Dear People of St. James’,
One of the joys of summer is looking back through my Facebook memories (and my actual memories) and remembering all of the amazing journeys involved in doing youth and young adult ministry. A week and a half or so back, I was scrolling through those memories. There I was with a medical brigade in Honduras; there I was in Houston driving the delegation from Costa Rica, our companion diocese, from place to place; there I was celebrating in the streets of Salt Lake City at General Convention when the Obergefell v. Hodges decision landed; there I was in Waveland, Mississippi, repairing homes after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita; and there I was in Galveston repairing homes after Hurricane Ike. Each journey took me physically and spiritually to a place I had not been before, and I found that my companions for each journey, diverse and surprising as they were, helped to lead me home to myself by another road.
This month, our youth group will be making a pilgrimage, a camino, if you will, inspired by the Camino de Santiago. The St. Julian’s youth group will join them as companions on the journey as they visit holy places associated with our past and future (e.g. Huston-Tillotson and the first St. James’ building or the future site of St. Julian’s of Norwich), go it alone with individual challenges, and come together with fellow peregrinos for story-telling and celebration.
Each week, we will pray for our youth peregrinos (pilgrims) as a community, but I would also like to invite you to give some spiritual attention to your own journeys this summer, even if they are journeys made in place. Notice those quiet moments where prayer or song, or hope or grief unresolved break forth unbidden. Get curious about your companions along the way, and delight in them. Keep walking, even when your feet are sore and your weary mind won’t stop complaining, and then rejoice because you have arrived somewhere you have not been before. On returning home, share your hope, your vision of a different future with someone, that they might be your companion in the journey to come.
For the larger St. James’ community, we will be setting up some albergues, some places of respite and story-sharing where people can come together during the summer. Of course, Sunday worship and our online gatherings are such spaces, but in July, we are opening up a couple other possibilities:
Family gatherings in the park on July 15 and July 29: We want to get families with children and youth who are new to St. James’ together with those who have been on the journey with us for a bit. Contact ari@stjamesaustin.org for more information.
A Newcomers Brunch on Saturday, July 17, 11 am: RSVP to rector@stjamesaustin.org if you are a newcomer who would like to join us or a long-time St. Jamesian who would like to help welcome our new traveling companions on this spiritual journey.
Porch Visits with the Rector: I would love to check in with you, people of St. James’, so I am opening my calendar during July [except for the week I am leading a summer camp at Camp Allen] to visit with you and yours. We can talk about whatever is on your mind; I can bring you communion if it has been too long. Visits can be in person or on the phone/Zoom; I can travel to you or you can visit the office or recommend a coffee spot. You can invite a neighbor or a friend you think I should connect with. Sign up here: https://doodle.com/mm/1997160851/book-a-time.
May July be a blessed journey for you and for your traveling companions.
Buen camino,
Rev. Eileen
