death

Our good friend Terry Dilley passed away about two weeks ago and we held his funeral today. He was a really wonderful guy. I'll miss him and miss the opportunity to talk with him. He was just brilliant. 

He had been ill for some time. We were all sad as we watched him deteriorate. He was last himself during Advent season while teaching a small group of us about Anglican history. He complained a little about feeling weak and having some difficulty swallowing. 

Terry was received into the Episcopal Church in Minnesota about 10 years ago or so. I had met him in passing about 25 years ago then again at Christ Church about 8 years ago. Of course, I had heard much about Professor Dilley over the course of those intervening years. I may have met him again on occasion but just don't remember.

He and I were among a small group of people who lead our little church through some very difficult times. I don't think Terry enjoyed that... but none of us did and he was a rock through it all. After it had blown over and we moved on he and I talked often about church and literature. I loved listening to him though much of what he said was way out of my experience.

The family was sad but strong.

They held a great party for him tonight with a nice jazz band and good food and friends.

Vigil

The Exsultet

Chanted the Exsultet at the Vigil last night.

Well... I should say I attempted to chant the Exsultet.

I murdered it pretty soundly.

Being a Deacon is not always easy.

Power

The source of all church power, from popes to pastors, from mother superiors to novices, from lay ministers to people in the pews, is, we know, the Holy Spirit. And church power is always, at heart, pastoral power. It’s power given for the care and flourishing of God’s people. Church power, in all its forms, is meant to hold us in harmony with God’s unseen order. It isn’t wilful; it isn’t controlling. It is slow to condemn and slow to excommunicate. Rather, it’s meant to hold us in God’s mercy. It’s meant to hold us in Christ’s arms where we experience the healing touch and feel the breath of the divine. That’s the heart of the church’s power – to gather and to hold to tell again and again the story of God’s fidelity, to break the bread and share the cup.  Donald Cozzens

I read this and immediately apply it to my call as a deacon. This is the heart of my ministry and the reason for my call. I might add the thought of how this power, gifted to the church by the Holy Spirit, is a power to reach out and touch all God’s children and all of creation; that pastoral power extends out to all whether in or out of the church. The Gospel reading this week was John 4 where Jesus passes through Samaria and reaches out with grace to a Samaritan woman staying two days and touching many. This is my call as a deacon and our call as the church.