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by Fr. Jerry D. Kistler delivered December 7, 2008 (Read also our Sr. Warden Nick Hoppner's wonderful articles on "The Vision of St. Stephen.")
this past October, Presiding Bishop Riches reiterated a brief portion of his pastoral evaluation and exhortation which he had initially delivered to the Fiftieth General Council which met in Houston, Texas in June of 2002. As he reminded us, the theme of that Council was, “For Such a Time as This,” alluding to the statement of the aged Mordecai to his cousin Esther that perhaps God had raised her up to the place she occupied in the kingdom for just such a time as this – a time to bring deliverance and restoration to her people. And in addressing the Council on that occasion, six years ago, Bp. Riches brought his pastoral exhortation to a focus with these concluding words.
that we stand on the threshold of seeing a new work of God unfold: a momentous, unprecedented, and glorious reconfiguration and rebuilding of the church in the Anglican tradition to carry out the Great Commission in a new, vibrant, and effective was in this twenty-first century. Born of that vision is our deep conviction that God has sustained the Reformed Episcopal Church for nearly one hundred and thirty years, and has been instilling us with fresh vigor, renewed commitment, and strengthened resolve, “for such a time as this”: a time to link our hands, our hearts, and our spirits with all those who share the same commitment to our Lord and to the commission which He gave to His disciples to go forward under His authority, and in the power of His Spirit, to build His church.” In the six years since Bp. Riches first gave expression to that vision, we’ve seen how the bishops, clergy and people of the Reformed Episcopal Church have dedicated an amazing amount of time and effort, as well as their strong leadership, to the challenge of bringing the vision to realization. And this past Wednesday, in Wheaton, Illinois we’ve witnessed its greatest fulfillment to date in the formation of a new Province of the Anglican Church in North American, constituted as a federation of 11 faithful Anglican jurisdictions, including the Reformed Episcopal Church, and comprised of roughly 700 parishes and 100, 000 church-going members, who through their bishops and delegates have covenanted together to reestablish a biblically faithful, mission-driven, united and vital Anglican presence in the U.S., Canada, and beyond. For me personally this represents the fulfillment of a hope and a prayer I’ve had for going on nineteen years now, but one that I would barely have thought possible when I first joined the Reformed Episcopal Church. You see, back in 1990 when I became a member of St. Luke’s REC, then in Anaheim, California, there were only six churches in this entire diocese, which comprised everything west of the Mississippi, including Alaska and Hawaii, and some states east of the Mississippi. And as an idealistic youth just out of college, having studied the writings of some of the early Church Fathers and the history of the united Church of the first five centuries, I longed to see and be part of a greater unity of the Church that embraced more of the ancient orthodox tradition of faith and life than I had yet experienced in my evangelical upbringing. The disunity and fracturing of the Church, especially in the Protestant world, and the shallowness and superficiality of so much of evangelical theology and worship, had me really yearning for something more authentic and connected with the Church of all ages. Some of my friends, including my best friend since we were eleven years old, and also the then pastor of St. Luke’s, said I couldn’t find what I was looking for within Protestantism – that it could only be found in Eastern Orthodoxy where they were headed. But I couldn’t go along. I was too convinced of the truth of, and in love with, the Gospel – the clarity of the basic message of salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone – that the Protestant Reformers – Luther, Calvin, and Cranmer – rediscovered in the 16th century, to be able to give that up, without which none of the other stuff mattered anyway. But unfortunately, as a result of all this, my beloved St. Luke’s went through a terrible split, not just in half, but in three ways: some going into Orthodoxy, some going into an Anglo- Catholic body, and some choosing to stay in the Reformed Episcopal Church. For conscience sake, I was part of that last group. But here I was, with about twenty-five other people, as a member of Church that had only six parishes or missions in roughly three-quarters of the territory of the United States, a Church that was just beginning to come out of what I always like to refer to as its “Presbyterian captivity,” and to embrace anew its Anglican heritage, and a Church that was seemingly just one more of a plethora of tiny, divided Anglican jurisdictions that