Update from St Anna's, NOLA

Last night I received the latest issue of the Anna's Journal from Fr. Bill.
I'm not sure how he does it but they seem to arrive at just the right time to remind me of what is happening in New Orleans and St. Anna's.

The church and each of us impose an awful lot on Lent. We have lots of memories of how Lent was when we were children. We're confused by what we are taught now. There's lots of guilt. Lots of wailing and bemoaning. Well, maybe not wailing, but a lot of complaining. While I understand the concept of the fast before the feast, the reflection before the rejoicing, does Lent mean we really have to do anything different if we are trying to live a Christ-like life everyday?

There was a line in this past Sunday's Gospel that seemed to get lost in the story of the woman at the well. Jesus said "...the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth." God asks for very little - for us to worship in spirit - from the deepest depths of our selves, heart and soul - and in truth - without reservation giving ourselves fully. And Jesus tells us how to do this - by loving each other as we love ourselves.

Ah, there's the rub. Loving each other as we love ourselves is the tricky bit. It means a lot more than being nice to someone, or letting someone cut in from a side street. It's caring for those who are suffering, who've experienced loss, who are in trouble. It's demanding justice for everyone and holding those accountable who refuse to give it. It's reaching out to rebuild a life, to bring hope and a little beauty back to a stranger's world. It's thinking that if I expect something for myself, then other's should too, and I need to be part of the solution.

As I read this issue of the Anna's Journal, I read about a city that keeps being kicked when it's down. Bless those who keep fighting for justice and those who keep building and rebuilding. New Orleans needs more people who live by The New Commandment.

St. Anna's needs our prayers - and we do pray for them each week. They need our support - financial gifts as you can read are always welcome. But they need advocates. Are you willing to be an advocate - to write or call our government and church leaders to keep the needs of NOLA on the front burner? If you are, please speak with me.
Peace,
John


The Anna Journal Lent 2008
If I were not writing this and had I not experienced this myself, I would think that I was a conspiracy theory nut!
Last night we were honored to host the CDC (Center for Disease Control) at St. Anna’s in a public forum. The subject was “Formaldehyde Levels in FEMA-Supplied Trailers.” The officers of the CDC seemed a concerned that the crowd might get unruly so they asked that I open the meeting with prayer; which I did. The crowd did not get unruly and the meeting lasted about two hours with about 100 attending at one point or another.

It seems that the CDC has determined that “Average levels of formaldehyde in all travel trailers and mobile homes were about 77 parts per billion. Breathing this much formaldehyde over time at this level can affect health.” In the crowd, many testified that they and particularly their children were experiencing profound breathing problems; watery eyes; etc. These are all symptoms of the “condition.” When a person asked where can I go to get treated the CDC said they didn’t it wasn’t their mission. When asked about alternative housing the CDC said they didn’t know for sure, it wasn’t their mission. I do not condemn the CDC they were only supposed to alert the government and people of the potential health risk. They did. But no immediate help seemed available certainly no medical help.

FEMA set up tables with case workers in our adjacent Parish Hall but did not actively seek out nor announce alternatives to trailer housing. But they did advise the CDC that they would take quick action. Interestingly, Green Peace tried to inform Congress of this issue one year ago without result.

One man asked for help. He stood up and explained that he and his four children had been living under the bridge for a time. When his father moved out of his trailer back into his home he let his son and children live in the trailer. All four children were ill. The man didn’t look well either. He wanted accountability. He wanted help. The CDC officer, unable to help, offered nothing. I told the man to call St. Anna’s in the morning and we would get him immediate medical help. He wanted accountability. He was frustrated. He was angry. He was about to be homeless. Because FEMA could not get him housing; FEMA would not test the trailer; FEMA could not send him to the Doctor because the trailer was in his father’s name. Live with formaldehyde or live on the street for now.

The red tape and lack of clear responsibility for a fellow citizen by “The Government”, municipal, state, or Federal was a shame.

Please keep in mind that over 100,000 trailers housed people in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas after the hurricanes of 2005. This is perhaps, as one attendee noted the largest single health disaster by poisoning in U.S. history. The scientific reality is that we won’t know the outcomes for about twenty years. To top it all off, guess who gets the used FEMA trailers after use by locals – NATIVE AMERICANS!

Yes, FEMA is recalling them but hey…..Katrina keeps on giving and no everything is not alright….

