St. George's at 100!

By The Rev. R. Craig Burlington
Rector 1974-1992, Curate & Associate 1969-1974

What a privilege to be invited to preach at St. George's in Maplewood on the conclusion of your one hundredth birthday. My thoughts range far and wide on this weekend of a Festal Evensong and gala party last night. Oh, how I think of the saints of the past who I pray are with us in spirit as I speak.

• Instantly Margaret Sidford comes to mind, born in 1910 and baptized here;

• Jean Stafford born in 1908 and baptized here;

• Erk Runcie born in 1912 and baptized here.

Those three "originals" on my watch have now gone on to their reward after faith filled lives lived at St. George’s for almost the whole 20th century.

• And of course, Hubert, born in 1923, baptized here as well, who is still holding forth into the 21st century, praise God.

So, people in the pews fill my initial thoughts, people of huge character and devotion, about whom a book could be written for each.

Too bad we didn't note these characters with sketches of their lives and their offerings for the good of the church while they were still alive.

• Who could forget Margaret holding up her hand at announcements twice each and every year to warn everybody of the approaching seasonal time change? "Don’t forget to turn back your clocks," she would admonish us!

• Or Jean sticking up for "her boys" if anyone dare comment that two gay men were moving into positions of leadership, one saving the hallowed bazaar from extinction by his extraordinary zesty devotion, and the other, filling the place with a zeal for justice that absolutely enfleshed the gospel?

• Or Erk, bank president, always so calm and trustworthy as treasurer of the church as well?

Those were the "originals," I liked to call them, but so many others fill an honor roll of loved ones in my life that shape me forever.

Then I think of the clergy: AOJ first of all, of course, because he was my mentor. Fourth rector serving from 1949-1974, Albert Ormsby Judd was a tall, handsome, witty gentleman who most people thought was quite reserved, and yet would come to know as a caring and devoted man of faith, quite capable of mischief in his own way! He was the godfather to our fourth child, born and baptized after Bert retired, who along with his attractive wife, Beatrice, would write notes to John Paul that are so exquisitely faithful and poignant that they are a treasure for us to this day.

Bert had picked up the mantle of leadership at St. George's on the heels of one Francis H. Richey who had served as rector since 1918, retiring after 31 years, but who remained in town and assisted at St. George's until he couldn't stand and read the Gospel anymore. Therefore, the spirit of Mr. Richey was still very much alive when I came to St. George's as a deacon and curate in 1969. Many parishioners and townspeople told stories of Mr. Richey that made you realize he was a force to be reckoned with, and a memorable character. His daughter, Martha Neubert, continued as a parishioner for many years, and is buried with her husband, Tony, in the Cloister Garden.

My connections to the Richeys continue to be very deep, as I have come to know and love their great granddaughter, Sharon, in my current parish in Rhode Island. I had the unbelievable privilege to baptize their great great granddaughter, Callan Rose McCarthy, seven years ago. My dream to bring Callan, and her mom, back to St. George's is fulfilled today! I want to show Callan the picture of her great, great grandfather that hangs in the hallway outside the rector's office to this very day. Life in the church is totally amazing when you consider how we are all so interrelated, not only through the Communion of Saints, but lovingly bonded through life in the Body of Christ that brings blessings in so many ways.

I used to love saying "I was only the third rector in the space of seventy five years of St. George's life" when I was called to Rhode Island almost fourteen years ago. I always thought the stability of the place, and its firm foundation had to do with long term leadership, both in the laity as well as in the clergy. St. George's had, and has, a deeply faithful "angel" that hovers over it and makes its blessings known through the ministry and mission of its people who pray here. Many are the causes for justice and truth that have been played out in this parish's ministry:

• Mr. Judd's time was known for his championing of fair housing back in the days when that was not so easily accepted.

• Women became vestry members, and then wardens, during his tenure, Mary Rankin first among them.

• Page Bigelow was ordained deacon in 1974 right as Mr. Judd was retiring, and then priested at St. George's on the Feast of the Epiphany 1977, right after it was legally allowed in the Episcopal Church.

Page's discernment of the call to ordained ministry was deeply nourished and encouraged by the fourth rector, even if the fruits of that ministry were most fully experienced during the term of the fifth. It was the greatest sadness, yet a deep privilege to return to Page's funeral just months after we moved to Rhode Island. Page had served so faithfully right up to her last celebration of the Eucharist on the fifteenth anniversary of her ordination. It occurred in her living room in January of 1992, when she could hardly manage the manual acts because of her Parkinson's, but no one present doubted in the least the deep and abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. The magnificent Eucharistic vessels presented to her by the parish at her ordination were given to me by her husband upon her death and now are among my most prized possessions. Someday they will be back at St. George's. Today Debbie Venezia, on her last Sunday here, embodies that same ministry of women priests sent out from St. George's that Page began 30 years ago.

I could write a book about the joys and challenges of ministry at St. George's in almost one quarter of a century of its life. Having kept its ministry and people so much in my heart and mind over the last thirteen years, and having known its forebears so well for so long, I feel like I'm becoming a kind of grandfather to the parish as I turn the very age Bert Judd was when I first came to Maplewood.

Bill Andersen was a handsome, bushy eye-browed buck of 34, in charge of youth ministry, and was the first person to escort Adelene and me into the beautiful worship space of this church on the day of our first interview in April '69, over thirty six years ago. I still get a chill remembering what that meant to us, and still does. This space seems to me so charged with the Spirit in a way that our daughter, Jenny, would say "shows that people pray here."

When I think of all the prayers prayed before this beautiful reredos with those outstretched hands of Jesus, I am overwhelmed with thanksgiving and awe.

I know how much this space meant to Bert Judd, and it came to mean the same for me. I believe it is coming to mean the same thing to the present rector, "Bernie, the Seventh," as I like to refer to my former student and colleague. I love telling now how it was I who submitted his name as a candidate for rector a few years ago. He just seemed to me to have the characteristics I believed would be appreciated by the people of this particular house of prayer, characteristics deeply in accord with the "angel of the parish" I had come to know and love in my own time in this beloved place.

It may not be generally known, but the last gift AOJ gave to St. George's, in the weeks before he retired, was the ambry at the foot of the cross over the altar, reserving the sacrament for the ministry to the sick or troubled. It is dedicated to the memory of his beloved parents. It always struck me as the ultimate sign, not only of a rector's devotion to his church of so many years, but as a testimony to the faith of a parish founded on the rock of Christ's presence in our midst.

I salute the present congregation, under Bernie's able and loving care, on your significant anniversary. I bring you love from all the Burlingtons, and all those with whom we ministered here, whose roots will always be entwined with the heritage of our beloved St. George's Church in Maplewood. Amen.

© 2005 The Rev. R. Craig Burlington