Guatemala Reflection: Part 2 - We are a Family

By Barbara Thomson

This is part two of Barbara’s reflection on the youth pilgrimage to Guatemala this July, on which she was one of the three adult leaders. If you missed it, you can read part one, "Witness", here.

My family grew as I attended this year’s visit to Guatemala. Being a St. Martin’s member has already grown my family to include the other adults and St. Martin’s youth. This year it grew to include the Guatemalan families that our group of 11 (plus 3 - our driver, guide, and interpreter) met as we plowed through the Highlands from churches to homes and missions in our packed red van.  

Our wonderful translator, Melvin. Photo by the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

It takes a leap of faith to be an adult leader on these youth trips – especially one who gets on board at the last minute! I have chaperoned twice to South Dakota, but I was asked just a few weeks before this trip to join and didn’t fully realize all of what I’d be getting in to! We know before we leave where we’re going and what we’ll be doing, and we trust that we will get along while we’re there. As soon as we go through security, the magic of being in a family – my new family –  kicked in. We were not the traditional household of parents and children, but rather a group of people with certain roles who watch out for, take care of, and love each other during our time together and thereafter. 

Photo of the youth at the chocolate factory. From Clare's camera.

Our group started every day with breakfast, piled into the van, took on a new experience, sat down for lunch, took on another experience, sat down for dinner, and ended with compline. We quickly knew who positioned for the window seat, who carried the soccer balls, and who loved fancy coffee and pink drinks. At the end of the day, we all asked God to “Keep watch with those who work or watch, or weep this night, and give your angels charge over those who sleep…”

Compline by flashlight. Photo by the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel.

Ground transportation in San Lucas. Photo by the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel.

Kate balancing a tub. Photo by Gavin.

While our youth group became a family as we walked through security at the airport, we met our extended St. Martin’s family as we walked into their churches and homes, and then played soccer. (We found that our St. Martin’s kids were better prepared for their cold showers after a hot and sweaty soccer workout.) With each new family we met, each new story we heard, these people became family to us. We were welcomed into homes and churches where they fed us, taught us, and shared time and company. 

Guatemalan church family. Photo by Gavin.

Youth with a Guatemalan family. Photo by Clare.

Hospitality. Photo by Clare.

Playing fútbol. Photo by Clare.

At the end of the day, we would talk about and try to understand what we saw, felt, and learned that day. Every day someone talked about how he or she was touched by the children’s love for learning, communicating despite language gaps, how welcome they felt at the homes and churches we visited, the care from our guide, driver, and interpreter, and the gap in wealth. We also spent time thanking our St. Martin’s kids for showing so much appreciation and respect to the families they met. We were proud of them and appreciate their individual contributions.

Home visit near Chichicastenango in Sepela. Photo by the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel.

Dinner with the Bishop of Guatemala. Photo by the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel.

Within our own group, we took care of each other. There were moments of concern as some were overwhelmed with emotion and some had digestive issues. When asked to help get the sick ones packed up so we could get the group to Antigua, they helped out without flinching and the sick ones were given preferential treatment for the 2 hour ride. When we arrived back in Miami, the first ones at baggage claim collected all the bags and had them waiting for the rest of us as we made our way through Customs. 

Kate holding a baby. Photo by Clare.

The St. Martin’s folks and the Guatemalan folks became a group of people with certain roles who watched out for, took care of, and loved each other during our time together. I’ve also found that the love doesn’t end. We may not see each other regularly but our care for one another lives on so that when we see someone, like Leslie who we recognize from a story from years past, we make sure she gets her new glasses. We are connected. We are a family.

We're on a boat! Photo by Gavin.

The family returns home. Photo by the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel.

Shabbat Shalom!

Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

The community of faith that is St. Martin’s causes me to feel heart-bursting pride on a regular basis. That feeling welled up again on Friday evening last week when at least 30 of our members joined Shabbat services at Germantown Jewish Center.

We began by standing along the sidewalk on Ellet Street to express our solidarity and care for our Jewish neighbors. We were warmly welcomed by the congregation as they arrived. The grief caused by the atrocity in Pittsburgh was palpable and worn openly on the faces of our neighbors. Our presence was a response to that pain. Our ministry was to reassure, comfort, and accompany a vulnerable community in fear for their safety and in worry for their future.

At 6 p.m. we filed in to join Shabbat worship lead by Rabbi Adam Zeff. Lovely, heartfelt singing and prayer, even dancing, lit the synagogue up with a radiant spirit! Joy, love, and peace were celebrated as God's wish for us and in resistance to the forces of violence, hate, and misery that threaten our neighbors.

Shabbat Shalom! The peace of the sabbath was richly celebrated as God's restoring and life-giving gift. My spirit was refreshed by such faithful and energized invocation of God's promises.

St. Martin's parishioners at GJC.

As in so many cases, I left feeling entirely blessed by the experience. I had gone to be a help, and I left as the one who was helped. Thanks be to God!

Reflecting on that evening, so much of our ministry was on display. Deep relationships empower us to do bold ministry with our neighbors. Intentionally building those relationships in our neighborhood opens the way for healing and reconciliation, the ministry Christ gives us. Let’s not forget the legacy of antisemitism in Chestnut Hill where Jews were systematically excluded from its earliest days. Or, the long and sordid history of antisemitism in the Episcopal Church and white-anglo-saxon-protestant culture in general. By moving across the divides caused by our history of prejudice, we put a stitch in the ripped fabric of our community and joined God in God's work of mending the world.

