Nativity Center for Pilgrimage and Reconciliation
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Background: On March 16, 2004 the Nativity Vestry approved the establishment of a Nativity Pilgrimage and Reconciliation Center. On April 23, Fr. Anderson hired Zara Renander to fill two half-time positions on the Nativity staff. Starting June 1, she will be the first director of the new Nativity Pilgrimage and Reconciliation Center, and she will also be our new director of Adult Christian Formation.
Pilgrimage implies an intentional journey toward wholeness in body and spirit. God's relationship with us is a story of such journeys: God's own journey through the days of creation and since. The journeys of Adam, Eve, and Cain; Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob; Moses and the people of Israel; Mary and Joseph; Jesus and his disciples, including Paul. And most important, Jesus' journey conquering sin and death to reconcile us and the whole of creation with the loving and merciful God.
God has blessed the journey of the Church of the Nativity since its beginning in 1843. As a result, Nativity has become a special place. It has become known for worship and celebration and leadership and as a church that nurtures not only its members but also provides nurture to others.
As we journey together, we both inflict wounds and suffer them. Nurture includes both healing the wounds we inflict and those we receive, and then the healing of our relationships--reconciliation--with those we wounded and those who wounded us.
Q. Why a Pilgrimage and Reconciliation Center at Nativity?
Because reconciliation is the mission of the church: Jesus commands us to love one another as he loved us. In other words, that we reconcile with one another as God has reconciled us to God's self.
Because there's an infinite need for reconciliation in this world of brokenness--between ourselves and God, within ourselves, between ourselves and others, and among groups from families to political parties to nations.
Because people and organizations with needs for reconciliation have begun to rely on Nativity as a source for help in finding it.
And because pilgrimage, public or private, that involves actual, physical movement (travel, walking the Labyrinth, etc.) helps give substance to our true identities and any changes that may result.
Q. What does the Nativity Pilgrimage and Reconciliation Center do?
The Center is in its infancy. Growing out of Nativity's existing and developing ministries, it will provide yet another way to offer some or all of these ministries to those who may need them--and to share them with clearer focus and possibly even greater effectiveness.
For example, Nativity has been pursuing a Labyrinth ministry for a number of years. In 2000, responding to a need expressed by the National Children's Advocacy Center (NCAC), Nativity associate rector Kerry Holder used the physical and symbolic journey provided by a Labyrinth to develop a process of spiritual healing for teen-age victims of child abuse.
Because of the program's success, requests are coming in from NCAC offices and other care-giving organizations and churches all over the country and locally for Nativity to come and provide or teach them this process.
Q. What services are offered by the Center?
Obviously, the Center's offerings will continue to depend on a foundation of work by the permanent Nativity committees that develop programs within the parish.
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Training in leadership for reconciliation.
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Jonathan Daniels and the Martyrs of Alabama Pilgrimage. (Located in the Deep South, the Center conducts and annual pilgrimage each August to Hayneville, Alabama).
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International pilgrimages designed to give pilgrims a global vision of a world that treasures peace, justice and equality.
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Consultation with other churches or institutions to design pathways for reconciliation.
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Labyrinth consultation for healthcare and church groups.
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Performances of Handle with Care?, a one-act play that explores what happens when metastatic cancer invades a family.
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The Center sponsors small group study within congregations, seeking ways to bring reconciliation and promote spiritual growth.
Q. How are the Center and its staff funded?
The funds for the Center's director and operations have been contributed by generous families within Nativity who are interested in supporting this type of ministry. The Center has also applied for grants from the Trinity Foundation and other foundations. Reasonable fees will be collected from groups and individuals that contract for the Center's services or program materials. The Center will also eventually derive some of its support from sales of recordings of original sacred music, art, and devotional materials created at the Center.
Q. How will the Center affect me as a member of Nativity?
As much or as little as you want. All Nativity's ministries remain available to you. If you have trouble, sickness or death in your family, pastoral care will be undiminished or increased. Leadership and skills training for Center staff and volunteers will likely increase the quality and effectiveness of all Nativity's ministries. As a result of increased visibility, support and coordination, Nativity's ministries probably will be able to serve more people, both within and outside the parish.
(Prepared by the Pilgrimage and Reconciliation Task Force, Sally Naumann and Peter Joffrion co-chairs; Lea Ellison, Lynne Berry, Donna Rush, Alice Chenault, Joseph Ezeibe, Susan King, Frances Moore, Jim Pierce, Basye Holland-Shuey, Warren Vann, Ed Vaughn, Andy Anderson and Kerry Holder members.)
For more information, please contact us:
Center of Pilgrimage and Reconciliation
Church of the Nativity, Episcopal
208 Eustis Avenue, Huntsville, AL 35801
Phone: (256) 533-2455
E-mail: zara.renander@nativity-hsv.org
Website: www.nativity-hsv.org
