What does church mean to you? Surely there are as many answers to that question as there are people involved in a church. My own answer to that question has evolved over the years: from a place where we go to learn what we are supposed to think (and discouraged from thinking otherwise), to a place of learning about God, and then to a place of refuge and respite from the always-on, instant gratification world in which we live. I told the Confirmation teens last weekend that church, when at its best, is a place that connects us to God through intentional atmosphere, words, and rituals. AND also insists that we connect to the others around us inside and outside. It is also a place that we can do more for the Kingdom of God working together than we can individually through outreach and evangelism. Our church community can be our tether, an anchor from the centuries before us, holding us accountable and keeping us from drifting too far into the world of self-determined spiritualism where my god is only what I think God is (and usually that is simply a reflection of what I am). What does church mean to you?

I have been thinking a lot about this over the past several months, because I look out at larger trends (and trends right here at home) and I see the church as an institution changing; it is evolving into something new. We do not know what that is ultimately going to be, but the change is undeniable. You can see it in the statistics, you see it by attending church, you can hear it by talking to other pastors and priests. I remember a book many years ago now by Phillis Tickle, called The Great Emergence (2008). She described in those pages a five hundred year cycle that humanity, and certainly Western European cultures, tend to follow. Every five hundred years we have a huge “rummage sale” where we throw out what we no longer need and hold onto only the things that really matter. She said that 500 years before Christ, the Babylonian Exile produced this result. Then Jesus came onto the scene, then 500 years later the Roman Empire fell and the Christian Church became the cultural glue for Europe. In 1000 AD, the Christina Church split into east and west, and in 1500 the Protestant Reformation reshaped theology and worship for many of the faithful. She said that each period of “redecoration” took about 100 years, and you and I (and the church) find ourselves in our own “rummage” sale of transformation. I am certain she made that argument better than I just did, and I found it very intriguing and useful as a theory to help keep myself grounded through the century in which I felt called to be a priest.

So what are we to do during a time when the destination is uncertain? We are asked to remain faithful; faithfulness is what God wants from us. Our fidelity is the only measure of success in God’s eyes. My friends, whatever church means to you, ask yourself: how do I remain faithful to the God who has given me everything? And God will bless us on that journey As I preached at the All Souls Requiem (https://www.stmichaelsbarrington.org/churchsermons/message/362/watch), we will find that God is faithful to us to the end and beyond.

See you in church,

Jesse+

All Souls Requiem highlights: https://vimeo.com/643981398