One Church, Many Places
Dear Friends,
While you gathered here at St. Andrew’s in the Great Hall last week, I sat in the pews at Christ Church in Exeter, New Hampshire. The service at Christ Church was lovely, perfectly encapsulating that same-but-different quality that is one of the gifts of our liturgical worship. The music was a little different (certainly more 11 am than 9 am style), the space was a lot different (it is a 1960’s church built in a square), and the weather was way different (cold with snow on the ground). But a lot was the same: you and I prayed the same prayers, read the same readings, ate the same body of Christ – at basically the exact same time, but over 1500 miles apart.
And earlier in the day, while we were still sleeping, people in Australia, and Asia, and then Africa, and then Europe had already prayed those prayers and read those readings and eaten that body of Christ in ways that are also the same-but-different.
Actually, back in 1891 (when January 4 was also a Sunday) there were a bunch of Christians all over the world that met that morning and had a service very much like ours, a-little-more-different-but-still-pretty-much-the-same. There are recognizable pieces of our liturgy that go back another 1500 years or more before that.
I don’t find this sameness across space and time to be boring. I find it rather comforting and thrilling at the same time. When we gather together at the corner of McKinney Ranch and Ridge, we are part of something much bigger than ourselves, little knots in the pattern of the church that God has knit together across history and throughout the world. Even though I was at another church, I felt close to you, my St. Andrew’s church family. For we gather around one Lord, one God and Father of all, part of a family much bigger than ourselves.
On Sunday at 9:00 am we will joyfully celebrate the addition of a new member of that big, big family, as little Nathan will be baptized. And I’ll be glad to be here for that celebration in person.
In Christ,
Fr. Andrew
