When we come together at the Annual meeting on Sunday 26th of January, we will have entered the 150th year of Grace Church. We have already begun to mark the occasion with the launch of the Sustaining Grace Campaign, which will continue to offer us all an opportunity to help reach its financial goals throughout the coming year. And we anticipate the holding of congregational and community events throughout the year, focusing on the historical place of Grace within the Napa Valley community, as well as a futuristic exploration into how we can expect the Church of the future to look deeper into the 21st century. Of course, we culminate the year with the celebration of 150 years of Grace in December 2025.
Many of these plans will be taken up by the 2025 vestry whom you will be electing at the Annual Meeting. The collect for the Day on January 26th or the Third Sunday after Epiphany reads: “Give us grace, O Lord, to answer readily the call of our Savior Jesus Christ and proclaim to all people the Good News of his salvation, that we and the whole world may perceive the glory of his marvelous works, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for even and ever. Amen.”
The readings for the day remind us that we make up one Body of Christ, each of us assuming a specific part, and all of us needing one another as we learn to function in unity. Likewise, the Gospel recalls Jesus’ initiation into ministry, shortly after his baptism and time in the wilderness. He enters the synagogue of his hometown, reads a prophecy from Isaiah about the Spirit’s anointing on God’s servant to lift up the poor, and liberate the captives, and Jesus announces that “Today this prophecy is fulfilled in your hearing!”
We could not ask for more appropriate Scriptures for our purpose as we gather that day. Anniversaries beckon us to look back in thanksgiving and look forward in hope and aspiration. And I have asked Amy and the vestry to indulge me in an exercise of perspective as we gather at the Annual Meeting. As part of the Annual meeting, I invite us to enter a process called Indaba. Indaba comes from Southern Africa, and is a communal conversation, often focused on a particular issue. It is a useful vehicle too for our purpose of a more general appraisal.
In an indaba a community gathers in small groups of 6-10 persons. At its best, each group has a facilitator and a notetaker, or at least a facilitator who can also take notes. We will pose three questions: What is Grace Church for you, and why does that matter? And where is Grace Church now in this moment? I will invite the facilitator to begin with their responses, and then the facilitator will invite members around the table to share their answers. It is not a dialogue nor a debate or discussion. There is no cross talk, just a simple listening as each one who wishes shares. The notetaker writes everyone’s responses down. People have the option to pass on sharing. The notes are then gathered up and will be summarized to be presented at a later stage. They will be helpful too for the vestry at their retreat the following week.
I have used Indaba as a conversational tool and a resource gathering process for the Iowa Diocesan Convention on several occasions. And it works. Above all it allows for voices to be heard that normally might be reticent to offer their thoughts.
It seems to me that there are few times in a given Church year when we gather as we do for the Annual meeting. I know that some find the idea of a business meeting uninspiring and will be tempted to slip out after the service. I invite you to resist that temptation! Indaba, however, empowers us all. On Sunday we will gather in church for an abbreviated eucharist, at which Amy and I will endeavor to engage in a dialogue sermon in place of our “annual reports” which will be in writing. At the end of the service, we will process to the Newton Room and participate in the indaba, a potluck brunch and the oral reports, thanksgivings and elections that complete the Annual meeting. Please note, that as you enter the church, we ask everyone to receive their own bulletin, which will be numbered according to the number of tables we set up for conversation in the Newton Room. That way we manage to refresh the social encounters at the different table.
Apologies for heading so directly into the weeds concerning the arrangements on the day. But people generally like to know what to expect. I know that Grace Church matters to you, and that you have desires to improve our faithfulness into the future. As we gather as the Body of Christ – one body, many members – there is not one of us of whom it can be said “we have no need of you”. We look forward to sharing this initial prominent event of our 150th year. And to be able to say with Jesus “Today these Scriptures are fulfilled in our hearing
– Bishop Alan
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