel each day, and played "Kindness Bingo" all week long. We ended our day on Friday with a pizza party and bingo prizes! We are so proud of our students, mentors, and volunteers for their hard work and dedication. Way to go, All Saints’ students, families, and volunteers!!

June 17, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

By now, some of you will probably have read the announcement that I will be leaving All Saints’ August 31, 2021 to take a new call as priest-in-charge at Christ Church, Aspen, Colorado. “Priest-in-charge” means that I will function as rector but have a time certain end date: my retirement in early 2024. This move brings certainty to my family and allows us to spend time in the mountains that I love dearly. I began my ordination journey as a college student in Colorado and this move feels like we are completing a big circle in our lives. So we are happy.

But we are also sad to be leaving. I always knew that my time with you was temporary and that my ministry was designed to be interim but I fell in love with you anyway! You are an amazing group of people and I can see your special heart, even as most of our time together has been profoundly impacted by Covid-19. I have had a front row seat with your Executive Committee and Vestry as your leaders navigated the constant changes of this past year. And what a team of leaders you have! Led by Dave English, Senior Warden, and supported by many, you have navigated this past year with strength and dignity. Your Search Team, led by Derek Horn and Marcia Scott, are very strong. Soon you will have your new rector and be on a new adventure with her (or him!). The day school is in a strong place, just beginning their extensive new expansion, led by Dr. Emma Whitman, one of the smartest educators I’ve met (and I know many!). We will miss you but we are also confident that God will use you to bless many in the days to come.

Some of you know that Kimiko and I recently bought a house here. We plan to rent the house for two years and then renovate it before moving back to Phoenix in early 2024. We think Phoenix in the winter is a close to heaven as we’ve seen. So we expect to be here in the winters for years to come.

As your interim, I will need to make sure that I keep a respectful distance. So, I will not be your priest after this August. But I can always be your friend and we look forward to the friendships we have developed to continue for years to come.

Of course, our time together is not over yet. This summer, I plan to continue to work hard for All Saints’, with your vestry, staff and lay leaders. So much work has been completed but here is still more to do to ensure a smooth transition. We will work hard and I will cherish my last ten weeks with you. Onward!

June 10, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Restoration? No!

Resilience and Resurrection? Yes!

Greetings in the days of Pandemic. I hope we are in the LAST days of the pandemic, but we are still in this global, life-altering event where all of humanity is facing a common enemy. Our entry into pandemic times was chaotic. We did not have one trusted voice of authority that we could all confidently listen to. Our common life felt fragmented and unclear. So, we hunkered down and carefully navigated our way into uncertain territory. Your parish leaders have showed themselves to be strong, wise and flexible, helping All Saints’ navigate this uncharted terrain.

Accordingly, our vestry recently decided to accept CDC guidelines (along with diocesan guidance which was aligned with the CDC advice) which has caused us to allow vaccinated individuals to take off their masks while on church property. What a joy it is to see your faces! It’s fascinating to see how different you all look without your masks. At the same time, we recognize that people will continue to wear masks, perhaps in solidarity with those who cannot get vaccinated (children, immune-compromised, etc).

Now that we appear to be (possibly) in the last days of the pandemic, I invite you to examine your hopes and dreams about how the future will unfold. Months ago, I imagined that the last days of the pandemic would find us “returning to normal,” restoring our lives to the way we lived before. But, as we have moved slowly through these times, I’ve heard many people say that they learned some things in the pandemic that they intend to incorporate into their lives going forward: Some intend to wear masks in the future for certain occasions. Others talk about wanting to maintain a slower and more intentional way of life. Others want to party and celebrate with friends and intend to be more aware of the blessings that being together provides.

Our Senior Warden, Dave English, calls this “wrestling a blessing.” Psychologists call this “resilience.” We face adversity head on, struggle mightily, and find hidden blessings. This is the way that the early disciples faced Jesus’ death and resurrection. They stayed connected with each other, talked and discussed a lot, hung out together when they felt lost, always opened their heart to God’s spirit and, eventually, returned home completely changed and transformed.

As you navigate these Pandemic Times, you have genuine spiritual opportunities. You will return home. Home will look differently. You will be different. You will have the chance to see how you have been transformed. You will have “wrestled a blessing” from this difficult time and will be different. You will incorporate these blessings and tough lessons into your new life.

I pray you will approach these days ahead as an opportunity to find blessings in places you never dreamed. Onward!

June 3, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Would you believe it if I told you that people have referred to me as a rule breaker? How about a trouble maker? These are rhetorical questions, so you don’t need to tell me that the answer is yes. I enjoy promoting playfulness and fun because I think those are very human elements that can help some people discover God by encouraging everyone to nourish our inherent sense of childlike wonder and awe. Truth be told, there are many paths that can lead us to God. The right path for you is the one that works the best. This isn’t to say that there are no wrong ways. But there are certainly a number of equally correct right ways, and I want to help you to find that way.

Our liturgy in the Episcopal Church is designed to showcase those different correct ways. We are encouraged to explore them, to use them, and to reflect upon them. For example, the Book of Common Prayer provides us with six versions of the Eucharistic prayer. We have Prayers 1 and 2 from Rite I, and Prayers A, B, C, and D in Rite II. We actually have even more options that these. Beginning on Page 400, we have “An Order for Celebrating the Holy Eucharist”. We are given two additional forms of the prayer, as well as instructions for developing a new prayer when appropriate. Finally, we have three more prayers we can use that come from our approved supplemental worship book entitled Enriching Our Worship. Enriching Our Worship is, canonically speaking, an officially sanctioned “add-on” to the Prayer Book, and it is approved for use at any time. Any of these prayers are permitted for use during any service. As Episcopalians, we have so many options!

You might notice that from time to time the Eucharistic Prayer we use changes. Many parishes rotate through different prayers according to the liturgical seasons. Others reserve certain prayers for special days. At various times in our history, All Saints’ has rotated through the Eucharistic prayers for these or for other reasons. For simplicity’s sake, we have used Prayer A for about a year now. Prayer A is familiar and does not often require physical worship materials. It was convenient to use Prayer A when bulletins were only available electronically and not everyone could access a bulletin at the same time they were watching the worship service remotely. Now we are back in the building, and we have resumed paper bulletins. For the next few weeks, we will be showcasing Eucharistic Prayer D.

Prayer D is the longest of the Rite II prayers in the Prayer Book. It also contains much poetic language. There are also more sung options for Prayer D than there are for the other prayers. This includes a Mozarabic tone. Mozarabic chant comes from what is now Spain, and it was popular among Christians who lived there during Islamic rule. It is not easy to sing. Perhaps I will gather up the courage to attempt it.

When it comes time to pray the Eucharistic prayer this weekend, pay attention to what you notice. How is Prayer D different from Prayer A. Undoubtedly, Prayer A now feels very familiar and comfortable. How does praying Prayer D touch your heart differently? How do the various prayers bring you closer to God? How do they miss the mark? There is, of course, no such thing as a perfect liturgy. But we, as humans, do our best. While Prayer A is certainly beautiful, Prayer D is simply different. Pay close attention to how. Always work on nourishing your sense of wonder. Let the liturgy make you feel something. And when it does, use that sense of wonder to ask yourself why? and how? Take it from me, your resident rule breaker and trouble maker. You’ll learn a lot about yourself and sometimes you’ll be surprised!

May 27, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Since before I came to All Saints’ almost four years ago, this church has quietly run one of the most unique summer Vacation Bible School programs I have ever seen. Each year, All Saints’ children and youth have taken five mornings in the summer to travel together to different service organizations around the valley to volunteer their time and boundless energy in the service of their neighbors. Participation in this program has taught the children of All Saints’ that service to others is an integral part of our life of faith.

Although we are not quite ready to travel to different service locations with our children and youth this summer, we will gather in person at All Saints’ for a week for a Summer of Service VBS program that will provide our children and youth with the same foundational experience of service to the community and to those most in need as an expression of Christian faith.

All children in Kindergarten-7th grade are invited join us each morning the week of June 7-11, from 8:30-11:30am, on the All Saints’ campus, where we will enjoy working, learning, praying, and playing together as we contribute our time and energy to helping others this summer!

Join us as we participate in a variety of projects in the service of our neighbors at Maryland Gardens, animals in shelters, children attending Camp Genesis, veterans and their families, and more! Students will also have the opportunity to learn about the neighbors they are serving, and to reflect on their service through Scripture and prayer.

We also need both youth and adult volunteer mentors, and service hours will be signed for any youth volunteers who need them. All campers, staff, and volunteers will be masked and socially distanced, and will follow all additional Covid-19 guidelines issued by the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona. If you would like information about the Summer of Service program, or if you are interested in volunteering or donating supplies, contact me (Pastor Emilie Finn) by email at efinn@allsaintsoncentral.org, or by voice/text at 203-392-4695.

May 13, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

I write today with so much gratitude in my heart for your support of the 24 people who were confirmed at All Saints’ this past Sunday! It was so wonderful, after all their preparation and hard work over the past two years, to watch as Bishop Reddall placed her hands on each person’s head, and asked the Holy Spirit to strengthen and empower them to serve God. I am especially proud of our 21 youth confirmands, and of their choice to confirm for themselves their commitment to God and to their baptismal covenant.

As we always do in youth confirmation, we began in January with an examination of the Baptismal Covenant, and asked the question, “What does it mean to turn to Jesus Christ, to put our whole trust in his grace and love, and to follow and obey him as our Lord?” Or, more simply, “Who is Jesus, and what does it mean to follow him?”

