Or is that what it is about? Or is it about Peter walking on the water? Or something else?
At the Community of St. Clare and St. Francis (Ecumenical Catholic Communion), the home congregation of a CPE colleague, George the lay homilist interpreted the passage as a definition of the nature and meaning of faith. A disciple calls out with some degree of doubt even about the identity of the divine one, asking to be asked to come where God is and do what God is doing. The disciple is asked. The disciple ingores the storm for a moment and steps out of the boat to move toward where God is to do what God is doing. The disciple is distracted by the storm, realizes the audacity of the enterprise, and is overcome by realistic thinking. The disciple begins to sink as a result. God rescues the disciple and gets into the boat with God's followers. The homilist saw the entire arc of action as Faith, rather than just the few moments when the disciple too the steps into the humanly impossible action. The doubtful request of who might be the Divine One. The audacious action. The realization of reality. The rescue. Getting back into the boat accompanied by the Divine One. Each of these is an aspect of Faith. This homilist did not present the disciple as sinking because of a loss of faith but as a realistic part of the Faith process and continuum of action that brings the Divine One into the boat with the disciple and the community of disciples.
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| Evangelical United Church of Christ 204 E. Lockwood, Webster Groves, MO Host of Sts. Clare and Francis |
At Trinity Episcopal Church the Rev. Anne Kelsey, who back in 2007 graciously gave permission for us at MVUUF to use a wonderful LGBT-affirming sermon of hers, today preached a sophisticatedly structured sermon that wove many intricate strands together: the reading from Genesis and its accompanying Psalm about Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers and his eventual rise in Egypt; the Gospel account of walking on water; an exploration of how story telling and interpretation vary with teller and listener's age and experience, meaning something new with each reading, each telling; the structure and function of the lectionary; a story from this year in this parish, when a service got moved to an inner hallway as it was interrupted by civil defense sirens warning of extreme weather; and a speculation about how that local story might be received two thousand years hence if somehow preserved and retold until then. It was an intricately woven sermon that ended with Anne, speaking from that speculative future, using a delightful locution to invite the listener to finish the sermon with his or her own meaning of the Gospel lesson. Meaning shaped by individual stages of cognitive and faith development and through the lens of his or her own specific experience.
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| Trinity Episcopal Church 600 North Euclid, St. Louis MO |
And at St. Catherine of Siena American National Catholic Church, at this young parish's third service, the Rev. Phillip Lichtenwalter, a deacon and leader of this church plant, who will be ordained a priest in November, and who is a facebook friend of mine, preached to a congregation of seven plus his partner. His sermon closely linked the audacity of Peter stepping out of the boat to the experience of this parish starting up. An aspect that was unspoken in this sermon but contextually present through pre-service conversation and pre-dismissal announcements is that St. Louis is a very Roman Catholic town, where the Roman bishop has a great deal of influence if not controlling power. The precariousness of their position as a non-Roman Catholic venture is palpable - as is their confidence in the value of the attempt. But Phillip's sermon did not rest solely at the parochial level. He invited his listeners to think of their own lives and how they have or might step out of the boat. He recognized the possibility of failures, a question that a reporter had brought up when interviewing him about the new parish. Failure of a particular enterprise entered in faith is not the issue. Failures of various kinds happen and will continue to happen. The important thing that can be relied on is being pulled out of the wave when that failure comes.
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| St. John's Episcopal Church 3664 Arsenal Street, Saint Louis, MO Host of St. Catherine of Siena ANCC |
At St. Catherine of Siena, I once again loved the way the roles of reader of the Lessons and of the Prayers of the Faithful were passed among those present and the reading done from the reader's seat rather than from a lectern/ ambo/ pulpit. I felt a little twinge of regret that this is probably not going to last very long and this parish will obtain an ambo and organize itself in more-or-less traditional ways, with persons in position as lector, and so forth. I am a visitor and have no right to shape the process. But I would feel a loss of something organic and special when the time comes and traditional ways of organizing kick in. Change is inevitable with growth and time. I hope, though, that the changes that are made are chosen for their value rather than just acquiesced to out of the weight of tradition. Of course, that may well just be my bias, both personal and denominational in its roots.
Phillip made clear that communion here is open to all who wish to partake and that a blessing is available as well, should anyone not feel worthy to partake. Because Phillip is a deacon rather than a priest, this was not a celebration of the Liturgy of the Eucharist but a communion service, using hosts sanctified by the bishop. Phillip will begin celebrating the Liturgy of the Eucharist after his priestly ordination in November.
In the announcements, Phillip announced a meeting of the parish council. Maybe proto-council, given the current level of organization, but he made it clear that the American National Catholic Church is congregational in its governance. The people will direct their own existence and goals. They have a bishop, George Lucey, also a facebook friend of mine, but he does not control the life of the parish or its developmental decisions.
After the service I had a good conversation with Phillip's partner Scott. Thirty-three years old, several tattoos, injured by his conservative Christian upbringing, he considers himself no longer Christian but is spiritual. He attends to support Phillip in his ministry. A wonderful smile and person. I was glad for the opportunity to get to know him.
At Trinity Episcopal I was greeted by several members both before and after the service. On learning I'm UU, the response was always affirmative - from comments on the respect for and good relations they have with First Unitarian, to a statement that the speaker's son is UU, to "We share the same values, it's just the liturgy that's different," and so on. A few of the people, including the deacon and the rector, I had met on my previous attendance here for Compline.
This congregation are robust singers. Try as it might, the magnificent swells of the organ never once drowned out the strong voices of the congregation singing. I let the richness of the Book of Common Prayer Rite II liturgy wash over me. Here, as at Christ Church Cathedral downtown, the Gospel reading is done not from the lectern but from the center of the nave, with the procession of torches, processional cross, thurible billowing incense, and so forth bringing the Gospel down among the people rather than proclaiming it from on high.
High on the east wall of the chancel, above the altar, is what in a Roman Catholic church would be a crucifix, but the cross is decorated and stylized, its Jesus robed, arms extended in welcome rather than nailed in the agony and naked disgrace of execution. This is a presentation more in keeping with the presentation of Jesus in the early church, before the Church entered its second thousand years with a megastrong crucifixation. It is also representative of the inclusiveness of this parish, a member of Oasis, an Episcopal LGBT-affirming organization, which practices open communion, as do the other churches I visited this weekend.
At St. Clare and Francis I was recognized, called by name. The same warmth and welcome I had encountered before was present still. The sermon was given by a lay homilist, and the Eucharist was co-celebrated by male and female priests. I knew Fr. Frank from my two previous visits. This was the first time I had seen a woman priest at the altar here, though I had seen her in the congregation and knew she was a priest. The co-officiating, co-celebrating of men and women with clear cooperation of laity and clergy, as evidenced in the preaching by a lay member, is symbolically something wonderful here.
As before, the post-Vatican II musical style, the gathering of all who wished to join around the altar for the Eucharist, the communion explicitly open to everyone, the full inclusiveness without regard to gender or sexuality or race or ability or other distinguishing characteristics are beautifully combined here in community together.
Each of these three Catholic but non-Roman congregations is fully inclusive at all levels of membership and leadership and participation, regardless of characteristics of identity. Each practices truly open communion. Each has a social conscience and is involved and becoming more so in doing social justice work. Each welcomes the stranger with genuine expressions of the love of God for all. Each encourages those they meet to walk on water with the divine One or ride in the boat with the divine One, reassuring all that they are not alone, even in a storm.
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