A VISION FOR THE PARISH
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presented by the Reverend Canon Harold T. Lewis, Ph.D., D.D., Rector
Calvary Episcopal Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
at the Adult Forum
on the Sixth Sunday after the Epiphany, 11 February 2001
"Where there is no vision, the people perish." (Proverbs 29:18)
A little less than a year ago, the Core Staff as we call it, made up of the parish clergy, the director of music and the director of religious education, got together to draft a mission statement for Calvary Church. Our assignment was to come up with something succinct that encapsulates a theology of the parish that is both consonant with our identity within the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church, "at all times and in all places," as well as unique to our particular mission and ministry, as we seek to usher in the Kingdom of God in this place and at this time. It was presented to the Annual Parish Meeting last May, and since then has been emblazoned upon our bulletin every week, and reproduced as well in various church publications. Although you have doubtless committed it to memory, let me state it here for the record, for it is within its framework that I want to share with you my vision for the parish.
Calvary is a community that strives to
Welcome all in the name of Christ;
Worship God in the beauty of holiness;
Offer spiritual refreshment and nurture;
Challenge all to a committed and active expression of their faith
in Jesus Christ through Word and Sacrament; Teaching and Learning; Stewardship and Service.
Let me point out that our vision statement complements the thought of William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of World War II, who declared that the church is the only institution that exists primarily for the benefit of those not its members. In all that we do, in everything that we offer, we do it not only for our own edification and uplift, but we in the hope that Calvary will continue to be a beacon to others.
Let me start with Worship God in the beauty of holiness. This is the most important thing that we do as a Christian community because it is what makes the church unique. Other agencies in our society provide counseling services, do outreach and offer opportunities for fellowship. But it is the Church whose primary purpose is the worship of Almighty God. Indeed, the Catechism reminds us that our bounden duty and service is to worship God every Sunday in his church, and to give, work and pray for the spread of Christ's Kingdom. At the center of our liturgical life is the Holy Eucharist, which the Prayer Book describes as "the principal act of worship on the Lord's Day and other major Feasts." In the fourfold action of taking, blessing, breaking and giving, we reenact our Lord's own service, and "do this in remembrance of Him." We offer in the Eucharist "our selves, our souls and bodies to be a reasonable, holy and living sacrifice." We seek in this sacrament to be strengthened for service, and we pray "send us out to do the work you have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord."
The Eucharist is offered four times each Sunday, at 8:00 and 12:30 "the blessed murmur of the mass," at 9:00 a said Eucharist with hymns, and at 11:00 am. a choral Eucharist in the rich and varied tradition of Anglican worship. Summertime brings our beloved "garden Eucharist" with its special ethos. At that service as well as at services throughout the year, we supplement The Hymnal 1982 with music from Lift Every Voice and Sing II: An African American Hymnal Several hundred copies were purchased both by individuals as memorials and through the use of the undesignated memorials fund. In order that the faithful might avail themselves of the sacrament on other occasions, the Eucharist is offered on every weekday. Monthly evensong, an annual Solemn Requiem, Advent Lessons and Carols, a full observance of Holy Week and Easter rites, not to mention the performance of major choral works such as Bach's St. John Passion have become staples of our musical and liturgical life, and we are grateful to Dr. Alan Lewis and his choirs and other musicians for providing music on all these occasions. It is our hope to continue to provide rich and varied expressions of worship, so that the faithful may in all things catch a glimpse of the heavenly Jerusalem. The setting of the mass at Calvary on some occasions might be Schubert in G, and on others the "Eucharist of the Soul' by the African American composer Lena McLin. At times the Eucharist will be of the "no--frills" variety, such as a simple celebration during the week; at other times, we will, as the Psalmist wrote, "let our prayer be set forth in God's sight as the incense," thereby bringing into play all of our senses in the worship of God.
Our beautiful church building ensures that all our worship is done "in the beauty of holiness." Our sexton staff keeps it in pristine condition, and the ongoing work of stained glass restoration, which, owing to the generosity of parishioners, has been accomplished without using either our operating budget or our endowment, has ensured that the church's beauty will be maintained for generations to come.
