A Parish Rule of Life

by The Rev'd Canon Dr. Michael Petty, Canon for Adult Formation

Let’s begin with two questions: First, how much time each week do you spend watching television and/or using social media? Second, how much time each week do you spend reading the Bible? According to survey data from the Pew Center for Religion and Public Life, the answer given to the second question by many American Christians is not encouraging (many were unable to name all four Gospels). It is possible to draw all sorts of conclusions from this data, but I think it needs to be said that generally speaking, we American Christians have an undisciplined approach to the Bible and the media we consume has a greater influence on our lives than the Word of God.

One of the things that the Parish Rule of Life calls all of us to is a regular (daily) and intentional discipline of reading and studying Scripture. There is really only one reason for such a discipline. A daily encounter with God’s Word is a daily encounter with God, who seeks to shape us into his faithful people. In other words, we read Scripture for both information (to understand it) and for transformation (to be changed by God speaking to us).

Many of us have heard 2 Timothy 3:16 quoted partially to support the authority of Scripture (“All Scripture is breathed out by God”). Yes, all Scripture is “breathed out” or inspired by God! But the verse goes on to say, “and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” Scripture was inspired by God for the purpose of making us competent as his people. Without immersion in Scripture, we do not simply remain ignorant of some doctrines, but we remain incompetent Christians. God wants us to be competent so that we can serve him faithfully!

Developing a discipline of reading Scripture takes commitment but having proper resources helps. As you seek to spend more time in God’s Presence, consider the following:

1. Begin to pray the Daily Office in the Book of Common Prayer. This pattern of prayer and Scripture reading will take you through the whole Bible in one year. For an easy to use online version of the Daily Office, go to www.dailyoffice2019.com

2. Subscribe to Encounter With God. This publication will give you a Scripture reading for every day of the year and commentary to go with each reading. To subscribe, go to www.scriptureunion.org

3. Begin using St. Peter’s one-year Bible Reading Plan. These can be found in the Narthex of the church.

4. Form a Bible study group with other members of the St. Peter’s family. If you are interested in doing this, please let me know at MPetty@StPetersFL.com

Remember Romans 15:4– "For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope."

God Loves A Cheerful Giver

by Mary Carolina Mica

Each Fall during Stewardship Season, the old Sunday School song “God Loves a Cheerful Giver” comes to mind. It is a playful song that I remember singing as a young child and perhaps you do too. Its catchy tune is so simple yet such a truthful reminder as we approach giving our pledge each year. The lyrics of the song are based on 2 Corinthians 9:7 which states,

“Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”

The practice of tithing has been instilled in both my husband and me since we were young. We watched our parents tithe and teach us what it meant. Now that we are parents, we are starting to discuss with our children the meaning of giving cheerfully to our church. It is not for our joy, but for His Kingdom. Most importantly, we want our children to know that we give God back what is ultimately His and in doing so, we praise Him in this act of worship. One example is what we do with our children’s full piggy banks. Last year, when our son’s piggy bank was full, we told him he could empty it out and buy something on an upcoming trip, but first, he had to set aside a portion to give to the church and some to put in savings. Basic principles of stewardship applied even on his level, and it brought incredible joy to us to see our young son begin to understand these principles.

When David and I first got married, submitting our pledge to St. Peter’s was something we both felt very strongly about. We wanted to start our marriage and future family by giving to our church. While the amount has varied over the years, we have intentionally tried to increase it each year. Some years it has been a true leap of faith! But each year as we see the Lord’s generosity in our lives and in this Cathedral, we are overjoyed and encouraged to do more.

Our family is grateful for the ministries of St. Peter’s and shares in the desire to increase our missions and external spending. As Father Michael shared with us in his sermon at the beginning of our stewardship season, “Stewardship is the spiritual discipline which enables us to become generous and so reflect the generosity of God.”

As we all work to make stewardship a spiritual discipline in our lives, may you find joy in being a cheerful giver!

