Trinity Sunday Sermon
For those of you that I have not had the pleasure of meeting.
My name is Andrea McKellar and I am the Ministry Developer for The Episcopal
Church in South Carolina. That is a fun title that means that I handle youth,
Christian formation, Transition ministry and leadership for Bishop vonRosenberg.
On Sundays, I attend St. Francis Episcopal Church in West Ashley. We meet in the chapel of Stuhr's Funeral Home. There I teach
the middle and high school students Sunday School class. We have a pretty open class which means we
read the Gospel and see where it leads us. The class answers each others
questions. Sometimes it is just defining words or explaining some historical
nuances but the conversation almost always leads to something deep, meaningful
and fulfilling. They are very comfortable with each other and their questions
are a mix of enlightening and terrifying. A few weeks ago, we were reading the
gospel lesson and one of the youth said “so wait…are Jesus and God the same thing?” Softball question before I had even had some caffeine. Three of us answered
him at the same time, yes...no...wow. That about sums it up. I am smart and
inexperienced in preaching enough that that is all I am going to say about the
trinity today!
Instead I
want to tell you a bit of my story. When I was reading this week's Gospel
lesson, I couldn’t get past Jesus first words.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
Now remember that he is talking to his disciples, the same people that the
Presiding Bishop said when he was visiting Charleston a few weeks ago “these
are not the A Team of apostolic succession”. The kids I teach love the stories
of how the disciples bungle along and don’t always get what Jesus was telling
them. So honestly, they probably couldn’t bear it but he is also talking to us.
There are so many things that we can’t bear at the moment.
Three and a
half years ago, some of us didn't know how much longer we were going to have to
bear it. We may have been having trouble hearing the spirit of Truth.
Before the
split, I was Director of Christian formation at Old St. Andrews in West Ashley.
I will admit that I was happy there. We stayed out of diocesan politics, were
the face of Jesus in the community, and were a vibrant, growing parish. I had
been raised Episcopalian and active in youth ministry in the Diocese of
Virginia. I love the Episcopal Church but I had taken that relationship for
granted. That the church would always be there for me and I didn't need to do
anything to cultivate that relationship in return.
In October
2012, I was standing in the church parking lot after a 12-hour day of work when
we got the email that Mark Lawrence was being restricted. I remember the shock
vividly. The Earth had shifted on its axis. At the time we didn't know yet that
the standing committee had already put in place steps for us to leave The
Episcopal Church.
Old St.
Andrews went through four months of discernment to decide whether we would stay
with or leave The Episcopal Church. When I stepped back and looked at the
situation with some perspective, I am glad that I got to choose to be an
Episcopalian. I had the time to stop and think about what I believe not what
the church tells me to believe. It is a church that, to me, doesn't give you a
"get out of hell free" card, or claim to get rid of the messiness in
your life but says "Hey, we are all messy. Let's hold hands as we get
through this mess together."
I choose to be an Episcopalian and continue to love. There is
nothing that you can do that will stop that love. That is what Easter is all
about.
In The Episcopal Church in South Carolina we have been
careful to define ourselves as what we are, not what we are not. And that can
be a very hard thing to do. But for me The Episcopal Church, at its best, is...
...a church that accepts you for who you are now.
...a church that supports you in becoming your best self.
...a church that thinks what we do in the streets is as or more
important than how we pray on Sunday morning.
...a church that stands up against injustices whether it be
racism, gun violence, or discrimination.
...a church that cares for God's creation.
After 34
years of being an Episcopalian, I got to choose to be a member of the Episcopal
Church. I was ready to rekindle the relationship of my youth and this time I
was going to be an active participant. My choice to stay was not a choice I
made lightly. Because of that decision I lost my church and my job. Did I
mention that at the time I had a one and a three-year-old?
So with some
“free time” on my hands, a small group of us who had left Old St. Andrews went
to the bishop and asked to start a new church in West Ashley. Our first Sunday,
we had 25 people in the living room of our priest’s house. During the sermon my
daughter crawled forward and sat at Mother Jean’s feet while she shared her
message of hope for our new congregation and I knew we would be okay. The
spirit of Truth was guiding us. We may not have had any of the traditional
church parts that Sunday but we were overflowing. We had people, bread and
wine.
St. Francis
is now an inspiring congregation with about 50 on a Sunday. We have four Sunday
School classes, we have made children a central part of our liturgy and
ministries. By starting fresh we were able to decide how we wanted to be known
and live into that. Without a mortgage or a leaky roof, we are able to focus on
helping our community. We put 10% of our budget to outreach and then figure out the
rest of the budget. We raise up children and youth as valued members of our
community and above all we very vocally welcome all.
One of the
things that is oddest to people looking at us from the outside is that we meet in
the chapel of a funeral home. I should admit that prior to this adventure I was
a church snob. I grew up in colonial parishes on the Chesapeake Bay, I attended
Bruton Parish in Williamsburg during college, I was married in the historic
church of Christ Church Mount Pleasant and my children were baptized at Old St.
Andrews, the oldest church building south of Virginia. I had never attended a
church that was built after George Washington was born. When we were in our
discernment, I looked at going to Grace but decided it was too new for me being
built in 1846. God sure does have a sense of humor.
But out of
death we at St. Francis have found life. As Rachel Held Evans says in Searching
for Sundays “When the Spirit lives within you, any place can become a
sanctuary, you just have to listen. You just have to pay attention”
I would not
change my current situation for all the heartache that we experienced. The
chapel at Stuhr’s has been a refuge for us in the storm. They refuse to take
any payment from us and see our using the chapel as their outreach to the
community. And not having a building during the week forced us out into the neighborhood.
We had morning prayer in a local restaurant, Bible Study in a Coffee shop, and
our Blessing of the Pets at a local dog park including a rescue organization,
vet, and local restaurant.
I am not
telling you all this to say that you shouldn’t have a building. I am quite
envious of your beautiful sanctuary but encourage you to continue the good work
that St. Stephens is doing in Charleston and thank you for being a congregation
that has supported our group from the beginning. You all have had members visit
us, shared out of your abundance, held up the flag during the hard years, and
most importantly have been praying for us and all of the good people of our
diocese.You are the Episcopal branch of the Jesus Movement!
I am
overjoyed to be on this journey together knowing that God, Jesus, and the
spirit of Truth are with us. Amen!
Great sermon. My wife Sandy+ and I attend Episcopal services at the Seranata Beach Club in St. Augustine. Our minister is a retired Episcopal bishop. The beach club is so gracious in giving us the space for a out 70 of us each Sunday. The beauty of this arrangement is that there is no overhead so all monies collected go to 5 local monistries.
ReplyDeleteIt is a wonderful arrangement and like your meeting in a funeral home it might be a good model for congregations that cannot afford a building or decide to maximize their
Outreach ministries.
Jack Tull. L1. Diocese of Florida
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