From the Rector
Annual Meeting: Epiphany 4
This Sunday morning, we will gather for our Annual Meeting, and I very much hope you’ll attend (between services in the church). Annual meeting is an opportunity to recognize important accomplishments over the past year, say thank you to many people who have sacrificially served our church, and give an update on our financial health. We will hear from our Treasurer about the remarkable end-of-year surplus, hear from the retiring Chair of the Budget Committee about our plans to fund operations in 2018, install new Vestry members and Endowment trustees, and present the Tau Cross and Crown award to this year’s recipients.
I will also give an oral report about a wide range of issues in the life of our church. I’ve written extensively about most of them in my annual report, and I hope you will take time to read it before or after Sunday. There is information about our strategic goals, staff transition, pastoral care, financial volatility (and its impact on our operations), the possibility of a chapel, and other capital needs. I have tried to provide as much information as possible on things about which I often receive questions.
I conclude my report with a reflection on the challenge of living and leading in these interesting times. It has been many decades, certainly outside my lifetime, since we have experienced such convulsions as a nation and world. Psychologists studying our society say we’re showing more signs of stress than ever before, and no matter how much we want the church to be a haven from all that anxiety, we are not immune. We bring into the church all the worries and frustrations that we fixate on at home or work. We have to name this reality if we are going to faithfully resist the downward pull toward hostility that has so much power in the wider world. We shouldn’t pretend that there aren’t real divisions in our society, or only ever talk about things that are simple or superficial, but we can choose to ground our engagement with the challenges of our world in the healing love of Jesus Christ, and thereby offer a different and holier witness to the world.
I want you to know that I weigh carefully when and how to write, preach, or teach about “current events,” and I try to only weigh in on issues about which the church has longstanding and clear attitudes. I do not assume that I am always right, and I pray consistently for the grace of humility to keep me from self-righteousness. I read the Bible nearly every day to steep my life in God’s Word, and I pray for God’s guidance and wisdom to know the right and to pursue it. I have no desire to promote the platform of a particular political party, but rather to hold fast to the saving truth of the gospel. That gospel, not any party or politician, is what leads me to speak about care for the poor, the status of immigrants and refugees, the sanctity of life, care for the earth, racism and prejudice, the fundamental necessity of truth, and why weapons are not Christian solutions to security problems. If my leadership on any of these matters seems contrary to the words and way of our Savior, I hope you will hold me to account.
In the face of all our challenges, we must use more than words. During her remarks to a gathering of leaders we hosted back in September, Glennon Doyle lamented the popularity of “keyboard activism.” She remarked that too many people believe they are doing something meaningful when they post their outrage on social media, when in fact, they are only making themselves feel better. We have to do more than simply feel anger at the problems of our nation and world. We have to do more than shout at people on Facebook or Twitter. Such behavior is only calcifying our self-righteousness, and moving us farther from the sort of holy witness to which Jesus calls us. We must not fall into the trap of focusing only on the sins of others, for then we will be no different than the hypocrites Jesus repeatedly condemned.
We are the Church, so we must resist using our words as weapons, even as we speak out about the reality of evil and sin in our world. We believe that love is a tool powerful enough for every battle. We believe in God’s good end to the story, no matter how strange or dark the story gets. We believe in the power of the God to guide us, and we do not have to guess where the Holy Spirit is leading for we will see her fruits in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23). If we are living according to the will of God, those will be our signs. The words of Paul to the Christians of Philippi still ring true nearly 2,000 years later: “Beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things…and the God of peace will be with you (Phil 4:8-9).”
See you Sunday.
-Casey+