The Harvest is Plentiful

by The Rev'd Canon Bill Krizner, Canon for Missions & Evangelism

As many times as I have read Matthew 9, I am still left wondering “why?”

Why are the laborers so few? Knowing Christ’s compassion for the crowds, why has the Church so often failed to respond to this call by praying and acting? Why has the harvest grown so greatly in our very own city and the number of laborers decreased?

In short, self-absorption…we can become so preoccupied with our own interests, situation, and desires that we lose sight of our primary call as Christians – namely, loving God and then our neighbors with all our hearts, minds, and souls.

We find ourselves in a new season of ministry at St. Peter’s Cathedral. It is a time when the Holy Spirit is breaking hearts and opening eyes for those who have yet to call Jesus Christ both Lord and Savior. We have been working diligently to build a far greater capacity for ALL our parishioners to give of their time, talents, and treasures to work in many critical areas of ministry – upholding the sanctity of life, ending human-trafficking, international partnerships, school campus outreach, under-resourced outreach, and prison outreach. We have changed our approach from simply “doing good things” to expressly sharing the saving name of Jesus Christ as we go about Kingdom work. We are identifying and building up the laity and trusting them– trusting YOU to use your God-given talents to envision and lead this Gospel-centered work. In short, we are growing hungrier to be a Gospel proclaiming church that genuinely reflects the call of the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations.

You see, a spirit of missions and evangelism is the very heart of Christianity, and it can only be effective as a result of each and every one of us partnering to help the advancement of the Gospel. Giving faithfully for such purposes is, quite simply stated, Biblical stewardship. As the “Pac Man” graph in this year’s stewardship booklet so vulnerably reveals, we have a long way to go in directing more of our resources to the advancement of the Gospel. However, we believe that, through both faithful prayer and faithful giving, St. Peter’s will continue becoming a church that is truly centered in the proclamation that Jesus Christ came to save all people from the bondage of sin, as it shares this Good News with the world outside the walls of the Cathedral.

The harvest is truly plentiful, friends…Won’t you join Christ, and St. Peter’s, in the fields?

Annual Stewardship Campaign Begins

by John Wood & Mac McNeill, Treasurer & Chair of Finance Committee

Today at St. Peter’s Cathedral, we begin our annual Stewardship Campaign. As Treasurer and Chair of the Finance Committee, we are writing on behalf of St. Peter’s requesting your pledge of support to our beloved Cathedral and its missions for the upcoming year.

For those new to St. Peter’s and the Anglican process of stewardship, we do not simply draw up a budget based on our financial requirements of salaries, mortgages, utilities, missions, spiritual priorities, etc., and then hope gifts will match our budget. We ask our members to prayerfully consider their financial investment and then we construct our annual budget from the total of the funds pledged.

God has certainly blessed our development and growth at St. Peter’s as we have been blessed financially with balanced budgets each year. We have suffered through great turmoil, and to borrow from a biblical parable, God has pruned our vines back a bit. Additionally, we have endured a worldwide pandemic, and yet, we have remained financially strong with good and prudent stewardship of our resources and finances.

St. Peter’s Cathedral has a bright and brilliant future! As a parish, we should all be excited about where we now are and where we are being led by our Dean and Rector, Fr. Marcus Kaiser. At the recent Annual Parish Meeting, Fr. Marcus shared his vision of St. Peter’s as a ‘Working Ranch Church’ –working to do God’s will in our church, our community, and wherever else God leads us!

Through your gifts, we sustain, grow, and pursue excellence in worship, missions, music, and Christian education, as well as maintain our beautiful Cathedral and property, which is a tremendous blessing to our congregation and community. More importantly, through your generosity people come to know the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ and follow him as disciples. We are called to give to the church with a cheerful heart because Christ has given so much. Please pray for God’s work within the St. Peter’s family and within your lives as you discern the role you will play in supporting our Stewardship Campaign.

