Sermon for the Day of Pentecost, June 8, 2025

Genesis 11:1-9+Psalm 104:25-35, 37+Acts 2:1-21+John 14:8-17

If you imagined that you would come here this morning for my final words to you and not get one of my frequent excursions into history, you imagined wrong. In 2025, we have been celebrating and commemorating the 170th anniversary of the founding of a congregation here on the corner of 7th & Washington with the laying of the cornerstone of Trinity Church in 1855.

Recently, our resident historian, Ted Rowlands, came across this framed letter stored under some linens in the sacristy (that's back there where all the sacred objects are kept). It is addressed to the Treasurer and labelled:

Grace Wright's note with her offering to the Fair, held 18th December 1855
on laying the foundation of Trinity Church Hoboken.

and it says:

Dear Sir

I wish to give the money out of my moneybox which I have been keeping for two years to the Fair for the new church. It is 2 dollars and 9 cents.

It is signed Grace Wright.

We don't know anything about Grace Wright or this fair held in December of 1855, but what we do know is that Grace was excited to contribute, to be part of, this new congregation, and over two years, she saved up $2.09  - or about $75 in today's money - toward this building.

You may or may not have ever noticed a plaque when you come in the side door between the school and the church. It is dedicated "To the Glory of God and in loving Memory of William Plumer" who served as a warden and vestryman for 32 years. (How does that sound, Molly & Brian?) But that's not all. Mr. Plumer was treasurer for 17 years and superintendent of the Sunday School for 14. Since he died in 1909, all of his service took place during a period of rapid and enormous growth of the congregation. For instance, in 1884, 62 children and adults were baptized here, 26 were confirmed, and there were 216 regular communicants (meaning those who received the sacraments on a regular basis). Those are extraordinary numbers for a 30-year-old church.[1] Mr. Plumer wanted to be part of this growing congregation and took seriously his call to service in multiple ways to nurture that growth in both numbers and faith among the people here.

And then there is the stained-glass window of Jesus and the children right over there. It is dedicated "In grateful memory of Rev'd. Malcolm A. Shirley" who was rector here from 1912 to 1944. Yep, that's 32 years. As remarkable as was his longevity is that he served through not one but two World Wars, a Spanish flu epidemic, and the Great Depression.

I don't imagine that Grace Wright or William Plumer or Malcolm Shirley would have even been able to dream that, here on Pentecost in the Year of Our Lord 2025, I would be standing here talking about them. They didn't do these things to be remembered, or to have a plaque or a stained-glass window with their name on it. No, they faithfully carried out their ministries to assure that the gospel would continue to be lived out in this place.

On Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the followers of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem just as Jesus had promised. He had told them that they would always be connected with him through this same Spirit. We remember it as the birthday of the Church, because, filled with the Spirit's power, they went out into the world not just telling people about Jesus but showing people the way that Jesus had taught them, to live in love and charity with their neighbor and tending the needs of those on the margins. They went out and gathered people into house churches and then into buildings built for the purpose of gathering and then into basilicas and cathedrals. And some 1850 years later, people were still building right here, still giving of what they had in time and talent and treasure to make evident God's reign on earth as it is in heaven.

In 1983, the three Episcopal churches in Hoboken joined together to become All Saints, and here we are worshipping as All Saints in that building whose cornerstone was laid 170 years ago. That's the movement of the Holy Spirit through people of every time and every land including the people who gather here at the corner of 7th & Washington each week. And that movement of the Spirit is not finished.

You may be wondering what any of this has to do with Grace and William and Malcolm,  three long-dead leaders and members of this congregation. It is this. I look out on this congregation and wonder who this generation's Grace and William and Malcolm might be. Sure, we are in a different time in which no one serves on any church body for decades, but we have a vestry who does serve, and faithfully so. We have pledgers and contributors and musicians and Sunday School teachers and those who serve at the table, and I am telling you that it is all the work of the Holy Spirit in our midst. And I am wondering who the Spirit is going to inspire next to give and serve and show up in ways that assure that this place continues making a difference in Hoboken for another 170 years. Is it you?

I put a note at the end of the leaflet about the final hymn today which is based on John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. We are singing that particular hymn today, because we are being sent on a pilgrim adventure. These babies being baptized will be sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ's own, setting them off on a journey of growing in knowledge and love of God. I am setting off on a new adventure, called by the Holy Spirit to use my gifts in a new place. And you - all y'all - are being invited to an adventure of new discovery, a new leader, a new era.

A pilgrim's journey may be scary. There will be times when you can’t see the road in front of you. There may even be times when you want to give up. But the thing about a pilgrimage is that you simply have to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and the Spirit will let you know when you have arrived. Trust in this. You are not alone. The God who created you and who loves you promised to be with you always. To paraphrase what we will sing at the end of this service:

Since, Lord thou dost defend us with thy Spirit.
we know we at the end will life inherit.
Then fancies flee away; we'll fear not what they say,
we'll labor night and day to be a pilgrim.

[1] Figures are from the Diocese of Northern New Jersey convention journal.