For the rest of our time together, we read and discussed the Gospel of Mark with these questions in mind, and as always, the students were thoughtful and insightful in their discussion of their discoveries. In their own words, here is a snapshot of who Jesus is, and what following him means to the Youth Confirmation Class of 2021:

Jesus is “the Son of God, the Son of Man, the Lord, the redeemer, the one who forgives your sins and rejuvenates your spirit. He is brave, smart, humble, civil, kind, inspiring, and more powerful than John. He is the beloved, a prophet, a preacher, a miracle worker, an exorcist, a celebrity, a teacher, a healer, a leader, and trustworthy. He has authority, people believe him and want to help him, and he is a big influence on current teachings. He likes all people and sits with everybody. He has family, he can forgive sins, he cares about everyone, and he doesn’t get into trouble because he uses the law to counter the interpreters of the law.”

Jesus teaches “that God is close, that people should ask for forgiveness as well as worshipping God, that new ideas will tear apart old ideas, that anything is possible, that they should always believe, even if it seems impossible, and be innovative, that things aren’t always what they seem, and that when you think you don’t have enough, sometimes you do.”

What stood out to our students about the Gospel of Mark was that it was “inspiring and exciting, that Jesus was so willing to make miracles despite the risk, how much people denied his help knowing he was a good person, that he healed people, that he never gave up, that he forgave people even when most people wouldn’t forgive, how little faith exists when people are scared of powerful people, and that with all the people after him people still helped him.”

Thank you all for your commitment to our youth as they continue their adventure into life as followers of Jesus Christ.

May 6, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

One of the required courses in seminary is often a course in an ancient language. Many seminaries offer a choice between biblical Greek or Hebrew, while some even offer courses in Latin. I decided to take Greek because I believe very strongly in gospel-based preaching, and the gospels were written in what is called Koine Greek. Why do we study these ancient languages? Because so much of our church vocabulary comes from them!

“Kyrie eleison”, for instance, is Greek for “Lord, have mercy.” “Agnus Dei” is Latin for “Lamb of God.” “Gloria in excelsis Deo” is Latin for “Glory to God in the highest.” I am fascinated by languages and how they change over time. Have you ever stopped for a moment to think about how language changes? What things did you say as a kid that people don’t commonly say today? I am so fascinated by linguistics, in fact, that my wife, Brandy, teases me because she knows I am almost certain to talk about modern day translations of Koine Greek words whenever I preach.

A very important example of a Greek word we use in modern worship is “Eucharist.” Eucharist comes from the Greek “eucharistia”, which means thanksgiving. It is, after all, right to give our thanks and praise. These days we have so much to be thankful for. Personally, I am thankful for the continued rollout of vaccines. I am thankful that we have the opportunity to worship together. I am thankful for everything my students teach me. I am thankful that I am part of this community of All Saints’ and that I get to share time getting to know you, worshipping with you, and discovering God in new and exciting ways with you. I am thankful that every day, life seems to be just a little more back to normal. What are some things that you are thankful for?

By now, we all know that guidelines for worship protocol continue to change as we have more and more information and data. Bishop Reddall has given us permission to resume communion under both kinds, provided worshippers intinct or dip the consecrated bread into the chalice before consuming. This is a very symbolic decision, as it means we are moving in the right direction. It also is something that might cause some of us to have mixed feelings. Some of us might ask ourselves, “what should I do if I don’t feel comfortable receiving the consecrated wine just yet?” If this is the question you are asking, you’re in luck!

Firstly, our incarnational theology of “Immanuel” or “God is with us” tells us that God is present in our hearts, regardless of our comfort levels of attending worship. Those of us who still prefer to attend worship virtually are certainly receiving the same graces that are available to those who come in person. Our Eucharistic theology also teaches us that communion in one kind gives us all the graces that we receive by receiving communion in both kinds. At All Saints’, we have a strong tradition of searching for a “via media” or “middle way” (see? More Latin!). And in this case, we are trying to make sure there is something available for every level of comfort.

If you wish to receive communion in the form of consecrated bread alone, please feel welcome to continue to do so. If you wish to receive both the consecrated bread and the consecrated wine by intinction, please feel welcome to receive that way. If you prefer to not receive, please know that God is indeed with you and you are not denied any graces of the sacrament. Remember what Jesus said, “what you bind on earth will be bound in heaven” (Matt. 16:19).

I am so thankful to be at a place where we can have conversations like this. I am thankful that the love of God penetrates our hearts so deeply that we never need to doubt his love for us. And I am thankful that we once again have the option, if we so choose, to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the sacrament of Holy Communion. I am thankful for you, and I am thankful for the privilege that we have to share the love of God with each other and to be the Body of Christ in the world.

April 27, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Change is in the air!

Friends. We have all heard the expression that “the only constant is change.” This seems to be more true now than ever. Recently, our bishop has issued new guidance for managing our common life during the pandemic and I am pleased to say that the new guidelines will allow us to gather in larger groups and enjoy more social time together. Below are the new guidelines issued by our Bishop for Sunday:

Mask wearing continues to be MANDATORY at all Episcopal gatherings and worship.

Churches may gather for worship, education or other events at up to 50% of the capacity of the room in use, provided that social distancing can be maintained at the increased capacity.

Congregations may choose to resume receiving communion in both kinds, but only via intinction into a chalice with a small amount of wine, so that fingers cannot come into contact with the wine.

Congregational and choral singing can resume as approved by clergy and vestry. A reminder that all singers and musicians must be masked.

Coffee hour and events involving food may take place outdoors only.

All classes and events may resume so long as they follow the guidelines of mask wearing, social distancing, room capacity, and guidelines about food consumption.

If someone who attended an event at church is thereafter diagnosed with COVID-19, people who attended the event should be notified that they may have been exposed to the virus. But there is no longer a requirement to pause worship or ministry.

We have many events in May that will be fun and energizing. Join us!

April 20, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Jesus tells us many things in the Gospels. He tells us to love one another. He teaches us how to pray. He tells us how to be in relationship with each other and with God. But when we boil down the Gospels as much as we possibly can, and we try to find the absolute simplest meaning in them, it is that Jesus wants us to “go and do.” We are called, as his followers, to share the Good News by word and by deed. Through these acts of love, “everyone will know that you are my disciples” (Jn. 13:35).

Our Episcopal and Anglican theology takes this very seriously. Each one of us is called into ministry. The Book of Common Prayer tells us “the ministers of the Church are lay persons, bishops, priests, and deacons”(P. 855). Lay persons are listed first. This is very intentional. As Christians, our ministry extends from our baptism. Yes, as a priest, I am indeed called as a minister. But I was called as a minister long before I entered the process to discern my calling for ordination. That ministry has always been the most important ministry I’ve ever done.

Have you ever noticed that priests often wear black? Although some of us have been known to wear more colorful clerical attire, the traditional garment is black. This is because black is representative of our mortality. Our white alb goes over our black clericals because it represents our baptismal garment, which gives us eternal life. Our stoles and other vestments go on top of our white alb because our ministry extends from our calling as baptized Christians. Although it is not common to do so, everyone who is baptized could appropriately wear an alb to worship services. The alb represents the ministry of the baptized.

Now that we are getting some forward momentum and witnessing the light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel, we are in a time of great discernment here at All Saints’. We are discerning a new rector. We are discerning how we are going to move forward. We are discerning God’s call. This is true of us as a parish, and it is also true of us as individuals. We are being called to “go and do.”

What do you feel called to go and do? What do you think you are good at? What gifts and talents has God given to you that you can use in new and exciting ways to propagate the Gospel? Are you called to be a member of one of the worship teams, like a lector or an acolyte? Are you called to help prepare for services as a member of the altar guild? Are you called to write letters to those who are in prison? Perhaps you feel a calling to feed the hungry or to write cards and letters to people on their birthdays or at other special occasions. What else brings you passion? Did you know you are empowered to develop new and exciting ministry opportunities? If you are called, then you are empowered as a baptized Christian to go and do.

Your clergy team is here to help. Our goal is to help make sure you have the tools you need to go and do. We are here to help you to feel empowered. Now that the pandemic is beginning to wind down, and the doors are open more and more, it is a great time for us to continue to build momentum. You are called. What are you called to do? That is for you to discern through prayer and conversation. Yes, we are available to have this conversation with you.

Won’t you help your All Saints’ community to continue to build on this forward momentum? Won’t you please continue to explore your gifts and talents and put them to use in new and exciting ways? It’s such an exciting time of resurrection and new birth. You are called to go and do. Let us go and do together as we share the Good News of Jesus Christ. Let us be the parish community Jesus Christ is calling us to be.

April 15, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Happy Easter! I commented last Sunday that it feels much more like Easter this year than it did last year at this time! Last year we were still grappling with the new reality of the pandemic, and making jokes about a “second Lent,” without any idea how long that “second Lent” really would be. This year, we come into the Easter season fresh from a joyous Easter morning in our beautiful gardens, and we are preparing this week to come back together inside our beautiful church building. It truly does feel like Easter, after a much longer period of fasting than the traditional six weeks of Lent!

As we walk together into this new season, I keep thinking of the three disciples walking together along the road to the village of Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35). I imagine that, like us, they were going home. Back to the old, familiar people and places and ways of doing things. And it was on this road home that Jesus met them, and even though they didn’t recognize him, as they walked with him, he opened their minds and hearts to the new life his resurrection had given them, so that their hearts burned within them.