had nothing to do with one another, except to vilify each other and try to steal each other’s sheep. And so you can imagine that I was suffering a bit of a crisis of conscience. So I wrote a letter to Bp. Grote – a very long letter, in which I asked some very direct and pointed questions, chief of which was: Were we in the Reformed Episcopal Church going to stay by ourselves over in our little corner of the Kingdom being right, or were we going to seek to be part of a greater, more united, orthodox Anglican presence here in America, and one that would bring us into more fulsome communion with Anglicans throughout the world? Just how Bp. Grote answered that question was going to determine whether I stayed in the church or not. And remember, this is when I was just a twenty-seven-year-old nobody in the church. I wasn’t a candidate for ministry or anything like that. I was just a kid in the pews. But Bp. Grote wrote me back and even longer letter, in which he outlined in detail his and the other bishop’s vision of the future of our church, and how they were seeking greater unity within the Body of Christ and with other Anglican bodies of like mind and faith. And now, every time Bp. Grote and I get together, we talk and laugh about that correspondence and marvel how God has brought to fulfillment that vision, even beyond what we could have ever imagined at the time. You see, all along, from the very beginning of redemptive history, God has been using small, weak people and churches to do amazing things, if they were able to capture His vision for His Church, and were obedient to His calling. We think of people like the apostle Paul, who by all accounts was a very unimpressive personality, a mediocre speaker at best, and was apparently hobbled by some persistent physical ailment, but became the greatest evangelist and church-planter the Church has ever seen, because he knew that it was Christ’ s vision to use him, in spite of all his weaknesses, to build His Church. And so he went forth in the power of that vision, and accomplished amazing things. We think of men like Moses, a fugitive from Egyptian justice, living in the desert as a sheep-herder, and who apparently also had a speaking problem – it seems that Moses was stutterer – but was called by God to do the great work of delivering His people from bondage. And even beyond the Biblical record, the history of the Church is filled with men and women who, by human standards, showed little promise of greatness and little hope of being able to change people’s lives, but did fantastic things, because they were able to capture God’s vision and to hear God’s calling for their ministries – and not most of the time, by the way, through burning bushes or blinding lights, but by having a prayerful, humble, and submissive spirits that opened themselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit: people like St. Patrick, and Mother Theresa, and Billy Graham, and our bishops Riches and Grote. But what we’ve consistently heard from all of these people was that the visions for their ministries were always beyond themselves to accomplish. You see, if it is really God’s vision, then, of course, it is going to be beyond the capacity mere human beings to bring it to fulfillment. The statement just sort of came to me during one of our Bible studies recently, that our vision for the church has to be big enough for God to be able to use. God doesn’t use small, defeatist visions; He uses small, weak, seemingly defeated people, to carry out His plan for the world. And so with all that as background, I wanted to share with you today my vision – which I hope and trust and believe is God’s vision – for St. Stephen’s church, which I have been prayerfully, and, I trust, humbling seeking for these past couple of years I’ve been with you. It comes in five parts, each of which I will share with you only very briefly this morning, because, of course, I will want to continue to flesh this out to you in the coming weeks and months. But it begins with what I think is a very important assumption: and that is, that we don’t have to be anything that we’re not. What the messages seems to be throughout the Scriptures is all we have to be, in order to be used by God, is who we are, and what He’s called us to be. Moses didn’t have to stop stuttering, and Paul didn’t have to improve his personality, to become two of God’s greatest servants. All they had to do was be who they were and to obey His calling. But who are we? And how has God specially gifted us to be able to use us? Well, simply stated, we are traditional Anglicans. That’s who we are. And we don’t have to be ashamed of that. We don’t have to be overly proud of that. That’s just who were are, and we don’t have to be anything else for God to use us to accomplish His purpose. We don’t have to be a Grace Community, or a Montrose Christian, or Cedar Creek, or even a St. Paul’s, for that matter. All we have to be is St. Stephen’ s, and St. Stephen’s is a classical, historical, traditional Anglican parish. But what does a traditional Anglican parish have to offer? What is it that makes us who we are that can be uniquely used of God for the advancement of His kingdom? Well, it seems very clear to me that at the heart of who we are is the worship of God in the beauty of holiness. At the center of what makes us traditional Anglicans is our commitment to maintain the great “work of the people,” and the nurturing of them, through the liturgy of the classical Book of Common Prayer. Whatever else we may be, this is the starting point of how God has uniquely gifted us to serve His kingdom. You know, so often in the last 19 years I’ve heard that what we need to do, if we really want to be effective in reaching others and attracting them to our services, is we’ve got to change the liturgy. We’ve got to update it. We’ve got to make it more accessible to the current generation. Or, especially if we want to reach young people, we’ve got to stop singing hymns, and we’ve got to start singing praise choruses. All to which I respond: nonsense. You know, I was twenty-four years old when I joined the REC. And I came to the REC because I had been very involved in a liturgy-less church, and even led the praise choruses as part of a praise band, and I was tired of it. I was looking for something with more depth and a sense of the majesty and holiness of God. And I wasn’t alone. St. Luke’s was made up of a bunch of college kids from Biola and other young people who’d been raised on Calvary Chapel or Vineyard-type “contemporary” worship, and wanted something more. And they weren’t special. They weren’t all heading for seminary. They were just ordinary people who were passionate about what they’d found in the liturgy, who were passionate about the worship of God in a way that magnified His holiness and honored him for His majesty, and who above all were passionate about their faith and the faithful preaching of God’s Word. That’s what attracts people. It’s people who are passionate about the things of God and His worship that attract people. That’s what attracted me, and in my experience that’s what draws young people to the liturgy. It’s not gimmicks; it’s not programs; it’s not modern this-or-that; its authenticity, and it’s passion that draws people. So the challenge for us is not to change the liturgy, but to be passionate about it. It’ s not to “update” the service, but to constantly be renewing our own commitment to it. It’s not just to say we believe in the Gospel, but to be in love with the Gospel. And this is the way that others will be drawn to what God has uniquely blessed us with, and how God can use who we are to build up His Church. So the first part of the vision is: To bring together a great community of people passionate about the worship of God in the beauty of holiness. That’s the number one goal. Second, that this community of people would be transformed by the Gospel through the classical Anglican way of spiritual formation. And what is that classical Anglican way of spiritual formation? Well, as many of us were probably introduced to it for the first time in our Sunday school class on Anglican Spirituality, the classical Anglican way of seeking to be formed by the Spirit and con-formed more and more to the image of Christ, is to be trans-formed by the Word of God through the ancient three-fold rule of weekly Eucharist, daily Office, and private devotion. It’s to embrace that system of spiritual formation given to us in the Prayerbook, which we likened to the way any good fence has to be built. The big posts at each end are the weekly Eucharists; the small posts in between are the Daily Offices of Morning and Evening Prayer; and the horizontal members that connect the whole thing are the various forms of personal or private devotion. There’s a great deal of strength in that system, like there is in a well made fence, for hemming in sinful tendencies and for keeping things from running rampant in our lives, as well as for helping us to conform more and more to the boundaries God has established for our lives in his holy Word. Exactly how we can apply that three-fold rule to our lives in this day and age when all our time seems to be filled up with so many pressing things, is the subject for another discussion. But that this is the classical way of spiritual formation in the Anglican tradition, and is a way that can transform lives by the Gospel, is testified to by thousands of faithful Anglican Christians throughout the last five centuries, and one I believe that can still be used in some form to transform lives today. So that’s the second goal of the vision. Third, that this community of people, passionate about the worship of God in the beauty of holiness, and transformed by the Gospel through the classical Anglican way of spiritual formation, would be gathered together in a great house of God. And to that end you’ll be excited