The theme of “Christian Discipline” has been a prominent one throughout my four years (!) as Rector at Pohick. This should come as no surprise, since one of the missions of any church is to foster within its members a closer walk with our Lord. In our case, this larger goal has formed the subtext of many of the studies and ministries of our congregation.

Perhaps our most direct exploration of this topic came in my adult Sunday school class last Fall, which focused upon Rick Warren’s record smashing best-seller, The Purpose Driven Life. Warren’s genius in this book lies not in his crafting of new ideas about the Christian walk, but in his presentation of longstanding spiritual truths in a clear and comprehensible manner.

This “cut-to-the-chase” style is understandably attractive to your typical, overscheduled American. And it certainly has been successful in provoking a great deal of soul searching and priority shifting among Christians far and wide, including those in our own congregation. By the same token, such popularized accounts, by their very nature, often leave their readers wanting more.

For this reason, I will be following up last year’s class with a series exploring another volume that has been widely heralded as a modern classic: Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. Ranked by Christianity Today among the top ten Christian books of the twentieth century, Celebration of Discipline has touched millions of hearts in the twenty-seven years since its initial publication. What Warren sought more recently to do in prose, Foster had long before accomplished in poetry. Not that Celebration of Discipline is a book of poems. It just reads that way. Every paragraph sparkles with spiritual insight.

Raised in the Quaker tradition, Foster goes beyond his roots and incorporates into his work the wisdom of the ages. Like Warren, he certainly centers his reflections upon Scripture. But he also reflects freely upon the Spiritual Classics of the Christian tradition. This gives his book more depth. What’s more, Foster does this with such an economy of language that his volume is actually more slender than The Purpose Driven Life.

In approaching his topic, Foster divides Christian Discipline into three major areas: The Inward Disciplines, which include Meditation, Prayer, Fasting and Study; The Outward Disciplines, which involve Simplicity, Solitude, Submission and Service; and the Corporate Disciplines, which entail Confession, Worship, Guidance and Celebration. We’ll be exploring each of these areas in depth over the course of the class, during which we will read Foster’s book in its entirety.

Orientation for the course will be on October 2 during the Sunday school hour (10:15-11:05 am) in the annex. Oscar Wells will have copies of the book available for purchase at that time for any who might need them. Weekly sessions will run during that same time for the next two months, leading up to the Parish Meeting in early December.

We had a terrific response to our study of Purpose Driven Life last year. I hope that just as many of you (if not more) will come out to deepen those discussions begun in 2004.

Our search for a new Minister of Music has hit a temporary setback. After assiduously pouring over resumes, the Search Committee interviewed five candidates and recommended to me two of them as being best fit for taking over leadership of our Music Program. In our pursuit of these two finalists, one of the candidates unfortunately chose to accept a more attractive offer at another church, while the other decided for various reasons not to continue discussions.

Rather than advancing to conversations with the remaining pool of interviewed candidates, who did not strike the Committee as being the best matches for our program, the Search Committee and I, in consultation with the Wardens and the Vestry, have decided to reconstitute the search. Prior to restarting the search, however, the Personnel and Finance Committees will explore ways that we can better attract appropriate candidates.

And so, despite our best efforts, we must enter an interim period. Thankfully, we have ample talent among us to step into the void. Susan McHargue will serve as Interim Music Director, assisted by supply organists, especially Gwen Frazier, who has worked with our program in the past. Barbara Lynn will oversee the St. Alban’s/St. Cecilia’s Choir, and Don Brownlee will lead the Bell Choir. My thanks to all of them for stepping up to the plate.

Likewise, I am grateful for the hard work of the members of the Search Committee over these past months. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue their work. And keep the faith that through our love of God and perseverance to our call, in the end “all things will work for good” (Romans 8:28) for our Music Program at Pohick.