St. Francis' Episcopal Church

Serving Eureka, Wildwood, and Surrounding Communities

Dew Drop Inn 

The Gospel of Mark tells the story of a man who begs Jesus to come and heal his young daughter.  While on the way, a woman suffering from a chronic hemorrhage touches the hem of Jesus’ garment in order to be healed.  Jesus then continues on his way and raises the daughter of Jairus.  (Mark 5:21-43) When this passage appears in the 3-year cycle of Sunday readings, the story of the woman is inexplicably left out.  I suppose the compilers of the lectionary felt that it was a jarring interruption to an otherwise coherent story.  Jesus’ apostles probably thought the woman’s presumption to approach Jesus was also an interruption.  After all, he was headed to the home of a leader of the local synagogue; an important mission.  To Jesus, however, it was all a part of the same ministry.    

When I first became a priest, I served as an assistant in a large parish.  On any given day, when the door to my office was open, parishioners would pop their head in to say hello.  If I heard noise down the hall, I’d frequently go out to see who was there.  It gave me the chance to catch up with what was going on in their lives or to share a story or two in an informal setting.  A number of times someone who’d “dropped in” asked me, “Do you have five minutes?”  Generally, those conversations were about 50 minutes long.  They involved concerns that people had—too much to chat about on a busy Sunday; not quite serious enough to make a special appointment.  I did a lot of my pastoral work that way—with people just dropping in.  That’s when I learned that the interruptions are my ministry.   

I’ve missed that at St. Francis’.  Rarely (I’d say never; but one should never say never) did anyone just drop in.  I figured that it was simply because St. Francis’ is a smaller parish than I’d served before.  With the office move and the creation of our Parish House, Maxine Heller and I have experienced something wonderful . . .  people drop in.  We’ve had parishioners stop in after a doctor’s appointment, on their way to or from lunch, while waiting for their spouse to join them at Boccardi’s; to drop something off at the office rather than waiting until Sunday.  We’ve had people from St. Martin’s Church stop in to say hello and give good wishes.  We’ve had folks we’ve met at the Solid Rock Café come in.  More people have dropped in to the office in the four weeks we’ve been in Eureka than in the five years I was at the LaSalle Center.  It’s just great! 

The Building/Transition Team felt that moving to downtown Eureka would make us more accessible to the Eureka community.  I’m not sure that any of us realized how much more accessible it would make us to our own congregation.  As we proceed with the renovation of 126 S. Central Avenue (and we still need help to complete that project), my vision is that this building will be a lively center for fellowship, learning about God, and spiritual growth.  I would encourage members of the congregation to consider using our space for small meetings, and to envision new ways to use the Parish House—new activities for our growing congregation.   

So, if you’re in the area, do drop in and begin to dream about all the ways we can use our new home.