The Good N'ewes for July/August 2023

Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal, Nashua, New Hampshire

“We all know we're going to die; what's important is the kind of men and women we are in the face of this.”

― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

“It's funny: I always imagined when I was a kid that adults had some kind of inner toolbox full of shiny tools: the saw of discernment, the hammer of wisdom, the sandpaper of patience. But then when I grew up I found that life handed you these rusty bent old tools - friendships, prayer, conscience, honesty - and said 'do the best you can with these, they will have to do'. And mostly, against all odds, they do.” 

― Anne Lamott, Traveling Mercies: Some Thoughts on Faith

By Johanna Graves

Deacon Nancy Meyer has spent a significant portion of her life tending to the elderly. As a nurse, her specialty was geriatrics, and now as a Deacon her vocation is pastoral care of the aging. All Deacons, she says, have an area of focus. “Mine is to old people. I’ve always loved them since I was a kid. I worked in geriatrics. I feel the church has done them a great injustice. Our interest is in the youth, our interest in the elderly is to get money out of them.” She believes it is more difficult to minister to older parishioners because they require so much time, due to their health needs and insufficient support networks. CGS and Pastor Kathy are looking to buck these trends, and fully support Deacon Nancy's ministry of highlighting the gifts and tending to the needs of our seniors.  

She tells me that if she had to pick one thing for people to know about her, it would be “I love being a Deacon. It gives my life purpose, joy, and peace. The second is that I love cats.” Like her interviewer, Deacon Nancy was born and raised in the Midwest. Although her family moved to Rhode Island when she was eleven, she later returned to the Chicago area to live, with only brief stints elsewhere for Army service and education. Her family was Missouri Synod Lutheran, but Nancy joined the Episcopal Church when she was in Seattle getting her bachelor's degree in nursing. It was in Detroit during her Nursing master's that she received the call to become a Deacon. “God set when it was appropriate. I thought I was supposed to jump on it.” It so happened that she was ordained in 2008, two years before Deacon Nancy retired from nursing and 27 years after she received the call to the deaconate.  

When Deacon Nancy moved to New Hampshire to be closer to her Vermont dwelling siblings, she chose her community carefully. “I’d followed Good Shepherd online for two years before I moved here; I knew this would be the church,” she said. She says that “I absolutely love working with [Pastor] Kathy; she’s everything a Deacon would hope for in a rector. I think God’s being wonderful to me, because she will be the last person I work with. I’m grateful for that.” 

I asked Deacon Nancy if being a Deacon was a natural follow-up to nursing. She said, “They fit very well together. I truly believe that I was born to be a deacon, I was just born into the wrong church!” Now she uses her energy, compassion, and experience at CGS and in her community. She created the course on Spirituality and Aging to fill a gap in the ministry of the greater Episcopal Church. Deacon Nancy also performs a Sunday afternoon service for any Episcopalians at her own retirement community, anyone who is unable or unwilling to come into church.  

We are happy she is here! 

Church Trivia: It Exists! 

Did you know that there is a newsletter from the diocesan office with stories from throughout the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire? It comes out once a month and is called The Vine. You can subscribe to The Vine here.

Use of daily prayers to mark the times of the day and to express the traditions of the praying community is traditional in Judaism and in Christianity. The third, sixth, and ninth hours (9 a.m., 12 noon, and 3 p.m.) were times of private prayer in Judaism. The congregational or cathedral form of office developed in Christianity under Constantine (288-337) with the principal morning and evening services of lauds and vespers. The monastic form, which developed at this time, also included matins (at midnight or cockcrow), prime (the first hour), terce (the third hour), sext (the sixth hour), none (the ninth hour), and compline (at bedtime). By the late Middle Ages, the Daily Office was seen as the responsibility of the monks and clergy rather the community.

After the Anglican Reformation, Archbishop Thomas Cranmer (1489-1556) reduced the eight monastic offices to the two services of Morning and Evening Prayer. These services were printed in vernacular English and intended for use by all members of the church. In addition to forms for Daily Morning Prayer and Daily Evening Prayer in contemporary and traditional language, the BCP section for the Daily Office includes forms for Noonday Prayer, Order of Worship for the Evening, Compline, and Daily Devotions for Individuals and Families. These offices include prayers, a selection from the Psalter, readings from the Holy Scriptures, one or more canticles, and the Lord's Prayer. Forms for Morning and Evening Prayer include an optional confession of sin. The BCP provides a Daily Office Lectionary that identifies readings and psalm choices (pp. 936-1001), and a Table of Canticles with suggested canticles (pp. 144-145). The officiant in the Daily Office may be a member of the clergy or a lay person. (Adapted from the glossary of the official webpage of the Episcopal Church.)

