Deferred Maintenance, Deferred Ministry

Back in the 1970s a movement formed in the church called, “The Church without Walls.” The animating idea was to separate the mission of the church from the burden of property and its upkeep. On its face this seemed like a powerful concept. Take away maintenance costs and more resources will be available to do the work of Jesus Christ in the world!

Where are these “churches without walls” today? Very few are left and they are neither thriving nor powerful in ministry and mission. It turns out that there is a connection between place and purpose, between body and soul.


Christianity is incarnational; “The word became flesh and lived among us.” (John 1:14) Christianity affirms the goodness of physical existence; “God saw everything that God had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Genesis 1:30) Our physical being is not optional or disposable but a fundamental component of the self that God redeems and restores.

Music may exist in the mind of the composer but to be shared it at least needs lips, ears, a tongue, and lungs. To pass that music down the generations takes hands to write and perhaps pianos or an organ to support and reproduce the music. 


The key notion is “to share.” To share our faith in God and pass it down across the generations it turns out that we need sacred spaces, sacred places and bodies devoting time, energy, presence, and labor to the work. 


Our properties committee is working hard to reverse a tradition of deferred maintenance and inadequate investment in our buildings. At a recent meeting we estimated that to just complete basic repairs of our building envelope would cost between $400,000 and $500,000. You will be hearing more about this exploration but the key point here is this; it is unhealthy for our mission and ministry when we neglect the wellbeing of the physical plant that supports the mission and ministry.

I sometimes hear folks say, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could have one without the other - a church without walls”. History teaches us that this dualistic thinking ends up diminishing everything we stand for in the long run. I am excited to do both and inspired to catch up on the needs of our buildings so we can give future generations the gift of ministry and mission without the drag of deferred maintenance!

Blessings,

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
Rector

Getting Clear

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

Over the past several Sundays we have collected your responses to our survey about how to clarify our call to engage within the three causes named below. We collected a total of 44 responses. At our next two forums we'll continue to explore these suggestions.

1. hunger
2. education
3. climate change

Under hunger there were several mentions of participating and increasing food access and distribution, childhood hunger - both during and outside of the school year, continuing SUPPER, and gardening. Where will these and other responses guide our hunger focus?

Under education people spoke of advocating for equitable and fair funding, literacy, and acknowledging racial disparities. How should we narrow our education focus?

Under climate change people named a variety of actions from the individual to the corporate, and from advocacy to education. Several just wanted to know where to begin with awareness and education. With so many options, what can we do well and faithfully together in our climate change focus?

For new focuses people named immigration and refugee services, voting rights, racial justice, the opioid crisis, and prison reform, among others. Which of these calls on our hearts is great enough to address as a community?

This Sunday, at parish forum, we begin to refine your suggestions. We'll continue the discussion at the March 31st parish forum, specifically looking at the role of advocacy and social justice in our work. We have active, fun, and creative programs designed for both days. 

These two forums will help us create a path into our future. This is your chance to be a part of that discussion, to feel and name the call of God on this parish. Please join us.

Blessings,
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
Rector

Links:
Progress Report: 5 Years of Community Engagement

Clarify Our Community Engagement Causes!

The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel

Five years ago, the congregation engaged a process called “Nominate Your Causes” to discover what our community engagement priorities should be at St. Martin’s. Through a process of polling the congregation and conversations at Parish Forum, we landed squarely on three top priorities which would direct our community engagement efforts:

1. hunger
2. education
3. climate change

Read more about our progress on each of these causes in our Progress Report: 5 Years of Community Engagement. 

For the next four Sundays, the Community Engagement Committee is asking you to help us Clarify our Causes. The committee is committed to grounding our work in priorities set by the parish community.
 
What specific areas under these broad umbrella priorities would you like us to address with programming, organizing, action, and funding? For example under climate change, you could specify “gas mileage standards,” or “eliminate fracking” or “alternative energy sources.”


On Sunday, March 3 and Sunday, March 10 we will distribute a quick survey in the worship bulletin for you to use to make your suggestions. This survey is also available online. We will collect your suggestions and bring them back to the parish for further discussion and refinement at the March 24 Parish Forum. The March 31st Parish Forum will continue our parish discussion about the role of advocacy and social justice in our work. We have active, fun, and creative programs designed for both days.


Please join us and be a part of visioning the future of community engagement at St. Martin’s.