It is not all bleak!
Because of the support that we received from partner churches we were sustained through 2006 and 2007. I am pleased to report that the average Sunday has risen as follows:
January 2006 - 25
January 2007 - 45
January 2008 - 60
February 2008 - 70
Because of your support for mission we have caught the notice of many younger people who are seeking a spiritual home that lives what it prays and they believe that they have found it in St. Anna’s. The Bishop will visit us this Sunday and we will Receive and Confirm over ten people! Easter, we already have lined up at least two baptisms and perhaps more and by late June we will have performed six weddings at St. Anna’s!
In our quest to serve many, you know that we began an ESL (English as A Second Language) Class. God’ will for us grew to more outreach to the Hispanic community. St. Anna’s was able to secure the support of Bp. Alexander of Atlanta who is sending us his Hispanic Missioner to help us establish a Hispanic Apostolate. We received a grant to do so in the amount of $100,000. Our task will be to establish a “Life Resource Center” for Latinos; establish a Latino church; and to support that work. In conjunction with that we have hired a priest associate to help run the Apostolate. His name will be announced as soon as his background checks are done. But, he is excited and we are very excited to have him!
Our budget, like last year, is over $500,000! This budget, at the recommendation of the Summit attendees, contemplates continuing the Medical Mission; Mission to Musicians; and Hispanic Apostolate.
The challenge is that we have not yet secured a viable grant or funding source for the Medical Mission. Having served over 5,000 people since we hit the road we now have an opportunity to increase our services four fold in a partnership with Daughters of Charity. We still need commitments for $120,000 on our part to keep the Medical Unit rolling. Funding appears to run out on the Medical Mission early summer of this year. A very large contribution was received from St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Louisville, KY. Having pledged their Christmas offering to St. Anna’s!
We believe that the Mission to Musicians we also be more modest in 2008 relying on church sponsored fund raisers. Since starting this mission has issued over 300 checks to working musicians and attended to the medical needs of over 1,800 people by now. Partners in this mission of special note are: Christ Church Chippewa Falls, WI. St. Paul’s, Hudson, WI.; St. Marks Church, Milwaukee, WI.; and Emmanuel Church, Newport, R.I. each has held a special Jazz Fund raiser for the Mission to Musicians; other supporters include: Grace Church, Providence, R.I. , New Orleans Musicians Clinic, and individual donors and visiting mission groups.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Several areas of assistance still remain and we solicit your thoughts or updates:
St. Francis Church, our tireless friends, have agreed to set up a list serve of supporting parishes. We recently heard that it is still being worked on and not forgotten. We look forward to a free exchange of information.
We have a hole in our operating budget ($220,000) of about $20,000. Any congregation willing to take a leap of faith and pledge for the year 2008 will be most appreciated. Stability is a key factor for us right now.
We are undertaking some serious work that MUST be done on the ‘Old Historic House.’ The Old House is giving way. It must be shored up and some exterior repairs to the second floor balconies must be made or it may be condemned. We have formed a work group to study and report on this and to assist in raising funds. If you can help us with grant writing for ‘restoration’ it would be very helpful. This is a big project.
I hope to institute a letter writing campaign to the Presiding Bishop and all Bishops to support the Medical Mission here in New Orleans. Please help us to do this. We will be asking for funding from Diocese and from the National Church to help fund the Medical Unit for a three to four year term. We are seeking a total funding amount of $400-500,000. Any thoughts?
We would really like to hear from you.
One of the points that were made at the Summit was that St. Anna’s needed to communicate more and effectively in order to keep our ‘cause’ before congregations. We do write letters of thanks to each donor. We try to send out Anna Journals when possible. Recently, Diane Dawson sent out a Journal attempting to get some energy going and she received one reply. Help us to communicate. Tell us what you want and what you need.
We still need you. We are nearing sustainability but we are still dealing with Katrina. New Orleans still has not established a viable public health system; schools are still dysfunctional; and re-building is slow in many sectors. Crime is still high and frustration along with depression still higher. For many now is the time of brokenness. After reading all of the MDG’s I can only think of one that does not apply to New Orleans. The more I am here the more I am convinced that the Katrina Disaster is a National shame.
Give us hope. Give us life. Remember us in prayer.

Finding Comfort in God

I recently saw this quote:
"Comfort is the difference between the way things are and the way we expect them to be. Comfort is an illusion. It is neither present nor welcome here."

After I read this several times, I immediately thought of this week's Gospel, The Samaritan woman at the well. I was, and am always in awe by this week's Gospel. The Samaritan woman by the well meeting up with Jesus. I laugh (sarcastically), thinking about how taken aback this woman must have felt after... a.) not knowing what this "living water" stuff meant that Jesus was going on about, or b.)that really she initially "signed on" to this deal thinking that Jesus was promising her comfort that she would never have to drag herself to that well again to draw water. What a relief and comfort that must have been to know that laborious task was coming to an end!