And when they arrived home, and sat again around the familiar table and saw the familiar faces, and smelled the smells and heard the sounds of home, the stranger they had met on the road took their bread, and broke it, and gave it to them, and they realized that he was familiar, too. That he was someone they knew and loved—someone they had thought they would never see again. And in that moment of recognition, their old, familiar world was transformed forever.

Dear friends, many of us, too, will come home this week. We will sit in our familiar pews and see dear, familiar faces, and smell and hear and feel at home in our church building, after a year-long journey in an unfamiliar and often painful spiritual landscape. Remember that we, like the disciples returning to Emmaus, bring new experiences and gifts, new joys and new griefs, new strengths and new pain, back into our familiar space. Our hearts, too, are burning within us.

As we come home, may you, like those first disciples, open your heart to the new life Jesus’ resurrection gives to all of us, and to the new possibilities our journey this past year has made visible to us. May you uphold your fellow travelers on this long and winding road carefully and safely and lovingly, as we all adjust to ways of doing things that are familiar and comfortable, new and exciting, and heartbreakingly different, all at the same time. And may you, like those first disciples, draw near to Christ himself as he is revealed to you in the breaking of the bread.

April 8, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Happy Easter to you! 

As glorious as Easter always feels, this year it feels even more so! This past weekend, we hosted the largest gathering at our parish since Christmas of 2019. The best part for me was that with every service, the “largest crowd” was surpassed from one service to the next! From Palm Sunday through Easter Day, it was so wonderful to see so many shining faces back where their hearts longed to be for so long. On Easter Day, it was truly a resurrection moment.

Holy Week and Easter are my favorite times of the year. We move from times of total sadness and despair to complete hope and joy, all in a matter of a few days. We go from a time of personal reflection to a time of feasting, quite literally overnight. The Lenten journey which began at Ash Wednesday is finally over and we bring out our old, familiar friend, the Alleluia. The trumpets sound and the voices of the faithful shout out. Christ is risen, indeed!

Maybe I’m just overly optimistic, but I really feel like we are in a time of resurrection. I feel a sense of hope I haven’t felt in a long time. I don’t want to say things have been bad. As a society and as a worshipping community, we have done a lot and we have learned a lot over this past year. But now that we are worshipping in person as a community once again, sharing the Holy Meal on a regular basis, and getting back into a groove, it feels like we are being reborn.

I am happy to share that I have received both doses of my vaccination, and I know most of my colleagues have as well. My heart is filled with joy every time I hear the news that more and more of you have received your vaccinations. Together, we will beat this. Together, we will get through to the end. Together, we will experience a shared time of resurrection.

As a student of theology, I have been trained to constantly do a self-evaluation. I look at life through a lens that attempts to answer the question, “How might I do this better next time?” Trust me, I’m not a pro at answering the question. I’m not even a pro at noticing when the question might need to be asked in the first place. But I know it’s a good idea. We just finished a season of Lent. A season that is built specifically for asking ourselves those tough questions. Now we’re in Easter, a time when we simply don’t dwell on it. But we get to put to work all those things we discovered.

I am so proud of the work I’ve seen you do during this time of pandemic and I am so proud to see everyone in this parish rally together to feed peers in need, to bring groceries to those who still cannot leave their homes, to help others to access online worship during times of technical difficulties, to place phone calls to each other and to be the hands and feet of the risen Lord as we all navigate the end of this pandemic together. Still, my theology training encourages me to ask the question: What have we learned during the past year? What can we keep doing when this is over and what can we do even better than before?

We have some time to ponder these questions. We’re in a time of transition as a parish. It’s safe to say you’ve been resilient through one of the most challenging times in a generation. We will continue to be resilient going forward. I’m so proud to be a part of this place. I’m so proud to be surrounded by so many gifted, talented people who wish to serve God and one another. As we celebrate this time of resurrection, and turn our focus on what comes in the next chapter, may we be prayerful and mindful in answering the call of our risen Lord. Easter blessings to you. The Lord is risen!

April 1, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Friends,

In these pandemic times, many Christian thinkers are searching for metaphors to help guide us through our current challenges. Early in the pandemic, many thinkers were imagining the challenges facing us to be like the ones that faced ancient Israel during their Exile to Babylon. The remedy for exile is return. Early Pandemic, the hope was that we would be able to return to our established routines, once the pandemic releases us, just like our ancient brothers and sisters returned to Israel and re-established their lives after their exile.

These days (can we call this mid-pandemic? Sorry but I don’t think we are at the end yet), thinkers are modifying their metaphor to focus upon death and resurrection. They are now describing the pandemic as a death experience (not as an interruption like exile imposes).

Imagine, with them, that the pandemic is a death experience that is killing some of the norms and routines that we enjoyed before the virus began to wreak havoc on our lives. The focus on “pandemic as death” brings us to the doorstep of the central metaphor for God’s love in Christianity: the Paschal Mystery – the passion (suffering), death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The paschal mystery describes the central flow of God’s love to us – through death to life. We see this movement in all aspects of our life. We are baptized into Christ’s death and, at our funeral, prayers are offered that we are now alive with Christ. The Paschal Mystery always begins with death and always ends with new life.

So, let’s be bold together and claim that this pandemic is creating a death experience for all of us in our individual ways and let’s seek new life together. We will celebrate new life this weekend with our Easter liturgies where we will be invited to practice resurrection in our daily lives thereafter.

It’s tempting to jump ahead to new life, to Easter. But our liturgical calendar reminds us to “stay in the moment.” And the liturgical moment now is suffering and death.

Accordingly, I invite you to review your lives these next few days. Ask yourself “what is dying in my life so that new life may come.” Perhaps you are ready to let go of cherished norms that the pandemic has obliterated. Perhaps you are ready to release your pent-up frustration and feelings of isolation that the pandemic has imposed. Perhaps you are ready to name and acknowledge your passion (suffering) that has come as a result of the pandemic. The point here is not to wallow in the negative experiences you have had as a result of the pandemic but to identify them. In this way, you prepare to enter Good Friday with Jesus in a way that actually participates and merges your own suffering with Jesus’ suffering. It’s the age-old pilgrim practice that Christians have been doing for two thousand years.

With so much loss around us, this year is a really, really good time to practice the Paschal Mystery. We have designed liturgies at church (in the beautiful Close) that will walk you through the journey Jesus took – from death to life. Join us at church (in person or in spirit, as your health and risk-factors permit) as we seek to walk the ancient way of faith – from death to life.

Together we will look the pandemic in the eye and boldly declare, “you do not have the last word! God has the last Word and we will rise with God’s love in God’s time.”

March 25, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Almost exactly a year ago, as we all slowly became aware that the shutdown of public worship services and gatherings was going to be longer than the few weeks we thought at first, a dear friend of mine, a brilliant theologian and seminary professor whose husband is a priest in the Church of England, made a one-sentence post on Facebook that immediately caught my attention:

“Even though we cannot break bread together, we are one body because we have shared in the one bread.”

Probably because Holy Week was approaching, Emily’s Facebook post made me think of Jesus’ prayer for his disciples in the Gospel of John, as he is preparing them to have his physical presence taken away from them:

“I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. … I ask not only on behalf of these, but on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us…so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me…so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:11, 20-21, 23)

I knew last March that many of us at All Saints’ felt that the physical presence of Christ that we had come to know in our community, in our church building, in our music and prayers, and in the Eucharist, had been snatched away from us as surely as Jesus was snatched from his disciples after that Last Supper, and I wondered if I could write a prayer that expressed some of this, that we could all say together in the place of Communion during online worship.

This became the “Prayer for Spiritual Communion” that we said together through most of last spring. I want to give it to you, in case you still find yourself in the position of being unable to receive communion, or in case you ever find yourself in that position again. It belongs to all of us:

A Prayer for Spiritual Communion (to be said by the clergy and people together)

Almighty God, you promised through our Lord Jesus Christ that where two or three are gathered together in his name, you will be in the midst of them. We ask you to be in the midst of us now, though we are far apart, and to bind us to one another, and to you, through the power of your Holy Spirit. In that one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, and though we cannot break bread together, we know that we are one body because we have all shared in the one bread. We ask this not only on behalf of those of us gathered in this moment, but also on behalf of those who will be with us in the Spirit at the time they hear these words. Just as you, Father, are in the Son, and he in you, so may we also be in you, and Christ in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And if you are back with us in person now, but want to continue to remember how deeply we are connected to one another and to God in Christ, I have recently re-worked the prayer into a prayer that can be said, publicly or privately, before you receive communion:

A Prayer Before Communion (to be said before receiving communion)

Almighty God, you promised through our Lord Jesus Christ that where two or three are gathered together in his name, you will be in the midst of them. We ask you to be in the midst of us now, and to bind us to one another, and to you, through the power of your Holy Spirit. In that one Spirit, we were all baptized into one body, and through that one Spirit, we all share in the one bread. Just as you, Father, are in the Son, and he in you, so may we also be in you, and Christ in us, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I wish all of you a holy Passiontide, and a glorious feast of the Resurrection. I am so glad to be able to pray with you through it, whether we are together in person, or together in the Spirit of Christ.

March 18, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Dear Friends,

As I write, we are preparing for Holy Week and Easter Liturgies and are actively discussing when we might be able to worship indoors again.  The COVID-19 metrics show sustained improvement for the past several weeks and, if conditions continue in this direction, we anticipate worshiping together indoors perhaps as early as mid to late April.  Stay tuned.  Our intention is to try to have “something for everybody,” which means we will seek to have in-person worship at our regular times, with proper social distancing and mitigation strategies, including one outdoor liturgy each weekend (until the heat forces us completely inside), as well as a filmed liturgy each weekend (currently pre-recorded, expecting to transition to live-streaming when we move back indoors).  I am grateful for our staff who are working very diligently to be flexible and to plan for any condition.  

