Engaging Our LIteral Neighbors

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Music

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Jon: Welcome to Good News, being

brought to you by Listening for Clues.

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Lauren: We are Lauren Welch and

Jon Shematek, deacons in the

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Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

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Jon: We sure are, and today we have a very

special guest, the Reverend Derek Miller.

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Derek is the rector at St.

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Peter's Episcopal Church in

Old Ellicott City, and he is

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the Main Street Coordinator for

the Ellicott City Partnership.

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His bio has several

words that begin with P.

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He's

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a person, partner,

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parent, priest, and placemaker.

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He lives in Old Ellicott City with

his wife Kara and three year old son

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Easton, and he loves to accumulate

and sometimes even read books.

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You drink craft made beverages.

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And play music at open mics,

which actually I'd like to

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hear a little bit about, too.

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But, Derek, welcome.

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We're really so grateful that you're here

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with us today.

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Derek: I'm really glad to be invited

and to be here with you both.

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So looking forward to the conversation.

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Lauren: Great.

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It's so good to have you

with us today, Derek.

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So along with all of your

duties as Rector of St.

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Peter's in Ellicott City, you also

are coordinator for the, partnership.

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So tell us a little bit about that.

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Derek: Yeah.

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The best way to begin is to say that

it's sort of an experiment as our

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church has really leaned into part

of its identity as being a church

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that's here for Old Ellicott City, as

a parish church for Old Ellicott City.

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And part of that has been engaging with

a lot of our neighbors here and getting

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To know their world to serve them.

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And one of the organizations that has

some shared values in that mission

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is the Ellicott City Partnership,

which is our main street organization.

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Historic Ellicott City is

a, is a historic district.

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It has a main street that's comprised of a

lot of different businesses and residents.

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And so, I had served on the board

with this organization for a little

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while, and we had this kind of crazy

experimental idea of basically having

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a, a sharing agreement between St.

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Peter's, which has been a really active

and engaged church in Ellicott City,

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especially since the the flooding

that took place here and and the

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Ellicott City Partnership, you know.

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And so we came up with this

idea of having a part time Main

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Street coordinator position.

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Frankly, that was in some ways

officializing some work I was already

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doing as a priest that believes

that I'm here to serve the parish,

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which includes this community.

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And so so we're trying it out.

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And seeing seeing how it works

in ways that can mutually benefit

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not just each organization, but of

course benefit our neighbors here

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and help our community flourish.

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That's the most important thing.

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So so that's, that's how it's begun.

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It means spending a lot of time with

our business owners and residents,

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hearing what's important to them,

hearing some of the challenges.

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Helping to get ourselves organized

and addressing some of those

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challenges together in creative

and hopefully positive ways.

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So and it's new it just began in

the last couple months, so we're

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still figuring it out as we go.

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Jon: Oh, that's really exciting.

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So Derek, can you tell us for

some folks don't really know

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Old Ellicott City at all.

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Yeah.

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We have an audience that kind of

goes beyond our borders as well.

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Can you tell people a little bit

about what the environment is

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like and what the town is like?

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Derek: Sure, sure.

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So Ellicott City is a historic town that

actually we just celebrated our, I think

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the, I can't remember exactly the right

term, but it's the 250th anniversary of

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this old mill town that was founded by

the Ellicott family and the Ellicotts who

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came down from Pennsylvania themselves,

who were Quakers, and helped to introduce

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grain growth into this region rather

than just tobacco and tried to harvest

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the power of the Patapsco River here

for a flour mill, and 250 years later.

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Of course, this area has

grown and changed a lot.

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Ellicott City itself is the seat

for Howard County government.

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And so we have our

government offices are here.

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And just like other historic towns

that have gone through a lot.

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The economy has changed.

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Of course, we no longer have an active

flour mill that's now slated for adaptive

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reuse, likely to be turned into apartments

and retail and restaurant space.

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What was once more of a sleepy antique

dealing sort of town has now changed

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into having a more diverse economy.

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With a lot of different businesses

and frankly, just a lot of different

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people some increased diversity here.

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And so we're trying to do our best to

adapt and change which frankly feels

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very much like the same challenge that

many of our churches are facing as well.

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And so, there's a lot that's lined up

there, but anyway Ellicott City itself has

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also gone through quite a few tragedies,

it's been been through several large

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scale fires a train derailment, and in

the most recent years, two what they call

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thousand year flood events within two

years of each other, in: 2016

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Where there was loss of life and

many many businesses that did

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not make it through that time.

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And then of course, like the

rest of us we've had a pandemic

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as the cherry on top after that.

