Go in Peace
Leaving Episcopal Day School and the Church of the Good Shepherd is not easy for me. This community has been a tremendous blessing to me and it is the growth I experienced here that has prepared me for my next adventure as the Chaplain to Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School. I will be forever grateful for the love, support, challenge, and grace extended to me here, and I will remember you always in my prayers.
Speaking of prayers...a gift of the church and school community I served before coming to Augusta was a “Litany of Leave Taking” that a colleague shared with me, neither of us knowing its original source. This litany is one of the most honest prayers I’ve ever encountered, because it tells the truth about both the highs and lows of any pastoral relationship and seeks not their celebration and healing in giving them back to God. I have included these prayers at the end of these short reflections.
I have not been the perfect Chaplain and Chair of Religious Life here, neither have my students, colleagues, and parishoners been perfect in their every interaction with me and with one another. Jesus Christ alone is perfect, of course, so none of us are able to achieve such a standard. We have however, done (individually and collectively) much good for the world and for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, and hopefully whenever necessary, we have extended to one another the grace of apologies and forgivenesses when (not if!) we have fallen short of expectations and hopes.
So please accept my apologies for those times I have not been/done all that I could/should have been/done, AND please accept my gratitude for the grace of your forgiveness. Also I offer to you those things I have said/done that have, by the grace of God, been what was needed and hoped for. Thank you for giving me the space to do/say those things, and to grow as a disciple and priest, in the midst of such a strong and beloved community of faith. I wish you God’s many blessings in the coming 151st year of the Church and the 76th year of the school, and I look forward to hearing/seeing the many good things yet in store for this place. My dear friends in Christ, let us now go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Good Christian people, I bid you now pray for the saving presence of our living God.
In this world: He is risen.
In this community He is risen.
In our church and school family: He is risen.
In this gathering: He is risen.
In the hearts of all faithful people: He is risen.
But especially I bid you pray and give thanks for Lisa Barrowclough who is leaving our community. For this portion of her lifeline pilgrimage which she has made with us in this place. Thanks be to God.
For our loss of her presence and ministry in this place. Lord, have mercy.
For friendships made, celebrations enjoyed, and for moments of peace: Thanks be to God.
For grievances and anger not dissolved: Lord have mercy.
For wounds healed, expectations met, gifts shared, promises kept: Thanks be to God.
For falling short of expectations, for things said and left unsaid, and for gifts not given: Lord have mercy.
For trust and confidence shared, times of accomplishment and joy, and for lasting memories made: Thanks be to God.
And so, to establish a home with other members of the family of Christ: Go in peace.
To continue the journey with new friends and new adventures, new gifts to give and to receive: Go in peace.
With whatever fears, whatever sadness, whatever excitement may be yours: Go in peace.
With our faith in you, our hope for you, our love of you: Go in peace.
Now we pray, O God, be with those who leave, and be with those who stay; and grant that all of us, by drawing ever nearer to you, may we always be close to each other in the communion of your saints.
All this we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
Speaking of prayers...a gift of the church and school community I served before coming to Augusta was a “Litany of Leave Taking” that a colleague shared with me, neither of us knowing its original source. This litany is one of the most honest prayers I’ve ever encountered, because it tells the truth about both the highs and lows of any pastoral relationship and seeks not their celebration and healing in giving them back to God. I have included these prayers at the end of these short reflections.I have not been the perfect Chaplain and Chair of Religious Life here, neither have my students, colleagues, and parishoners been perfect in their every interaction with me and with one another. Jesus Christ alone is perfect, of course, so none of us are able to achieve such a standard. We have however, done (individually and collectively) much good for the world and for the advancement of the Kingdom of God, and hopefully whenever necessary, we have extended to one another the grace of apologies and forgivenesses when (not if!) we have fallen short of expectations and hopes.
So please accept my apologies for those times I have not been/done all that I could/should have been/done, AND please accept my gratitude for the grace of your forgiveness. Also I offer to you those things I have said/done that have, by the grace of God, been what was needed and hoped for. Thank you for giving me the space to do/say those things, and to grow as a disciple and priest, in the midst of such a strong and beloved community of faith. I wish you God’s many blessings in the coming 151st year of the Church and the 76th year of the school, and I look forward to hearing/seeing the many good things yet in store for this place. My dear friends in Christ, let us now go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Good Christian people, I bid you now pray for the saving presence of our living God.
In this world: He is risen.
In this community He is risen.
In our church and school family: He is risen.
In this gathering: He is risen.
In the hearts of all faithful people: He is risen.
But especially I bid you pray and give thanks for Lisa Barrowclough who is leaving our community. For this portion of her lifeline pilgrimage which she has made with us in this place. Thanks be to God.
For our loss of her presence and ministry in this place. Lord, have mercy.
For friendships made, celebrations enjoyed, and for moments of peace: Thanks be to God.
For grievances and anger not dissolved: Lord have mercy.
For wounds healed, expectations met, gifts shared, promises kept: Thanks be to God.
For falling short of expectations, for things said and left unsaid, and for gifts not given: Lord have mercy.
For trust and confidence shared, times of accomplishment and joy, and for lasting memories made: Thanks be to God.
And so, to establish a home with other members of the family of Christ: Go in peace.
To continue the journey with new friends and new adventures, new gifts to give and to receive: Go in peace.
With whatever fears, whatever sadness, whatever excitement may be yours: Go in peace.
With our faith in you, our hope for you, our love of you: Go in peace.
Now we pray, O God, be with those who leave, and be with those who stay; and grant that all of us, by drawing ever nearer to you, may we always be close to each other in the communion of your saints.
All this we ask for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Savior. Amen.
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