The New Rector is Here...
But Not Yet
Since
the beginning of October our Sunday attendance has really been suffering.
This sort of thing can drive me crazy trying to figure out why people just
aren’t showing up on Sunday morning. I hear that people are at football
games, children’s activities and visiting ill parents in other places. These
are all sorts of things that can, temporarily take us away from our
worshipping community, but, it seems that this has become a regular
occurrence and it is hard for me to believe that it is just happenstance,
so, I’ve been asking just about anyone what they think is going on. One of
my queries suggested that perhaps people are just getting tired of waiting
for a new rector to be selected and their attitude is: Call me when
you’ve got someone! Some have suggested that the openness of the search
committee with the parish may have led to some low morale in the parish.
When the initial candidate decided to stay where he was and not accept the
call to All Saints the parish morale was deflated and people stopped
attending as regularly as they had been attending. It reminds me of what the
early Christian church went through when they became confused about what
they thought would be the imminent return of Christ. Most people thought
that Christ would certainly
return within their lifetime and perhaps within a few years of the
Resurrection. When that didn’t happen and the original disciples and
apostles began to die off the church went into somewhat of a crises. They
had to revamp, re-evaluate and reconsider. God had, once again, not towed
the line with their plans. In fact, some of the converts fell away during
this time and returned to their pagan or Jewish roots. It isn’t unusual that
some people opt out when they don’t feel like God is moving fast enough for
them. Eventually, Christ will return and eventually, All Saints will call a
rector and begin a new
phase of her life together.
Advent is a time of preparation. The early Christians began to understand
that our focus
should not be on the date or time of the second coming but upon our
preparation. What
and who would Christ find waiting for him when he returned? Our focus had to
be on the carrying out of the ministry that we had been entrusted with when
Christ ascended into heaven. 'Go therefore 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 that I have commanded you.
And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’ This year,
at All Saints, as we look forward we prepare ourselves for the returning of
Christ, but we are also preparing ourselves for a new rector to come and
share the ministry with us. What will the new rector find when he darkens
the door of this parish. Will he find a parish that has continued the
ministry and mission that we have been called to or will he find a sleepy
and somewhat lethargic group that is merely waiting? During this season of
Advent I hope that the members of All Saints will renew their commitment to
the community of the faithful. Our focus is not on who is standing
at the altar but the Christ who is coming anew into our hearts and lives.