Occasionally, I find myself thinking, “I can’t wait to get back to normal.”  Then one of my wise friends or colleagues reminds me that we may not ever get back to normal.  Many in the broader Episcopal Church are beginning to imagine the future, not as a return to normal, but as a resurrection experience.  When we look to the disciples in scripture as they encountered the resurrected Jesus, we see that they initially sought to go back to normal.  They went home to Galilee.  But what happened?  Jesus encountered them there.  They picked up their lives and did the best they could and the resurrected Jesus began to encounter them in their daily lives.  I suspect it will be the same for us.  

As we anticipate Holy Week and Easter, with the focus on the Pascal Mystery of dying and rising with Jesus, we have a special opportunity this year for walking the way of the Cross, through Jesus’ death to His resurrection.  I urge you to pay special attention to Holy Week and Easter this year.  Join us for worship.  We will be outside like the early disciples.  The wind may blow.  It might be cold.  Or maybe hot.  Who knows?  

The one thing we do know is that our faith teaches us that we come into God’s presence through the Paschal Mystery, participating with Jesus as He dies and rises which demonstrates God’s profound love for us.  As we continue our liturgical journey through Lent, I urge you to “prepare with joy for the paschal feast” (as the prayerbook says).  

As Jesus did in the Garden, grieve all that you have lost this year, even the little things.  Open your heart to the pain that you have borne this last year and offer it to God.  Then claim the promise that God has offered to God’s people throughout the ages — that NOTHING can separate us from the love of God.  

See you in church.

March 11, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

One year ago this week, All Saints’ discontinued in person worship for what we thought was going to be a period of two weeks. It’s a full year later, and we are finally back together again for Sunday Eucharist. With a raving pandemic continuing into its second year, it is  so easy to think about negativity in the world. However, I think it’s important and healthy to also draw our attention to positive causes. For instance, many of us have received our COVID-19 vaccines. Treatments for the illness are improving. We are back to church. Easter is nearly here. There is a whole lot of Good in the world and there is a whole lot to feel joyful about. While not dismissing the hardships many continue to feel, I think it is important to demonstrate some balance. After all, we are a people of the gospel, and gospel literally means “good news.”

When I want to bring my own attention to the Good News of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I frequently find myself seeking out the baptismal covenant. For such a simple document, it sure contains a lot of depth. Reviewing it from time to time is therapeutic. It provides me with a grounding mechanism and it helps me to direct my attention appropriately. It brings me great comfort and it helps me to focus on the grace of our loving God. I notice, for instance, that the verbiage sets up an expectation of imperfection. We commit that we will repent and turn to the Lord whenever we fall into sin, and not if we do so. We affirm that we will keep our commitments only with God’s help, and not by our own abilities. We commit to doing things that are quite difficult, and in some ways, seemingly impossible. It is only through the help and grace of God that we can accomplish the promises we make in baptism.

While the covenant is something we profess to corporately, we each are responsible for discerning who it is that we are called to be. Certainly I am called to be a priest, but how do I live into this call? To this point, I have discerned that part of my call is to help the people in my life to feel empowered and capable of discerning their own calls. I try to model behavior that blesses individuality. For many years I wore earrings. I wear my hair in a fauxhawk. I do not often wear traditional clerical shirts. I frequently wear silly socks (sometimes they are intentionally mismatched). Essentially, I try   to show there can be more than one way. I don’t believe my way of being is the correct way. It simply is a different way.  I am comfortable knowing that God made me, so God loves me. And God loves me because I am the person he made me to be. I feel called to be the most complete version of myself I can possibly be. If he made me to be silly and playful, it simply wouldn’t be right to squelch that piece of my God-given identity.

I acknowledge that self-discovery can be painful, scary, and uncomfortable. It also can be rewarding and fulfilling. Sure, when we dig deep, we find some things we wish weren’t there. But we also find some pieces of ourselves that we truly ought to develop, nourish, and grow. Maybe we have some hidden talent or skill we never recognized before. Maybe we realize that something that has always come easily to us is surprisingly quite challenging to others. Through self-exploration we can uncover our gifts and talents and embrace our own quirkiness. I invite you to fully embrace this life-long journey of self-discovery. Nourish that creative piece of yourself that you never allowed to shine through. Learn a new language, pick up a new instrument, take on a new hobby. Buy that shirt that you always wanted but your significant other said was silly. Like Brené Brown says, be courageous enough to suck at something. Because we have to be really bad at something before we can ever hope to master it. Sometimes I feel like I really suck at life. And other times I remind myself to enjoy it. May we all continue to seek those times of joy, and be the people our loving God calls us and expects us to be. He will continue to love you for it. And so will I. It’s a promise.

March 4, 2021  A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

I have a confession to make to you. It’s Lent, so that is appropriate, don’t you think? Here is my confession: I have not given up anything for Lent this year. And, I have not added a new discipline, either. Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that I have given up on Lent, or that Lent has been “cancelled.” I am just observing this season of preparation for Easter a little bit differently this year, and I want to share my practice with you in case it helps you, also, to think about it in a new, and perhaps gentler, way.

I don’t know about you, but I feel like I gave up a lot during Lent last year. And not just for Lent. We all ended up giving up a lot of things we never expected to have to give up, for the entire year.

Now, some of those things I gave up on purpose. I stopped doing things like attending in-person worship, going out to eat, and hugging my in-laws, intentionally, out of necessity. But other things, like finding a new dentist, calling my best friend, and writing in my journal, were less intentional casualties of the new reality we all found ourselves in at this time last March, and I find that I want some of those things back.

So that is what I am doing for Lent this year. It is time to look at what I gave up or put off last year as I grappled with all the new challenges 2020 threw at us, and to decide what parts of my life I want back, and to do those things that are necessary to bring them back into my life.

This Lent, I am reaching out and reconnecting to friends who live far away – not the ones I have been having Zoom cocktails with, but the ones I haven’t heard from much or been able to visit, the ones who have been missing from my life this year. This Lent, I am doing paperwork and making phone calls to schedule routine doctor’s appointments and checkups that I have unintentionally deferred during this past year. This Lent, I am putting my pen to the blank pages in my journal and writing, whether I feel like I can make sense of the words floating around in my brain yet or not.

It has been a year since this pandemic started, and a lot of things have happened during this time. As we prepare for the glorious celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, it might just be time to walk back through the year and name those things that have happened in our own lives, and how they have affected us. If the time is right for you to take this sort of inventory of your own mental, emotional, and spiritual landscape, I encourage you to do that this Lenten season.

Look back at this past year, and name those things that you had to give up that cannot or will not come back. Allow yourself to grieve those losses. Look back at the year and discover and celebrate the new skills you have learned, and the new things you have been doing that you like and want to continue. Plan how you will keep those things in your life. And look back at the year and identify those things that you have left behind, or put off, that you want back, and begin to take the steps you need to take to include those things in your life again, as we all move forward toward the resurrection.

February 25, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Dear Friends,

By now, you’ve probably heard that we will begin in-person worship this Sunday. I am grateful for our vestry who have been working to get us to this point. You are well-served by them as they seek to guide All Saints’ through these interesting times. And our staff have been working overtime to plan liturgies and prepare for any possible scenario.

For now, we will worship outside at 9am and 11am in the Close (Saturday at 5 pm will continue on zoom and the 7:30am Sunday liturgy will be suspended until the weather warms up). We will also continue to publish a weekly liturgy for the Internet so everyone can worship in the way they prefer. We think this is the most sensible way to move forward. As the COVID-19 metrics change, we will also change. Of course, we hope to be able to see everyone together: singing, eating and laughing. But the experts tell us it will be a while before we get to that level of community. So, we continue to practice our patience.

One of the things I’ve noticed as our global community has addressed the challenge of COVID-19, is there is no one authority that everyone looks to for help in solving this crisis. Quite literally, there is no authority that can tell us what to do. One person told me, “we are watching science in real time.” Our best scientists are learning as COVID-19 evolves and we are all getting a lesson in adaptability as we learn about the virus.

Spiritual adventures often begin when there is no visible authority to guide us. If you look for this in scripture, you will find it everywhere. Abraham asks God who he should say is sending him. God replies, “I AM has sent you.” I doubt people relaxed when Abraham told them “I AM is sending me!” Moses regularly asks God for help as he seeks to guide the people of Israel to the promised land because he is afraid that the people will not bear the burdens of their journey and will end up blaming him (we often blame the most visible or vulnerable in times of stress). Finally, God tells him to gather 70 leaders to help share the burden. Jesus faces constant challenges to his authority throughout his ministry.

This is good news for us. We come from a spiritual family that is thousands of years old and very used to struggling in times of unclear authority. And we’ve learned much along the way. In a time of spiritual adventure, where there is no one authority to follow, we’ve learned to slow down and listen to each other. This allows us to hear God’s voice in the voices around us. So we are doing with our ancestors have done in similar situations – we are slowing down and listening to each other. God has always blessed the community when they do this together.

When we do come out of COVID-19, we will find a world that is very different from when we entered this pandemic. Our spiritual adventure will continue and even pick up pace. Then, too, we will be invited to slow down and listen to each other. I am grateful for all of you. You are smart, fun, energetic and faithful. It’s a blessing to be on this journey with you and to hear your wisdom. May God bless us as we seek to hear His voice in the voices around us. And thank God we can begin to do this together again, in person, this Sunday!