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And so a lot of challenges and with that.

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A lot of developed resilience

in the community as well.

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So that's just a little bit about us.

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It's a wonderful place.

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I, of course I'm biased, but I would

encourage anyone to come and visit.

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It's a place where you

can get all sorts of food.

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There's so many different

interesting shops and businesses.

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We have places to throw axes, if

you're into that, and, you know

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everything in between, so it's a

really great, really great town.

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Jon: Knowing you in other contexts

I've heard you use the word co

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vocational rather than bi vocational.

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Is that part of what you're talking

about, being a parish priest or a

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rector of a parish, of a church,

and being part of this partnership?

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That's a new concept for a lot of us.

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We've heard of bi vocational.

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Clergy, but not co-vocational necessarily.

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Derek: Certainly.

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And yeah, it's it's something I've,

I've probably been overly vocal about

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in discussions around vocation, but,

you know, we all have different ways in

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which we live into our callings, even my

bio has all these P words that describe

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sort of the dimensions of my own calling.

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I'm my part of my vocation.

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One as a, as a person in particularly

as a baptized person in the church

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is to be a minister in God's church.

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To be a partner is a part

of my vocation as a husband.

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To be a parent is a part of my vocation.

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But also to be a priest, and then

that last one, being a, a place maker.

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But those are all, to me, not

divided up parts of my vocation,

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but are all dimensions of a, a

singular calling for me, which is

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to, where, how I, I show up as...

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As that vocation, whether I am, you know,

at the altar, whether I'm doing what I

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was just doing before this call, sitting

in someone's home as they're dealing

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with a loved one who's in hospice care.

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Or whether I'm helping to mediate conflict

between business owners or help someone

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talk about how they can help to start

a new venture in our, in our community.

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It's, it's all layers of vocation.

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And so sometimes, and I, know every

every person approaches their,

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especially if they're in vocational

ministry differently, and some people

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cannot sustain that with you know,

getting their paycheck from the church

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and, and need to get it elsewhere.

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But I, for me, I, I don't like

calling that bivocational.

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I think there's an alignment

in that sense of vocation.

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So I, I view stepping in

as a Main Street manager.

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As also a way that I'm caring for

for a parish which is not just my

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congregation members, the people

who show up on Sundays, but it's the

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people who live in Old Ellicott City.

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I consider them to be my.

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And because they live here.

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And so it's my opportunity,

it's my calling to serve them,

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how they need to be served.

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And so this is another dimension

and that's, that's been part of the.

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As we've discerned this a little bit

here with my, my vestry here and had

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conversations with some other diocesan

leaders about this unique structure and

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of course, got the bishop's permission,

to, to explore this, they, they saw

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this very much in that way that this

is not this is not a bifurcating of my,

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of my calling or kind of a splitting

up, which is what sometimes, sometimes

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I can receive the phrase bivocational,

but it's, it's co vocational.

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It's, it's a deepening of that

sense of calling to place.

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And and I'll just say

one thing about that.

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I think that's become something

that's become more central to my own.

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I'm not just calling, but my understanding

of what I think is ought to be

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decidedly Christian about our sense

of calling is that it be rooted in a

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place that when Jesus calls us to love

our neighbors as ourselves, that he

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at least means our literal neighbors.

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The people that we live next to,

the people that are right around us.

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And I actually wonder sometimes how

how our literal neighbors bear witness

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to our love for them as opposed

to how others might feel loved.

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So so anyway, that's, that's part of it,

part of it, I think, for me, is that we

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all have ways that we're called to serve.

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To serve others and to

serve God in this world.

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And I'd love for us to see them

as being a lot more integrated and

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related to one another than split up.

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Lauren: That's wonderful.

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I love hearing that.

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I had not heard the word either

Derek, and I, I really liked that.

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It does make our work, our

vocation more dynamic and organic.

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I know as a deacon.

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Everything I did was diaconal, so that

I could not separate myself, but I

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didn't have a word for it, so thank you.

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In all that you do at St.

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Peter's and with the, with Ellicott

City, what has surprised you the most?

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Derek: Hmm,

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that's a really good question.

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I, I think the, the depth

of the resilience of people.

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Continues to surprise me, you

know for those that don't know St.

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Peter's as a church itself has gone

also gone through its own layers of

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trauma, and has made it through that.

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It's a church that experienced.

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Imperilment.

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And from what I understand, imperilment

is oftentimes more of a stage on

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the way to the ending of a church.

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And and St.

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Peter's was able to come out of that and I

think stronger than it was going into it.

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In that same time frame, it

also experienced tragedy.

