Word from Father Kevin: Saving the Saved

In the past 2 weeks, I’ve described Savior’s leadership capital and resilience. This week, I want to suggest that Savior has a particular gift and call to “save the saved”— to make church and Christianity possible and desirable again for people who in some way are finding them hard. Why do I say this?

 First, I’ve had conversations with a number of people at Savior who are in “the borderlands of faith.” Their childhood faith no longer works for them, and they are at Savior in part because it feels like a safe place where they can decide what, if anything, they will carry from that childhood faith into the rest of their adult lives.  

 More broadly, the “evangelical church culture” (ECC) is struggling. Younger leaders had already rejected the megachurch model and the political stances of that culture, before the recent #churchtoo scandals put a big period on the end of that sentence. Here in Wheaton, I keep running into people who have tasted but not been satisfied by ECC, and they are looking for (pick one) transcendence, humility, honesty, less busyness, fewer requests for money, and a place that is not anti-science, not unjust in its practices toward women, engaged with the poor, etc. 

 We are not perfect. This is not to pat ourselves on the back. “Saving the saved” is an unusual charism and not what every church can or should be doing.  So today’s Word from Fr. Kevin is simply my saying, “I notice this. I intuit it.  And I celebrate that Savior is a place of safety, refuge, and welcome for people who, I hope, will find their way home to Jesus and walk with him for the rest of their lives."

Word from Father Kevin: Resilience

Last week, I shared that Savior has an unusual level of leadership capital. A second feature of Savior I pointed out to the Vestry is our resilience.

I’ve said several times that church theorists consider the biggest single change in a congregation’s life is the transition from founding leaders to next-generation leaders. Yet Savior has come through that remarkably well. There is a sense of peace and gratitude, with Fr. Bill and Mtr. Linda still in our midst, cheering on Karen and me, and we love seeing them minister.

About the time that transition was well underway, Marilyn Stewart was diagnosed with melanoma. And as Doug cares for her, this meant Savior no longer had the daily leadership of two more founding members. We all feel the grief for their suffering. Yet Savior continues on, still with a sense of hope and optimism.

Psychologists in recent years have emphasized the power of “grit.” Perseverance and resilience change the outcome for students and for workers. And for churches.

I notice this quality in Savior. I celebrate this. And I want to commend all of you for this. What is God saying to us through this?

I don’t know, but perhaps, “You’re stronger than you know.” We will need to be resilient to follow God into new adventures, but we’ve shown that with God’s help, we can handle a lot. “Fear not, little flock, for it pleases your Father to give you the kingdom.”

Youth Mission Trip - Josiah Hsu

For today's post, Josiah Hsu -- a student at Church of the Savior -- reflects on the recent mission trip led by Savior's youth pastor, Father Andrew Unger.

What did you do on the mission trip?

As a group, we did a lot of service work around the community. We would typically divide into separate groups and work at different locations as needed. Some notable locations that we worked at includes Cornerstone Community Outreach, where we prepared and served food, and Books for a Cause, where we packed books to be shipped to schools and universities. We also attended a bible study at the church we were staying at. In addition to this, I worked with a smaller group to help organize items in the church.

How did you see God at work in the community you served?

Personally, I saw God at work through the unexpected tasks that we found ourselves working on. When we first arrived, we were told that the building manager needed to clean, organize, and renovate rooms in the church. While not originally part of our schedule, it was decided that we would have some people help her. From what we were told, upon hearing this the manager had a visible wave of relief. I feel like God was most at work through unexpected opportunities like these.

How were you challenged or encouraged in your own faith?

Being honest, throughout the week I had a general sense that I wasn't doing enough. It felt like the work I was doing wasn't as substantial or meaningful as it had been previous years, which was disheartening until Father Andrew addressed this during our communion service. He reminded us that our goal wasn't to serve so that we could feel good about ourselves, but rather to serve so that we can demonstrate God's love to others. Those words helped reassure me that even if I didn't feel like I was doing much, God was still working through me.

Revelation Resources

As we go through the book of Revelation in our current sermon series "Revelation: Visions for a Church Under Pressure," many resources are available to help us understand this challenging book.

First, read Father Kevin's letter to the Church of the Savior, in the style of the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2-3. (Listen to his sermon on these letters here.)

Next, Senior Warden Deb Nickerson's prayer in response to the letter is here.

For a deeper dive into the context, genre and interpretation of Revelation, Father Kevin and Richard Kepner led a seminar on August 27th on these topics. Below is the audio for Richard Kepner's historical context and Father Kevin's guide to the genre and interpretation of Revelation.

Finally, for those who want to know even more about Revelation, a list of recommended resources:

The Bible Project -- creative videos to give you the quick overview:

• Chapters 1-11

• Chapters 12-22

Short article to help you get the tone right:

• “Spirituality and the Book of Revelation” by Michael J. Gorman

Commentaries being used by our preachers:

• Richard Bauckham, The Theology of the Book of Revelation

• Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary

• Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly

• Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder

• Peter S. Williamson, Revelation (Catholic Commentary on Sacred Scripture)

Sermons on Revelation:

• “The Son of Man” (Rev. 1) — Kevin Miller

• “The Seven Lampstands” (Rev. 2-3) — Kevin Miller

• “Worthy is the Lamb” (Rev. 4-5) — Sarah Lindsay

• “The Fall of Babylon” (Rev. 6-20) — Ted Olsen

• “New Heaven, New Earth, New City” (Rev. 21-22) — Kevin Miller

Word from Father Kevin: Where is God Leading Us?

I told our Vestry, at its retreat last weekend, that Savior has an unusually high level of “leadership capital” for a church our size.

Consider our preaching team: In recent weeks, we’ve been blessed by sermons given by Deb Nickerson and Al Hsu, and in September, Dr. Sarah Lindsay and Ted Olsen will preach. This kind of collaborative team is, I’m learning, somewhat unusual within ACNA, but it’s a blessing to us all.

Then, we are blessed to have ten clergy regularly worshiping with us and willing to serve wherever needed (for example, Fr. Aaron Harrison will lead the Instructed Liturgy Workshop next month, and several of our clergy have been serving for an interim time at a sister parish in Milwaukee).

The quality of our staff team is astonishing; each could be leading national workshops on their area of ministry. And I could go on to Vestry, Ministry Team Leaders, Treasurers, and more. Truly, we are blessed.

I notice this, celebrate this, and invite you to ask God with me, “Since you have given us exceedingly, abundantly, beyond all we might ask or think in this area of our common life, what are you leading us to?”