men have done this, and not tell a hundredth part of them. And best of all, week by week and
month by month, on a hundred thousand successive Sundays, faithfully, unfailingly, across all the
parishes of Christendom, the pastors have done this just to make the plebs sancta Dei — the holy
common people of God.
Since the earliest days of the church, Christians have gathered on Sunday to celebrate the Eucharist.
Following Jesus’ command, it is the most basic action of Christian discipleship. And so it seems right
that we will focus as a parish this fall on worship — and the Eucharist, in particular.
A clear direction from RenewalWorks
Focusing on the Eucharist is beneficial for all sorts of wonderfully theological
reasons, of course. (And I’ll have more to say about that momentarily.) But it is
also a practical reality. Like all churches, St. James’ exists to help individuals
grow in their spiritual journeys — and the research is very clear. For Episcopalians,
participating in the Eucharist is a key catalyst for spiritual growth, along with
engaging with Scripture and having a personal life of prayer outside church. The
more people engage with the Eucharist, and seek a deeper understanding of
it, the further they move along the continuum of spiritual growth toward a life
centered in Christ.
The data we received from January’s parish-wide Spiritual Life Inventory
from RenewalWorks, made clear that our parish goals (see box at right) needed
to focus clearly on worship. And so our first two goals are to commit to the
spiritual practice of gathering weekly to encounter Christ in the Eucharist and
engaging daily with God in prayer and Bible reading.
To support us in achieving those goals, we have planned a number of
wonderful opportunities to dive deeply into the whys and hows of Christian
worship this fall. Our forums will focus on the Eucharist, as will a series of
special offerings including a prayer workshop, Quiet Day, and more. We will have
an Instructed Eucharist together in each of our services on October 21, and
each week our bulletins will highlight something about why we do what we do
in worship. Our offerings of the Daily Office will expand to include Morning and
Evening Prayer, Monday through Friday. Stay tuned for an exciting video series
in the eNews. And, of course, this entire Camino is dedicated to the subject! You
can learn about everything at stjames.org/eucharist.
2018 Parish Goals
Wanting to grow as disciples
of Jesus, we commit to:
Gathering weekly to encounter
Christ in the Eucharist.
Engaging daily with God through
prayer and Scripture.
Growing in our knowledge of
Anglican beliefs and practices.
Discovering, nurturing, and
using our spiritual gifts to
pastor our communities.
(Re)Discovering Who We Are
Recently, a friend shared a conversation in which her dad reflected on his habit
of going to church: “I go to church,” he said, “in order to remember who I am and
what really matters.” I love that. Amid the changes and chances of life, amid the
temptations, distractions, and challenges we face, church is the place where we discover, rediscover,
and remember who we are, both as individuals and as a community. It is in worship that the Spirit recalls
us to our identity as beloved children of God, heirs through hope of God’s everlasting promises. It is in
worship that the Spirit gathers us and forms us into a community, named “Body of Christ” in our baptism
and fed with the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, that we might be Christ’s risen Body out in the world.
Sometimes we are tempted to turn Christianity into a set of beliefs or series of intellectual propositions,
rather than the way of life and set of practices it really is. We believe all sorts of important and life-giving
things about God in Christ, of course — but it is only because we have adopted the practice of following
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