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There was incidents of gun

violence about 11 years ago.

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Where our parish administrator and

a priest at the time their lives

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were both taken by gun violence.

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And the, the shooter also

turned the gun on himself.

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And that was a very tragic and

very difficult circumstance for the

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church to work through and overcome.

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And, you know, I'm told that on the

Sunday following that tragic event

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that they were committed to still

worshipping in their own church.

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The, the Sunday following

the Friday, I believe.

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That, that is incredible strength

and resilience in the face of,

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of, Real, real intense tragedy.

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And so I continue to see that showing

up again and again here in this church

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community and the way that they have

now also leveraged that resilience in

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service of others who've now gone through

two floods, and who've now gone through

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a pandemic and are coming out of it.

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And so, yeah, that's a long answer

of way of saying resilience.

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It's, it's been a.

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a wonderful thing to see.

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Of course, there's other difficulties

that come with experiencing trauma and

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living with that as a community and

as individuals, but that resilience

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is, is nevertheless very present.

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Yeah.

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Jon: So I'm, I'm kind of wondering for

you, for you, as well as the community

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Derek, and living through these

traumas, whether it was vicariously

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by being, just be part of the history.

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You yourself, various traumas or

obstacles you faced in your own life.

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How, what, what do you see as the source?

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Let's say, maybe take it for you,

if it's not too personal question.

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What, what is the source of that

spiritual resilience or, or strength?

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Where, where does that come from for you?

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How do you, how are you nourished?

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Derek: Yeah.

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You know, I, if I could sum it

up in a, in a word, I would say

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it's, It's the word connection.

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So connection, connection with God

through obviously some of the spiritual

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practices that many of us engage with.

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For me I've learned that that connection

is often found by me getting away from all

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that is digital and distracting and being

being very much in in place in nature.

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You know, this morning as much as I

didn't want to get myself out of bed

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this morning, I did to go on my what's

become a morning run ritual for me.

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And I intentionally do that here in

the community in places where there's

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a lot of leaves and water running

and, you know and so that's, that's

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been very helpful and grounding for

me because it helps reconnect to

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me, to myself as a creature, to.

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Being a part of the broader creation and

the one who's created it, to my creator.

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I think also connection with each other.

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And so being able to do that obviously in

regular worship, rather regular gathering

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with each other, sharing with each other.

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I mean, I mentioned having had

a moment of pastoral care right

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before I jumped onto this call.

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There is a connection that.

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is really profound when you connect

with someone else in, in the heaviness

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and in their, in their difficulty.

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It it evokes those times where

you felt that same connection.

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I think often of Henri Nouwen's

discussion around this, about the

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wounded healer, that we connect in

our place of common woundedness.

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And that that can be that can

be very profound and sacred

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when we connect in that way.

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And not, and to make it not

too serious, to just connect

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and have fun with each other.

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I mean, just to, like, eat

good food and have good drink

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and laugh and tell stories.

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Those have been things that

I've found very generative.

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I love laughing.

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I love, you know, sharing good

stand up comedy with somebody else

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or, you know, just laughing a lot.

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I have a three year old, so I have a lot

of material for him at home right now.

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And frankly that's been

very restorative for me.

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So, those are, those are some of the ways.

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Also my spiritual director's been

very helpful in this of helping me.

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Make sure that I guard regular, at least

quarterly times, if not monthly, where

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I am getting away and being quiet and

can't be found, you know, kind of like

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Jesus for a little while would do that.

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And and that's been very,

very important for me.

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and sustaining.

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So, I hope that, I hope that gets

at an answer to your question.

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Jon: Well, yeah, it's your answer, and

it's a great answer, and it's one I think

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we need, we all need to pay attention to.

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I'll speak for myself, right, Lauren?

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I need to think of my I statements.

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I need to hear that.

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I need to think about getting away.

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One of the reflections in my Prayer

life this morning was around Jesus

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going away to pray by himself.

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Derek: Isn't that amazing?

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And that, and that people

got upset with him.

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They couldn't find him.

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You know, I, you know,

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Jon: they were, they were hunting for him.

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Right.

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Isn't that, I mean, that's the word.

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Oh my gosh, really?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So people do miss their priests

when they're not available to,

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I suppose, but there is such.

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You spoke such a good and deep reason for

that so I, I'm going to treasure those

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words that you've just spoken and, and,

and go back to them from time to time.

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Good lesson.

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So let's see.

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This is all good.

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You know, sometimes we do just

have to be quiet and see what the

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Holy Spirit's saying to us too.

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I'm not good at that, as you may know.

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I kind of chatter.

