Chronicles of Canterbury
october 2015
From the Rector
Our Mystical Identity as the Body of Christ
P
eople say it all the time to me: “The church is a business.” I know they mean well, even if they usually don’t always mean the same thing. Sometimes they mean this in a negative way, as if businesses were bad things, and sometimes they mean it in a positive way, as if businesses were the only organizations that can, well, take care of business. But the church is not a business. The church is the church, which is its own kind of thing in this world. The church is a human organization having identity and origin and future and purpose and problems, but it is not the same as other human organizations. The church is similar to all sorts of human organizations, be it a village, corporation, or school, but it is not the same. We have issues in common with all kinds of organizations, matters of identity, purpose and leadership, but we have our own unique nature. And this uniqueness stems entirely from who we say we are: a body of joined members who form the dwelling place of the eternal Word of God, Jesus Christ.
what’s inside 2 Walking Along ‘The Way’ 3 Spooky Spaghetti 4 A Stitch in Time 5 A Gift of Grace 6 A Single Seed 8 Annual Fund 9 Martha Ministry 10 Briefly 11 Lifelong Disciple
Our mystical identity as the Body of Christ is the key to our mission and purpose, and it also informs how we are organized. And we are organized, well, as an organism. We are a body, with a soul, and a mind, and limbs, and organs, and all that stuff. Since our earliest days when Jesus himself formed us, we have operated as His body, with each of our members fulfilling a necessary purpose. Some have been called
to lead as apostles and overseers, and others as elders, and pastors and teachers, and others as deacons, and others as prophets, readers, singers, servers, healers, scribes, carpenters, tentmakers, and on and on it goes. In the Episcopal Church, the basic unit of the church is actually the diocese, not the congregation. This goes against what many experience in their daily life as members of congregations, but it is the essential unit of our life together. The diocese, under the bishop, consists of worshipping communities of various kinds, be they missions, parishes, chaplaincies or otherwise. These communities generally have their own place of worship and a priest in a leading role in partnership with a Vestry or committee of leading lay persons. Some of these communities have multiple clergy and other lay professionals on their staffs, as well as a host of committees organized to lead or oversee various ministries and programs. St. Michael’s has more than 1,900 active baptized members. Our average Sunday attendance last year was just over 600 people, which includes the summer months where attendance is significantly lower than usual. Between September and May we usually see more than 700 people on Sunday. These numbers mean St. Michael’s is one of the very large parishes in the Diocese of North Carolina, alongside sister parishes Christ Church, Raleigh, Christ Church and St. John’s in Charlotte, St. Paul’s in Winston-Salem,
See RECTOR on page 3
St. Michael’s Operates on Faith and Finance
I’
ve read recent articles citing declining church membership across the country. Thankfully, as you look around St. Michael’s on a Sunday morning, it’s clear we don’t fall into that category. But I wonder about people who are not members of a church: Where do they turn to experience community? For comfort and help in times of trouble? Surely, there will be rough patches in each of our lives. How do people function without a church community to worship with, to celebrate with, to comfort one another in grief, and experience the fellowship and wonder of learning and studying the Good News?
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Thankfully, we have St. Michael’s. But does St. Michael’s have you? As our annual fund campaigns begin each year, I struggle with the message to convey about pledging. One is the practical – St. Michael’s needs your pledges in order to operate day to day. On the other hand, giving should be a spiritual practice, one in which we pledge to St. Michael’s in recognition and gratitude for the gifts God gives us every day. Our pledges are God’s gifts. St. Michael’s is a church. Yet, similar to any organization, it requires funds to operate. Duke Progress Energy doesn’t cool our sanctuary for free. Nor do our communion wafers and wine come
See ANNUAL FUND on page 8