Blessings,
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel, rector



Find your fellow parishioners’ reflections on Friday’s shabbat service on this Facebook post - or add your own!




Save the Date for this upcoming series with our neighbors at Germantown Jewish Centre

God's Country? A Jewish-Christian Text Study on "the land" in Scripture
Sundays in February: 3, 10, 17, 24 from 1:00-2:00 p.m.
Germantown Jewish Centre, 400 West Ellet Street, Philadelphia, PA 19119

Rabbi Adam Zeff of Germantown Jewish Centre and the Rev. Jarrett Kerbel of the Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields invite members of our faith communities to gather around sacred texts to explore the meaning of the land of Israel in our respective traditions. While in that land conflict rages, lines are drawn, and sides are taken, Rabbi Zeff and Rev. Kerbel intend to create a space of understanding, deep listening and dialogue where peaceful practices of conversation lay the foundation for peaceful outcomes not yet imagined. Rabbi Zeff and Rev. Kerbel have studied scripture together for five years and share a love for textual interpretation and an abiding concern for allowing concerns to be articulated in their full complexity with disagreements noted and respected. Texts will come from the Hebrew Bible, the Greek Testament and the Talmud. We will meet four times, every Sunday in February starting the 3rd from 1-2 p.m.
Registration coming soon!

Associate Rector's Note: Stephen Ministry

Rev. Anne Thatcher

In early August I attended a Stephen Ministry Leader’s training in Pittsburgh. You may or may not be aware that St. Martin’s is a Stephen Ministry congregation and has been since 2006. What does that mean and why is this important? We are a large parish and while Jarrett and I would love to be able to visit all of you, and be present each time you have a significant life event, we are not always able to do so. In addition, while we may be there at the beginning, we know that life changes can take a considerable amount of time to work through. Ongoing support during that time is very important.

This is where Stephen Ministry plays a role. Our Stephen Ministers go through fifty hours of training in how to be a Christ-centered, listening caregiver for anyone who is experiencing changes in life: grief, loneliness, engagement, divorce, disability, pregnancy, marriage, job loss, or any other significant events. Each Stephen Minister is confidentially assigned a care receiver who has asked for support. The two meet together or talk on the phone on a regular basis as determined by the needs of the care receiver. Some pairs meet for a few months, others may meet for a year or two depending on the support needs of the care receiver. This caring relationship is confidential, between the Stephen Minister and their care receiver only. Stephen Ministers do not replace the role of the clergy; rather they support and provide additional presence to members of St. Martin’s community. We currently have twelve Stephen Ministers and we are in the process of training three more.

We are blessed to have this robust ministry at St. Martin’s. This ministry is here for each and every one of you. To learn how to become a Stephen Minister—or receive care from one—contact me (Rev. Anne). My door is always open.

Blessings,

Rev. Anne

athatcher@stmartinec.org

215.247.7466 x105

With You Every Step of the Way

“You are always there when I need you.” That is the highest praise. 

When I was a Youth Minister in Chicago, the young people at our retreats would repeat this phrase over and over when they described people who loved them. When someone is “always there for us” we feel  remembered, valued, assured, and safe in our overwhelming and confusing world. 

One day last week, I sat beside the bedside of a member who was in the hospital. His phone rang and when he answered it was a member of St. Martin's on the phone checking up on him. Recognizing her voice, I smiled and then remembered that the day before two Eucharistic Visitors had come from St. Martin's to bring Holy Communion to this same man. He was literally surrounded by caregivers from our church. 

I could say to him, “The church will be with you every step of the way,” and I would be telling truth.

Our second Core Value as a church community is: “In giving and receiving care we encounter Christ.” One reason we know this is an authentic value of the church is illustrated by my bedside pastoral visit described above. At St. Martin's we have a deep and virtuous habit of caregiving. Because of this strength in our ministry it makes me so happy to say that our pastoral care commitment at St. Martin's is to be with our members every step of the way.

We are here to be a resource to you from birth to death and everything in between. We will celebrate the birth of your children, baptize, teach them in church school, confirm, and then marry them. We will be with you when you are sick, troubled, guilty, depressed, angry, struggling financially, or going through a divorce. We will be with you by your bedside for surgeries and medical appointments – celebrating your healing and recovery and mourning the losses and struggles. Finally, we will be with you in your final hours with the soothing comfort of prayer and anointing to see you through that last transition into our ultimate healing. 

My first Rector taught me never to leave the graveside until the casket was safely lowered and everyone else had left. This simple action symbolizes our commitment to be a faithful pastor every step of the way whether people are there to notice or not. 

Every step of the way includes – indeed is mostly practiced by – our amazing lay ministers at St. Martin's. Stephen Ministers, Lay Eucharistic Visitors, the women of Women Connecting, the leaders of Wellspring, the tables of learners at Biblical Studies, the Parenting in Faith circle, and just from friend to friend and neighbor to neighbor throughout the church community. 

I am so proud of our community and our caregiving. We will be looking for ways to advance this work in the parish in the next years. 

- Jarrett Kerbel