I was asked just the other day if I thought after this pandemic is over “if we’ll still have a church?” the answer of course is yes, by God’s grace. After all, it’s God’s church, not ours. But the question has caused me to think about what things will look like in the days to come. We will be different. We will have been changed by the trauma we have experienced over the last year. Change is inevitable. Churches change from year to year, but I suspect that change will be all the more recognizable now. I think it will do us all some good this Lent to contemplate what it is about All Saints that brought you here… that keeps you here… to take stock, as it were, about who we are; what the future may hold for us.
As more and more of us are vaccinated for Covid, we will soon be able to gather inside and return to what we know as All Saints. Sometime soonish we will be able to sing God’s praises. I have realized over the last months how exquisite the Episcopal hymnal is. Our hymns, perhaps more than anything else, speak most eloquently of our roots, our tradition. I miss the beauty of worship. Terry Holmes, former dean of the School of Theology at Sewanee, said that it is the presence of beauty in our worship that makes a space in which we may love God. I believe that. We are known for beautiful worship at All Saints…. prayers, praises, word, and sacrament. I miss its nurture.
So here are some things I’m looking forward to as the Covid cases begin to decrease: I’m looking forward to gathering again for breakfast, not only to be with you, but to invite our neighbors who are homeless to join us. Many of our guests have dropped by and asked when we are opening back up, not just for breakfast, but for worship. That we eat alongside our homeless neighbors says a lot about who we are. Our Food Share program is picking up steam, in spite of the pandemic. I look forward to expanding that ministry. I am looking forward to reconvening the Action Groups. Before the pandemic struck, some fifty or so of us had become engaged with addressing Gospel issues in our community: poverty, food insecurity, racism, climate change and creation care, gun violence, and immigration injustice. I look forward to recapturing that energy, and the potential it bears.
I’m looking forward to the Rector’s Forum. This year, in addition to the regular Inquirers Class (instruction for Confirmation, and refresher course in church history and theology for regular members), I will lead a conversation on selected poetry of William Butler Yeats. Our Lenten program on contemplative prayer begins tonight. I’m looking forward to participating as a means of being intentional about our return to “normal.” Now might be a good time to consider being a lector, joining the Altar Guild, the Flower Guild, becoming an acolyte. The more participation in liturgy, the more resonant our community.
All Saints is treasured by those of us who make it our church home, but our mission and ministry, our witness, is equally important to the wider community. We are known for standing against injustice, and standing in solidarity with those of our community without privilege. The community sees us as a fellowship that practices what we preach.
Over the last several months I have had numerous inquiries, serious inquiries, about how one would join All Saints Church. In the seventeen years I’ve been here, that is a first. I feel we are poised for renewal. Things will be different, but our mission will be the same: To share the love of Christ, well-being and dignity, with those who have been left out of the abundance of God’s creation. And we will gather and praise God as beautifully as we know how… for life, for love. I hope you feel as I do…. I can’t wait.
