Dear friends in Christ,

The emphasis of the Church year is about to make a large shift.  From Advent through the Easter season we focus on the life and work of Jesus, on what God has done for us in Christ.  On Pentecost Sunday the focus shifts to the work of the Holy Spirit, to what God has done for us by calling us to be the church. 

I am convinced that simply believing in the saving work of Jesus only scratches the surface of what God calls us to be.  If we truly accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, our lives are transformed and empowered.  The disciples are not a different category of Christian from us.  Rather, every word Jesus says to them He also says to us.  You and I are called to be Christ’s ministers to the world!

We are not called to minister alone.  We are called together into a community called “Church.”  The community tests us, challenges us, and empowers us.  The community is possible only through and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is the breath of God.  It flows in us and through us and around us.  We offer our best efforts.  The Holy Spirit guides us and strengthens us.

The vision is always before us.  The cosmic reality is that the Church is animated by the Holy Spirit to be Christ in the world. 

Then we look at any given parish in the world, it falls far short of the vision.  Some years ago, I wrote the following letter to some friends who were struggling with their church:

Dear Pam and Randy,

In your last letter, you mentioned that you were struggling with what “Church” is and what it does.  I think that all Christians go through that.

We know from Scripture and the Creeds that the CHURCH is the Body of Christ called into being and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  Then we look at the churches around us and see organizations that are filled with fallible people and that have all the usual strengths and failings of organizations.

I have served several churches and it’s easy to become disillusioned by the church’s failings.  The Book of Acts helps me a lot in understanding “Church”.

Through the Holy Spirit, God calls together a new People of God composed of Jews and gentiles, slaves and free people, men and women.  From the very beginning, they squabbled, made mistakes, and even suffered the ravages of sin and scandal.  Yet through this people called together, the gospel spread and adapted to new situations until it reached you and me.

Through the sinful nature of humanity, churches are imperfect, difficult, messy organizations.  Through the Holy Spirit the gospel is proclaimed and lived out anyway.

The Church may be compared to AA or any of the recovery groups.  When you get that many wounded, sick people together, there will be wounded sick, dynamics.  Even so, the community is essential to healing.  The conversion of our life needs the support of other committed people. 

So it is with the Church.  I believe that Christian people need the support and accountability that life in the community provides.  So God gave us the gift of the Church.

Since I wrote that, I have become even more convinced that the Church community is essential.  We human beings love to embrace subjective assertions that sound good.  We love a good idea.  But it is much more challenging to live into the objective reality, to care for this community in this place at this time.

“Love you neighbor as yourself” sounds great!  For it to mean anything I have to act loving towards the people around me whether I feel like it or not.  This is where the church community comes in.  It is both the training ground and the proving ground for our faith.  You and I can pretty well know how mature we are in our relationship with our parish community.

Pentecost shifts our focus from what Jesus has done for us to what we do for Jesus.  As we have received the Holy Spirit we must respond by proclaiming the Good News of God’s love.

St. John’s is a wonderful community of enormous kindness and caring.  We endeavor to be a community filled with the Holy Spirit, sharing God’s love with each other and the world.  During this Pentecost season, let us renew our dedication to the Church so that we may grow in our faith and better serve Christ.

                                                                   Your brother in Christ,

                                                                        Wilson +