COME AND SEE – GO AND SEE

Dear Friends in Christ:

I heard of a rector once who, during his first month in a parish, preached the same sermon each Sunday. When the wardens questioned him about this, he said, “When your actions show me that you’ve heard this sermon, I’ll stop preaching it.” Often repetition is necessary for learning. Laurie Wozniak, the editor of ChurchActs, says that a message has to be repeated seven or eight times before we really get it. With that in mind, I want to return to two Biblical passages that I have addressed before.

"Come and see." In the opening chapter of the Gospel according to John we hear this invitation, first from Jesus to Andrew and an unnamed disciple of John the Baptist and then from Philip to Nathanael. This is God's invitation to all of us who would be disciples - come and see what God is doing and what God will do.

“Go and see.” In the sixth chapter of the Gospel according Mark, Jesus tells his disciples to go and see how many loaves are available to feed a crowd of five thousand. This is God’s invitation to all of us as stewards - go and see what resources there are for the mission and ministry of the Church.

I believe that these two invitations are inseparable, two sides of the same coin. To come and see what God is doing in the world without going and seeing what resources we have to use in that work is to miss out on the real fun of being a Christian. The real fun begins when we get ourselves involved in God’s work, when we find ways to use our time, our talents and our treasure – all of them gifts from God – in ministry.

Since my arrival here at the end of 2001, it has been my privilege and joy to watch as new and long-time members of the parish have responded to the invitation to come and see what God is doing here, and have then gone to see what they could offer to further the mission and ministry of Christ here. The welcoming of newcomers, the support of the Interfaith Hospitality Network, the gifts made to Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, the growth of the choir - all these and many more wonderful things have happened because we have responded to these two invitations from God.

What God has been doing here these past few years has been very encouraging to me as rector of the parish, and I hope that all of you are encouraged as well. Without these wonderful signs of God’s work among us, I would not be as enthusiastic as I am about the capital campaign that we will be launching at the end of September. But I am enthusiastic because I believe that God is calling us to raise the money needed to make the Church and the Barker Building more efficient and more attractive places for some of the central ministries of the parish – worship, hospitality, education, spiritual formation, fellowship. I am enthusiastic about the campaign because I believe that it will not only result in major improvements to our buildings, but also result in a renewal of our faith and our commitment to the mission and ministry in which we all share.

Your brother and priest,

Daniel+