February 11, 2021 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

As some of you know, since March of last year, I have been reading classic novels aloud, one chapter per day, and posting them on my YouTube channel to create what I have called Pastor Emilie’s Story Hour.

As the New Year began this year, I began another favorite book of mine: Rilla of Ingleside, by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Rilla of Ingleside is the final book in Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables series, and it is about Anne and Gilbert Blythe’s youngest daughter, Marilla—called Rilla for short—who comes of age during World War I.

I read this book for the first time as a pre-teen, when I read the rest of the Anne series, but I don’t think I realized just how much it had taught me about World War I until I read Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front as a freshman in college.

The deeply contrasting perspectives on the same events in these two books, both taken from the life experiences of the authors (and including of course their differing social and cultural contexts and biases), are striking, and I have always thought it was interesting that, while I read Remarque’s important work about the men who went to war, and fought, and died, in college history courses, I read Montgomery’s important work about the women who stayed at home, and worked, and waited, when I was a child.

But in addition to its historical perspective, the reason I am reading this book now, is because it strikes me that the experience of this little Canadian community staying at home, and working, and waiting, and struggling to feed and educate their children, and to support one another and their relatives in the trenches, is so similar to so much of our experience during this pandemic—of staying at home, and working, and waiting, and struggling to feed and educate our children, and to support one another and those who are fighting to save our lives today.

I think we can learn something for ourselves today from Rilla, from Lucy Maud Montgomery, and from this often overlooked chronicle of the experiences of those who stayed at home during the war, and patiently and courageously worked, and loved, and waited.

I wonder if there is a story from your own childhood or young adulthood that you find yourself returning to now for new lessons in this new life we find ourselves in? I would love to hear your thoughts (and I’m always looking for new books to read in the Story Hour!). And of course, if you want to listen to Rilla’s story, you can find it at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLe-l1NM8XIbe9MH37-RzfIzLbfUVWTIXU

February 4, 2021 A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Inspect what you expect.

One Sunday (long ago), my friend, Buzz, walked out of the early Sunday liturgy and told me something I never forgot. He said, “Bill, my father taught me that you have to inspect what you expect.” 

Review your work.

A few months later, as I was talking to our auditor in the parish where I served. He told me, “your finance director needs time to review her work.” As I reflected on his words, I saw that every person needs time to review their work, especially me. So I created a habit of review.

Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

Years after these two encounters, I had a colleague on staff who often said, “check yourself before you wreck yourself,” encouraging members of the team to be careful not to over-function, which often leads to trouble, even when we think we are being helpful.

Regulate self.

These three pieces of sage advice reminded me of my early training as a priest, where my mentor impressed upon me the need for “self-regulation.” “One of the most important qualities of a priest is the capacity to be self-regulating,” he said repeatedly.

I’ve tied these teachings into an annual review cycle that I call Mutual Ministry Review (which I borrowed from the Church Pension Fund). Each year, I ask the ministry team I am working with to review me. The review consists of three questions. 1. What does Bill do well? 2. What should Bill do more of? 3. What should Bill stop doing? There is a “no surprise” rule, which means that people can only mention thoughts and concerns that they have already talked to me about previously. The mutual part means that I review the other staff person using the same questions. Each staff person reviews me and I review them. Dave English, our Senior Warden, and I have done this review together just this last week. When all the reviews are complete, the individual staff reviews will remain private. But for me, I will compile a master list with all the reviews of me combined into the three questions and then share the full list with the staff.

Over the years, I have done these reviews with my vestries and senior staff. It gives me a sense of how I am being perceived and also gives everyone a voice and an opportunity to speak the difficult truth, if necessary. I pray that you have a way to hear difficult truth in your life. I think it’s part of our call to practice ministry in all that we do.

January 21, 2021   A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

One of many things I really love about my work here at All Saints’ is my participation in the interfaith panels for All Saints’ parents, hosted by the religion department at the Day School. It is such a privilege to represent Christianity, and so much fun to converse with panelists from other faith traditions.

At our most recent interfaith panel, the question asked of the panelists was, “2020 has been difficult for many people. How does your faith help you find unity and peace in divided times? What spiritual intentions help you find a better 2021?” I found that I really appreciated this question, because it prompted me to dig deep, and to discover just what has been at the foundation of my faith and work during this difficult year.

I find that what has helped me most to find peace and a sense of unity this past year has been grounding myself in, and going deeper into, one of the oldest practices of our faith tradition. For early Christians, daily morning and evening prayers that focused on the recitation of the psalms were a principal form of worship, especially in monastic communities.

Since March, 2020, All Saints’ has been saying the Daily Office every morning and evening each weekday, on Facebook Live. This ancient practice of beginning, and ending, and beginning again in prayer has blessed me with a structured way to begin and end each day in the presence of God, and of other people, during a year that has at times seemed to do its best to isolate all of us from both.

Morning and evening prayers have grounded my ordinary, everyday life in God, and in communion with those I pray for and with, each day, and I have been especially grateful for the little community-within-a-community that has grown up around our new practice of virtual Morning Prayer at All Saints’.

And of course, there is something holy about bringing the entire spectrum of human emotion, from the best and most beautiful to the worst and ugliest, before God each day, as we do when we pray the entire psalter over a period of time in the Daily Office. Praying the psalms reminds me what it means to be human, and what it means to be human in the presence of God, which is humbling, convicting, and challenging all at once.

Thank you all for praying with me this past year, and for continuing to pray with me this year. Your prayers have supported me as I hope mine have supported you as we all continue our very human struggle to place our lives and our future in God’s hands.

January 14, 2021  A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

January 7, 2021 A Reflection  from Fr. Tim Yanni

This is not the reflection I had expected to have published for today. I wanted to wish you a happy New Year. I wanted to offer some anecdotes about New Year’s resolutions and how horrible I am at keeping them. I wanted to share with you some jokes at my own expense, poking fun at the reality that my weight tends to fluctuate around the end of the year. I wanted to begin 2021 with a little bit of fun and inspiration. When I woke up on January 6, I was feeling joy. I was feeling hope. I was feeling enthusiastic. But about 20 minutes after I submitted the reflection I had intended to share with you, a group of armed protesters, many of them identifying as “patriots”, stormed the United States Capitol building while both houses of Congress were in session. Our country was under attack from within. It did not seem fair or right to run with the jovial, light-hearted reflection I had written. Instead, I felt it was my duty as one of your pastors to offer some words of comfort. After all, our country is now wounded.

All Saints’ prides itself on its “big tent” identity. Many Episcopal churches have a sign up that says, “All Are Welcome.” But not every Episcopal church seems to mean it. I’m proud to say All Saints’ does. In a world of red vs. blue, our pews are filled with a lovely shade of purple. We have liberals, conservatives, and moderates. We pray together, we engage with one another, and we love each other. Most importantly, we share the Holy Meal together. It’s truly a beautiful thing!

Part of our identity means that it’s uncommon to discuss things like party politics from the pulpit. I have known many preachers to preach party politics and, like many of you, I find it off-putting. Instead of reading the scriptures through a lens designed by my political views, I prefer to shape my political views according to the teachings of Jesus. I try to ask myself, “what would Jesus do in this situation?”

I do not, with any degree of certainty, know whether Jesus would vote red or blue. For instance, I don’t know if he would support tax dollars funding social programs to feed the hungry, or if he’d prefer the private sector to take on this task. I do know that he wants us to feed the hungry. I also know that the word “politics” comes from a Greek word that means “the affairs of the people.” There’s nothing about politics that is inherently off limits. Any time you have people gathered, you have politics. Some political concerns simply need to be discussed.

Our nation is hurting. I believe it is safe to say that good people with conservative, liberal, and moderate political views join forces to denounce the actions of the rioters who stormed the capitol and endangered the lives of our elected officials.

Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, has issued a statement condemning what he called a “coup.” “The events at our Capitol today are deeply disturbing. We believe the actions of armed protesters represent a coup attempt,” Bishop Curry said. “Today’s protesters pushed through police barricades and forced their way into congressional chambers and … [are] threatening the safety of lawmakers, their staff and others who work in the Capitol complex. This threatens the integrity of our democracy, the national security of our nation, the continuity of government, and the lives and safety of our legislators, their staffs, law enforcement and all who work in the Capitol.”

Please join me and my clergy colleagues at All Saints’, as we unite with Bishop Curry, Bishop Reddall, and clergy throughout the Church of God, as we pray for healing. As Bishop Curry said, “Even as our nation’s Capitol is being endangered and assaulted, we pray that the Lord Jesus Christ, we pray that God in his way of love, might prevail in all of our hearts.”

O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth. Teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name. Amen. (BCP P. 821-822)

December 30, 2020  A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Merry Christmas! I wonder if Christmas felt like Christmas to you this year? If you are like me, so much of what makes Christmas feel like Christmas is wrapped up in the sights and sounds, and smell and taste and feeling, of being in church, and with family and friends. And if you are like me, this year many, if not most, of those Christmas sights and sounds were mediated to us through the screen and speakers of a TV, computer, tablet, or phone, which made it very different. I think Christmas was probably a very different experience for all of us this year.

I remember when Christmas changed for me the first time. It was the first year that the Christmas lights, the music playing on our old record player, and the smell of cookies baking, did not bring me the magical joy it always had. I was 14 years old that year, and I was just discovering that life was not as uniformly happy as my rosy childhood gaze had always painted it. This made me angry and depressed, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t feel the Christmas spirit—although I remember pretending very hard to be as happy and excited as always, so as not to bring the rest of my family down.

