Change

They say that change is good. Well, it may be, but it’s not easy and I don’t like it.

Years ago a friend, in a context that I have long forgotten, told me that he chooses to shave starting at a different place on his face every morning. This seriously rocked my world! There is only one way to shave, everybody knows that. Tom was a bank president and a humble Christian who hosted a Bible study I taught in his conference room every Friday for ten years. He knew the gravitational pull towards the familiar and predictable, and in this small way challenged it. Dozens of times, hundreds since that day, I have remembered his words, and I have forced myself out of the usual-way of shaving to try something new. It’s probably like reading a book from an opposing view or listening to a presidential candidate I don’t agree with. I need to do it, but it isn’t easy.

This came to mind as I was thinking about the changes that are heading our way with a new rector. Even if he is determined not to change a single thing for awhile, there will be changes. He undoubtedly will bring a new personality, new ideas, new passions, and a new pronunciation for “propitiation.”  We don’t have to like it, but none of us would want it any other way. Not really. We need a rector, not a chaplain. As difficult as it will be sometimes for us comfort-loving Anglicans (some may even whine), it will be good for us and important for our growth in God’s Kingdom.

One of our new Core Values states: “Scripture and prayer ground us and propel us to take risks to advance the Kingdom of God in and through our lives.” This is so true of our beginnings as a congregation and a quality of character that I would hate to lose for our future. Risking, changing, adapting are all valuable characteristics of a healthy church who chooses to live on the edge of needing and trusting God for the adventure of Christian living.

May God send us a new rector who is sensitive to who we are and where we are, who can also gently and persistently lead us to grow in all the right ways. For the glory of God!

Chuck Collins
Interim Rector