To say that Calvary strives to welcome all in the Name of Christ is not mere lip service. In a country in which, as Dr. Martin Luther King observed, "eleven o'clock Sunday morning is the most segregated hour in America," Calvary's commitment to racial inclusiveness at all levels of its life is something of which we can be genuinely proud. But more important, we should also help facilitate the dialogue on race relations in a city which is hardly a poster child for racial progress. Our long commitment to lay and ordained women's ministries has also been a hallmark of our parish. Given that the Episcopal Church is becoming increasingly polarized over the issue of human sexuality, our openness toward and advocacy on behalf of gays and lesbians are worthy of note. Too, our belief that children and youth are full members of the Church whose talents and expertise should be employed in the church's ministry is an important accomplishment, for which we owe an especial debt of gratitude to Caroline Black, director of religious education and an advocate for Children's Ministries.
But it is not enough to bask in such reputations, however well deserved. It is not enough to welcome people if and when they show up. Our Lord's Great Commission begins with the verb "Go," and not merely a suggestion to "Wait," or "Keep an eye out for." We must do a better job of reaching out to those who visit, and we must be more intentional about making Calvary known to the community at large. Some of our great musical and liturgical events, for example, can and should be enjoyed by a greater number of people, and should be seen as a form of evangelism. While we hope that much of this can be accomplished through the appointment of a frill-time communications person within the next year, we must iterate that it is the responsibility of each and every member to bring others into the fold. Ever since Andrew brought Peter to Christ, there has been no better method of evangelism.
We all live in a world beset by the "changes and chances of this mortal life." For this reason, Calvary Church should be a place of refuge, an oasis, where we offer spiritual refreshment and nurture. This does not mean that church becomes an escape, but instead a place where we may, in the words of the Prophet Isaiah, "lengthen our loins and strengthen our stakes," in order that we may be better equipped to do service. We live, too, in a world in which we are often reduced to numbers. In the church, we have the right to expect that we be treated as human beings, as children of God. We strive for ministering personally to one another in the name of Christ, whether it be through the grace of the sacraments or the sympathetic ministrations of pastoral counseling.
This brings us to the final aspect of our mission/vision statement: to challenge all to a committed and active expression of their faith in Jesus Christ through Word and Sacrament, Teaching and Learning, Stewardship and Service. Note that there is not a wasted word in this phrase. We believe the church should prod, nudge, and encourage our members to express their faith in concrete ways, not because it is a good idea, but because it is what we are supposed to be doing in response to the promises we made in our Baptismal Covenant. That service should be committed and active, that is to say, sustained an ongoing, and not a "flash in a pan" designed to make us feel good once in a while. At Calvary, we believe, with St. James, that "faith without works is dead." Guided as we are by Incarnational principles, which are central to Anglican theology, we believe that there is nothing outside the realm and interest of the church. This means, for example, that politics is not divorced from theology. As Desmond Tutu once said, "anyone who does not believe that you can mix politics and religion has not been reading the same Bible I've been reading." What our political leaders and elected officials do should be of utmost concern to us. As the collect for social justice reminds us, "Grant us fearlessly to contend against evil and to make no peace with oppression, and, that we may reverently use our freedom, help us to employ it in the maintenance of justice in our communities and among the nations." Thanks to Susie Wolfe's sharing the Archives with us, we providing them with a much-need moral compass. This means that we have an ongoing commitment to adults to provide "graduate level" courses in Bible, Prayer Book, and theology, in addition to courses that address the issues with which we grapple in society.
7. I would like Calvary to make a lasting contribution to this community in the arena of outreach. On Wednesday of this week, I shall have lunch with the Rev. Dr. William Curtis, pastor of Mount Ararat Baptist Church in East Liberty, to discuss a possible housing initiative between the two congregations. How wonderful it would be if we could provide, in the name of the church, some needed affordable housing. President Bush has wisely established an office dedicated to faith-based initiatives, which will help the church reclaim its traditional role as agent for social change in our nation's communities.
8. Our building program will be seen not merely as so much bricks and mortar but as the provision of the space in which some aspects of this vision may be realized
In four short years from now, Calvary Episcopal Church will observe its sesquicentennial year one hundred and fifty years of service to Christ, to each other, and to the community in which we
are situated. I would like that year to be a jubilee year of celebration, first for an illustrious past, for our forebears who have laid a sound foundation and provided a rich legacy. But moreover, it should be a celebration of the future no less glorious. By that time, through increased stewardship, an improved infrastructure, a renewed commitment to outreach, and a successful capital campaign, we hope to have provided for our successors the wherewithal, the physical space, and above all the vision to carry them into the twenty-first century and beyond.
Come, we that love the Lord, and let our joys be known,
Join in a song with sweet accord, join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.
We're marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion,
We're marching upward to Zion, the beautiful city of God.*
*Issac Watts, "We're Marching to Zion, Life Every Voice and Sing II, 12.