Luckily for me, this was also the year my mother gave me my deeply loved Christmas with Julie Andrews CD. I listened to it over and over again, and one song in particular, one that I had never heard before, rebuilt the foundation of my Christmas spirit in a way that accounted for the darkness and sadness and confusion of the world that had had no place in the brightness of my childhood. The Secret of Christmas was written in the 1950s for Bing Crosby, but I will always hear it as I first heard it in 1995, in Julie Andrews’ voice:

It's not the glow you feel when snow appears

It's not the Christmas card you've sent for years

Not the joyful sound when sleigh bells ring

Or the merry songs children sing

The little gift you send on Christmas day

Will not bring back the friend you turned away

So may I suggest the secret of Christmas

Is not the things you do at Christmas time

But the Christmas things you do all year through

It turns out, that the Christmas that didn’t feel like Christmas at all gave me the best Christmas present I have ever received. It taught me that Christmas isn’t over. That Christmas is never over. The spirit of Christmas—the spirit of Christ—is not something that exists only during the month of December. The spirit of Christmas was born into the world on that silent night we remember on December 25, and has existed on earth ever since.

Sometimes, especially at Christmas time, we feel that Spirit in a special way that makes us want to sing or shout with joy. But ultimately, the Christmas spirit isn’t something we have to make ourselves feel. It is something that simply exists no matter how we feel; an unending and unstinting gift from God that we can choose to live within at any time, in any place, no matter how we feel. So whether you had the best Christmas ever, or the worst, or even if it didn’t feel like Christmas at all, Merry Christmas, and may you live in the spirit of Christmas all through the New Year.

December 23, 2020  A Refection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Friends,                                 

As we prepare to celebrate Christmas this year, we share the same message as always “that God gives us the gift of life through Jesus” but many of us will celebrate in ways that seem strange and different.

The pandemic has caused us all to change our usual patterns of celebration. We will continue to worship together, but it will only be virtual. We will continue to sing and hear our beautiful choir, but it will only be with the computer. We will continue to be close to our loved ones but much of that may be expressed through the telephone. As our prayer book says, “Life has changed, not ended.”   

With all the ways that the pandemic has muted our celebrations, we can still be like Jacob, who wrestled with the angel until he discovered the blessing. 

This Christmas, I hope you will bring into your heart the toughness of the Holy Family as they delivered the gift of the Incarnation in the midst of the political confusion of their time.  I hope you will tune the spiritual ear of your heart, like the shepherds who heard the angels sing while others were self-absorbed and missed the beautiful music that announced the Messiah’s birth. I hope you will be like the Magi who were awake to the signs and portents in the heavens themselves that led them to the blessing of the Holy Child Jesus. I hope you will recall Joseph who had fierce love for his betrothed and stayed committed to her when almost anyone else would have abandoned her. And Mary. Bring her into your heart. There is no one more tough and loving than her. Her condition (unwed and pregnant) exposed her to great personal risk. But, through it all, Mary was rock solid and sang a beautiful song to God (the Magnificat), celebrating the great gift of the incarnation (Jesus!) that she had the horrible privilege to deliver into our world.

The first Christmas was not for sissies and wimps. And this Christmas is not either. We are called to step forward in courage and to wrestle with our faith in God’s power. 

I pray you will listen carefully to God’s song of love that comes to you in many ways, that you will wrestle the blessing when you need to, steadfast in your faith, tough in your resolve and firm in your love for your family and loved ones, and also for those who have less than you do.

Open your heart this Christmas and get ready for the blessings of the Incarnation. Put your wrestling gear on. It may not be easy this year. But the blessings abound and they are freely offered.

Finally, please consider a year end donation to All Saints’. A generous Christmas offering will help us finish the year strong, starting 2021 from a position of strength. We truly appreciate every gift, in any amount, to fund our vital ministries. There are several ways to give:

• Give a Christmas offering in the enclosed envelope. Please send in a check by mail, or drop off at the Church Office. Simply put “Christmas Offering” in the memo line.
  
• To give online, visit our website: AllSaintsOnCentral.org and then choose “SUPPORT.”  
  
•  Contact Barbara Anderson, Financial Assistant, in the Church Office for a gift of stock or by credit card.

Thank you for all that you have done to help make

2020 a wonderful year of ministry at All Saints’ albeit

an unusual one. Regardless, here the light of Christ shines brightly, for the sake of a world that needs it desperately.

May God bless All Saints’, and each of you and yours abundantly in the new year.

Faithfully,

Bill+

December 10, 2020 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God:

I can’t hear the Gospel readings for the second and third Sundays in Advent this year without thinking of my parents. When the two of them met, they began a quest that my mother continues to live into to this day. In their words, they wanted to “find a way to live that helps the world more than it harms it.” This quest eventually led them to found Quixote’s Catholic Worker, a place of hospitality for homeless people in Prescott that my mother still runs.

But the reason I think of my parents when I hear these readings about John the Baptist is that, when I was a teenager, this quest led my family into multiple attempts to live in a succession of intentional communities, all of which were more or less dysfunctional. And the real problem with this was that my parents’ role in these communities was usually the role of pointing out the dysfunction.

And that is the problem with prophets, isn’t it? They tell us exactly who we are and where we are, and what we are doing, and what the result is going to be. And people don’t usually enjoy that experience—as my parents discovered over, and over, and over again.

But the gospel teaches us that we should. We should listen to the people who say the things we don’t want to hear, and talk about the things we don’t want to know about, and who tell the truth even when it is ugly. Because we can’t confess what we don’t know about, and we can’t repent of what we cannot see.

Repentance starts with prophets like John the Baptist, and my parents. People who force us to see the places of shadow in ourselves, in our communities, and in the world. Because only then can we begin the task of leveling mountains, raising valleys, and smoothing out rough places, in ourselves, and in our world.

But don’t get discouraged if that sounds too hard. There is the other lesson that John the Baptist, and my parents, have to teach us this Advent: Our work by itself can’t ever bring about the entirety of the change we know needs to happen, in ourselves or in the world.

Our work won’t ever save the whole world. In fact, if you talked to my mom right now, I’m not sure that she would tell you they ever even found a way to help the world more than they harm it. But what our work does do is prepare the way for God to break into the world in a completely redemptive and unexpected way.

It’s God’s job to save the world, not ours. And in Christ, God already has. We are just called to help prepare the way for the inevitable reign of God. We are called to help prepare the way for God to continue to break into the world in new ways and continue in us God’s salvation of the world. And that is good news indeed!

December 3, 2020  A Reflection from Father Bill Lupfer, Interim Rector

Announcement for Return to Virtual Worship

Friends,

Last night, our vestry made the decision to return to Phase One, where we will only worship virtually.

They made this decision carefully, thoughtfully and with prayer. I was proud of the way they worked towards this decision. They represented you very well.

You may recall, when we drafted our reassembly plan in September, we listed clear metrics to guide us. Recently, with the upswing in COVID cases in our community, we have surpassed those metrics.

So we return to virtual worship. We have anticipated this step and are doing everything we can to help you worship authentically in this challenging time.

We continue to stay focused on our core mission to pray, learn, serve, connect. And we will work to help you stay up to date on all the ways we can be in relationship during these challenging times.

All Saints' is a very strong parish and you are progressing through these challenging times with courage and grace. With effective vaccinations on the horizon, we can anticipate a time where we will regather to celebrate God’s love by singing, eating, laughing and talking together.

Let’s all stay healthy and as safe as possible so we can enjoy the day when we full the church with song and laughter.

For now, I pray for each of you, that you may experience the quiet side of God’s love. Be bold and confident that God is blessing you, even as we all long for lives that feel more normal.

November 25, 2020 A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

In just a few days, it will be Advent, and I am sure I’m not alone in my tendency these days to think back to the ways my family used to prepare for and celebrate Christmas when I was a child. Advent meant Christmas music, Christmas cookies, decorations, stockings, and my father’s reading of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Christmas meant the four of us, our little family, celebrating all the idiosyncratic traditions we had invented that had come to symbolize our love for each other.

What I started to realize as I grew older is that my childhood memory of Advent and Christmas is not a single memory, but a composite memory of all the beautiful Christmas moments from my entire childhood. And trying to create an experience each year that lived up to that composite memory grew harder and harder for my family as my sister and I grew up, and when my dad died in 2005, that re-creation became impossible. Christmas is very different now, for all three of us, and it took us a long time to get used to what that meant.

But life is like that, isn’t it? Sometimes, briefly, everything is perfect. But usually, it’s kind of a mess. People talk through concerts or movies (or it’s 2020 and no one can go to concerts or movies). Someone messes up the most important part of a worship service (or it’s 2020 and and in-person worship gets cancelled). Your family argues over Thanksgiving dinner (or it’s 2020 and your family is trying to eat together over Zoom, which makes you nostalgic for the traditional family argument).

But that is what Advent is actually all about. We are getting ready to celebrate Feast of the Incarnation. We are about to celebrate the time in history when the Word of God—God Godself—became flesh. In the Incarnation, God takes on exactly this part of being human: the messy, ugly, imperfect, fleshy parts of human life.

Jesus has a body that felt pain and pleasure, that got sick, and tired, and hungry, just like ours. Jesus has a brain that could learn, and forget, and play tricks on him; that worked well sometimes and less well sometimes, depending on what he ate, and drank, and how much sleep he’d gotten the night before. Jesus had a heart that could race with excitement, or fear; that beat with joy or anger, or ached with compassion or loneliness, just like ours.

Jesus is human. And, Jesus is God.

