The Pathfinder: January 4, 2024
An Invitation to Go Deeper
There’s a concept in evolutionary biology that I’ve found helpful over my years as a pastor, the hypothesis of punctuated equilibrium. In evolutionary biology it refers to a period of time when a surprisingly significant amount of change takes place in a species. The idea is that much of life exists in a state of equilibrium, with minimal change taking place. At certain moments, though, and often for reasons outside of any one species’ control, remarkable changes happen in a relatively short amount of time.
I’ve found this to be true in the spiritual life as well. Often, we go along for months or even years on the same path and then because of an event or circumstance, something shifts, and we find ourselves seeking a community, a structure, a practice, a way to connect with God and help make meaning out of the loss or change that has happened. Collectively this happened to many, many of us during the pandemic but this often also happens on a personal and individual level.
I was considering this freshly this past Christmas. One of the gifts of having been a pastor in a congregation for a long time––fifteen years and counting in an era when the average pastorate is around six years––is that I have come to see how All Souls serves as a touchstone for many people who almost exclusively attend for the feasts of Christmas and Easter. While it can be easy to simply see folks who show up for these feasts as “poinsettias and lilies,” I’ve found a lens from congregational development to be instructive.
This way of understanding participation in a church doesn’t see it from a binary, member/non-member perspective. Instead, it describes a Christian community as a series of concentric circles of practice radiating out from a center of mature practitioners. A couple of layers out from the center are people who occasionally attend but absolutely consider that congregation to be “their” congregation. The response from a congregation to those at every circle of practice, from those who vicariously participate in the life of the congregation all the way to the beating heart of the community, is to meet that person where they are and invite them to go deeper.
For us at All Souls, then, it means that we continually have to be ready to meet people where they are in that particular season of life and invite them to a deeper practice of the Christian faith in our congregation. Christmas and Easter are a couple of those moments when this can happen, and I’ve also found that if someone has been part of a Christian tradition before, it can happen at Lent or Advent, as people reenter the communal life of a parish to reestablish practice.
It also often happens at junctures in the secular calendar, like the start of a new school year or at this time of a new year, when people are making resolutions or trying to use this time of cultural renewal to make a change in their life. And sometimes these shifts are less visible, like when our spiritual equilibrium is punctuated at a time of loss––of a family member, or a marriage, or a job. This possibility for change also happens with more dramatic shifts: when we move to a new community for a job or a school change, or when we add a child or an elder to our family. In any event we believe that we have found a gift of this common life and Christian practice and would like to be able to offer it to others.
Perhaps this one of those time for you. If it is I’d invite you to consider a few particular practices. One is to learn with us this new year; this Sunday starts a couple of new courses, one in the Parish Hall that Dent Davidson and I will be teaching on music, melody, and words, and another in our Common Room in which the Very Rev. Peggy Patterson will be teaching about the life and wisdom of the mystic Hildgarde of Bingen. Another way go deeper in your faith is to serve with us, like at the Open Door Dinner on January 14th. And most importantly, to worship with us each Sunday, at 8a in the Chapel and at 10:30a in the Church.
No matter the season of life you find yourself in, I believe that there is always more life in God to be found, sometimes it takes a moment of punctuated equilibrium for the push to find it. Join us in this new year as we seek to practice it together.
Peace,
–Phil+
Reflections from Summer Camp
I’m a product of Camp Noel Porter in Lake Tahoe. I carry those memories in my heart and those people in my mind still. They formed the basis for my present Christianity and my life’s work.
My own children went to BREAD Camp at The Bishop’s Ranch. As with me, their camp memories and relationships provide a reminder of safe haven and being authentic in a way that school and “real life” doesn’t offer. Their stress and worries from school life are also shared by the students that I have taught over the last 25 years, here and on the Peninsula. The fear and anxiety of not being ready, of not being positioned correctly for the future, of not being enough.
I’ve been volunteering as music director for the BREAD Camps at the Bishop’s Ranch for years now and I have continued to see camp do the one thing that kids desperately need; to heal, center, and ground themselves in who they truly are. Whether it’s a group of kids belting out the chorus of Keep on the Sunny Side, acting out Bible stories in the most ridiculous manner possible, playing capture the flag, or just watching the moon rise over the Russian River Valley during Compline, there is very little in my life that is so wonderful and joyous. For me, this is the community of Christ in its best form.
The Diocese of California offers two different, equally wonderful summer camp programs; the deep rooted, creative and adventurous program of St. Dorothy’s Rest and the music centered, faith-driven program of The Bishop’s Ranch. Both offer fun, grounding, and healing experiences for young people. Please consider signing up your kids for camp this summer.
For details and registration dates, check the camp websites. Feel free to reach out to Nat Lewis (NatFLewis@gmail.com) for more information.
–Nat Lewis
Annual Meeting Notice
The 120th Annual Meeting of the Congregation will be on January 28th, 2024 in the Parish Hall, from 12:30-1:30 pm. All parishioners are encouraged to attend.
– Phil+
Welcome to the World!
Dear friends,
On the fourth day of Christmas, in a liminal week of the year, after over 50 hours of labor, Megan gave birth to the newest member of our family—and it’s a boy!
We’ve decided to call him Sal, though his full name is Solomon Rose.
He was 9 lbs 3 oz at birth and was born on December 28th at 6:17pm.
Everyone is healthy though thoroughly exhausted from the long labor, and Simone seems to adore that she has a new baby to help look after. Thanks for all the support and for being part of our family.
