By Shannan Hudgins
We’ve named it Winter Green Worship: we are trying to think green about our worship during the coldest winter months of the year. As Kermit-the-Frog proclaimed so many years ago, “It ain’t easy being green.” Tee hee, we giggle, with fond memories of Miss Piggy rudely dismissing the smitten Kermit. Our current chuckle, however, more resembles a collective groan of fear-edged dread, as frosts greet us most mornings and November edges ever closer.
New Hampshire is our corner of this island home, where most winters are bitter and fuel bills are often high. Last year’s snow accumulation and low temperatures proved to be difficult for many families in our community. In planning the administration of St. Andrew’s facilities at our September meeting, the Vestry opened a discussion centered on sustainability, responsible stewardship of our resources, and how best to serve our parishioners and the communities in which they live. It ain’t easy.
The decision to close the sanctuary for eight weeks was likened to a ball of twine with many ends, loose and dangling. As we live into this commitment, each of us on the Vestry welcomes commentary, suggestions, and support. As Geri Smariga stated, “This is a planned-but-not-scripted effort by this community to conserve” and we will be as successful as our engagement is deep. Winter Green Worship is the first step in a broader project of thinking more attentively about how our church community relates to the natural world around us.
The Winter Green Worship service will be distinctly different from the ‘Service in the Great Hall’.
A new altar is being built for the space and we will have a grand piano as the cornerstone of our music ministry. Church school plans will not change: children will join their families for Holy Communion. We are working on prayer books, hymnals, acolytes, and the myriad details that support our community gathering for worship.
We are trying to do the right thing for St. Andrew’s, for our communities, and for God’s creation. Please keep us in your prayers, send us suggestions, contact us, and as we prepare for this adventure, try to remember the most-repeated phrase throughout scripture: Fear Not.