Blessings,
The Rev. Jarrett Kerbel
Rector



Links:
Progress Report: 5 Years of Community Engagement
Clarify our Causes survey

Staff Picks for Giving Back this Christmas

It's nearly Christmas and you haven't finished your gift-giving purchases? That's okay, neither have we. With less than a week to go, we thought we'd offer you some ideas for those hard-to-buy for people, or for how you can spend your money in a way that cuts against our consumer culture.

Here are some staff picks for ways to give AND give back this Christmas time.

Jarrett

This year St. Martin's Christmas plate offering will be going to Imara International, a safe house that also provides education for teen mothers and their babies in Kenya. This organization was founded by an Episcopalian and our own Barbara Dundon visited this past year to record some of their stories. Jarrett looks forward to visiting himself in 2015. 

Jarrett also encourages support of St. James School right here in Philadelphia. St. James School is a faith-based Philadelphia middle school in the Episcopal tradition, committed to educating traditionally underresourced students in a nurturing environment. The school is a community that provides a challenging academic program and encourages the development of the moral, spiritual, intellectual, physical and creative gifts in its students. Our own Erik Meyer continues to assist with music there at Eucharist on Wednesday afternoons.

Callie

Alternative Gift-Giving Ideas:

Episcopal Relief & Development (800.334.7626 x5129): purchase Bishops Blend Fair Trade Coffee and Tea; donate a gift of global aid in someone’s name.

Heifer International (800.422.0474): donate an animal in someone’s name; this animal will go to a family in need to help them be self-sufficient.

Kiva (415.358.7512): make microloans to small business owners worldwide; you select which entrepreneur to support and get your money back to keep or reinvest.

Thistle Farms (615.298.1140): natural bath and body products made by women in Nashville’s Magdalene community, a 2-year residential community for women with a history of prostitution and drug addiction (founded by an Episcopal priest!)

SERRV (800.422.5915): organization working to eradicate poverty through direct connections with low-income artisans and farmers; sells crafts and foods

Global Girlfriend (888.355.4321): fairly-traded apparel and accessories hand-made by women and communities in need around the world

Global Exchange (415.255.7296): offers a wide range of socially conscious gifts from around the world

Ways to Serve & Provide Warmth this Christmas:

The Greater Philadelphia Cares Winter Coat Drive - bring new or “gently used” winter coats to: Philadelphia Federal Credit Union at 6707 Germantown Avenue or Trolley Car Diner at 7619 Germantown Avenue (for other drop-off locations, call 215.564.4544 or visit )

Holiday Food Drives - taking place around the city (contact Philabundance for more information).

Barbara

I bought socks this year from Mitscoots which will donate a pair of socks to the homeless for every pair you buy.

Also I ordered some paper products from the Peoples Paper Coop in Germantown which provides legal assistance for ex-offenders to get their criminal records expunged, then turns their paperwork into beautiful hand-made paper.

Perennial favorites: Heifer International, Serrv International, 10,000 Villages.

Another practice is to make some time to shop locally, rather than ordering everything on-line or from big box stores. Go to 10,000 Villages on Germantown, and patronize other local shops on the avenue. Looking for books? Order them through a local book store such as Big Blue Marble, rather than Amazon. Buy art and food from local artisans near work or home. Gift people with tickets to local theater productions and patronize local musicians.

Natalee

For my five year old, Liam, this year we'll be donating to World Wildlife Fund Adopt a Tiger. It comes with a plush tiger, a photo of a tiger, and an adoption certificate. The plush and photo help make it real for a little kid. If you're buying for an adult you may want to skip the gift-with-donation and make every dollar go towards conservation. Other animals are available to support.

My husband Nate wanted to help support small business owners around the world through micro funding or providing something necessary to help start a business. Heifer International Honeybees or a Kiva gift card for microfinancing are just the right thing.

We'll also be making a donation to help build a pediatric unit at the Mpassa Medical Unit in the Congo. This is an effort being supported by the Southeast District of the Eastern PA Conference of the United Methodist Church - my denomination. I'll be making a donation here in honor of my new baby boy, Ezra.

Another favorite is Appalachia Service Project, a home repair ministry in central Appalachia which Nate and I led youth on for years and holds a special place in our hearts.

Connie

This year the Haggards will give to Beyond Borders and Partners in Health, both vital organizations in Haiti, and to DEC in honor of Chris' 19 years at that wonderful workshop where everyone, no matter what disability, is family.

Betsy

This Christmas the Wolfords are contributing to our local SPCA and we're purchasing a bike through Compassion International to enable a child in a third world country to ride to school, etc. And as all of you've heard me drone on & on about MS bike rides, the National MS Society is an organization I'm regularly rooting for.

Merry Christmas and Happy (Alternative) Giving this season!