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Good.

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I love what you had to say about laughter

and just recalling, Some great laughs

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I've had today and yesterday as how that

kind of opens your heart , you talked

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about in your bio that you You play

music at open mics Yeah Can you talk

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a little bit about that, what that's

like, and what, I mean, what's your

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instrument, and what kind of music?

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Derek: Yeah, yeah, so since middle

school, I've been playing guitar,

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and was in a smattering of bands

all through high school and college,

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mostly, like, way heavier music.

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That I've learned that many of

my congregation members probably

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wouldn't care for, but that's okay.

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Currently I have a good friend of mine

and I have had this duo that we've

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we've started, kind of resurrected.

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She and I used to play church

music together, at a, in a

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different church setting.

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Before coming to the Episcopal

Church, I was serving in a non

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denominational church context.

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And so she and I did

some music there and...

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But we'd always talked about

how we'd enjoy just playing fun

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music out wherever we could.

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And so we, we started doing that more

recently and, even played at a few.

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Church gigs here.

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I, we have there's a tradition here at St.

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Peter's of having a big

Mardi Gras party before Lent.

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And so we we got to provide the

music and entertainment for that.

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And that was a lot of fun.

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So I play guitar and sing.

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She sings and also plays violin.

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And so so we do kind of our own.

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Acoustic kind of folk

Americana covers of songs.

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And we've started writing a couple

of original tunes too, but it's it's

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actually been something that has also

itself has sprung out of a recognition

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that there are things that I need

to do just because they're fun.

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And just because I enjoy them, not because

they have some sort of, you know, ministry

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purpose or value for somebody else.

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It's actually something

that's more for me.

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: 00:21:18

And so we played it a

few open mic nights here.

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: 00:21:22

There's one that we have here in old

Ellicott city and then we've played it a

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few in the Baltimore area more broadly.

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: 00:21:28

And, yeah, hoping to, to play some more.

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We, we, we came up with the band name

finally called ourselves Both And,

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so both and, cause we, we are both

people who really love the, the gray

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of life and the nuance that comes with.

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With life as we live it and

holding together things in tension.

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So, if you want to a book, a acoustic

duo band, you know, let me know, be glad.

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Jon: I didn't know that was going to

be something you'd you'd offer, but I

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: 00:22:03

would like to to know, and I think our

viewers and listeners would like to,

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: 00:22:07

gosh, I'd like to know more about this

guy, or I'd like to learn more about St.

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Peter's and Old Ellicott City and so on.

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: 00:22:15

If that's the case, if someone says,

gosh, I'd like to find out a bit

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: 00:22:18

more, or I'd like to book his band.

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: 00:22:20

I've got a gig.

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: 00:22:21

Coming up what where can,

how can people find you?

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: 00:22:26

Derek: Yeah.

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So for our, our ministry here at St.

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Peters we're online.

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You can find us there.

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stpetersec.

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org you can search for us

the same handle on Facebook.

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: 00:22:41

We're not really on Twitter or

what used to be Twitter anymore.

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Instagram, same, same handle.

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: 00:22:47

And then, i, but I'm like

really bad for someone in my

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: 00:22:51

generation at using social media.

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: 00:22:53

I'm just like, not good at it.

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: 00:22:55

I am on Instagram as well.

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And so is our band.

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: 00:22:59

So you can find me at Derek

H Miller is my handle.

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: 00:23:03

And then our, our band is both and band.

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So that's all spelled out.

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: 00:23:09

B O T H A N D B A N D.

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: 00:23:13

So, and then for our

Ellicott city partnership.

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Please do check out visit OEC.

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com, which is our our Ellicott

City Partnership website.

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: 00:23:26

And that's, that's the best way where you

can learn about all the amazing things

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that are happening in our community.

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There's an events calendar, there's

ways to get involved in the community.

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: 00:23:36

It's a really, really great resource.

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: 00:23:38

Jon: That's great.

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: 00:23:39

Thanks, Derek.

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: 00:23:39

We'll make sure to put all those links

in our show notes so people can find

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: 00:23:44

them easily and connect with you.

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: 00:23:47

Perfect.

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: 00:23:47

Thank you.

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: 00:23:48

Lauren: Derek, your joy

is just so infectious.

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: 00:23:51

I love listening to you.

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: 00:23:54

So, is there anything else you

want to share with us before we go?

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: 00:23:59

Or any words of wisdom to help

us figure out how to be joyful?

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: 00:24:06

Derek: Yeah, I, I would,

I would just encourage us.

