"The report of my death was an exaggeration"

That quote, from Mark Twain, might apply to the "mainline churches" or to the Episcopal denomination, or to St. Matthew's.

True, the numbers for all those groups are not what they were in the 1960s. A lot of people who used to show up on Sunday mornings because it was socially required simply stopped coming. In the 1970s, there was quite an exodus as younger people (and a few older ones too) left for the "Jesus Movement" of anti-traditional and anti-theological churches. More recently, the involvement of many churches in highly political (and sometimes questionable) campaigns has driven a few away.

As a diocese and as a parish, we've been through all that, and some of us have gotten into the habit of talking as if things are all going to smash and ruin.

They're not.

For one thing, we have several layers of vibrant leadership (Rev. Kay, Bishop Hollingsworth, and Bishop Curry) who have a real vision for our future.

For another, if you look around, it's not difficult to point out new people who have been with us less than six months in the parish. We've had a few deaths and a few people have left town, but our numbers are actually increasing little by little.

As Treasurer, I can tell you that we are meeting our bills, plus a bit.

The real bottom line, though, is that a lot of people are still looking for what we have: a welcoming community seeking to follow Christ.

And all this talk of church death tends to leave out the major player. If God wants an Episcopal parish here, he will provide for it. And he seems to be doing so.

This should be so simple

Everyone who spent a childhood in Sunday school should remember these:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ... But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22)

It should be very obvious. Any religion or political philosophy that runs on hatred and jealousy is simply not a Christian religion or philosophy. Hatred, rage, and selfish ambition are not characteristics of God's Spirit.

Got it? So when a hate-filled, cross-carrying person spews out venom against some person or group, you can be pretty sure that the message did not come from the Spirit of Christ. Even if the person is carrying a cross.

Our response to Charlottesville

When I was a boy, the pastor of our white, suburban Presbyterian congregation of peaceful, middle-class government workers would take time off to participate in civil rights protest marches.

My father thought that was terrible.

I realize now that our pastor was right.

It is very easy, particularly in peaceful Ashland, to assume that these troubles are "out there" and that we can get by with just blending in. We can't do that if we want to follow Jesus.

Here is where the Episcopal Church stands on white supremacy, "just blending in" and our duties to our fellow humans.

The Immigrant Apostles' Creed

I found this today in the faculty mailroom. It was just lying on a table, so I had no idea where it came from or who wrote it. After a bit of research, I found it in a blog titled "Hopping Hadrian's Wall." Good words:

THE IMMIGRANT APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in Almighty God,

who guided the people in exile and in exodus,

the God of Joseph in Egypt and Daniel in Babylon,

the God of foreigners and immigrants.

I believe in Jesus Christ, a displaced Galilean,

who was born away from his people and his home,

who fled his country with his parents when his life was in danger.

When he returned to his own country he suffered under the oppression of Pontius Pilate, the servant of a foreign power.

Jesus was persecuted, beaten, tortured, and unjustly condemned to death.

But on the third day Jesus rose from the dead, not as a scorned foreigner but to offer us citizenship in God’s kingdom.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

the eternal immigrant from God’s kingdom among us,

who speaks all languages, lives in all countries,

and reunites all races.

I believe that the Church is the secure home

for foreigners and for all believers.

I believe that the communion of saints begins

when we embrace all God’s people in all their diversity.

I believe in forgiveness, which makes us all equal before God,

and in reconciliation, which heals our brokenness.

I believe that in the Resurrection

God will unite us as one people

in which all are distinct and all are alike at the same time.

I believe in life eternal, in which no one will be foreigner

but all will be citizens of the kingdom

where God reigns forever and ever. Amen.

The blog says it was found on a Facebook post by Neal Presa, the moderator of the Presbyterian Church (USA), and says it was originally written by Rev. Jose Luis Casal.

Quote from Madeline L'Engle

We do not draw people to Christ by loudly discrediting what they believe, by telling them how wrong they are and how right we are, but by showing them a light that is so lovely that they want with all their hearts to know the source of it.