Pentecost, Proper 18
The Rev. Nigel Taber-Hamilton, Rector
Today we are embarking on two things that many of us have not done before - a capital campaign, and a Holy Land pilgrimage.
On Friday something happened that is a central part of the Capital Campaign. On Friday the building committee, the wardens, and I met with our architect, Stig Carlson, to view and discuss some preview preliminary concepts he's developed. As we began this process at least one person got out of their chair and started jumping up and down! The sense of excitement was palpable.
We all knew we had chosen the right architect when Stig started by saying: "In my research about the Episcopal Church I came across the metaphor of the "Three Legged Stool": Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. So I've based my design philosophy on those three concepts."
What was also exciting was how much of a common mind we were with regard to the various designs - what we really liked, what we thought should be modified.
Part of the reason for this 'common mind' is, at the very least, because we've done so much preparatory work. Many of you have participated in endless surveys. We've identified what spaces we need. We've identified what size the spaces should be. We've identified what we think the next phase would be after this one, so as to leave space in the right place.
Now if you're not at least a little curious as to what Stig's concepts look like I'd be very, very surprised! But you'll have to wait until September 28, when Stig will be with us at forum time and will make a information presentation based on those concept drawings and our input. So mark your calendars: 9:15 a.m., September 28.
We'll be providing you with more details at the various "Enrichment Gatherings" that will be happening in October.
So today - as we begin our capital campaign - we have something concrete to think about.
Now I expect that most of you think that a capital campaign is about raising money. So I want to be absolutely clear that what we're doing isn't about money at all.
Sure that word "capital" is in there, and most often we associate it with money.
Sure, when we reach the end we hope to have the resources to build a building.
But what we're really going to be doing over the next three months is think about what it means to be faithful Christians, think about how we exercise the ministries that - through our baptisms - belong to each one of us.
And then we're going to think about what we need to exercise those ministries - what resources will be important - vital - for us as we move forward into the future.
Something else that's happening today is it's the last time we'll be together before sixteen of us head off for the Holy Land. We leave on Tuesday and will return two weeks later. The places we'll visit echo out of the pages of the Bible: Jerusalem, The Galilee, Nazareth, Bethlehem, Golgotha, Gethsemane, Caesarea, and the list goes one.
I mention this because I believe the two things I've just talked about - building a building, and journeying to the Holy Land - are both intimately connected because, in the end, they're both about the same thing: they're both about pilgrimage.
I think we tend to think about pilgrimage as being about going to a specific place - to the Holy Land, or to Iona - and we think of the "benefits" (if such language is appropriate) as having to do with what we do and see when we arrive. And, of course, it is that.
But Pilgrimage is much more than what we see and do when we arrive.
Pilgrimage is about the journey, and what happens on that journey. What we discover on the way - about ourselves, and each other - is often much more important than the destination.
And Pilgrimage is about relationship. Any reading of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" - which is about a motley group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury - immediately tells us how important the stories of each of the pilgrims is, not just because it says so much about who they are but who they are for the group.
And Pilgrimage is about the future and how making the journey changes who we are, as individuals and as part of a community.
I know that the people who will journey with me to the Holy Land will be changed. But that change will not simply be because they visited the sites that are so central to our faith but because of who they journeyed with and what happened on the way and what they found out about themselves and their shared faith.
And lastly, Pilgrimage is about fun - it's about celebration and joy and the enjoyment of others.
And all of these things - the discoveries, the relationships, the future and the fun - they're all characteristics not just of those who literally journey to the Holy Land but of all of us, and of our community here in Freeland, which may not be going anywhere in space but certainly is going somewhere as a community - is growing and learning, and celebrating.
So think of the next three months as a pilgrimage, as a time when we will learn together, and grow together, and decide for ourselves what we will be as a community of Christians here on south Whidbey Island.
You know, the sky's the limit! Amen.
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