Jane's Report from the Annual Meeting

Yesterday, Cindy and I took advantage of the weather and some free time and took a hike. It was a beautiful day and despite the frosty mornings, signs of spring were everywhere. The sun was shining, and a light breeze was blowing. New blades of grass were pushing up through the damp, sweet smelling earth, the leaves were beginning to unfurl on the trees, birds were singing, and even a few intrepid wildflowers were popping up their heads. And in the middle of my enjoyment of these things it occurred to me that take the appearance of spring for granted, and I wondered if climate change might change all that. After all, we’re already seeing extreme weather patterns and global warming is predicted to exceed the hoped for 1.5 degrees Celsius and we are rapidly approaching the point of no return.

And yet we are not doing anything about it. We seem to live in a constructed reality that expects someone or something to save us from ourselves when the truth is that we, the human race collectively, are the only ones who can do anything about it and make the changes we need to make to survive, taking for granted that everything will be okay.

And I wonder if that also applies to the church. Recent reports indicate that the Church with a capital C is in trouble. Attendance is falling across the spectrum. Almost 30% identify as having no religion in the US, and in the UK it is over 50%. Which is why researchers predict the C0fE will cease to exist by 2050 and according to reports the EC is not far behind it.

The irony is that the same thing that keeps people away from the church - busy, overfull, stressed-out lives with too many demands and obligations, is the reason people need what the Church has to offer. During the process of ordination, I was often asked to write a ministry statement of some kind, and it always included the same sentences:

As long as I can remember I have had a deep and abiding relationship with God that has seen me through difficult times in my life with faith and hope. I want to make the Episcopal Church a place where people encounter the God that helped me through the difficult and challenging times of my life, and experience the life- and world-changing transformation such a relationship can bring. I believe our tradition allows space for many and diverse ways of meeting God within its tradition and its liturgy, and feel called to explore new ways of experiencing and embodying church, to meet the needs of all people.

I still believe in the possibilities and promises of the Episcopal Church, and I believe Saint Anna’s is a place they can come to fruition.

During the V+T Community Discernment event a couple of weeks ago I heard the same thing from this congregation. You love your church and love what it has to offer. You believe in it and see the possibilities. I also heard concerns about the sustainability of Saint Anna’s, and fears that we might be forced to close even against our will. And the budget for this year does paint a concerning picture and I imagine that some of you are feeling a bit discouraged right now.

Because quite frankly, I felt a bit discouraged myself when I saw the numbers. And it is not nothing.

But I have had longer to digest this information than you have, and my discouragement has turned to excitement. Excitement because a challenge like this is not just an obstacle, it is a possibility. A possibility for growth, and transformation, and change. A possibility to ask what God is calling us to do and be and to live fully and completely into it. We have no choice. If Saint Anna’s wants to keep its doors open we have to find a way to change and become sustainable.

But church vitality is not just measured by it finances. We have inherited a model that measures “success” in numbers – numbers of people who attend. Numbers of dollars. Numbers of pledging units. But Saint Anna’s is so much more than its numbers.

It is the resilience of people who have stayed committed to their community through the good, the bad, and the sometimes downright ugly, because they love each other and care about each other too much to go their separate ways.

It is the care and compassion we extend each other during hard times.

It is the persistence in showing up and opening the doors and turning on the heat, and printing the bulletins, and greeting newcomers, and sharing information about our lives over a cup of coffee.

It is tending to the buildings and the grounds. In changing the locks yet again after a break-in or replacing the windows after vandalism. In taking time out of our day to water the new plants and interrupting our Thanksgiving to come and turn off the sprinklers.

It is in the passion for outreach and support of Mission Possible. In the relationship we have formed with Kimball elementary. In the uniforms we donate, and the books we provide, and volunteers showing up each month to help at the Roar Store.

It is the food we donate to Hope House and the diapers we take to BACN.

And if the Church measured sustainability by the numbers of lives changed rather than the number of bodies in the pews, Saint Anna’s would be among the strongest churches in our diocese.

It is one of the reasons I wanted to be your vicar. Because of the promises and possibilities I know exist in this small-but-mighty community.

And I am aware that much of the budget goes to my salary and benefits, and I do not take that lightly. I consider it a sacred trust. And I promise you that I will fight for you and give you the best chance possible. I will work alongside you every step of the way.

But I cannot do it by myself. I can inspire and motivate and equip and lead you. The real work has to come from you.

And I know that you are tired. I know you have been fighting this fight for a long time. I know that the last few years have been particularly challenging and hard for everyone, and that you all already give generously of your time, talent, and treasure. And if you are doing everything you can, and don’t know how you could do any more that is okay. I completely understand. I am so grateful for what you have done and do; for any support you give to Saint Anna’s Church. It indicates your commitment to the mission and ministry of the church and the importance of Saint Anna’s in your life and that means a lot to me.

But we are at a crossroads. We have to make some important decision this year, and will have to make some changes. I know you know that. And I know you are willing to make them. I am asking you to reflect prayerfully and faithfully on what God is asking of you, and to offer it to Saint Anna’s. Because just like climate change, there is no outside thing or person that will do the hard work for us. This is up to us.

I we should not worry about the data concerning the Church-with-a-capital-C. As one of my seminary classmates once said, Jesus did not come to start a church but a movement. A movement of love, mercy, and inclusion. A movement that is alive and well her at Saint Anna’s.

A movement that would challenge the status quo and prove to be very unpopular with the powers-that-be. That is why he spoke the words we hear in this morning’s Gospel to his disciples, words we know as the Beatitudes, and which open his Sermon on the Mount, when he offers many teachings and wisdom about God’s Kingdom as opposed to what the world expects and demands. Words which I’ve not always loved because they read like a to-do list for faithful people rather than the comfort and encouragement I need. Things we should aspire to if we want to receive God’s blessing.

After all, who wants to be poor, sorrowful, docile, hungry and thirsty, merciful to a cruel and unforgiving world, naïve, peaceful, and persecuted? Especially that last one. And sometimes I wish Jesus would just come out and admit that this is all hard. When just trying to keep the doors open takes everything we have and feels hard and hopeless and the last thing we feel is blessed.

But this isn’t a to-do list or something we should try to achieve. It is a reminder of what life is like, and what will happen when we try to live as Jesus did in this world.

Try to do the things God requires of us, as spoken by the prophet Micah, in a world which operates on money and power and time.

Jesus is reminding us that we don’t have to do any of this on our own. We do it always with God by our side, and as St. Paul wrote to the Church in Rome, if God is for us, who can be against us?

AMEN!