And that means that God gets it—really gets it. God created flesh. God was born, and lived, and died as flesh. And Jesus, in the flesh, rose again. We don’t ever have to try to pretend to God about who we are, or how we feel, or what’s actually going on in our lives. We don’t have to try to be perfect—all we have to do is follow Jesus as well as we can as who and what we truly are.

Christmas isn’t about perfection, it’s about incarnation.

So have a blessed Advent, whatever your preparations for Christmas look like this year. Because whether it is beautiful or difficult, painful or joyous, busy or lonely, or even all of the above, God is with you.

November 19, 2020 A Reflection from Father Tim Yanni

I am writing this as I just returned from a five-mile walk/hike. Living close to the Phoenix Mountain Preserve means that I can leave my home, walk to the preserve, meander along one of its many trails for a few miles, and then meander back home. I spend a lot of my time in my neighborhood and along the preserve’s many trails.

Back in March, when the Diocese of Arizona instructed parishes to move away from in-person worship services, I made a deal with myself. I would hike every day until we could return to church safely. At the time, I believed the quarantine would last about two weeks, and I thought 14 straight days of hiking seemed like an attainable, beneficial goal. I planned to reflect on my experience and report back to you at some point. Fast forward some 35 weeks, and many aspects of our COVID-19 quarantine continue. I did the math, and I now realize I have walked some 1,200 miles since March: about 5 miles per day.

Truth be told, part of my motivation was to improve my health. I knew COVID-19 was a respiratory illness and I wanted to ensure my lungs were stronger so that if I were to catch the virus, I would improve my chances of survival. To date, I am thankful that I have not contracted the virus. However, it is important to acknowledge that none of us is exempt from the possibility of exposure. As you likely read in yesterday’s announcement, Gary Quamme, our Director of Operations (and my good friend!), has tested positive for COVID-19. Gary’s illness, and the staff’s proximity to him, makes it necessary for each of us on staff to quarantine again, to leave the building, and to return to working from home full time. While we continue to pray for Gary’s well-being, we also are making good on our commitment to you. We know we can never guarantee total safety, but we want to ensure you that we are taking every appropriate step to keep ourselves and our worshipping community as safe and as healthy as possible. We are saddened to postpone our in-person services yet again, but we believe it is the right thing to do.

It appears that during this renewed quarantine time, I will have more opportunities to rack up more walking mileage. I plan to use this time to myself to reflect, to pray, and to do some self-work while enjoying God’s creation. Hiking gives me lots of time to focus on my strengths and my limitations. We all have our strengths and limitations. As Paul writes numerous times, the Church—the Body of Christ—has many individual parts which come together to make a more efficient whole. I realize that while some members of the Body of Christ are organized, ordered, and structured, I’m not one of those. I’m a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of guy. While some people like to wear formal attire as they sip on fine, aged scotch, I like shorts and sandals, comfortable shirts, and cheap, cold beer. Some people like fancy, complicated music in a beautiful concert hall. I like folk music on the back porch. My ongoing journey reminds me to be who I am, and I feel compelled to tell you to do the same. Be who you are. Unapologetically. Try to continually improve, sure. But don’t try to change who you are. There is room for you at the table, even if, like me, you have ever felt like an outcast. God made you who you are. Be the person God made you to be.

My health has certainly improved during my journey of over 1,000 miles, and I am hopeful all of us are in better health when we return in a few weeks. When we return, perhaps each of us can be more fully ourselves. May we always keep meandering forward. Sometimes we’ll hit peaks and other times we’ll hit valleys. Through it all, God is with us.

November 12, 2020  A Reflection from  Pastor Emilie Finn  

Dear People of God,

It is the time of year when we all start looking forward to preparations for the holidays. In my family, this means laying aside the various ingredients we need to make our special holiday  foods, reaching out to family members and friends we haven’t heard from in a while, checking our supply of extension cords and Christmas lights, and whisking secret packages off the front porch to hide in closets, awaiting the arrival of wrapping paper and Christmas trees.

Here at All Saints’, this also means looking for the ways we can help others prepare for the holidays: Choosing an Angel Tree tag to purchase gifts for a resident of Maryland Gardens or a child of an incarcerated parent, buying stocking stuffers from Beth Carson’s supply of Singing Rooster gifts to benefit our companion parish and school in Haiti, purchasing toys to donate on Christmas Eve to the families of Iglesia de San Pablo Episcopal, and so much more. 

As you might imagine, these preparations look different as we look toward Advent, 2020, but sometimes different is good! While we are still waiting to learn how we can best support our neighbors at Maryland Gardens and our friends in Haiti this year, we can collect the toiletries and laundry soap needed by the working families served by Nourish Phoenix (formerly ICM) and drop them in the red collection bins outside the church, and we can remember our friends at Iglesia de San Pablo when we Christmas shop, by purchasing a few extra toys for the Christmas Eve toy collection. 

And most of all, we can rejoice that, thanks to several very generous donations, our Prison Ministry, in partnership with our youth and young adults, and the youth and young adults of Emmaus, Surprise, is able to bring Christmas to 50-70 MORE children this year than we were last year! And it isn’t too late to get involved, in one of three ways:

First, all youth and young adults (7^th grade and up) are invited to join forces with the youth and young adults of Emmaus, Surprise, for either or both of two virtual Angel Tree shopping events: One on Sunday, November 15, at 5:45pm, and one on Tuesday, November 17, at 4:00pm. You can sign up here: https://forms.gle/kaHXeYBwP8pevcos7. There is no cost for these events, just come and use your creativity to find the best gifts for the children on our list!

Second, if virtual shopping in a group isn’t your thing, All Saints’ youth of any age are welcome to sign up to shop for an Angel Tree child separately with their families, and submit the receipts for reimbursement. If you would like to do this, email Pastor Emilie at efinn@allsaintsoncentral.org.

Third, any member of All Saints’ can sign up to purchase gifts for a Prison Ministry Angel Tree child. To sign up, contact Lora Villasenor at lmvillasenor@msn.com.

I wish you every blessing as you prepare for the holidays this year, here at church, in your own families, and in everything you do to help those in need. God bless you all.

November 8, 2020  A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

Dear Friends,

As I write this, we are all waiting to hear the final results of our elections. And, while some of us will be more happy with the final results than others, I think we all feel that our country has some work to do with regards to healing the polarization we are experiencing at the moment. The good news is we have a road map for living as faithful, productive citizens.

The roadmap is our baptismal covenant. Here are the five questions and answers at the end of our Baptismal Covenant:

Celebrant: Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers?

People: I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant: Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?

People: I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant: Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?

People: I will, with God’s help.

Celebrant: Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?

People: I will, with God's help.

Celebrant: Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?

People: I will, with God's help.

As you can see, the first question asks for a commitment to live out your faith in a Christian community – All Saints. The second question asks for a commitment to manage our own hearts and to change when we are off base, and we all go off base from time to time. The third question asks us to recommit our lives to living the Good News of God in Christ, which represents the reconciling power of God, leading lives that are daily committed to bringing people together.    The fourth question invites us to commit to actively seeking Christ in EVERYBODY, loving our neighbors as ourselves. And finally, we are invited to recommit ourselves to serving others by working to build a society where all have the access they need to be faithful disciples: justice, peace and dignity.

In this way, we are given our “marching orders” as Episcopal Christians, grounded in God and committed to living out our faith. We have already spoken these words many times in church. Now we have the opportunity to practice these commitments in our daily lives. And the world needs you to be at the mature depths of your faith, now more than ever!

November 1, 2020 A Reflection from Fr. Bill Bill Lupfer

Remember Occupy Wall Street? I sure do!

I was Dean of the Cathedral in Portland, Oregon at the time. Many people in Portland were nervous and concerned as the protests gathered numbers and strength. What was worse, there was no one person who could speak to everybody with authority. 

Stepping into the breach, a popular musical group in Portland, Pink Martini, decided to host a “unity concert” at Pioneer Square (which essentially functioned at Portland’s living room). They invited a variety of community leaders to address the gathered group (which turned out to be about 4000 people). I was happy to accept their invitation to speak. Naively, I did not understand that merely accepting the offer to speak would upset many in the cathedral community. People made phone calls to the Senior Warden and others on vestry. I asked those who were nervous to please wait until they heard what I would say. At the event, the four leaders who spoke before me praised the 99% and attacked the 1%. I steeled myself when my turn to speak came and spoke about the difficulty of the current times, pointing to the important national slogan that has been part of our common life since it was placed on our national shield in 1782: E Pluribus Unum, which is Latin for “out of many, one”. I went on to say that the challenges facing our nation were so deep that EVERYBODY needed to contribute to the solution and ended my talk by chanting “100%! 100%! 100%!” When I finished, the silence was noticeable, which made the scattered applause seem even more thin and weak. It was disheartening to me that our country has moved away from this important slogan, born of the difficulties of taking the original 13 colonies into a unified national government. 

It seems that E Pluribus Unum is as important now as it was when our Founders were shaping our country and I invite each of you to follow in our Founders footsteps as we move through our national elections next week. Every election cycle, our country continues its bold and outrageous effort to live E Pluribus Unum. Now is our time to contribute to creating unity among difference!

On the Eve of our Pledge Drive

As your Interim Rector, I have a privileged perspective to see you as the wonderful people you are, even as we struggle against the constraints imposed upon us by Covid 19. You are a fun, interesting, gracious group of people who represent the broad thinking of Phoenix – a classic “big tent” parish. You live E Pluribus Unum every day. And you are a sign to this world that a whole variety of passionate, smart, spiritually mature, worldly people can disagree about many aspects of our political life and still come together to serve God in this world. 

