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Remarks for the 2002 Annual Meeting by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy
The image used most often for the church is not an institutional one, but rather an organic one. The Church is the Body of Christ, with Christ as the head and its members as parts of the Body.
Bodies are living, breathing, dynamic organisms. And like all bodies, churches have a life cycle.
St. Augustine's was born April 15, 1876. For several decades, it would be described as a thriving, rapidly growing, muscular church that was conservative and largely British in make up. I have seen photos of the sanctuary for a memorial service at the death of Queen Victoria, the altar draped with the Union Jack and the church filled with flowers. That cultural memory lives on.
The Sunday after Princess Diana died, I arrived at the church for early worship only to find every major local news channel camped on the church steps. They had come to get reactions from the British people about Princess Di's death. Thankfully, John Devonshire walked up in his crested sports jacket, ascoted and accented like central casting. John shared how the British felt about Di's death, as did several homeless persons. We had changed but the media community did not know it.
St. A's grew - as all mainline churches grew - and prospered well enough until the time of the great fire on March 9, 1966. The destruction of the church building and subsequent closing of the parish day school, brought on a time of loss, grief and death.
The building of this sanctuary and its dedication on October 18, 1967, was a time of rebuilding but also a time of redefinition, for the new building was very different from the one that had burned. It would need to be made into a church home and its architecture would, of necessity, redefine how we saw ourselves. Some did not survive this transition.
The time of my predecessor's tenure, 1971 - 1994, was one of constant redefinition. The adoption of a new Book of Common Prayer in the mid 1970's brought both loss as well as hope for renewal, both here and nationally. Carlyle Gill was appointed as one of the first female priests in the church and in reaction, I am told, members cut their financial pledges by 50%. The senior warden - also the first woman to serve in that capacity in the history of the parish - is said to have stood up on the first pew and challenged those who remained in the church to double their pledge. Kay Lindahl, who will lead a quiet day here in the spring, was that woman.
When Malcolm Boyd, an openly gay priest, was appointed, pledges were cut only by a third. It felt like progress.
That nearly quarter century was a time of constant redefinition. A church that had been largely inwardly focused, and has two formal silver tea services to prove it, began to actively engage the larger world. That this time was one of chaos, pain, loss and anger as well as hope, renewal, spiritual growth and challenge is an understatement. But chaos and novelty are always close calls. That St. As - and Fred Fenton, its pastor - were exhausted and burning out by the early 1990's, is also true.
To the extent that social justice and outreach was grounded in an effort - a technique - toward church growth, it was inauthentic even though people were helped. Malcolm was concerned that he was invited to be here, at least initially, not for who he was as a person, but rather as a gay celebrity, to draw a congregation. Over time, we came to see him in his fullness and rejoiced in his gifts and compassion. At times past, I've heard St. A's referred to as All Saint's, Pasadena West, referring to the huge, progressive Episcopal megachurch in Pasadena. But identity cannot be borrowed, only built.
To the extent that such efforts at redefining St. A's were marketing, not mission, they were experienced as self serving and mere political correctness. But they were faithful decisions and actions in their generation, aimed at opening the doors wider to the people of God. Many of you here today would not have been comfortable in that church that was. We today stand on the shoulders of those who preceded us in this place: Fred Fenton, Carlyle Gill, Malcolm Boyd, Marni Schneider and so many others. The 9 a.m. worship experience was an effort, in that same tradition, at broadening our sense of who we are. For some, it was merely annoying and unnecessary.
Today, we are in a time of greater stability. As Bill Broesamle, our treasurer, indicated in his presentation of the budget, pledges are up dramatically and involvement and attendance are as well. These markers don't reflect a greater change, and that is what one Vestry member described earlier this month as a sense of greater maturity and self-confidence in this place. But it is also a time of expectation.
This is a time of redefining our corporate identity, of discovering who we are called to be and what we are called to do for God. It is a time to journey together.
The Labyrinth we sit on today is a fit metaphor. The Labyrinth journey is one of letting go in order to encounter the Spirit at our Center. There can be no rebirth without death. What needs to die here, who can say, but refusing to provide artificial life support usually leads to a timely and appropriate death. And it is good and right to give thanks for what was in order to make room for what will be.
Our sense of who we are as a church community must be a God-given vision, not a management technique. I call us today to that patient center, the place of encountering God face to face, even though one cannot look God in the face and be unchanged, un-transfigured. It is a call to a season of patient waiting for, and deep listening to, God and each other. It may at times feel like a wilderness journey but manna always comes. There are times of refreshment, such as this annual meeting today.
The journey out is always one of mission. A new vision emerges which brings greater clarity, builds greater unity and enables a wider service.
What an exciting time to be in this congregation.
I commit myself today to this journey and hope to spend the remainder of my active years of ministry in this place if you will have me (and as long as I am being effective!) I believe that God's Spirit calls us as a congregation to journey with her. Will you come along?
Copyright © 2002 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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