Hello All-
I hope this post from Seminary finds you all well! I have some news to relate to everyone about a big milestone in one's Seminary career. It's called "Field Ed." This two letter word can almost make or break one's experience at Seminary. If one gets a bad spot, or one that they do not love, it can be a bleak middler and senior year. If one gets one that is too good, it can mean a great experience, but a sunk marriage, and F's on exams and such due to the all encompassing giving over of the soul that has unfortunately victimized the Seminarian who chooses the site that is too good. For example, I heard of a Seminarian, a rural Arkansas low churchman, who succumbed to the alure of Church Incsense at St Paul's K Street and came out of the St Paul's Sacristy after 17 hours of inhaling the stuff- it was very bad, the person involved not only had a horrid sinus infection, but burnt all of his alb to a crisp. If that wasnt bad enough, he then walked around campus for about two weeks muttering bells and smells quietly to himself with reddened eyes...............
But seriously, no this didnt happen- the point is that one can spend way to much time at the perfect field ed parish. We have been warned not to do this, to draw boundaries and to practice Self Care. This is a good thing because I am delighted that I have found an incredible parish to be a part of for the next two years. The Parish is the Church of the Epiphany, G Street, Washington DC.
Epiphany G St, as it is known, is a church that has a very inclusive congregation with a strong emphasis in Social Justice. At the eight o'clock Sunday Eucharist Service there are probably 200 of Washington DC's homeless community in attendence. These wonderful people are accompanied by alot of folks from Washington's upper crust, as well. They are black, white and hispanic, gay, straight, young and old, male and female, fundamentalist as well as liberals- and this is what I mean by inclusive- not one narrow definition of the word but an all encompassing inclusivity. This inclusivness is then demonstrated further by the sharing of a common meal in which approximately 250 folks gather and eat a wonderful unabashedly southern breakfast together. It sounds like a full day, but it is only half over- The 11 o'claok service shifts in tone from a more spiritual african evangelical service to a pretty high Anglican Service! This service is also incredibly inclusive. It has many of the same people in attendance that were at the eight o'clock- seems like people cant get enough of this place!
The church also holds the Eucharist once daily and these are attended by more people than the Sunday service. these services are dedicated to the downtown working community, especially the government workers and the downtown homeless. One day of the week, the Eucharist is moved to Franklin Park in downtown for street church. At this service, not only is the Body and Blood of Christ distributed to the homeless, lunch is distributed as well as ............
So, as I hope you can see, Maggie and I am very excited by the learning, praying, and worshipping that goes on at Epiphany G St. I am very excited because I really want to learn how to make social justice a part of the culture of the community that is church. It will be a wonderful lesson to endeavour to learn, I only hope I will get a start at it at Epiphany!
I hope this post from Seminary finds you all well! I have some news to relate to everyone about a big milestone in one's Seminary career. It's called "Field Ed." This two letter word can almost make or break one's experience at Seminary. If one gets a bad spot, or one that they do not love, it can be a bleak middler and senior year. If one gets one that is too good, it can mean a great experience, but a sunk marriage, and F's on exams and such due to the all encompassing giving over of the soul that has unfortunately victimized the Seminarian who chooses the site that is too good. For example, I heard of a Seminarian, a rural Arkansas low churchman, who succumbed to the alure of Church Incsense at St Paul's K Street and came out of the St Paul's Sacristy after 17 hours of inhaling the stuff- it was very bad, the person involved not only had a horrid sinus infection, but burnt all of his alb to a crisp. If that wasnt bad enough, he then walked around campus for about two weeks muttering bells and smells quietly to himself with reddened eyes...............
But seriously, no this didnt happen- the point is that one can spend way to much time at the perfect field ed parish. We have been warned not to do this, to draw boundaries and to practice Self Care. This is a good thing because I am delighted that I have found an incredible parish to be a part of for the next two years. The Parish is the Church of the Epiphany, G Street, Washington DC.
Epiphany G St, as it is known, is a church that has a very inclusive congregation with a strong emphasis in Social Justice. At the eight o'clock Sunday Eucharist Service there are probably 200 of Washington DC's homeless community in attendence. These wonderful people are accompanied by alot of folks from Washington's upper crust, as well. They are black, white and hispanic, gay, straight, young and old, male and female, fundamentalist as well as liberals- and this is what I mean by inclusive- not one narrow definition of the word but an all encompassing inclusivity. This inclusivness is then demonstrated further by the sharing of a common meal in which approximately 250 folks gather and eat a wonderful unabashedly southern breakfast together. It sounds like a full day, but it is only half over- The 11 o'claok service shifts in tone from a more spiritual african evangelical service to a pretty high Anglican Service! This service is also incredibly inclusive. It has many of the same people in attendance that were at the eight o'clock- seems like people cant get enough of this place!
The church also holds the Eucharist once daily and these are attended by more people than the Sunday service. these services are dedicated to the downtown working community, especially the government workers and the downtown homeless. One day of the week, the Eucharist is moved to Franklin Park in downtown for street church. At this service, not only is the Body and Blood of Christ distributed to the homeless, lunch is distributed as well as ............
So, as I hope you can see, Maggie and I am very excited by the learning, praying, and worshipping that goes on at Epiphany G St. I am very excited because I really want to learn how to make social justice a part of the culture of the community that is church. It will be a wonderful lesson to endeavour to learn, I only hope I will get a start at it at Epiphany!
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