3 Epiphany Year B

ANNUAL MEETING DAY

January 21, 2024

Rector’s Sermon/Report – Rev Julie Platson

Jonah 3:1-5, 10, Psalm 62:6-14, 1 Corinthians 7:29-31, Mark 1:14-20

Opening Prayer: From d365.org (adapted)

Holy One, who is calling out to us today….

Help us to listen with our whole selves.

Help us listen with our ears, focused on the Holy Word.

Help us listen with our hands, open to Jesus’ embrace.

Help us listen with our heart, steadied by the Spirit’s presence.

Help us listen with our feet, grounded on God’s truth.

Help us listen with our feet as we step out into the world with faith and hope, answering the call to walk with Jesus today and every day. Amen.

Today is annual meeting day. We will gather after the service to celebrate by sharing a potluck meal together, and by listening to several reports that will give us a brief summary and review of what the church has been up to in the past year. We will hear about this past year’s finances. The 2024 budget will be presented. We will hear about some of the outreach ministries, prayer chain gatherings, Sunday school activities. We will hear a summary about all the buildings and grounds projects that have been completed, and about plans being made for future renovations, and restorations of our historic buildings. We will select new vestry members, SE Deanery and Convention delegates.

Our annual meeting only gives us a snapshot of what’s been going on the past year, and only a tiny glimpse of what’s to come.

Our annual meeting today is an occasion for us to pause and truly listen for, once again, God’s call to the church and its’ people to renew and strengthen our call as the church to be an “Outpost of Hope” in our communities….

Our annual meeting today is an opportunity for us to renew and strengthen our call to love God, and our neighbors, by listening for Jesus’ call to follow him by stepping out into the world with faith and hope, answering the call to walk with Him today and every day…

In an age of information overload, it has been increasingly difficult for people to listen well. We are faced with so many distractions all around us. So many competing voices trying to get our attention.

All aspects of our lives are being influenced daily with calls to hurry up, and use the most convenient, quickest way to make plans for our organizations and churches, or to approach and solve any issues or problems that are present.

In an age of information overload at our fingertips to google and search for all kinds of quick answers, and lots of opportunities “to go down the rabbit hole”, to keep searching and searching for the right answer…before saying yes…it can influence us and others around us to hesitate before taking that first step to follow Jesus until we have all the info we think we need before we can say yes…

But…here’s where our faith and hope comes in…and this is when and why it is so counter-cultural to act upon Jesus’ invitation…He simply invites us first…to follow him…He doesn’t give all kinds of information before he invites us or the disciples in our gospel readings the past couple of weeks, to follow him…the invitation comes first…the listening and learning comes when we begin by responding with a yes to Jesus…and going down the “rabbit hole” with him you might say…to learn more about what it means to walk in love, live in love with our neighbors, as Jesus wants to teach us and reveal to us, the power of God’s love to transform lives and build up communities of hope, through us and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wherever we are called to be. And when we set aside time to slow down, to walk prayerfully and mindfully with Jesus, we can hear through all of our senses…with our whole selves…what we are being called to be and do, in this time and place...in this season of our lives together.

This holy work of discerning God’s call for the church and each one of us is slow work and relational building work…and at the same time it is urgent work and communal work that often begins below the surface of our lives…this is where the renewing and the strengthening of discerning our call to be the church in the world and outposts of hope in our communities begins…

At St Peter’s this year, we’ve taken time to slow down and gather together to do just this and to provide space for community members to be invited as well…

We’ve gathered together in small and large groups for a variety of worship services on Sundays, special weekday services, baptisms, funerals, wedding vow renewals, noonday prayer, scripture walks in the park, services at the pioneers’ home, and bringing communion to the homebound…The church has been used for community music concerts throughout the year…

We’ve had services in person, and we’ve continued to welcome our church family members to join us every week from other communities and states, through zoom technology… We’ve gathered together for book studies, bible studies, quiet day retreats, beading groups, prayer groups, Friday fellowship time, Sunday school for kids and families...

We keep the church open every day, from early morning through the evening, for community members to stop in for a time of rest and quiet prayer.

The See House has been buzzing with community activities seven days a week…with offerings for young parents and tots, youth programs from elementary age through high school, young adult gatherings which included AmeriCorps volunteers’ graduation and Outer Coast student welcome gatherings; Hope Coalition meetings, SOS Lifeline group meetings, community potluck meetings, AA meetings.

The Sitka Local Foods Network continues with their work on St Peter’s Fellowship farm, growing produce for the yearly farmers markets and getting fresh produce into the hands of low-income community members.

Personally, I serve on a variety of non-profit boards in the community, and on the diocesan level in the Episcopal Church, I serve on the Standing Committee, just finished two terms on the FIT Committee, and this coming summer, I am a General Convention delegate and will serve on a special legislative committee, the House of Deputies Ecumenical & Interreligious Relations Legislative Committee.

And one of my favorite volunteer activities in the community, is to play the piano a couple nights a month at the Pioneers’ home.

I’m sure I’ve left out some details in my report, and have missed a few activities that have taken place in the church and the See House…but as I mentioned earlier, on annual meeting day we strive to give you an overview, a summary of all that has been going on at St Peter’s, through all of the reports.

So, shortly…after the service, and after we share some food…you will hear more on outreach, buildings and grounds, prayer chain and finances…

My prayer and hope for all of us on this annual meeting day, is that we will use this day well, to pause and listen deeply and thoughtfully for God’s call to the church and its’ people to renew and strengthen our call as the church to be an “Outpost of Hope” in our communities….

And that we will welcome this time we gather for worship and the annual meeting afterwards, as an opportunity for us to renew and strengthen our call to love God, and our neighbors, by listening for Jesus’ call to follow him by stepping out into the world with faith and hope, answering the call to walk with Him today and every day…

I close this morning with the prayer I began with…and then a hymn that always sums up my prayers, and my hopes and my faith in God…for all that is, and yet to come…for all of God’s beloved children…