Rector’s Blog

I was born into the Episcopal Church–and I love it. It is home. I have not always agreed with what was happening in it at the time, but I have loved it none the less. There is no other denomination in which I feel at home with the worship and the presence of Christ. I have worshiped on occasion in Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Presbyterian, Methodist, Evangelical, and Community Churches and none of them filled me as much as does our Episcopal Eucharist.

Somewhere in my life I was taught that the efficacy of the Eucharist was not determined by the worthiness/excellence of the priest, but by the Church’s action and the words used. I truly believe this. So I have never refused to receive Communion. I have chosen during my ordained ministry not to serve in dioceses where I knew the Bishop and I would be at odds most of the time. A number of years ago I was at a clergy conference where we shared in small groups the clergy that influenced us in our life. It was amazing how many of us had been inspired and encouraged by very flawed priests. Yet God was able to work through them just as God worked through Eli to form Samuel for his ministry.

When I served as a curate and found myself in disagreement with the rector over several things, it was time for me to move on, not him. When I found myself not able to respect and trust my bishop, it was time for me to go to another diocese. At the same time there were others coming into that same diocese because they wanted to serve under him.

Throughout the most recent controversies a number of things still hold true (in my experience). The Nicene Creed is said at all Sunday Eucharists (except when the Baptismal Covenant is used). We hear more of the Bible in our worship than any “evangelical church” I’ve attended. Jesus Christ is named, worshiped, and adored in music, scripture, prayers, and praise. To quote Luke in Acts, we continue to be devoted “to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”

The Episcopal Church is not perfect. No Church is. We spend far too many resources on gathering every three years for legislative sessions, in which we consider more than 300 resolutions when we haven’t followed through on the approved resolutions of previous General Conventions. What happened to the 2020? (20/20: A Clear Vision “A Domestic Mission Imperative for the Episcopal Church” Called to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ, we will, with God’s help, double the Episcopal Church’s average Sunday attendance by the year 2020.) The most resent post to the 20/20 website is 10/21/04. Do we have ADD (attention deficit disorder) as a Church that we cannot finish what we start? The decade of evangelism in the 90’s has been proclaimed by most people as a failure. Why? Because we can’t concentrate on something for that long?

At the beginning of this essay I said I was born into this Episcopal Church. Now as an adult, (turning 55 in a little over a week), and a priest for almost 28 years, I choose the Episcopal Church in which to live out my life and ministry. It is here that I have come to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. It is here that I continue to encounter him in Word and Sacrament, in community, and in the people I meet and serve. It is here that I can have the freedom to be who I am, and allow you to be who you are. Within the worship of the Book of Common Prayer, the Apostle’s and Nicene Creed, and the Catechism as set forth in the 1979 BCP, I have a framework for my faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

The beginning of the passage from Sunday, April 27th Gospel (John 14:15-16) “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”

The word in Greek translated above in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible as “Advocate” is Paraclete . Paraclete literally means someone called alongside to help or assist. The direct translation from Greek to Latin gives us the word Advocate. An Advocate in the law courts is “someone who is called to speak for someone on trial, either as that persons defending counsel or to intercede with the judge. Other English translations use “Counselor” or “Intercessor”.

Another English translation uses the word “Comforter”. We can think of someone being comforted at the death of a loved one. One dictionary meaning has this “device used for an infant to suck or bite.” Remember Linus, in the Peanuts cartoon, with his “comfort blanket.” I had one of those as a kid, it was wool, but I think I ate holes in it. Following this definition of Comforter, you could use the object of a “pacifier” or more commonly called a “Binky” today. A Binky certainly brings comfort to a child. But the original meaning of “comforter” was “to give strength or courage.” Thus the Paraclete as Comforter is one called to give strength or courage to another. I think a “Binky” not only brings comfort in the sense that it can calm someone, but I also think it gives a child strength or courage. It helps them go and do things that they are afraid to do without it.

I know parents are always having to deal with the issue of when the do away with the “Binky.” One thing I heard was of the “Binky fairy” who comes to take the Binky away when it is no longer needed.

If the “Paraclete” is a “comforter” as one comes alongside to give strength or courage; and a “Binky” is a comforter. Can we not think of the Paraclete as a “Binky”?

Of course we understand the “Paraclete” to be the Holy Spirit. The One whom Jesus asks the Father to send is the Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit my Binky in the sense that she gives me strength and courage?

The Episcopal Church through its General Convention designated the 1990’s as the Decade of Evangelism in the Episcopal Church.  There was much energy in the beginning.  I attended the kickoff event at Kanuga in North Carolina.  There was also an event in Glorietta, New Mexico that I attended with lots of workshops.  Some say the effort was a total failure.  I don’t agree.  I think that we can at least use the term “evangelism” without embarrassment.  The term Evangelism is in common usage in the Church if not in practice.

We then came up, again through General Convention, the 2020 Vision of doubling the size of worship attendance in the Episcopal Church by the year 2020.  This began at the 2000 General Convention without budget.  At the 2003 Convention a budget was added.  Unfortunately, since the events of 2003 and 2006 Conventions it seems that 2020 is dead.  I’ve seen no updates to its website in several years.

I believe we must take up again the task of evangelism in the Episcopal Church.  Numbers are OK, as an indication that we are working.  But it cannot be numbers for numbers sake.  It must be real lives being won for Jesus Christ.  I think a better way to test whether we are taking evangelism seriously is the number of adult baptisms.

In 1973 General Convention defined evangelism as “the presentation of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in such ways as that persons are led to believe in him as Saviour and follow him as Lord within the fellowship of his Church.”  This is a slight adaptation of definition that William Temple, former Archbishop of Canterbury had made a few years earlier.  I like it, it helps give us focus with two parts, bringing people to Christ and bringing people to the Church.  Both are important.  It is said there are no “long ranger” christians, I believe thats true.

In 1984 the newly created Evangelism Office at the National Church headquarters outlined five evangelism ministries:  Proclamation by word and example; New Member Ministry; Ministry with the Lapsed; Fonding New Congregations; and Parish Revitalization and Spiritual Direction.  I still these are valid and worth doing.

All too often in the Episcopal Church we have taken programs meant for evangelism and turned them inwards for spiritually renewing the congregation:  Cursillo and Alpha to name just two.  Most congregations I know after having sent many people to Cursillo, just wanted to go on the team of Cursillo, they never began reaching out t0 their unchurched friends and family to evangelize them.  The same can be said for Alpha.  Two congregations that I am familiar with spent considerable energy getting members of the congregation to go to Alpha and when those numbers were exhausted has no energy left to reach out to the unchurched.

Quite often when congregations are looking for a new priest, they bring up ministry with the lapsed (those who have left the congregation for any number of resons).  Unfortunately, this can drain all of a congregations energy without much result.    I would not want to overlook this ministry but I wouldn’t want to put all our energy into just this one.  Perhaps there are some people in the congregation who feel called to this ministry?

What do you think?  Are you ready to do the work of evangelism: presenting Jesus Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in such ways as persons may be led to believe in him as Saviour and follow him as Lord with the fellowship of his Church?