to know that a committee was formed this past summer, made up of Alan, Jim, Ken, and myself, to put together and to recommend to the vestry, if not an exact plan, at least a concept of what we would like to work towards in terms of the renovation and expansion of our building to include a new and beautiful sanctuary, a much needed narthex, and a fellowship hall. And I have been able, with a great deal of frustration and strain on the eyes, to create a computerized 3D model of this vision for the future of our building, and to record a virtual walk-through that will be available for you to see after the service on the laptop computer that will be on the back table. Take a look at it, and Jim will be presenting in the meeting the first phase of the work we hope to be able to accomplish in this next year. But the renovation of the building, and the creation of a beautiful house of God for His holy worship, is the third goal in this vision. Fourth, that all of this would be for the purpose of going beyond our walls to reach the unchurched, the lapsed, and the ecclesiastically displaced, with the message of salvation in Christ alone. Now I know that this will be the hardest part of the vision for all of us to embrace. I know it will be for me. It’s been the hardest part of the bishops’ vision to get us to embrace. As they have continued over the years to express their vision for the church, they’ve had a much easier time convincing fellow Christians to unite into one body than they have in motivating those same Christians to go out and add new members. But that is a huge part of the vision. And we hear over and over from them that the real purpose of uniting together is to be more effective in carrying out our common mission. As a matter of fact, the stated mission of the new province is:
everywhere will come to know Him as Lord and serve Him as King in the fellowship of the Church. The chief agents of this mission to extend the Kingdom of God are the people of God… “The work of the Province is to equip each member of the Province so that they may reconcile the world to Christ, plant new congregations, and make disciples of all nations; baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything commanded by Jesus Christ.” In other words, in the bishop’s view, we won’t really have accomplished anything if we don’t use the strength of our new union except for the building up of the kingdom of Christ by capturing His vision to seek and to save the lost with the Gospel. But I truly believe we will see a fulfillment of that part of the vision as well. And the challenge will be for us to be part of its fulfillment. But I know we can do it, because I know it’s right! I know this is God’s vision and calling for us as His Church. And if it is His vision and calling, then He will enable us to accomplish it, if we will yield ourselves to Him, and then work to figure out what means are best suitable to who we are and how He has uniquely gifted us to carry it out. And if we do, I trust and believe we will be able to bring together that great worshipping community, transformed by the gospel, and gathered together in a great house of God, to the point that, fifth, we will be compelled to begin a new work, a new mission, here in the Uncompahgre Valley. So just to summarize it, and to put it into a single statement for you, my vision for our church – which I trust is God’s vision – is: To bring together a great community of people passionate about the worship of God in the beauty of holiness, trans-formed by the Gospel through the classical Anglican way of spiritual formation, in a great house of God, and equip-ped and energized by the Holy Spirit to reach out beyond our walls to the unchurched, the lapsed, and the ecclesi-astically displaced, with the clear message of salvation in Christ alone, to the point that we are compelled to begin a new mission here in the Uncompahgre Valley. Is that a big vision? Yes, it is! Is it a vision we can accomplish on our own strength? No, it’s not. But is it God’s vision for our church? I’m convinced that it is. And if it is, and we are faithful to His calling, then He will fulfill it through us. There’s no way that it can’t be fulfilled, if it is truly His vision and we are obedient to His calling. Does it have to be fulfilled tomorrow, or a year from now, or five years from now? No. Exactly when and how it will be fulfilled, we will entrust to God. But that it will be fulfilled is certain, if we will yield ourselves to it. Will it present us with challenges? Surely! But none greater than the people of God have faced throughout the history of the Church. Will it require a great deal of faith on our part? Absolutely! But if it doesn’t require faith, it’s not of God. But it doesn’t have to be the impossible dream. With God on our side, it is the most possible dream for St. Stephen’s, and I pray that you will embrace it as such. + |
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