The Carillon

Ahead of us, after the many “green weeks” after Pentecost, come the richest times of the church year.

ADVENT starts Sunday, Nov. 29, the shortest special season, with but four weeks. In Advent we hear from Isaiah and John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary, preparing for the birth of the Lord.

CHRISTMAS , celebrated on the eve and day, December 24 & 25, is the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, welcomed by Joseph and Mary, the local shepherds and their sheep, the angels and eventually three astrologer kings from Persia.

EPIPHANY is the time after Christmas when we hear of the many ways in which Christ is still shown to us today. “Epiphany” means showing.

Right after, this year on February 10, LENT begins, with ASH WEDNESDAY . Ashes-to-go are provided by the BMA clergy on the Circle and at church after the BYOB concert and at the 5 p.m. service. Lent is a time for not just giving up chocolate or wine, but for doing good things, giving to those in need, this in preparation for the most sacred time upcoming in HOLY WEEK .

PALM SUNDAY , March 21, celebrates Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem seated on a donkey, the people waving palm branches, which we will do at church. Holy Week culminates in MAUNDY THURSDAY , March 25, when at 5 p.m. we remember Jesus’ Last Supper with his friends, relived every Sunday in the Holy Communion or Eucharist we share. The most important thing is that sharing the bread and wine is the tangible way we express our community with each other and the Lord.

GOOD FRIDAY , March 26, again at 5 p.m., we gather to hear the reading of Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, pray for the whole world and once more share holy communion with the crucified one and each other.

On EASTER EVE or Holy Saturday, March 27, at 5 p.m., we come to hear several readings about God’s being there for us from the very start, the creation of everything right down to Jesus’ being raised from death, what God has promised each of us. The lighting of the Easter candle symbolizes Jesus as the light of the world now and always.

We continue this joyful feast of EASTER at the Community Sunrise Service behind the Methodist Church and at our parish at 9:30 a.m. with a celebration of the Easter Eucharist, with song and readings, a sermon and as always, communion with each other and the Risen Lord.

Other special days or feasts will come: the Ascension of Jesus 40 days after Easter, Sunday, May 9, and Pentecost, Sunday, May 16, the coming down of the Spirit on the followers of Jesus. That Spirit remains with us today and forever. If you are here, come celebrate all these beautiful holy days spread out for us in the coming months.

We, Jeanne and I, have been in Borrego for over a dozen years. My friend, the Rev. Laura Brecht, former rector at St. Barnabas, welcomed us and that sealed the deal on our getting a place here, and becoming part of St. Barnabas. She also moved me into work with the Borrego Ministers Association (BMA), where I have served as co-chair and president for some years now.

The title here is a riff on one of my recent books, Community as Church, Church as Community. As human beings there are things we absolutely need to survive and, more than that, thrive. Food, water, shelter, clothing first come to mind. But from birth we need care, the presence and compassion of others: parents, family members, neighbors, teachers, friends. As seniors, many of us know deep in our bones that we cannot live without other people, without networks of family, friends and neighbors, people for us to care for and who care for us. Social connections make for good health and longevity as much as good food, exercise and sleep.

Aristotle said humans are social creatures, and the great literature we read in school says the same. We are as good as the circle of people to whom we belong. And my presence adds to the life of that circle of friends. Community is what this is, the very word meaning coming together as one.

Community can seem to be in short supply nowadays. People move around, relocate to new jobs and towns. Kids feel this when they lose neighborhood and school friends. Older people feel the loss of those they shared so much with over the years as age, illness and death take these dear ones from us. Many groups that gave the belonging of community have disappeared: neighborhood associations, bowling leagues, PTAs, sewing circles, hobby groups and the like. Churches remain as enduring communities of faith, worship and song, and of the works of love, that is, listening to and caring for others. It should be no surprise that the central and recurring ritual or sacrament in Christianity is Holy Communion.

I have served a half dozen congregations as a priest, but never have I seen such a network of communities as there are in Borrego. Such a variety of groups exist to help others: the Community Resource Center (CRC), BASIC, the BMA, Rotary, the Soroptimists, the Endowment Fund, and several other village committees focused on bettering life here in the valley. I can’t list them all. There are five food banks a month. Hundreds of households, four to five hundred, receive groceries provided by the Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank and Feeding America San Diego. Each month the BMA distributes thousands of dollars worth of food coupons, all from funds contributed to the BMA. Rotary, the Soroptimists, the Art Guild, and Sylvia Maas, among others, gave dozens of scholarships for continuing higher education to our young people.

Did you catch why this quilt work of nonprofits, or better, interconnected communities exist? To be there for others, for neighbors trying to cope with food insecurity, for young people starting out in life. Much more comes out of these groups, such as the training of caregivers, travel subsidies for regular medical treatment, language classes and immigration counseling, and very importantly, affordable housing. The members of St. Barnabas work in all the nonprofit serving groups mentioned, as is true for other congregations here.

There is plenty of room for you in one of these social connecting and serving groups. Find your place with one of them. Do something good.

Please save the date for two events in January and February: screenings of two documentaries that aim to expand our notion of how we can see those who might seem invisible, and how our hearts might respond to neighbors near and far away.

January 10, 2027: The award-winning documentary George & Rosa (created by local filmmaker Matt Bosson) has been rescheduled to January. The film was featured in the 2026 Borrego Film Festival and artfully touches on intersecting issues of cognitive decline and homelessness. Local Borregans were cast in most of the roles! Matt will be on hand to discuss the short film afterward.

February 7, 2027: One of our parishioners, Julie Pennington, is bringing a fellow board member to Borrego from Iowa to share success stories and reality bites about a non-governmental organization, Self Help International ( selfhelpinternational.org). This group has been providing agricultural assistance, nutrition supplementation, clean water provision, and other hunger-alleviating boosts to people in Ghana and Nicaragua since 1959, relying on the cultural know-how, creativity, and wisdom of local farmers. Rumor has it that their documentary film Tour de Ghana will be ready for a screening; it shows how health workers and other support reach remote locations in Ghana’s hinterlands using off-road vehicles! Julie’s colleague, retired Episcopal priest Mary Jane Oakland, will be on hand to tell stories and share the importance of working alongside farming communities to enhance their already-effective efforts, especially after the withdrawal of USAID funds. Rev. Mary Jane is a former nutrition professor. She will be preaching at St. Barnabas the morning of the screening.

Both events begin at 1 p.m. Films and discussions last 30 minutes each, with time for coffee, cookies, and more conversation and brainstorming afterward. Be ready to have your eyes and hearts opened as they were last year at our showing of Diminishing Returns. Free and open to all, so spread the word!