There is an app called "The Daily Office" that automatically shows the prayers for the day from the Book of Common Prayer. Church of the Good Shepherd offers morning prayer in the sanctuary on Wednesday mornings at 9:30. Wikipedia has a long article on the various traditions and history that is a good jumping off point for exploring further.

Book Rec: "The Inner Work of Age: Shifting from ROLE to SOUL,” by Connie Zweig, Ph.D. This is the book Deacon Nancy uses in her course on spirituality and aging. Find a copy here.

Happenings Highlight:

Course on Aging and Spirituality

We’re starting something new! Church of the Good Shepherd’s Course on Aging and Spirituality, created by Deacon Nancy as a harvest project, had fourteen participants in the first group. It has proved so popular it is being offered again. The course takes place over eight weeks, with refined and revised classes. Session topics range from “My Aging: The Good and Not So Good” to “An Outpouring of the Spirit” and “From Role to Soul.” There are talented facilitators that guide each session: Deacon Nancy, Pastor Kathy, Canon Tina Pickering, and Susan Nutting. The course materials and classes include a book, a video, several articles, and lively and insightful discussions between participants and facilitators.

Deacon Nancy declares, “Aging doesn’t equal disease. There's a reason to live. Many elderly people feel alone and lonely. They feel there is no purpose for their lives. When they start delving into God’s gifts to them, they start feeling they have a purpose.” 

Plans have been made to expand the scope of teaching beyond the parish to the wider community, the state, and possibly the Diocese. Bishop Rob and Pastor Kathy are enthusiastic supporters of this ministry. The Diocese had made grant funds available for the development of the course and reducing costs to participants. Soon Pastor Kathy and Deacon Nancy hope to provide training sessions to interested facilitators. Nancy says that “If it’s successful in New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont are going to want it.”

Thank Ewe!

Audio Visual Ministry

Many, many Thank Ewe’s to our Audio Visual Team. Speared headed by Wayne Blair and Julia Gower, these are the people who are the secret sauce in our services. They make sure we can hear our rector and deacon, they broadcast the services to those at home, they troubleshoot technical issues, make sure hard of hearing folk can hear, and much more. Take the time to say thank you when next you see them quietly behind the computer in the back. AV makes the service come alive! 

Aging and Spirituality Information:

Time and dates: Once per week, Tuesday September 26 through Tuesday November 14, 12:00 PM to 3:00 PM 

Cost: $35 

Currently: four slots remaining, those interested should sign up soon

Questions: Deacon Nancy is in the office Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10 AM to 4 PM, leave a message at 603-882-0809 or 773-732-7731, or write her at [email protected] 

Register: John Budzyna at 603-882-5352 or [email protected] 

Graduates of Deacon Nancy Meyer’s Course on Spirituality and Aging have begun new ministries or are continuing old ministries with renewed energy and direction. “We’re making ministries that [elderly] people can do,” Deacon Nancy enthused.

In one of the Aging and Spirituality sessions participants are encouraged to deeply contemplate their spiritual gifts and how they can be practically lived out. Some folks have chosen to study and become lay Eucharistic Visitors. This has allowed them to start a ministry for local retirement and nursing home populations, who otherwise have no access to the Eucharist. (More lay Eucharistic Visitors wanted!) One person, who had become exhausted by their companion ministry duties, was able to transition to a card ministry sending cards for every occasion and sometime just because. There, they have even expanded the reach of their compassion while recovering their own energy.



Companion ministry, those who go to visit specific individuals in nursing homes, has also experienced renewed enthusiasm and participation. Most companions express that they receive more than they give when they spend time one on one with their elderly person. With so many places for connection and ministry available, who knows what Church of the Good Shepherd Aging Course graduates will do next. 

“I was thinking about how people seem to read the Bible a lot more as they get older, and then it dawned on me—they’re cramming for their final exam.” 

― George Carlin 

Remember to check out the website for more upcoming activities and opportunities to help.