It’s customary for people to look back and assess the past year; hence the top ten lists like those I linked to in an earlier post. Episcopalian bloggers have done something similar with lists of the ten most important stories.

Here’s Elizabeth Kaeton’s take. Here’s another try, from Susan B. Snook.

I’m not going to comment on either one. Around here, of course, the big story was the protests. It was a year of protests, beginning in February and continuing through the summer with Walkerville. This blog saw a huge increase in visitors during the protests and in fact the number of visits has continued to stay at a much higher level than before. More than 21,000 unique visits in 2011. The busiest day was February 22, the day of the interfaith clergy press conference.

I’ve not gone back to reread what I wrote during the height of the protests. One of the reasons I like to blog is that it is a contemporary equivalent of a day book or diary in which I take note of what’s going on in mind and in the world around me at particular moments. I think it will provide a very useful resource in future years as I reflect on my ministry. But it’s also quite raw, caught up in the moment, and therefore probably lacking in perspective.

If there are images that dominate 2011 as I reflect on the past year, in addition to the protests, I would cite the interfaith 9-11 service that we held at Grace, and then Christmas Eve, with two glorious services and an encounter with a very ill homeless man on the sidewalk after the 4:00 service. That encounter became the heart of my sermon at the 10:00 service.

That Christmas Eve experience of worship in the context of the daily ministry in an urban church is the most challenging and rewarding part of Grace’s mission. To worship surrounded by marathoners, or protestors, means that our worship can never be only about ourselves and God, it is also about those around us. Sometimes it’s hard to see the connection and sometimes, as on Ash Wednesday, the connection is clear only to us inside the church.

The experience of 2011 as we became more clear on what Grace’s role in the community should be, has provided a solid foundation for more visible outreach in the community, being a witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ amidst the crowds and noise on Capitol Square.