The gospel appointed for Monday in Holy Week is John 12:1-11–the story of the anointing of Jesus at Bethany by Mary. While all four gospels have versions of this story, the four diverge dramatically in details. John sees the significance of the anointing in light of the crucifixion. When challenged by Judas about the expensive perfume used, Jesus replies, “she has anointed me beforehand for my burial.

Monday in Holy Week is also the traditional day in our diocese for the annual reaffirmation of ordination vows and the chrism mass, when the bishop consecrates holy oil and distributes it to clergy for use in the coming year. I’ve never attended this service; it comes on a day when I teach, and besides, my ordination vows are still recent enough that they don’t need to be recharged.

Yesterday, I visited a parishioner who’s been in the hospital for over a month. She is probably in the last stages of her life. While I was there, I anointed her with oil for healing, but as I thought about it, and as I pondered the gospel in preparation for the evening service, I wondered whether I was also anointing her for burial. Perhaps I was doing both. As I put oil on her forehead, I thought of Mary’s anointing of Jesus, and I thought as well of Jesus suffering on the cross. It was one of those moments when the little things we do are powerful reminders of our connection with the stories in the gospel and with the whole church. The anointing at Bethany was also the anointing in Greenville, yesterday.

Amidst all of the other news and noise, you may have heard something about the massive study of religious life in the US undertaken by the Pew Forum. Among the key findings: almost 30% of Americans have left the religion in which they were raised for another one, or for no affiliation. If one includes movement within Protestant denominations, that percentage increases to 44%. Almost 1/4 of young adults (18-29) claim no religious affiliation and although a third of American adults were raised as Catholic, only 1/4 of adult Americans are Catholic. This significant loss in numbers would be even greater if not for immigration. You can read more about the survey here.

Such surveys provide useful information for us as we think about St. James’ ministry in Greenville. While we live in an area that is more Protestant and more Evangelical than the rest of the country, Greenville is changing rapidly. The growing number of religiously unaffiliated people and the frequent movement between denominations and religions pose challenges to the Church. How can we reach out to those who are unaffiliated, especially those who have become disaffected from their religious upbringing? How can we make our worship, parish life, and ministries attractive to newcomers and visitors?

I haven’t read the report closely–my eyes often begin to glaze when dealing with too many statistics–but I am familiar with other surveys that focus on baby-boomers and post baby-boomers. Remarkably, these surveys have shown clearly that when following people over periods of time (longitudinal studies), many people move in and out of involvement in religious communities. We know that young families seek out the church, but these studies have shown that many young families disengage, and people later in life re-engage with the church. That’s partly why the Pew Survey found such a low affiliation among young adults.

We are living in a religious marketplace, and how the church responds to that reality will be key to its survival, both on the local and the global level.

Months ago, when I invited Dr. Shelly Matthews to preach on January 27 I had no idea what else would be going on. Oh, I knew that there were two organ recitals scheduled, but it was only later that we decided to focus on Children’s Church at the 9:00 service. The senior EYC lock-in that was scheduled for the 19th and 20th was postponed until this weekend. I ended up spending about as much time at the church this weekend as I would from Good Friday to Easter.

But it was a wonderful weekend. The recital was beautiful, both times–in fact I heard it in full only on Sunday. I had to slip out early on Friday night to help with final preparations for the reception. I was especially taken with the Bruhns from the first half of the concert, and the Durufle at the end. It was also great to see Hal Gober again, and to meet his wife. Karen and the organ wow’ed all of those in attendance.

At 12:15 AM on Sunday, I celebrated the Eucharist with around 25 of our young people. It was a beautiful night as I drove up the mountain. The moon was shining brightly which gave me an idea for some comments on the gospel I made at the Eucharist. Yesterday’s readings were from Isaiah 9 and Matthew 4, which quotes the Isaiah passage “the people that walked in darkness have seen a great light.”

Then at 9:00, we worshiped with Children’s Church and gave our first and second graders prayer books to celebrate their completing the course on the meaning of the Eucharist. It was great fun to watch all of the kids participate in our worship so enthusiastically and I must say that several of them are almost ready to become readers for our regular services. The energy and excitement during the service was wonderful.

I would like to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this weekend the huge success it was. Karen of course; the members of the organ committee–especially Albert Blackwell; Corrie who put on the reception Friday night and Karen Hipp who did so much to help; the women of the ECW who did the reception on Sunday; Laura Lipscomb and Jennifer Jerina, who organize children’s church and organized as well the children’s participation; Shelly Matthews who preached a fine sermon, as always; Katie, who organized and survived the lock-in, and the staff of St. James, who worked so hard behind the scenes to make the weekend a success: Dena, Becky, and Mike. Great job, everyone!

I’ve never been there in January, but Corrie and I have enjoyed the hike both in the spring and the fall. Some of our middle school youth made the hike January 13. They made the mistake of sharing the photos with me. As an aside, when the EYC ski trip was announced for Super Bowl Sunday this year, I mentioned that the last time I had been skiing was Super Bowl Sunday, 1979. Thanks be to God, no pictures exist of that event.

So here is the falls, the kids, and an emu.