Chronicles of Canterbury
the
Chronicles of Canterbury July 2018
From the Rector
Feeding, Healing, Housing and Working = SMEC
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he center of Christian holiness is the desire to love as God loves. The reality of human living is that we struggle to love, even among the people we are supposed to love most. I believe the power of Christ gives us the ability to love. That’s what the Gospel is all about. It’s also the basis for our mission in life as Christians, to preach the Gospel, to raise up disciples of Christ, to fix what’s ailing the world, to respond to human need and to stand up for justice. The mission of the Church is all of this. “Being a missionary,” therefore, is not a special calling, but rather a general calling, to all Christians. If you are a Christian, you are a missionary. In the Gospels, Jesus tells the disciples that they need to go into all the world baptizing in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit — and they need to go out there, fight the devil, cry out for God’s justice and respond to human need. If you are a Christian, then this means you. And me.
St. Michael’s has been doing the different missionary tasks for nearly 70 years now. We proclaim the Gospel, we raise up the baptized members of Christ’s body, we respond to human need, we seek to fix a broken world, and we cry out for God’s justice — but not all in equal measure. If we look back at our years of life as a piece of the universal Church, it’s clear we have certain charisms (gifts) of the Spirit and missional tendencies. If somebody were to ask me quickly what those have been, I would say: We are good at worship (word, music, proclamation, celebration, gathering), good at raising up new disciples (newcomer ministry, education, Sunday School, children’s ministry) and good at responding to human need (global missions, local missions, outreach efforts, fundraising for ministry partners, etc.) In a nutshell, our historic emphasis for
See RECTOR on page 3
Bringing 40+ Years of Love To Annual Fund 2019
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he year was 1975. Scott and Michele Murphy had recently moved to Raleigh from Charlotte and 4 Duff/Capps Winners they were searching for a church home. Michele, a longtime Episcopalian, and Scott,who attended 5 Gifts of Grace: Sweet 16 Methodist churches, found it at St. Michael’s. And they 6 For All the Saints: Huss have spent the past 43 years as active participants in the life of our parish. 7 Canterbury Circle what’s inside
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You name it, they’ve done it: Sunday School teachers, Vestry and Newcomers Committee (both of them); usher, greeter, Kitchen Committee (Scott); Altar Guild, Flower Guild, Osutreach & Missions chair, Gifts of Grace (Michele). The Murphys raised their daughter and son at St. Michael’s, and they’ve watched our parish change shape through the years. They’ve witnessed its growth from a small parish to one of more than 2,000 members, and they’ve experienced the ministries of all four rectors. The early friendships they made as newcomers have lasted four decades.
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“Never before have we seen St. Michael’s so alive spiritually,” says Michele. “If you feel like a sermon was delivered to you, they say that’s the Holy Spirit.” And now, they are taking on a ministry they’ve not been in charge of in all these years: chairs of the Annual Fund for 2018. When rector Greg Jones asked them to consider heading our our annual pledge campaign, they prayed about it, as they do with every major decision. “We love and respect Greg so much,” Michele adds. “We are so grateful for (the leadership) he has provided, and for all of our clergy and staff. It’s a good place to grow your faith.” Greg came to our parish when the Episcopal Church was divided over the ordination of a gay See ANNUAL FUND on page 6