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Beloved in the Lord,
The big announcement has been made. We have a new Vicar, the Rev. Mary Blessing. She will begin at St. Philip’s September first. We expect this to be a time of stability and a new adventure. During the preparation and search process much has been said about being in transition. That period will continue as we learn Pastor Mary’s leadership style and discover her ways of doing things. After a while things will get settled, but the transition will not be over. The truth is churches and Christians are ALWAYS in transition. We are citizens of the Kingdom of God which is always in present yet not complete on this earth. It is never fully here but it is always becoming. We never fully understand the will of God. We never fully see as God sees. Yet as we grow in understanding we become more like Christ. As Paul puts it, what we will be has not yet been fully revealed but what Christ is shows us what we shall become. As we grow we change. We become different persons. As a church congregation we become another congregation. It is easy to become frustrated with transition. On the one hand it continually challenges everything we thought was firmly fixed. On the other hand transition can make us wonder if there is anything at all that is true forever. We like the idea of growing more fully into the image of Christ, but growing and changing can make us afraid. How can we manage the changes in our own lives and the changes in our church? I believe we have three anchors that can allow us to move with the tides and still remain upright and where we need to be. The first anchor is prayer. We need to cultivate our prayer life. We need to develop a variety of prayer approaches. We need liturgical prayer, such as our Sunday Eucharist, morning and evening prayers, and grace at meals. We need spontaneous prayers that are our response to what happens around us. We need to pray for others. We need to pray for ourselves. We need to offer praise to God in Christ. The second anchor is Scripture. The daily lectionary in our Prayerbook is a good guide, but any systematic way of reading different parts of Scripture will help. When we read Scripture there are two questions we need to ask. The first is “What is God trying to tell me in this reading?” The answer to that may be in the words or it may be in your response to the reading. The second question is “What does God want me to do because I have heard this word?” When we read Scripture on a regular basis, asking ourselves these questions, we have a great strength for our lives. The third anchor is fellowship. As Christians we always need other Christians. Churches are and should be communities. All of us together know more about God and God’s Kingdom than any one of us. We need to come together regularly to support one another and to receive support. In community we will find needed direction for our faith. In community we will find strength to believe and grow. We are a people who are always growing and changing as we journey towards the fullness of Christ. Let prayer, Scripture and fellowship be the anchors in your life as you deal with all of this change. In Christ's love, The Reverend John L. Duncan |
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Summer 2006 |
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Issue 197 |
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St. Philip the Apostle |