As King Solomon once wrote: “This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us, for this is our lot…For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts.” –Ecclesiastes 5:18, 20
–Emily Hansen Curran
Ordination Annoucement
Dear All Soulsians,
I am delighted to share that on January 19th at 7pm, I will be ordained as a priest. The ceremony will take place at Trinity Cathedral in Portland, OR, the Diocese where I am canonically resident. You are warmly invited to join in person or via Livestream. You can access the video via the diocesan YouTube channel or website.
I want to thank each and every one of you who has supported my formation and growth in my time as a transitional deacon. I so look forward to serving our community in this new role.
–Emily+
Announcements & Events
Happening This Week
Epiphany Potluck Join us in the Parish Hall after the 10:30a service for food and fellowship, featuring King’s Cake! Please bring a dish to share if you are able.
Hospitality at All Souls Sign-up here (click here) to contribute to Sunday coffee hour food!
Worship This Week
8:00am, Holy Eucharist in Chapel
10:30am, sung Eucharist (click here to access the live stream)
Wednesday 9am Service. Join the Zoom call here, or join us in person in the Nave at 9a. Password: 520218.
Adult Formation
When Notes Meet Words Join the rector, the Rev. Phil Brochard, and the Associate for Music, Dent Davidson, as they explore the connection between theology and music in the congregational song of the church. How do the words and music come together in expressions of faith? How does changing the music for a hymn alter the experience of singing it? Bring your voice to this interactive class. (January 7, 14, 21) Join by Zoom (click here).
An Invitation to Wholeness and Holiness with Hildegard In this experiential class, taught by the Very Rev. Dr. Peggy Patterson, we will welcome our guide, Hildegard of Bingen - mystic, musician, healer, poet, lover of creation, wisdom friend, abbess, greening prophet of the earth – as we consider the experiences of wholeness and holiness in our own lives. We will explore Hildegard’s colorful illuminations, create our own mandalas, and consider how our lives might change if we, like Hildegard, considered ourselves “a feather on the breath of God.” (January 7, 14, 21) Small group; not on Zoom.
Children & Family
Nursery The downstairs nursery is open and available to you for your use whenever you’re at All Souls. This is not a staffed nursery, so an adult must be there with your child, but if you need a quiet place to take a time out, change a diaper, let your child play or take a rest, the nursery is open for you to do all of those things. If there is a service going on that’s being livestreamed, you will be able to watch the livestream on the computer in the nursery as well.
Children’s Ministry Sunday School continues each week during the 10:30 a.m. service. Children head downstairs at the start of the service, then return after the “Peace.” See an usher if you need directions.
Children pre-K to 1st grade: Godly Play (in the Godly Play 1 classroom)
Children 2nd-5th grade: Faith Explorers (in the Fiery Furnace room)
Youth Program - Regular Youth Group meets on Sundays from 7-8:30 pm. This week, join us for a bonfire to celebrate Epiphany and the New Year, featuring s’mores, songs, and games.
Coming up, we have our first overnight event of the year: MLK Day Lock-In and Day of Service at St. Paul’s in Oakland!
The event runs from 3 pm on Sunday January 14th, to 3 pm on Monday the 15th. Join us for games, dinner, and a movie on Sunday night, and then a day of service (including a mural tour and a clean-up of Lake Merritt) on Monday. The event is co-hosted by our partners in the Alameda Deanery Youth Collective.
To sign up, please have a parent/guardian complete this youth registration form by Wednesday, Jan 10th.
We're also seeking adult chaperones to join myself and the other youth ministers for overnight or daytime shifts. If you're interested, please fill out this adult volunteer form.
If you are not receiving weekly Youth Program updates but would like to, please reach out to Emily B to be added to our mailing list.
Godly Play Training It’s not too late to join us this Saturday, January 6th, for our Godly Play training. Godly Play is a Montessori-based program for spiritual formation, featuring play, ritual, and story. The training will be held in the downstairs Godly Play classrooms from 9:00a to 1:00p. Email Emily B to sign up!
We are actively seeking teachers and/or alternates to add to our Sunday School team. Even if you don’t want to teach right now, or you aren’t sure, you are still welcome to attend to learn more about the program and leave open the possibility of teaching in the future.
Justice & Peace
Ways to help with the Israel-Hamas War, from Episcopal Relief & Development Since the start of the current Israel-Hamas war, Episcopal Relief & Development has been supporting long-time partners in the Holy Land including Al Ahli Hospital, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, to provide emergency medical support in Gaza. Despite being hit by two explosions that damaged buildings and claimed hundreds of lives, the hospital is still serving those who are in need of care. Episcopal Relief & Development stands with the brave staff of Al Ahli Hospital as they risk their lives to help others.
Please pray for peace in the Holy Land and consider making a contribution to the Episcopal Relief & Development Middle East Fund to help meet the growing needs of all people in the region.
Stay informed about the Episcopal Relief & Development response at episcopalrelief.org.
Everything Else
Winter & Spring Programs at the Bishop’s Ranch As you wrap up 2023 and begin to look forward into 2024, consider joining in on some of the offerings from the Bishop’s Ranch: Register Here.
Epiphany Reflection Day with Bishop Marc
Rediscovering Celtic Wisdom 2 with John Philip Newell
The Great Search 2 with John Philip Newell
Wild Contemplative and the Wilderness Within
Holy Week: The Tridium with the Holy Women
