Dear People of St. James’,
I want to take this moment as we stand on the cusp of re-opening certain aspects of society and forms of gathering people together to talk about our approach as St. James’, a multicultural and inclusive church in east Austin. We are a church where people worship together in English and in Spanish, a church that brings people together across traditional boundaries; where black, brown and white sit in the pews together, pray with and for each other, and covenant to make a way forward on this Christian journey together.
We are a people, who, as we sing, have come this far by faith, leaning on the Lord, trusting in his Holy Word; we are here to give testimony that he’s never failed us yet. And so we trust in the Lord as we are learning to be a church of radical Christ-like hospitality in this time of COVID-19 and social distancing. We are all learning. We are all new at this, and the future, as we gaze out into the distance, in hazy. But whatever the degree of uncertainty, and it is high, we cherish and hold firm to a vision of a greater gathering of all of God’s people, where the poor, the sick, the weary, the lame, the refugee, the isolated – where each of God’s children belongs and has a value not determined by what they produce or what’s in their bank account. And we look forward to that greater gathering in God’s presence as we start to think together about what it means to be a multicultural and inclusive church in this time looks like. What we do now, should point to that.
And so, one might think, ah, well maybe what need to do right now is plan to get on back together as soon as possible. I hear that there will be congregations seeking to do that here in Austin as soon as early the mayor’s stay-at-home order is up. But if our future vision is of, a greater gathering of God’s people, a gathering where the poor and the sick, the weary, the lame, the immunocompromised, the refugee, the forgotten – where each of God’s children belongs, well, that is the holy vision of the kingdom of God! That is the vision of the Jesus who willed that not one that You gave me will be lost. That vision needs to speak into our plans now.
Maybe we need to slow ourselves down and not try to race to that finish line too soon, lest we cause a neighbor to stumble along the way. Paul is trying to talk about this in his first letter to the Corinthians. At Corinth, they have developed some bad table practices that are jeopardizing their ability to be one body in Christ. It turns out, as we find in 1 Cor 11 that the privileged among the church at Corinth are using the Lord’s supper as an opportunity to have a bit of lavish dinner party, and some eat and fed and even get drunk, while others go hungry. At St. James’, we embody Christ’s love by setting a table of welcome that points to God’s greater welcome to us. And we know that when the privileged eat and others go hungry, that vision is not well-served. We also know that “privilege” is a many-faceted concept in these days when we are discovering that our illusions of security, of infinite growth, of being in control, all fall apart here upon the ground of our common humanity.
So, how do we go forward?
We are going to keep connecting virtually in ways that are feeding us. We want to know: what is feeding you, how are you connecting, what are your spiritual needs at this time?
We are going to hold back on gathering in person for while, even as other things open up, so that we can discern together what it means to be one Body in Christ, to be St. James’ Episcopal Church in this time.
We are setting up a Phase II Task Force, which will develop St. James’-flavored Principles for Worship, Ministry, Service and Community Action. I hope to introduce you to the members of that task force next week.
Principles for Phase II.0, and Phase II.0 may be different from Phase II.2 because there is a lot we don’t know yet, but anyway, these principles will be based on the bishop’s guidelines, conversation with staff, conversation with other church leaders and leaders of non-profits, and surveying you, the congregation. We hope that you will seek to contribute to the conversation over the next month. We are covenanting to wait together, to pray for each other and those who lead this process of discernment, to listen, and to speak honestly and vulnerably to each other.
These Principles will be based upon our St. James’ mission and values, and they will set boundaries and goals for the church’s programs. They will guide our decisions in figuring out when and under what circumstances in-person interaction can occur. They may place hard boundaries on certain types of gatherings for Phase II.0 (until we know more).
Y’all, we are St. James’ and we’re a little bit different, so we might not follow the same path as some other folks out there. But we are going to be faithful; we’re going to love each other; we’re gonna pitch in and let people know what we think; and at the end of the day, we’re not all gonna be satisfied. We will come up with an imperfect plan, borne of love for our neighbor who in Christ is our brother or sister. And we will give thanks to God who has brought us this far by faith, and who we trust, will lead us all the way home to each other in his time.
