From Rev. Michelle
Dear Ones,
This is my last missive to you as your priest. And I want to spend this space and your time on where I see hope in you – the community of St. John’s.
Over these 8 years as your priest, I must have talked/preached/written about change more than just about any other topic. The church is
definitely changing. The Gospel itself never changes but how we “do” church and what church looks like – these are the specific ways we see this change manifesting. And this, I believe, is a most hopeful thing. We may engage in nostalgia on occasion, but it does none of us any good to live in how things used to be or try to make it like it was. Because where we are called to be, and where God always is, is forever going to be here and now with the people of God, serving one another to our best ability.
I offer this because I am so proud that St. John’s has become a community that embraces change – a community in which God’s Holy Spirit can truly speak herself into being. There are so many signs of this: in how we listen to one another and notice acts of kindness; in how we speak with reverence about God and the myriad ways in which God is made real to us; in how we not only welcome but expect our younger members in worship (we don’t feel complete without them!); in how we boldly pronounce to everyone who drives down Albany Ave that we are open and affirming of LGBTQ people; in how when we say “All are welcome at God’s Table,” we truly mean ALL; and in how we are asking the hard questions about our financial future with courageous hearts.
I have never found God’s hope in comfort and ease (although, admittedly, that’s nice from time to time). God’s hope, I think, is found in the compassionate and earnest response to what is happening right now.
And equipping ourselves to be able to do that, is our only true responsibility as Christians.
- How are you feeding your minds? (news, movies and TV, stories we tell ourselves about ourselves or others)
- How are you practicing open-heartedness? (assuming kindness in others, being touched by the beauty of God’s creation, gratitude)
- How are you maturing in your behavior, truly caring for yourself so that you can actually be compassionate, Gospel-centered people who have the capacity to respond to the needs of the world? (practicing forgiveness for others and yourself and actively participating in life)
My deep wish for you, my beloved friends, is that you continue on this journey of becoming who God is calling you to be. Don’t get lost in stories of comparison. Don’t get mired in wishing that circumstances were different. And don’t lose one another in temporary disappointments. These are the twisted paths down which you will find that character named Satan from our baptismal examination. That one is always up to no good.
Instead, I invite you to believe – believe in yourself, in one another, in this community, and in God. Believe that, if you bring your courageous hearts to this time of transition, you will be amazed at the possibilities. So, invite one another. Show up for one another. Pay attention to and discern what God’s Holy Spirit is saying with one another. Because this… this is how we know God is with us, when we are with each other becoming what God is calling us to be.
In God’s love and mine – always,
Rev. Michelle
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