Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, the third great feast of the church year after Christmas and Easter for which the Church of the Holy Comforter is named. It reenacts the story of a small group of disciples who were still confused and adrift after the death and resurrection of their Lord. All they knew to do was to keep their routines, getting together, waiting, and hoping that God would do something new. They did not have to wait long.
Into that quiet room where the disciples gathered, St. Luke tells us there came a sound like the rush of an irresistible wind, tongues of fire in the air, and a startling capacity for the disciples to be able to speak in other languages (Acts 2:1-13). It was as if the life of the Spirit had been smoldering within them all along, waiting to be released. God breathed on the disciples and they knew the Holy Spirit as God’s energizing presence among them. They found themselves growing. Such “spirited Christianity” began at Pentecost. This does not mean that we must undergo some ecstatic Pentecostal experience in order to become a spirited follower of God. It does mean that we can receive and continually know Christ’s personal presence, awakening our minds and hearts to the adventure, wisdom, and peace that moves us beyond ourselves into engagement with God’s mission in the world. Anglican priest and author, Dave Tomlinson writes:
Our postmodern world longs for numinosity: for a sense of awe and mystery, for sacredness, spirituality and enchantment, for something ‘more’ than the purely rational or cerebral. If the Church fails to engage and cater to this longing, it has no real future (From “Re-enchanting Christianity“).
At Holy Comforter, we are growing in our awareness that we cannot simply rest and wait for people to cross our threshold. We are called to engage with those in our immediate surroundings who are longing for something ‘more’ in their lives. As Episcopalians we know we must become better conversation partners with those who want to explore questions of faith and purpose. We have a unique balance of mystery and rootedness to offer those who seek a spirituality that grapples honestly with our contemporary experience in the world. We often conclude the liturgy with these words: “Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.” Oh, that it were so!
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hope you enjoy your Festival Day, Rick. The program sounds great. Bp. Kafiti visited us several years ago — he was living in SoCal then — and we enjoyed a robust Q&A after the worship service. I will look at “Re-enchanting Christianity.” All the best, Norris.
Go ye therefore and … engage!
Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of workshops on “social media.” And I always close with a slide with three simple bullets:
* ENGAGE
* MONITOR
* REPEAT
The terms and prescriptive are not at all incompatible between social media communicators (bloggers, non-profits, etc) and evangelists / Christians on the journey.
1) Engage — LOOK earnestly for opportunities to be in relationship, or at least conversation, with non-subscribers / non-members / non-believers. Meet them where they are; be vulnerable; encourage and exhort (gently on that exhort part).
2) Monitor — Bottom line: keep your listening ears on. Pay attention to all the tools available for telling you how you’re doing. On Google and other Internet channels, you can capture stats about how many are reading, how many you’re reaching, etc. Use GoogleAlerts etc to keep a handle on what people are saying about you (or your organization) online. For churches, Alban Inst. and others can help you find additional ways to capture (and learn from) measureable outcomes. You can’t grow; can’t get better, unless you can MEASURE how you’re doing with your present audience and what people are saying about you.
3) Repeat. Be willing to admit mistakes; be willing to make course corrections; then go ye boldly forward and . . . do it all again. Over and over — till you/we get it right.