aha! Her initial narrow-mindedness, and laziness was the bait to get her right where Jesus wanted her!
Funny, we all find comfort in what we know as familiar. It is a blessing indeed. It is a blessing to wake up each day, dress, go to work and pretty much figure out how the day will unfold. So, we think. That brings us comfort. It brings us comfort to "think" we have control. Control over the outcomes. Control over our actions, things we want others to do for us, and ultimately control over feelings and beliefs. Predictability we might call it. But Jesus was here to teach the woman at the well more to do about water than she ever really wanted to know! Jesus wasn't there to talk about the quality of the drinking water..(as I related in Children's Chapel this week in a pitcher of Newport's finest tap water vs. Poland Spring bottled water.) And even the comparisons in that story had its benefits...
Even the finest of waters, (Perrier with Lemon), couldn't compare to Jesus' water!
To never thirst again. To never need to go to the well for another bucket full. (Remember it must have been very difficult physically to draw water however many times a day and walk it back to your home. Maybe 5x! as many husbands she had.) So, to be offered a water that was life-eternal, no need to replenish, restock, or think your thirst would be quenched forever by taking it from Jesus had to be bonus itself...regardless of knowing who Jesus was, or what he professed was actually the message!
The woman took comfort in that fact that her day would be lighter in load because of her water promise. She thought it comfortable to not thirst again. "Whatever that meant". And yet, there was always a "discomfort". That lingering feeling that something was not quite right about all of this. She only knew this man to be a Jew. She wonders why he would first ask her, a Samaritan, for a glass of water...let alone accept a lifetime guarantee on never needing it again. It was grossly uncomfortable and certainly suspicious. The comfortable things at first really are never comfortable in the long run. There was a catch here, and Jesus was quick to point it out to her. In receiving His offer for Living water, she then asked that magical question! Why Me? Why a Samaritan? Do we not like one another? (Remember there are no free lunches!) Jesus then inquires about her husband. "Well...there isn't a current husband." Jesus is quick to respond, lovingly, I believe, "Yes, I know that you are not married to the man you reside with, but you have had 5 previous husbands." The woman is clearly shocked and professes that Jesus is obviously a prophet, a psychic of some kind. Who could know my past? I have never met you before today. How lucky for her that Jesus could prove to her that God knows all, holds all, and will see all things transpire that God has called to be. Imagine her amazement in being told by a stranger your life history. Surely, in the most uncomfortable part of humility she found strength in the fact that this man was not judging her, but in fact pushing her to her destiny. Marry the man or leave him, and proclaim the message that the Messiah was here. The Savior of the World. He was here, knew her story, continued to promise the Living Water if there was just Faith in God and belief in Jesus. What a comfort, in a very uncomfortable moment.

We are faced all the time with comfort vs. uncomfortable. Everyday. The things we have chosen over and over again seem comfortable to us. This is because we have chosen them so many times it seems comfortable, like second nature. (The woman marrying 5 times... it was probably comfortable to her). And yet, perhaps, that the comfort zone we so desperately cling too is precisely why we wind up in these situations! I am sure the woman at the well was not comfortable even in her continuous choices to do this. She was uncomfortable admitting to Jesus that she wasn't married to this man; yet she didn't lie. That I think made Jesus glad. (She was probably tired of choosing the same comfortable mistake she thought and decided reluctantly to not marry him.) Jesus knows our hearts and He isn't afraid to talk to us about the feelings that live in there. Without judgement I might add. He isn't afraid to show what can be if we have faith.
The next time we are faced with doing something that just doesn't seem comfortable- or is not what we think we should/or should not do.... Ask this... Do I want to thirst anymore? Or do I want to drink form the Living Water where I thirst no more?

Miss Dawn, Director of Children's Ministries

On Lent and Repentance

On Sunday, in observance of the First Sunday in Lent, we will begin the liturgy with a solemn procession and the Great Litany. At the end of the Great Litany, the priest says:

"Give us true repentance; forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance and our deliberate sins; and grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to your word."

Lent is about repentance, forgiveness, and grace. Those are heavy subjects. However, the good news is that Lent is not an end in itself but an opportunity to prepare for Easter. During this season, we have the opportunity to focus on those parts of our lives that limit our ability to live as competely and fully as God desires. God has created each of us wonderfully and with a purpose that is life giving to us and to others. However, sometimes thoughts, actions, or other impediments limit our ability to live as God intends. We have this time of Lent to think about those impediments and, with God's help, to make some changes.

On Ash Wednesday, I talked about the three "Rs" of repentance - recognize, regret, and reorient. (I am grateful to Robert Voyle of Appreciative Inquiry Leadership Training for sharing these three aspects of repentance). First, we recognize that there is something in our lives that limits our ability to live as God would have us to live. Second, we regret this part of our lives by bringing to consciousness the cost to ourselves and others of our actions. Finally, we reorient ourselves by focussing not on what we don't want to do or be but on something positive. We have to replace the unwanted with something that is truly life giving. As Robert Voyle says, "Any "no" or act of self-denial in the spiritual life is only as helpful as the deeper "yes" that the no allows.

To what can you say "yes" during this season of repentance and preparation? Thank God that God's grace is abundance and that God longs for each of us to live into the richness and fullness of all that God has for us!