I've received a lot of response to my previous article "On Christian Community." Everyone was quite positive, and I'm especially glad to hear that you appreciate teaching articles. One person asked if I wrote that article because I felt that All Saints' isn't measuring up with regard to being the kind of community we should be as a congregation. Of course, every congregation can always do better but, no, there wasn't that kind of agenda behind the article. I wanted to set some perspective for the big picture, and address some of the standards and expectations in Christian community "generally." It is my hope that each person reading these two articles would consider how to grow in a personal commitment to that vision of community in his/her daily and weekly life as part of All Saints'.
It seems to me that now I should give some specific examples to show something of what I was getting at in that last article. I made the point that we are called to care for and support each other without regard to personal conditions (such as knowing, liking, or agreeing with someone). Each one of us should be confident that we can count on each other just because we share the same table and common discipleship at All Saints' Episcopal Church, Tupelo. Whatever the case, you are to "be there" for a fellow parishioner. It would be natural to shy away from this because it seems overwhelming: "There would be no end to what I should be doing for 499 other people."
OK, then what does living out such a personal commitment to your Christian community look like realistically? It's important to start with the basics, and in a church that means worship. (1) Make a special point to be here for baptisms. Some people stay away from church when there is a baptism because they don't know the family (not to mention the service being longer)! That's way off the mark. Baptism is not just about the one who is being baptized; it is about the whole community's baptism in Christ and together being the Body of Christ. (2) Attend the funeral of any parishioner. This, too, is about the community's witness. It is not only about support for the surviving family but also your own recognition that all of our lives are interconnected by virtue of that table we share. (3) If a couple issues a general invitation to the congregation for their wedding, go! It is no less important to support people in their celebrations. (4) Make "special services" a priority. This includes those liturgical days that fall on a weekday, such as Ash Wednesday, Holy Week, and (usually) Epiphany (Jan. 6), as well as special offerings on Sunday nights—evensongs, ecumenical services. Lessons and Carols, etc. Your attendance tells people that these services are important. (5) Go to church every Sunday! In other words, live your Christian life with your Church family.
Your commitment to All Saints' as a community means to be active in your parish Family Group. Know what is going on with the others in your Group, and attend the social functions offered for the Group. Your Family Group is one of the best ways to build the infrastructure of our relationships and common life. Take the initiative to meet any special needs you hear about for any of our households (times of illness, death, transportation issues, etc). Also, support our own special events. When we have programs, parties, concerts, or speakers, your attendance helps to build up and support community here. When fellow parishioners offer a special event, your attendance honors their time and effort for the community and tells them that what they do matters.
All of this about Christian community is best said and summarized by John Donne, priest and poet (1572-1631):
"The church is catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that head which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me; all mankind is of one author, and is one volume ... No man is an island, entire of itself, every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a [house] of thy friend's or of thine own were." [from Meditation XVII]
In Christ,
SSJ+
