Gettin' back in the saddle again.
So - after being away for a bit - I am back - for a bit. Wedding is in two weeks, and my life seems to have been turned upside down with to-do lists and a full schedule leading up to the big day. I am back into my office today, after being at convention this weekend. I am the gal who registers everyone and anyone to the big event, so work was nutty for a while there.
I am just going back over some long shuffled emails and ran across this one from my friend Jim. I read it over again today - and remembered why I kept it.
An apologia for struggling parishes in the Brave New World of mega-everything.
Not far away from wherever you are in Canada there is a St. Hopeful’s Anglican Church. On average, its Sunday attendance ranges from 5 to 50 people. It may have a coffee hour after Church, or a monthly potluck, and maybe a vibrant Bible Study on Thursday evenings; but St. Hopeful’s can’t pay its Diocesan Assessment or Apportionment. The question facing many bishops and Synods is simple: Should it have a future? My answer: Absolutely, here’s why.
The Incarnation
Whenever we are tempted to dismiss the smallness of something, we should think of the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour – how did He come into this world? In the same way we all do -- as a tiny, vulnerable baby; he was born of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a young woman and a first-time Mom; a “little” person by society’s standards. And where was He born? Yes, in a barn, but where? In the town of Bethlehem, not in the city of Jerusalem – ‘smalltown’ was God’s preferred Way. Why?
God’s charity
Why did God prefer ‘little’ to ‘big,’ and ‘humble’ to ‘powerful’ when He came down to this planet? He tells us plainly through St. John: “For God so loved the world….” Why? Because of His perfect love – His agape; His charity - He “loved the world” wrote St. John – not just big cities, but the backwoods and the outports. So God’s love necessarily reaches out to the smallest and the weakest; and, as human beings who face death from the moment of our conception, that’s what we are: “Remember, O man, that dust thou art and to dust thou shalt return.” In spite of all our big ideas, we are just people: tiny and fragile, and totally dependent on the grace and mercy of God.
So... a future of sympathy?
No. God did not ordain small struggling rural parishes for sympathy, but rather for mission and evangelism and for the cure, or healing, of souls. Instead of looking on little congregations as liabilities, the Lord would have us see them as members of Christ’s Body. In fact, from what He tells us through St. Paul, He would have us take the greatest care of them. “On the contrary,” wrote the apostle “the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable…God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honoured, all rejoice together.” (1 Corinthians 12.22, 24-26)
So, according to God’s design, “the little guy” and the “small parish” really matter, just as the little children did to the Lord Jesus. Why? Once again the answer is found in God’s grace. Think about it: if only big parishes who can afford to “pay their way” are supported by dioceses, we begin to practice a system of works rather than grace. This runs contrary to the Cross, and it contradicts the parable of the lost sheep.
In opposition, then, to society’s obsession with the “rich and famous” and with “important,self-sufficient” people, what did Jesus say? He commanded his disciples, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost…” (St. Matthew 28:19).
But what are the building blocks of ‘all nations’?
You guessed it: settlements, districts, villages and small towns. In other words, in order for us to be thorough in making disciples of all nations, we must be systematic in our approach. At least that’s what Theodore, the Archbishop of Canterbury in the 7th century, thought. Adapting an already existing secular system of land division, Theodore divided England up into small pieces called "dioceses,” and then subdivided these into smaller pieces called "parishes.” These little building blocks formed a connected and orderly network for evangelism and the cure of souls. How completely opposite this approach is to the current trends toward centralization.
When the Anglican Church first came to Canada, Theodore’s vision of mission was still alive and well in the hearts and minds of our early bishops and missionaries. Local dioceses were established and were quickly divided into parishes (some included parishes that even preexisted the dioceses - urban and rural). The mission objective was clear: every small town, every village, every outport, every city, was to be ministered to. The economically strong were to help support the economically weak - and ideally, none were to be neglected. The spiritual principle that lies at the heart of our ‘parish system’ of Church life must be recovered if we are serious about reaching ‘all nations’ within our dioceses.
So, should little St. Hopeful’s have a future? Absolutely, for if we neglect it, or ignore it, or abandon it, we are disobeying our Lord’s command to “Go.” And this command was not just a word, it was his very life among us in his Incarnation – it is what he did for us.
I will post later about our special guest at convention, the Rt. Rev. Steven Charlston, but will only say now - WOW. If you do not know about this man - I highly suggest learning more about him. Try here. It's just his work profile - so I am on a hunt to learn more to. He has a podcast here. Good stuff.
How are you today?
