An article from the Cathedral Times
by the Very Reverend Sam G. Candler
Come to church on May 2! Or go to church, as the case may be.
Here at the Cathedral of St. Philip, May 2 is our annual Youth Sunday, and what a thrill it will be to welcome our guest youth preacher at the 8:45 a.m. service, Ursula Rogers. She will be part of a great team of youth, reading scripture, praying, and ushering. Of course, except for preaching, our youth are active in all these facets of liturgical life. But on Youth Sunday, we especially honor their life and presence here. We also give thanks for our fine Director of Youth Ministries, Mr. Brandon Peete.
It so happens that I will miss the fine Cathedral of St. Philip sermon at 8:45, and the fine sermons at 7:45, 9:00, 11:15, 4:00, and 7:00, too. I will be guest preaching myself, at St. Mary's Anglican Church in Hong Kong. Yes, I know. That is halfway around the world. I am travelling there as a board member of the Compass Rose Society, who is meeting there this Spring. The Compass Rose Society seeks to support the Anglican Communion of Churches and the Archbishop of Canterbury around the world. Pray for me in Hong Kong!
As I consider the guest preachers we have at the Cathedral, and as I travel to preach at other fine churches around the Anglican Communion of Churches, I give thanks for the relationships that bond us together. The Christian Church is about relationships, faithful relationships, which honor and love Jesus Christ.
One of my favorite images for the church (besides "Body of Christ") is "beloved community." Indeed, Atlanta's own Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of city and church as "beloved community." We are a community learning how to love one another, just as we learn how much we are loved by God. We are truly beloved, loved by our great God.
I am fascinated by our culture's need for community these days. There are people coming to the Cathedral who have discovered that "virtual" community does not do it for them. We may spend plenty of time in front of screens during the day, we may spend plenty of time imagining things in our own head. But true community occurs when we actually touch flesh and blood. True community occurs when we gather with people who are not actually related to us, who are different from us. When we pray with each other, sing with each other, share with each other, we learn something new about God.
Come to church on May 2. Or go to some church, wherever you are. You will learn from people different from you, and from people of a different age than you! Even if you are in another country, another culture, go to church. When we discover the Spirit of Christ in people different from us, we learn even more about the great grace of God!
