The Rev. Noah Van Niel
The Chapel of the Cross
November 14th, 2021
Proper 28 (B): 1 Samuel 1:4-20; Song of Hannah; Hebrews 10:11-25; Mark 13:1-8
We have designated this Sunday at The Chapel of the Cross “Ingathering Sunday” — a suitably seasonal metaphor for the deadline in our annual fundraising appeal. Just as we imagine farmers gathering in the harvest, so we hope to “gather in” your promises of financial support that we might give thanks for those gifts and get to work setting next year’s budget. The salaries of those who work here, the buildings in which we worship, the ministries and programs which we engage in, are almost entirely funded by your contributions. We do not have a large endowment to fall back on, so it is your financial support, year after year, that facilitates the work of God in this place and from this place out into the world. As of yesterday, we stand at 369 pledges which have gotten us over 80% of the way to our goal. That’s pretty good. But it still leaves us about $300,000 short of what it will take to fully fund the parish next year. In past years we might expect another 150 or so pledges to come in. But the continued dispersion of our community makes that uncertain. So, my message this morning is as simple as it is sincere: if you haven’t yet pledged, please do. If you have pledged, thank you, and prayerfully consider whether an increase might be within your reach.
But seeing as it’s “Ingathering Sunday,” there’s another issue we need to talk about. In addition to gathering in your pledges, we need to gather in our people. Right now, we are running about 99% of the church with about 50% of the people. That means worship attendance, but it also means the many ministries that are essential to the functioning of our parish. Participation in our fabulous Altar Guild, those who lovingly and faithfully prepare the communion table and ready our sacred spaces for worship, is down more than 50%, meaning half the people are doing twice the work. We don’t have nearly enough ushers or greeters to welcome you and ensure a safe and orderly Sunday experience. We have great readers, but our current rotation is thin, so we lack a diversity of voices and faces up at that lectern. We need acolytes to lift high the cross and lead our procession to the altar of God. We need your help.
Now I recognize that the virus still has many people concerned about attending indoor gatherings of people. COVID is still with us, and still requires our respect and restraint. That’s particularly true for those who have a compromised immune system or cannot be vaccinated –you stay safe and join us how and when you can. But given that much of life has returned to a regular rhythm and many of us have found ways to participate in the things we care about, I think we need to take a moment to reevaluate how we are participating in church. For example, currently, many of us could eat at a restaurant serving at near-full capacity or head to the movies or a sporting event or get on a plane to visit a loved one. And that is wonderful that we can finally do those things! But it raises questions for us about the low attendance and lack of participation at our highly vaccinated, highly-ventilated, fully-masked church.
We’re not alone in this. Across our diocese, across the country, many churches are reporting significantly reduced attendance and participation. And articles and think pieces are appearing from all corners of Christendom with titles like, “They’re not coming back.” In learning to live without coming to church, people have learned to live without coming to church. Faith is a muscle, prayer a discipline, worship a practice. And for many, who by necessity have fallen of the habit, those muscles have atrophied. As anyone who has resumed an exercise regimen after a long time away knows, it’s twice as hard to restart as it is to maintain. That’s why I hope that those of you who are back will keep coming. There are even more stories out there about people who are engaging life relatively normally but for whom watching online church is sufficient. It’s convenient, comfortable. No getting dressed up. No fighting for parking. No rushing, no stressing; more time to linger over that morning cup of coffee. I get that. It’s a good deal. But on this “Ingathering Sunday,” allow me a word about why I hope people will come back, and if you are back, why I hope you might be willing to get more involved.
You may expect me to say that you should come back to church and get involved to connect more with God, to be restored, nourished in mind and spirit through word and sacrament, prayer and song. That I fear for the wellbeing of your soul should you neglect its needs. That’s true. We come because we need those ineffable gifts of faith, hope, and love. We come for the healing of our broken spirits and troubled hearts. We come for guidance, wisdom, purpose. We come for a glimmer of beauty and light and truth. All of that is good and right. But that’s not the whole story. Too often in Church we focus on what it is we receive from the church as the reason to come. But equally important is what we bring to it.
From the earliest days, being a part of a Christian community has meant being an active participant, not just a passive recipient. If we believe the Church is meant to embody the reign of God as revealed in Jesus Christ, that is clearly a communal endeavor. And that community is only as strong as the members who make it up. That’s the whole point of the Body of Christ metaphor. As members of that Body, members of this body, each of our contributions is not just valued, it is necessary to the flourishing of the whole. As it says in the letter to the Ephesians, we need “each part working properly to promote the body’s growth in building itself up in love.” That means that without you, we are weaker; we are incomplete; we are diminished by your absence. We need your presence, we need your perspective, we need your participation because, being the unique and marvelous creation that you are, that is a gift no one else can contribute. The need to participate is also what the letter to the Hebrews is talking about this morning. The author writes, let us come to worship to develop our faith and our hope, but also “Let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another.” We need each other so that we might provoke and encourage each other to good deeds; to live in love. This is the model of nothing less than the kingdom of heaven—a kingdom of mutuality and blessing where we are built up by one another, where all contribute equally, and are valued for all that they bring and all that they are. That’s what we’re trying to approximate here in our Christian community. That is why we need you.
Is that how you understand your participation in this community? That by coming to this church you are providing it with something it needs? Something it doesn’t have if you’re not here? I hope so. Because we honestly believe that. I think y’all underestimate sometimes how much you inspire us with your own stories of faith; how you comfort us with your prayers, assist us with your hands, make us laugh, make us think, make us wonder, help us believe. We get excited for you to come to church not because we obsess about attendance numbers but because we believe that what you bring, no one else could bring, and that you make this community better by being a part of it.
I’m not trying to pressure you into a situation you feel is unsafe or dangerous, or to overburden those of you who already feel ready to break. But I am inviting a reassessment of why it is we are not attending or volunteering and offering a reframing of why your participation in our common life matters. Not only because of what you gain from being a part of this church, but because of what you have to give to it to make it better, which will in turn, make the lives of others better, and bring glory to God.
That’s where we are on this Ingathering Sunday. A little short on money, a lot short on people. We believe strongly that the future of this parish is bright. But what that future looks like, and who exactly is a part of it still remains unclear. We hope you will continue to be a part of it, maybe even a bigger part of it than you already are. And we hope you let others know we want them to be a part of it again too. Because the church needs you: to help, to encourage, to provoke; to build up this body in love, with the gifts that only you can give. For that is our calling as members of a Christian community. Our mission. Our purpose. That is why, in addition to your pledges, YOU are what we hope to gather in today, all that you have, and all that you are, so that, together, we might become the church that God longs for us to be. Amen.