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: 00:24:09

I mean, this is in line with the

conversation we've been having and

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: 00:24:12

kind of my articulation and my calling

here, but I would encourage our church

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: 00:24:18

people in our churches to rediscover

what can happen when we really re

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: 00:24:22

engage with our literal neighbors.

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: 00:24:25

I just I believe you know, a part of

our, part of our sacramental tradition

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: 00:24:32

is that we, we believe that God is

present and, and, and works through.

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: 00:24:39

Really ordinary stuff, right?

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: 00:24:43

So God works, God is present and

works through bread and wine.

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: 00:24:50

And let's be honest, sometimes it's

not even very good wine, right?

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: 00:24:53

Like, and, and God works

through water and oil.

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: 00:24:58

You know, just the stuff of life.

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: 00:25:01

I would encourage us to expand

our, our, if I could call it

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: 00:25:04

our sacramental imagination.

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: 00:25:07

To believe that God might also be present

and at work in the interactions that we

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: 00:25:13

have every day with our neighbors, in

the relationship that you develop with

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: 00:25:20

the same person that hands you your

coffee in the morning, with your neighbor

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: 00:25:24

walking the dog with, in the conflict.

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: 00:25:29

that exists between you and

that person in your community.

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: 00:25:34

That God's always present

and always at work.

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: 00:25:37

And as people of faith, and I think for

us as, you know, as Episcopalians, a

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: 00:25:43

unique way of expressing that is that we

can actually bear witness to that work.

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: 00:25:48

And we can notice and call

attention to that work.

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: 00:25:53

In our communities, in the very

ordinary stuff of life and that we

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: 00:26:00

don't have to generate it and we

don't have to kind of make stuff

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: 00:26:02

happen that we can just join into it.

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: 00:26:07

So I, I really I believe that

that's the case here in our

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: 00:26:10

community in Old Ellicott City.

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: 00:26:12

I feel like I have the unique benefit

of just stepping into things that

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: 00:26:17

have already been in motion and that

are already happening and getting

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: 00:26:21

to just sort of take my finger and

sort of point to it a little bit or.

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: 00:26:26

You know, maybe better

yet, hold it up, right?

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: 00:26:29

And, and say, look this is something

that God is doing in our midst.

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: 00:26:34

And, and you know, how are

we going to engage with it?

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: 00:26:37

How are we going to respond?

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: 00:26:38

So that, that would be my encouragement

for all of us that we we expand our

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: 00:26:42

imagination and we get curious about how

that might be the case in our places.

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: 00:26:49

So.

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: 00:26:53

Yeah.

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: 00:26:55

Jon: Wisdom.

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: 00:26:56

You know, Derek, I feel so honored

to be with you and so grateful for

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: 00:27:01

your spending time with us today.

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: 00:27:03

And everything that you've

said has been just great.

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: 00:27:05

Derek: Thanks.

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: 00:27:07

Well, I just, I'm excited to be

with two deacons at the same time.

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: 00:27:10

Like, that's just really fun for me.

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: 00:27:13

I love, Part of part of my joy right now

is we just welcomed a new intern who's

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: 00:27:19

in formation for the, for the diaconate.

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: 00:27:21

And so really excited to to work with

her as well on being able to to help

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: 00:27:29

us expand and, and deepen and like

grow our diaconia here at, at St.

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: 00:27:36

Peter's.

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: 00:27:36

So.

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: 00:27:37

So I'm, I'm hoping that some of that,

like, rubs off on me today, too.

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: 00:27:40

Thanks.

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: 00:27:43

Jon: Thanks so much.

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: 00:27:45

Lauren: Thank you, Derek.

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: 00:27:46

It's been a joy to have you with us.

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: 00:27:48

And you, you're doing, you're doing great

work, and building the beloved community.

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: 00:27:56

And I think that's what

you're calling us to.

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: 00:27:57

So thank you again.

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: 00:28:01

Derek: My pleasure

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: 00:28:02

Lauren: jon and I want to thank

all who are watching and listening.

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: 00:28:05

with us today.

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: 00:28:06

Please take a moment to comment, like,

or share on all your social media sites.

446

: 00:28:14

This will help us spread the

good news to even more people.

447

: 00:28:18

And again, thank you for the

gift of your time with us today.

448

: 00:28:22

Until next time, peace and blessing.

449

: 00:28:28

Jon: Good news is being brought

to you by Listening for Clues.

450

: 00:28:32

You can find us on our

website, listeningforclues.

451

: 00:28:35

com, our YouTube channel, our

Vimeo channel, and just about every

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: 00:28:40

podcast platform that there is.

453

: 00:28:42

Hope to see you soon.