I haven’t been here long enough to give a report on what has happened the past year. What I can do instead is talk about why I felt God calling me here.
In order to do that, let me tell you what I see when I look at Holy Comforter. What I see is a church that has the potential to be a model of what the church can look like for the future.
The truth is that the world needs us and what we can provide. We all need spiritual health, and our worship is one of the many tools we can provide to boost that health. After the pandemic, we are all longing for relationship, and the church can provide that and not only with each other. The church can provide the best relationship of all: a deep and abiding connection to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We here at Holy Comforter can help share that relationship with others, though it will involve a lot of work. That work can’t just be through me. We all need to come together to provide an example to the world of what it means to live in Christian Community.
Specifically, it will mean reaching out, not just to those who haven’t been seen in a while, but to the larger community around us. It will mean setting up structures for how we live our lives together and do church. It will mean having everyone coming aboard to offer whatever you can of your time, talent, and treasure because whatever it is you can do, the church needs whatever you can provide. Even if you don’t think you can offer much, I can promise you we need your talents.
We are in the seed planting stage of our journey, an important transition in the life of any parish. We have the opportunity to set up the Holy Comforter for tomorrow so that all in the world can come to know Jesus through us for years, decades, and centuries to come.
When that seed stage is done, our church may look different then what we see now, and that is okay. When we are done planting, we will need to have the humility to step aside for those who will tend the garden we have planted. The next generation of leaders will have their own skills, and they will need to use them unencumbered by the past. At the end of the day, though, all the work we do isn’t really about us or our legacy. The reason behind all that we do is Jesus.
This is the vision and hope I have for Holy Comforter. It won’t happen in a day, just as seeds need time to grow. It will take time, but we do need to take the time to start planting now. This is not a task of one or a few of us. We will all need to work together. In the end, all that we do will be worth it because we will have the opportunity to continue to make our Lord Jesus Christ known to a world that desperately needs to hear of His Love and Grace.
In order to do that, let me tell you what I see when I look at Holy Comforter. What I see is a church that has the potential to be a model of what the church can look like for the future.
The truth is that the world needs us and what we can provide. We all need spiritual health, and our worship is one of the many tools we can provide to boost that health. After the pandemic, we are all longing for relationship, and the church can provide that and not only with each other. The church can provide the best relationship of all: a deep and abiding connection to our Lord Jesus Christ.
We here at Holy Comforter can help share that relationship with others, though it will involve a lot of work. That work can’t just be through me. We all need to come together to provide an example to the world of what it means to live in Christian Community.
Specifically, it will mean reaching out, not just to those who haven’t been seen in a while, but to the larger community around us. It will mean setting up structures for how we live our lives together and do church. It will mean having everyone coming aboard to offer whatever you can of your time, talent, and treasure because whatever it is you can do, the church needs whatever you can provide. Even if you don’t think you can offer much, I can promise you we need your talents.
We are in the seed planting stage of our journey, an important transition in the life of any parish. We have the opportunity to set up the Holy Comforter for tomorrow so that all in the world can come to know Jesus through us for years, decades, and centuries to come.
When that seed stage is done, our church may look different then what we see now, and that is okay. When we are done planting, we will need to have the humility to step aside for those who will tend the garden we have planted. The next generation of leaders will have their own skills, and they will need to use them unencumbered by the past. At the end of the day, though, all the work we do isn’t really about us or our legacy. The reason behind all that we do is Jesus.
This is the vision and hope I have for Holy Comforter. It won’t happen in a day, just as seeds need time to grow. It will take time, but we do need to take the time to start planting now. This is not a task of one or a few of us. We will all need to work together. In the end, all that we do will be worth it because we will have the opportunity to continue to make our Lord Jesus Christ known to a world that desperately needs to hear of His Love and Grace.