Rector's Charge to the Annual Parish Meeting of
St. Paul's Church by-the-Lake, Chicago, IL. 60626
23 January 2005

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

"Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom…"
St. Matthew 4: 23"

I. Recently a good clergy friend asked me if we as a parish, and the provinces of the Anglican Communion represented at St.Paul's by-the-Lake, were going to become "dissenters". Trying not to get angry or be rude I gently reminded my Reverend friend that it is not we, but the smaller number of Anglican Provinces, who are dissenters from what has been for 2000 years the faith & practice of Christ's One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I said, sort of tongue in cheek, "I have not said you do not have a place in the Anglican Communion- please do not say that I don't just because we disagree.
Yes, my dear friends, although it is not part of our daily life, nor weekly experience, or even monthly Messenger Newsletter articles, there are those who categorize our parish as 'DEAD', or should be. All because we merely hold to the faith & morality that has been Anglicanism for the last 450 years. But I maintain and reaffirm to you today that we seek NO division, nor disunity. We seek instead faithfulness and love. The Prophet Amos said in today's first reading: "Does a lion roar in the forest when there is no prey?" This parish is one of peace & love, do not listen to those who'd like to make us into something else….they roar when there is no prey.

II. FACTIONALISM has been a problem of Christianity since Apostolic times. Just after St. Paul finished his 18 months founding the Church in Corinth, conflicts arose. Thus he wrote them a letter to deal with the factions. Knowing the importance of Athletics in the Greek Corinthian society, St. Paul emphasizes that the parts of the body must all work together to live and function in a normal & healthy manner. The body must be united and so, he says, must be the Church, the Body of Christ…which in this case is not much more than the first Parish of Corinth. In that city, both inside the parish and outside of it were sources who would love to see the Corinthian Parish fall apart. St. Paul has to remind them that rivalries over who is the better orator or preacher, is not what Christianity is about. He even mentions some of these preachers by name. He clearly declares that they are not the object of our devotion, but rather the one who was being preached about: namely Jesus Christ.

III. UNITY is the mark of followers of Jesus Christ. So it is in this your parish church. Neither I, nor your Vestry will be happy about a parish built on the negative. Rather we seek what binds us together, what unites us, the UNITY of our Faith. This is a Universal Faith, the faith of all Christians in the Anglican Tradition. Let no one tell you otherwise, let no one call us dissenters…we are not going anywhere, but staying put to witness to the message of God's love & unity, the message of the Gospel of Jesus. Maybe some would like us to disappear. But if not us, who will continue this witness? God calls us as we hear from the words of the Prophet Amos today: "Surely the Lord God does nothing without revealing His secrets". Yes times have changed, but our call has not-"new occasions teach new duties". These are the words from Hymn 519 that our seminarian Jeffrey Reich loved so much, he choose it as the opening Hymn for his Ordination to the Priesthood last month. Words that remind us what this Year of Our Lord 2005 calls us to do and be.

IV. In today's Gospel Jesus begins to reveal that Epiphany Light in the region of Galilee, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali. They are the first of the 12 tribes of Israel to disappear after the Assyrian Conflict and exile. Galilee was not unlike Rogers Park. It was one of the largest regions of Israel, with a diverse population of many cultures. It had a freethinking spirit…so much so that it was said that all rebellions began in Galilee. Remember what they asked about Jesus? "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Nazareth is in the Galilee. Who could not say the same things about Rogers Park with our University, our multi-cultural immigration & neighborhood, and of course our 'sort of hippy' Heartland Café?
Well, YES, something good did come out of Galilee. Jesus. And now we are right here in Chicago's Galilee. We are to do the same as Jesus- to bring God's light, the hope of God's Kingdom, the restoration of Zebulun & Naphtali. It is the work of the Gospel of Jesus' Love. Standing right here in the first month of 2005, we are called to restore unity. That is the goal and purpose of being followers of Jesus. Division has NO place, He came to restore faith, to bring about the unity of God's Kingdom. St. Paul's Church by-the-Lake is called today, at this very Annual Parish Meeting, to rise to new occasions, which are also bound to teach us new duties.

Verse. 23- "Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom…"

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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