Back when I attended Grace Episcopal, I listened with envy—and not holy envy—just plain human envy about the offerings of Central Church. Without stepping foot in the building, I knew that Central trained Stephen Ministers; served outreach breakfasts from a state-of-the-art commercial kitchen, featured talented musicians, and had money to spare.
The modest church I attended could never match these offerings, and that led me to less-than-Christian comparisons—Communion offered just once a month instead of weekly; the liturgy condensed into one scripture reading for an entire service, instead of the many fixed prayers that comprise an Anglican mass.
I made the mistake of comparing the “best” of my faith to what I considered the “worst” of my neighbor’s. I might never have been enlightened, never changed my narrow point of view. But then a budget cut eliminated my job at Grace and I came to work at Central Church. That was three years ago.
By now, my plain old envy has been replaced by Holy Envy, first identified by 20th century theologian Krister Stendahl and artfully described by Barbara Brown Taylor in her book of the same name. For me, holy envy has come to mean embracing good practices from other faiths—like mindfulness in Buddhism—and closer to home, Methodist practices that resonate with me. Here are a few of the things I have come to cherish about Central Church:
I love the music. When enumerating the blessings of this church, an easy place to begin is with the music. Jeff Cobb and Tom Bara represent two ends of a spectrum that spans contemporary jazz to classical organ music and epitomizes passionate worship. I love to hear the young ladies at the Well singing popular songs accompanied by guitar, horns, and percussion. And then for traditional worship, I am treated to the best of classical composers like Bach and Beethoven accompanied by a full choir. Trading prayer time for more music is a good bargain I now believe.
I love the outreach. Central Church has a big heart for the homeless, whom Pastor Jane has aptly described as “spiritual but not religious,” and Central serves this community with respect and understanding. When COVID closed the fellowship hall, Central responded by serving a hot to-go lunch out the front doors and continues to jump through hoops to make a hot breakfast available on most weekdays. Guests can pick up their mail and will soon be able to take showers at church again—a critical service when all other shower sites are closed. This speaks to social justice.
I love the acceptance. Voting to become a Reconciling Ministry was the formal stamp on Central’s commitment to radical welcoming of the LGBTQ community. But Central hasn’t stopped there. The church wants its more traditional members to feel welcome, too, and will be embarking this fall on a Colossian Way class that helps Christians practice loving God and each other while engaging in difficult disagreements. If a church can teach me to respect perspectives I don’t agree with, that’s a path I want to walk.
I love the creativity. Three weeks into the pandemic I realized that the drastic, “temporary” changes to my job would be in place for a long, long time. I felt nauseous. Pastor Chris was eager to experiment with online classes, but my feeble attempts had been bumpy: people crowded around a blurry laptop webcam, jumpy videos, and ear-piercing feedback were the norm. One day, shortly after the instructors for a fledgling remote class had departed to Texas, we booted up the system and discovered that we could get the video or the audio, but not both at the same time! Aaargh.
Those missteps taught me the importance of having the right equipment and the infrastructure to support it. When the Church Council approved my $$$ request for a Zoomroom, I felt elated…and terrified. Fast forward nine months and lots of baby steps, and I am hosting classes in front of a wide-angle camera, fancy speakerphone, and the two 50” monitors. In fact, I am eager to utilize the Zoomroom for hybrid meetings where some people attend in person and others from home. That will fall to my successor. But it will happen because Central believes in creative solutions and empowers staff to achieve.
People sometimes ask me where I will worship once my job is done. The simple answer is that I don’t know. I seek to be born again within my Episcopalian tradition and also to visit frequently at Central, the home away from home that I have come to love.
Thank you for this radical hospitality.
Donna Olendorf, Adult Education Director
Donna – this is great! Until now I didn’t know about your church background or about all the blessings offered and the blessings you’ve found at Central United Methodist Church. I know you’re a valuable leader for this congregation, especially during the pandemic. You’ve opened the door for many of us!❤️
And you have opened the door for me to a more contemplative life. I can’t promise to awaken at 3 am, but I plan to model the quiet reflection with which you greet the day. Thanks for the kind words and let’s stay in touch through books!
What a beautifully written and thoughtful article. Central worships with her faith in action and has the handiwork and footwork in the community to prove it. It has a lot to do with the fourth leg on the stool — more stability!
You crack me up. Thanks for the kind words and ecumenical humor.
Beautifully written Donna.
Pastor Chris and I were trying to remember who the co-leader was for the Holy Envy book study that planted the seed of this blog. Can you recall? What a pleasure it has been to talk books with you! Thank you.
Donna, your leadership, enthusiasm and participation in classes and services will be greatly missed. You have been an integral part of Central and always will be considered “family” wherever your choose to worship!
Thank you! THANK YOU!! T-H-A-N-K-Y-O-U!!!
(See you on the yoga mat ❤️)
Namaste, Yogi. Namaste.
Thank you Donna for all you have done for Central Church. You will be missed in this role but we hope the new person will use what you have done and help it to continue to grow. Enjoy your retirement and your new role in life.
What a treasure it’s been to get to know your in temporary role as Parish Nurse. Thank you for your sweet supportive message.
What a beautifully written maybe-farewell. It has been gratifying to watch and be part of your “development” at Central. You have made many contributions and will always be welcome here.
Thank you, Nan. You held the torch and lit the way when I didn’t know the trail. Your connections at Central helped me connect and I know that you will help my successor find the right path, too.
Donna- I love what you’ve given to CUMC and I love the woman you are. Back and forth on Washington St., let’s stay in touch!
Muriel, I love your dry wit. I am leaving this job but I’m not going to let our connection wither. Let’s plant this friendship deep.
Well written,I like Holy envy… New way of thinking…thank you for bringing your knowledge to us..
Donna, I, along with many others in the online classes, will miss your technical skills with Zoom as well as your cheerful presence in the classes. Thank you and God bless you. Nancy Grote
Nancy, thanks to you and Dick for your dedication to FaithLink. It’s been a joy to get to know you and your love of books and reading.
Donna,
What a beautiful accounting of how you are grafted into the branches of the Christian family tree that is Central Church. You have planted seeds & modeled a spiritual growth that we have tended & celebrated in our life together. So many great classes & conversations you’ve championed among us while on staff. I will miss our colleagueship. Wherever you put roots down going forward, you are always welcome to flourish here.
Well done, good & faithful servant!
Chris
Episcopalians and Catholics and Methodists! Oh my! Donna, your first generous welcome to me was at a Safe Harbor meeting when Walter was doing a class I had not singed up for and was filled. “Just COME”, you said, and Kathy and I did. Pastor Chris stood in for Walter one day and enlightened us to the Methodist “method” of private/public, worship/service and the two of us went home really hooked on learning more from the classes that you have served masterfully. We have been welcomed, fed, challenged, and affirmed. We learned a new term in today’s class that describes us. We are “catholic Catholics”! We are members with each other is this marvelous family of Christians, so grateful to be welcome, as you are, among our brothers and sisters at Central United Methodist Church. And as we return to the church of our formation, our Catholic church, we do so with you abiding in us and calling us to lift our own church higher, closer to God’s lifting all of us toward perfect union. Thank you for your courage, your spirit, and your techie talent!
Thanks so much for sharing this! You have served Central so well and have been such a blessing to the church family and community!