Happenings
Fr. Phil’s Thoughts(The first in maybe not regular writings)(:o)12/20/2009 Passing the Peace: Concerns about this tradition were brought to St. Martin’s Vestry Meeting last week. There are some who may worry about this part of the worship due to its free-for-all nature. Some simply feel uncomfortable with it because of a fear of being hugged or mugged. And, with the current health concerns about flu and viruses, some are leery about even shaking hands. These are valid concerns that are not unique to St. Martin’s. They are shared by many others in the Episcopal Church, as well as in many other denominations where this ritual is practiced. So what do we do?? It has been suggested we have Holy Conversation. Since this is a community issue, community conversation seems like an excellent idea. Before we do this, let’s take a look at the origin and purpose of this tradition. This is one of the most basic traditions of holy worship practiced by Christians down through the ages. It is rooted in several passages in the New Testament that refer to giving one another a “holy kiss”. In Romans 16:16, Paul tells members of the congregation to “greet one another with a holy kiss”; The First Letter of Peter ends, “Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ” (1 Peter 5:14).(The Episcopal Handbook). While we usually refrain from “holy kissing”, we do customarily pass the peace just before coming to the Lord’s Table. Let’s plan on having holy conversation about this at our January 10th Annual Meeting, in hopes of determining a process that satisfies concerns and supports the intent of this holy tradition. In the meantime, let us be as sensitive as we can about our parish family member’s individual concerns.
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Millennium Development Goals
The MDGs represent a global partnership that has grown from the
commitments and targets established at the world summits of the 1990s. Responding to the world's
main development challenges and to the calls of civil society, the MDGs promote poverty reduction,
education, maternal health, gender equality, and aim at combating child mortality,
AIDS and other diseases.