You are the answer that our world needs right now. I see that in you every day and I feel so blessed to be with you in this difficult time.

In this season of national elections and Covid, with all the uncertainty that comes with it, we are inviting you to make a strong financial and spiritual pledge to All Saints’. For many years, you have stood as a strong beacon of God’s unifying love. Now more than ever, we need you to support the mission of All Saints’. Please join me in offering a generous pledge to All Saints’. The world needs you!

October 25, 2020  A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

Although I am a life-long Christian, I did not grow up in the Episcopal Church. Part of my reason for joining was that other Christian denominations told me how to vote, which I did not appreciate. As an ordained person, I made it a personal policy that I would never use the pulpit to tell you how to vote. If you ask me who I plan on voting for and why, I might engage in that conversation with you. But I won’t tell you who you should vote for.

In fact, one of the reasons I came to All Saints’ was that I knew there was not a political bend expected in preaching. This is not true of all parishes. I have heard some Episcopalians say, “You cannot vote for a Democratic candidate and consider yourself a Christian.” I have also heard, “You cannot vote for a Republican candidate and consider yourself a Christian.” Both of these statements are utterly false. I went to seminary in Berkeley, California, which is maybe the most liberal city in the United States. I was ordained a priest in Provo, Utah and I worked as a priest in Ogden, Utah. These are some of the most conservative cities in the country. I love and respect people who are spread all across the political spectrum. I chose to come here because All Saints’

does a terrific job of straddling the center of the aisle.

Certainly Episcopalians ought to uphold Christian teachings. However, there is no expected path we must take when it comes to following those teachings. For example, we know that Jesus teaches us to care for the poor. Some might prefer to do this by subscribing to government social programs that depend on tax dollars for funding. Others might choose to keep the government’s hands out of it all together, opting instead to make personal offerings of time, talent, or treasure. Either of these are appropriate and in line with the teachings of Jesus Christ. What is important, of course, is caring for those who are in need.

Although I won’t tell you who or what you should vote for, I will tell you this: You do have a responsibility as a Christian to vote. Four years ago, over 90,000,000 American registered voters chose not to vote in the presidential election. This is simply unacceptable. As the Most Rev. Michael Curry, said, “It is a Christian obligation to vote, and more than that, it is the church’s responsibility to help get souls to the polls.” 

Please vote. Please request your early ballot if you haven’t already done so. Please send it in or drop it off or head to the polls on election day. In our now-purple state of Arizona, your vote truly counts. I am proud to tell you that I have already voted, and Maricopa County tells me my ballot has already been counted. Won’t you please join me and the millions of other Americans to vote in this year’s election? Your vote is your voice. Use it.  

October 11, 2020  A Reflection from Pastor Emilie Finn

Dear People of God,

Back in April, I had a conversation with an All Saints' parishioner that inspired me to start reading stories and posting them on YouTube, which was the beginning of what I have called "Pastor Emilie's Story Hour." Since then, I have had a lot of fun, reading several children's books, short stories for both children and adults, and now a novel for adults as well (Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White). I have re-discovered how much I love to read aloud, and I have re-discovered my love for the classic stories that inspired me and cultivated my imagination as a child and young adult. (Everything I post on YouTube has to be in the public domain, which means all were published before 1923 - so I do mean classics!)

One of those stories is the story we were discussing during the conversation that inspired the whole project. It is a book I have loved since I was a tiny child: Pollyanna, by Eleanor H. Porter. The character Pollyanna, the small daughter of a poor missionary minister, who, when her father dies, must live with her very strict Aunt Polly, plays a game her father taught her, called "the Just Being Glad game." The challenge of the game is to find something in everything to be glad about, and the harder it is to do, the little girl explains to everyone around her, the more fun the game is, and of course, the book is about the ways in which Pollyanna's "glad game" transforms her aunt, and the town she lives in.

I thought of this book during that particular conversation in April, because we were at the very beginning of the pandemic, and as we discussed the challenges of being alone, of social distancing, and of not being able to worship together, this member of All Saints' started talking about finding the good and beautiful things in the world, the things we can be glad about, or grateful for, in everything that happens to us, and she told me that it really does actually help. 

Now, neither of us meant that ignoring the difficult things in life helps at all, or that it is a good idea to try to see everything through "rose colored glasses" that try to somehow make the ugly parts of life beautiful in some artificial way. The gift of Pollyanna's "glad game" is that even though it doesn't make any of the difficult, challenging, or frightening things in our lives go away, it causes us to shift our focus to the good things, the actual good, that exists alongside our problems, fears, and difficulties, and this actually does make life easier to live. Like adjusting the focus on a camera lens, this does not make anything else in the frame disappear. It doesn't make bad things less bad, or less difficult or scary or sad to deal with. But it is easier to live through them if we can remind ourselves in a tangible way that good exists also, and often in equal or even greater measure than the difficult, sad, or frightening things we tend to dwell on.

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:4-7)

Friends, I challenge you, especially during the next few months as tensions and fears continue to rise, try Pollyanna's "glad game." Take Paul's words to the Philippians to heart. Find everything you can to rejoice in. Real things. Good things. Things you might be inclined to take for granted. Write them down. Think about them. Paint them. Pray them. Thank God for them. Right now, I am rejoicing in the faithful dog snoring at my feet; in the birds singing in the tree outside my window; in my wife's presence in the next room, staying connected with the people of Emmaus over Zoom; in looking forward to recording another chapter of The Woman in White later this afternoon; and in the fact that my newly updated laptop works so much better than it did two days ago (thank you, Gary!). Little things, but real and tangible causes for joy and celebration in a world that needs more rejoicing.

October 4, 2020  A Reflection from Fr. Tim Yanni

What’s in a name?

The Episcopal Church has no shortage of churchy jargon. We have vergers, acolytes, wardens, deans, sacristies, narthexes, naves, chancellors, vestries, sacristans, sextons, canon precentors, and more. So many words. What do they mean? In the event that you’re ever interested in expanding your Episcopal Church vocabulary, you can browse the official glossary at https://episcopalchurch.org/library/glossary/all. I must admit, even as a seminary-trained priest, I look up terms in our glossary from time to time.

When it comes to jargon, a question that is commonly asked to priests is “what do I call you?” The Church does have a style guide to answer this question as well, but the answer is somewhat complex. The answer is different depending on whether it is written or spoken. For instance, when I sign a written document, I sign my name as, “The Rev. Timothy J. Yanni.” Notice the importance of the definite article. This is because the word “reverend” is an adjective and not a noun. “The Reverend” is a written honorific only. 

It becomes even more complex from there. When addressing a priest, the style guide says that male priests should be called either Father or Mister, while female priests should be called either Mother or Ms. Again, it’s more complicated than that. These salutations remain optional. The best way to discover what a priest ought to be called is simple: Ask them.

I like to be called Father Tim. I certainly will respond to “Reverend Tim” or “Father Yanni”. I’ll even respond to “hey you!” But my preference is Father Tim. I like to go by my first name because I have always more easily identified with priests who went by their first names. I remember attending a parochial school as a child and knowing that of the two priests, the one who went by his first name was clearly “the cool guy.” He preached fun sermons and played basketball and soccer with the kids at school. The other priest was stern, strict, and rigid. I’m not suggesting I’m the “cool guy”, but I do like to have fun and I like to make sure people know that I’m down to earth and real. I like to be playful and I like to put people at ease as much as possible.

I go by Father Tim instead of Father Yanni because I see this choice as way of communicating that I don’t take myself too seriously. I like to have a good time and I like to encourage others to do the same. The Church is a place where we can experience a myriad of emotions. Believe it or not, even silliness and irreverence have their places in the Church from time to time. I know there is a time and a place for everything, but I think the Church is a place where joy should be abundant. So here’s what I’m going to ask you to do: Take some time out of your busy schedule and do something silly, fun, or playful. Do it to bring some added joy into your own life, or into someone else’s. Go ahead. It’s ok. Tell them you got permission from Fr. Tim. 

September 27, 2020  A Reflection from Fr. Bill Lupfer

I had a professor in college say, when talking about something very complex: “It’s enough to cross a rabbi’s eyes!”

When you think about these days, it’s enough to cross even the smartest rabbi’s eyes! We are in a very difficult, divisive and disorienting presidential election. On top of that, we are all doing our best to navigate a global health pandemic. Many of us have family members and friends who are struggling with the restrictions imposed upon us by COVID-19. Mix into this that we haven’t even be able to go to church to seek God’s soothing love and we are told that singing together is one of the most dangerous activities we could do. We are living through very challenging times, no doubt about it!

And yet.

As I talk to people at All Saints', I am very encouraged by your resilience. You are strong and flexible and smart and open to God’s call, even during these challenging times. I feel very blessed to be walking these days with you. 

This coming weekend, we are able to go back to church. I’ve been really, really wanting to meet you and worship with you. And I can only imagine how you long to see each other in worship.   So it’s wonderful that we are able to regather at church.

The only problem is – church will not feel the same as before. We face many restrictions at church, all for the purpose of keeping everyone safe. The worship times will be punctuated with announcements about new ways of doing things, which means that we will return to a familiar space but it won’t feel very familiar. We will return to a place that has been a bedrock for many of us but it may feel like it has shifted a bit, given how many liturgical changes you will experience if you join us in person or by video.

My prayer for you (and me) as we re-enter church is the prayer I’ve been praying, “Lord, help them be gentle with themselves and with others. Help them give themselves and others the benefit of doubt.”