Prayers, Presence, Gifts, and Service
Sometimes change is slow and sometimes change is fast. The Emmanuel Choir is not immune to the rule of this reality. For the last ten years or so, the choir has maintained a roster of 35 singers. Yet, since summer break, the choir has lost ten of its singers. I wrote their names down on a piece of paper yesterday and thought about and prayed for each of them. Two singers had educational opportunities that have kept them away. Another was called to other leadership duties in our parish. The priority of family responsibilities led two others away and illness made it too difficult for two singers. For three of my former choir members, it was the stairs and accessibility that forced their retirement.
I confided in a colleague about this drop in membership and he was a sympathetic and understanding mentor. He noted that it isn’t just the professional impact, but the depth of the personal impact. “They are your sheep,” he said. It was an honor to be their shepherd, yet, like all aspects of life, the Biblically poignant, “for everything there is a season,” is a comfort and a corporeal truth.
On February 26th, we celebrated the gift of the ministry of Dave Newton, who retired as a tenor in the choir after 22 years. That, combined with his leadership in other parish choirs, totaled more than 50 years in the loft. That is an incredible witness. We thanked Dave for his service with a reception as well as the presentation of an icon of St. Cecilia, the patroness saint of music, hand-painted on board with tempura and gold gilt.
Over the last few weeks, vestry liaison to music Jim Heisey and I have been preparing a presentation that will be made this Sunday at the forum that follows the 10 A.M. Eucharist. For the Century Project music presentation, we surveyed the choir and the handbell ringers, discovering the many reasons why they participate in the music ministry of the parish, and listening to their hopes and dreams for the program. Choir member Randy Frye wrote the following as his reason for participating in the choir, a discipleship statement learned from his previous parish, “I want to contribute to Emmanuel with my prayers, presence, gifts, and service.”
It is a simple statement, but one that is so profound. I found myself amending Emmanuel’s mission statement to the following, “Reflecting the light of Christ, from generation to generation, through our prayers, presence, gifts, and service.” For me, it makes our mission statement something more actionable.
If I were to seek models of these behaviors, I think about the examples exhibited by the members of the Daughters of the King, whose prayerful piety and devotion humbles my nature. When it comes to presence, I think of the members who are unfailing in their weekly attendance. When I think of gifts, monetary offerings and pledges are obvious, but also included are the gifts of time and talent. It is the latter that is connected with the charge of service, so beautifully exhibited by the men and women and boys and girls that serve this mission as acolytes, vestry members, office volunteers, caregivers, thrift shop workers, handbell ringers, finance committee members, buildings and ground volunteers, choir members, bakers, hospitality and fellowship volunteers, ushers, lay Eucharist ministers, knitters, Sunday School teachers, and formation and Bible study leaders.
“Church” doesn’t happen without those four behaviors, or at least doesn’t survive without them. The Century Project presentations have demonstrated that truth and put on display the incredible holy work done by the people of Emmanuel. Yet, too, are noticeable the barriers that have restricted the blossoming of the church to its fullest potential.
As a parish historian, I am privy to an understanding of the historical arch of this place. In 1920, as the leaders of Emmanuel were working to develop their plan and vision to move the church from Page Street to the newly purchased lots in the Weymouth Heights neighborhood, the population of Southern Pines was 743, the population of Aberdeen was 858 and the permanent population of Pinehurst was unrecordable, as it was a privately held resort corporation. Today, Southern Pines’s population is more than 20 times its 1920 figure, Aberdeen registered a population of 8,516 in 2020, and Pinehurst currently boasts 18,449 residents. Our community is a vastly different place from when the cornerstone of a stone Parish Hall (our current church building) was laid in 1926.
A brief overview of the physical buildings highlights a historic (aka aging) campus. The building that currently serves as the church, completed in March 1927 is now 98 years old. The rectory, which serves as the Center for Children and Families, was built in 1935 and has served the church for 90 years. The building that houses the “dungeon” classrooms of EDS and the sacristy, completed in 1941, is now 84 years old. The two-story education building for EDS was completed in 1959 and is now 66 years old. The church offices were built in 1965, now celebrating 60 years of use. In October of 1987, the church broke ground on the 14,000 sq. ft. Parish Hall building, which has become a center for fellowship and Episcopal Day School activities.
I was in a waiting room on Wednesday morning and two women were sitting there when I arrived. They were grousing about the growth in our area, in particular the construction of so many apartment buildings. I, too, share their sense of discomfort. I miss the Morganton Road between Southern Pines and Pinecrest Plaza that was a stand of glorious pine trees. It was a natural treasure. I wish things could always stay the same. Yet, God doesn’t call us into a static existence. History teaches us that any business or institution that falls into that kind of thinking, certainly shortens its season.
I’m excited about the future of Emmanuel, and everyone reading these words is a part of that future. God has plans for us. Let us listen. Let us pray. Let us be present. Let us give. Let us serve.
For its Lenten discipline, the Emmanuel Choir has been busy learning and preparing the St. Mark Passion by Charles Wood. The choir will offer the work in its entirely on Friday, April 4th at 12 Noon. I hope you will attend. For the next two Sundays, the choir will offer excerpts of the work during our 10 A.M. Eucharist. My hope is that it will help prepare our hearts for what is the most important time of the church year, Holy Week. While I love the magic of Christmas as much as the next person, it was Christ’s atoning sacrifice that transformed the world. I hope that the music ministry’s offering of the St. Mark Passion will aid in our devotion and worship as we remain ever mindful that Christ’s unconditional love for us still shines as a beacon of hope and salvation.
Dr. Homer A. Ferguson III
Organist/Choirmaster