Christ Church and St Peter's

Dear People of Christ Church,
This week, I’d like to share with you a piece that had intended to go in last week’s Quarterly, but just didn’t quite fit. Speaking of the Quarterly, I’ve heard from a few of you that your copies didn’t arrive intact; you should have had 8 pages (2 double-sided tabloid size 11x17 sheets). If you didn’t, please let me know and I can get it for you—or, you can download the whole thing from our website.

There are two reflections here—one from me and one from Rev. Christine, pastor ot ST Peter’s Angligan Church of Uganda, our partner here at 750 Main St.

From Rev. Sara
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at the diocese with priests from many African nations, among them our friends Rev. Christine and Rev. Mary. St Peter’s is part of a wide tapestry of African congregations in many shapes and sizes, as are their English-speaking partner congregations. Bishop Bud Cederholm is initiating a conversation about an overall mission plan for ministries with Africans in Eastern Massachusetts, a conversation I feel blessed to be part of. We at Christ Church are part of a very important part of the work of our diocese in welcoming Anglicans from far and wide into our midst.

Part of the vision for the future is for St Peter’s (part of our Christ Church family for 2 1/2 years), to begin to discern whether God is calling them to buy their own building. They have begun a building fund to save money—at this point, their poster in the parish hall (much like our own stewardship thermometer) has a $250,000 goal for the next five years.

On one hand, it feels surprising to introduce the idea at this time, with Micah Intern Paul Hartge’s work with us and when it still feels like we are in the beginning of our relationship. There is a wonderful line from the Quran quoted by Diana Eck in the book our daytime book group read recently—“We have made you into nations and tribes that you may know one another.” We are blessed to do that work here—we are all one church, whether one building or several!

As we recently welcomed Resurrection Chapel, a Haitian Congregation, we will always have others sharing our building, both in responsible stewardship of space and in our mission to help others grow in Christ. It’s a shame to leave this beautiful building empty, and there are many, many congregations in need of hospitality. We are thankful for the opportunity to support each other in our growth and flourishing. Christine puts it much better in her piece, below.

From Rev. Christine:
We are on the move, in thought but not yet in body. We have Christ Church to thank for our progress both now and in the future. Daughter to Mother. That is St. Peter’s to Christ Church. And what a relationship we have! Now two years of nurturing us, nay, more than two! Thank you Christ Church! We are doing well, growing and maturing.

You know how we crawled, stood up, and then walked. What a marvel! And Christ Church has been with us all the time; you have backed us to this very day. You are awesome Rev. Sara and all the saints at Christ Church. And now, St. Peter’s has come to a point of daring to peep into the future and have seen ourselves moving away from mother’s home to our own place. But of course this is still in the far distant future. Never the less we are venturing to set in motion the initial baby steps in that direction. And what maturity for Christ Church and the Episcopal Church at large, will have engendered!!

On my own behalf, and that of my colleague and associate priest Rev. Dr. Alex Kasirye-Musoke, and the entire St. Peter’s family I extend to each of you our deep gratitude for your big, magnanimous hearts. Together we move on representing God in the world.

We continue to marvel at the mystery of the gospel and to allow it to impact our lives. Our desire is to develop gospel shaped lives. We are far from the goal to be sure, but we are working at it; we are tenacious, resolute, definite, steadfast and resilient. Please continue praying for us. Maranatha! (Aramaic for “Come, Lord Jesus!”)