On Sunday, November 23, the last Sunday of the liturgical year, St. Paul's Episcopal Church celebrated a special service commemorating their 250th anniversary. Bishop Thomas Shaw, SSJE, presided as celebrant and preacher and over a dozen members of the clergy with connections to the parish joined him on the altar.
In his sermon Shaw related how an ornery old monk he once lived with became kind and gentle in his final years. He compared this transformation to the experiences of the Dedham parish over the past quarter millennium. "St. Paul's has been taking ordinary people and transforming them into who He intended them to be since before their birth," Shaw said.
Shaw also praised the more recent accomplishments of the parish in light of the day's Gospel reading. The reading, which included the well known story in which Jesus says "That which you have done for the least of my brothers you have done for me," was Matthew's "way of saying that by doing this outreach you will find your way into the Kingdom of God," Shaw taught.
St. Paul's has engaged in just that type of outreach through their mission trips to Haiti, "the poorest country in this hemisphere," Shaw said. The bishop told parishioners that "God has an enormous gratitude to you for all the sacrifices you have made."
After Shaw traveled around the church greeting nearly every parishioner present and wishing them peace, Rev. Michael Hodges, rector of St. Paul's, addressed the congregation. He thanked the bishop all the assembled clergy for being with them. Hodges said that nearly every brand of clergy was present with them that day, from those who were sponsored for ordination to those who grew up in the parish, former rectors, interim rectors and assistant rectors alike.
He also thanked the members of choir and former choir members who returned for the occasion, as well as the Commonwealth Brass Quintet who accompanied them. The offertory anthem, St. Paul 250, was especially composed for the occasion by parishioner Doug Munsell.
Rev. Mally Lloyd, the outgoing rector at ChristChurch in Plymouth and incoming canon to the ordinary, a post akin to the chief of staff to the bishop, returned for the service. She was sponsored for ordination by the parish in 1996 and lived in Dedham for 25 years. "It was wonderful to see the church so full," she said.
Shaw later said that if there was one thing he hoped people walked away with that day, it was "a lot of hope for the future." This sentiment was echoed by Hodges, who said what people could expect from St. Paul's in the next 250 years is "to keep serving the people of Dedham."
