How's the house look?

Proper 27 C 2013
http://www.lectionarypage.net/YearC_RCL/Pentecost/CProp27_RCL.html


“How does this house look to you now? Is it not in your sight as nothing?”

Two Vestry members recently walked around the church building with a parish member who has taken a keen interest in the condition of our property. They noticed things that we who walk in and out for an hour or two on Sunday learn to ignore—disrepair, disheveled grounds. The west face of the church, the side we never see but the neighbors do, is peeling paint from back to front.

I do not think I have ever preached about the church building before, but our first reading is about a building and what it means. Haggai the prophet preached during the time when the people of Israel had returned from exile and were trying to rebuild their lives in and around Jerusalem. It was hard, discouraging work: so much needed to be done, and they had so little energy and funds to do so. Re-building the Temple itself started then stopped—other projects seemed so much more important.

Take a look, says Haggai. Does anyone remember what it was?

As Rector of an older congregation I tend to be allergic to “good old days” stories—nostalgia tends to surround memory with a golden glow. Sometimes “good old days” stories are told with a kind of bitterness by people who are upset because life changes and they themselves have changed and aged. But this month we remember the dead and their witness. We unearthed a scrapbook of past generations of church-people living and worshiping and serving right here, each generation with their hopes and their struggles and their sense of mission.

We’re here now. We are here, doing our best to live out what we believe Christ calls us and empowers us to do. We are a different congregation from those who photos are in the scrapbook in the hall. They in turn were different from the generation that they succeeded in this place.

It’s up to us to answer those hard questions that the prophet poses: “How does this house look to you?”

Church buildings do not exist for their own sake. They exist for the sake of the Gospel and the people of God. We have a distinct mission here that has evolved over recent years. We have a special gift and call to reach out to the poor. We have a special gift and call to break down barriers of culture and race, most specifically through our growing Hispanic congregation and who we are now because of their presence. We have a special gift of welcome and openness to our neighbors. We are strengthened and sustained in this mission through ancient Catholic and Episcopal faith and practice, lived through lives of prayer and shared Word and Sacrament.

God is so good to us. We have a reason to be here.

The building is where we gather, where we welcome, where we celebrate and serve. It is the visible symbol of our presence in this neighborhood, our mission.

I think this season leading to our Consecration Sunday asks us vital questions. We’ve lived faithfully through many changes and challenges. It is our time to claim our life here in faith, to celebrate it and give thanks, and to re-build and renew whatever in our lives and yes, in the property and building given to us in trust, calls for renewal and new life.

We’re not poor, and we’re not small. Hear the prophet’s words to us:

“Take courage, work, for I am with you”

“My spirit abides among us; do not fear”

“Once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth… The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, says the LORD of hosts. The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the LORD of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the LORD of hosts.”

Consecration Sunday!

Consecration Sunday Is Coming!

Congregations that approach financial stewardship from a biblical perspective do not view the money Christians give to their church merely as a way to pay its bills. Rather, such congregations see financial contributions as a way to help people grow spiritually in their relationship with God by supporting their church’s mission and ministry with a percentage of their incomes.

Saints Peter and Paul’s Vestry has selected the New Consecration Sunday Stewardship Program as a way to teach the biblical and spiritual principles of generous giving in our stewardship education emphasis this year.

New Consecration Sunday is based on the biblical philosophy of the need of the giver to give for his or her own spiritual development, rather than on the need of the church to receive. Instead of treating people like members of a social club who should pay dues, we will treat people like followers of Jesus Christ who want to give unselfishly as an act of discipleship. New Consecration Sunday encourages people toward proportionate and systematic giving in response to the question, “What percentage of my income is God calling me to give?”

During morning worship on Consecration Sunday, we are asking our attendees and members to make their financial commitments to our church’s missionary, benevolent, and educational ministries in this community and around the world.

Every attendee and member who completes an Estimate of Giving Card does so voluntarily by attending morning worship on Consecration Sunday. We urge people to attend who feel strongly opposed to completing a card. The procedure is done in such a way that no one feels personal embarrassment if he or she chooses not to fill out a card.

We will do no home solicitation to ask people to complete cards. During morning worship our guest leader will conduct a brief period of instruction and inspiration, climaxed by members making their commitments as a confidential act of worship.

We will encourage participation in Consecration Sunday events through the Consecration Sunday team and Vestry members. Since we will make no follow-up visits to ask people to complete their cards, we will make every effort to inform, inspire, and commit everyone to attend Consecration Sunday worship.

Thanks in advance for your enthusiastic participation in Consecration Sunday events.


Jamie Marks Fr. Kurt Neilson+
Consecration Sunday Chairperson Rector