"As Jesus came out of the temple and was going away, his disciples came to point out to him the buildings of the temple. Then he asked them, “You see all these, do you not? Truly I tell you, not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.”
I read these words from the Gospel of Matthew (24.1-2) early in July. And I could not help but think how much they resonated with our experience these last few months. In early March, we, at Good Shepherd, were happy with the “buildings of [our] temple”. We had just concluded a successful stewardship campaign, and had a great annual meeting. The new vestry was raring to go. We were looking forward to a rich Lenten season (becoming familiar with Rite One language, if you’ll remember!). The beauty, wonder, and glory of Holy Week and Easter were in sight. There was excitement at the prospect of Pentecost, Youth Sunday, and the parish picnic all happening on the same day!
And, then, the buildings began to crumble. We realized we could no longer “hug” at the Peace; elbow-bumps were the extent of physical interactions. Attendance began to slip as folks, worried about COVID, began to stay safer at home. We dropped from three services to one, ZOOM-ing that one from the chapel. And then most of the “stones" were thrown down, and our worship has been coordinated off-site. It was almost as if we were in occupied Judea — we could see Jerusalem, but we couldn’t get there any more.
The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD, however, was not the end of Judaism. And it certainly wasn’t the end of the Jesus Movement. That destruction, along with the success of the Apostle Paul’s mission to the Gentiles, gave birth to Christianity. As the Jews had learned several hundred years earlier, during the Babylonian Captivity, God’s truth was not limited to a building, or piece of earth. In a similar way, early Christians recognized that the living Word of God, likewise, could move freely throughout the Mediterranean world and beyond, without being tethered to any one place.
Over the last four months we have learned a lot! Of course, many of us have learned how to navigate ZOOM. While most agree that it is not the best way of conducting worship, many have commented that the “Gallery View” has allowed people to put names to faces. Small groups have met online, and have found deeper levels of intimacy than a conference table affords. We’ve been treated, during worship, to a variety of musical styles and voices that we may not have experienced before. The shift to Morning Prayer has provided greater involvement for lay folks who would like to lead worship. We’ve added opportunities for Morning Prayer (Monday through Thursday, as part of “Morning Sheep Count”), Noon Prayers (Wednesdays at noon, as part of “ Gabbin' with Gary”), and, most recently Compline (Wednesdays at 8:45 pm). We realized that not having to drive to the church for meetings frees up a lot of time! Folks have enjoyed church in their PJs, with donuts!
All of that has been great. But we do want to regather. And a team of the vestry has been working on how to make that happen, as soon as possible, but as safe as possible. We do want to celebrate the Eucharist together. A diocesan-wide Task Force is working on how to make that happen, as soon as possible, as safe as possible, and as Episcopalian as necessary. And, so we remain in that nether-world between the “stones of the building” coming down and the next reality for the church.
So much of that “nether-world between” is encapsulated in this photo I ran across from the “renovation time” at Good Shepherd. During those months, regular work at Good Shepherd was interrupted; offices were relocated. BUT, new structures were being built. Capacity was being increased. Possibilities were being explored, even as things were disrupted. The results of that time made room for new dreams . . . some of which we’re still hoping to realize.
While the circumstances then are quite different from the circumstances now, Good Shepherd does have a history of weathering upheaval. We do know that having the “stones of the building” shaken up is not the end of the story. We stand in a long tradition of “rebuilders”, of “re-imaginers”. It is in our religious DNA. What is asked of us now is to bring our best selves, our best ideas, to Good Shepherd 2.0!