Consider the words of St. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, and yes, to us at St. Peter's as well:

“The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work." –2 Corinthians 9:6–8

Sincerely,

John & Mac

2021 Annual Parish Meeting

by Budd Kneip, Senior Warden

This evening, Sunday, June 27, we will hold our Annual Parish Meeting at 6:30pm at the Cathedral.  The most significant issue will be the election of new Vestry members and Synod delegates for the first time since 2018.  The process will be different this meeting.  In the past, a predetermined slate of candidates was submitted to the congregation for acceptance or rejection as a unit.  This approach does not conform to common Anglican practices, and more importantly, it does not afford the members of the parish an opportunity to help identify candidates whose faith and talents they value and respect.  

This year, parishioners submitted a number of names to the Dean’s office, reflecting a broad representation of our membership.  Our bylaws set out certain requirements which each nominee must meet, including being a confirmed Anglican, active in parish life, and a giver of record.  Once the Dean verified the qualifications, each nominee was contacted to see if they were interested in serving in either capacity.  As always, God’s hand was in the process, and eight nominees emerged who were both qualified and interested. 

At the meeting, a ballot with these eight names will be provided to each member in good standing.  Attendees will be asked to vote for four names.  The four receiving the most votes will join the Vestry, and the other four will serve as St. Peter’s delegates to the Diocesan Synod.  

In the normal course of business, there will be a financial report from our Treasurer, a Senior Warden's report, and comments from the Dean.  At the conclusion of the meeting, the four new Vestry members and Synod delegates will be announced.

Following the glorious service of institution last Sunday, this Annual Meeting will further evidence the grace and mercy God has consistently shown St. Peter’s, as we report on financial and operating issues and welcome new Vestry members and Synod delegates.  Our current Vestry has served with faith and passion, in some cases for six years, and I have been honored to serve with them.  But I’m sure I speak for all of them when I say we are eager to introduce a new set of members, with fresh perspectives which will enhance our growth and development.  This is another exciting step in that direction.  Praise God!

Institution of a Rector & Dean

by The Very Rev'd Marcus Kaiser, Sr. 

This is an exciting day for me, but if I’m honest, it’s a little uncomfortable. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I’d rather do than formally celebrate this Installation, but there’s two big reasons this is a little odd. First, it’s been 8 months! Normally these things happen after a few weeks, but… pandemic. So here we are, the better part of a year later, and we’re celebrating the new guy who isn’t so new. It’s been long enough that Kim, our boys, and I feel very much like this is our home and you are our people. We still get asked if we’re settling in, and as I’ve told many of you – at some point, one can no longer blame the chaos on settling. 

The other reason why it’s a little uncomfortable is because of how we style this celebration. We call it my institution (or installation, or induction, or… something… instaltution?). Here’s the thing, I really do think that’s right. In honesty, there’s nothing requiring us to do this. If it’s just about me, there’s certainly no reason to do a big celebration, much less fly in two archbishops and invite the entire diocese. The bishop could just send me a letter and saying, “tag, you’re it,” and Bob’s your uncle. 

No, this is really about you, the person reading this, the parishioner who has faithfully supported, served, and worshiped God in this place – whether you found us last week or have been attending St. Peter’s since her founding. This is a celebration of what you have accomplished, what you have endured, of your faithfulness. But, more importantly, it’s a celebration of what is to come. This is about our congregation, all of us together, as we lean into what God is making us, by way of what He has brought us through. The reason for all of the pomp and circumstance and for the big to-do is in some way because of what St. Peter’s has been and has endured. More importantly, it’s all about what St. Peter’s will mean – to us, yes, but just as much to the Tallahassee community and to the entire church.

So, thank you. Thank you for making this a special event, all of the dozens of folks who have put so much work in. Thank you for simply coming, if you are able, and thank you for offering a prayer if you aren’t. Most of all, thank you for sharing your life with my family and me and for sharing our excitement for what is to come. Today, you matter and we celebrate you. You matter to me, and you matter to the world, and most of all, you matter to Jesus.