"In the summer of 1996, doctors found a small tumor returning and Brad underwent extensive treatment. It was a hard summer for him, and I think we both realized that we probably had a shorter time left than we'd hoped for. But Brad never gave up the fight; he wanted to complete his work at St. Margaret's." (Carol Hall)
As many of you know, I have just returned from my study tour in Italy. Italy is one of those wonderful countries filled with beautiful sights and fabulous food. But it is also important to remember that it has been a center of the Western Church for nearly two thousand years and the Vatican in Rome continues to be the centerpiece of Roman Catholicism.
Indeed, there is at the center of every tiny village a 12th-century Romanesque Church and practically every city of size was designed around an ancient cathedral which dominated the city and surrounding countryside. The beautiful city of Venice, along with its elegant St. Mark's, has over fifty churches tucked away along its canals and alleyways, but the real winner is the small walled city of Lucca. This medieval town which we could walk across in thirty minutes had, at one time, seventy churches serving its people.
What surprised me during this trip was the inaccessibility and emptiness of most of these holy places. Unless worship services were in progress, most church buildings were locked up tight and, when open for Mass, there were very few of the faithful worshipping. As one of our waiters put it--"only the older women to go church and when they die--poof!" he said. "It's over."
This phenomenon is common in most countries in Europe. Indeed, attendance in some of the northern countries like Sweden bottoms out to a staggeringly low figure of two to five percent.
I share this perspective with you because that trend is beginning to show up in America. A recent Christian Century article announced in bold headlines, "Church Attendance on the Decline." A study by the Barna research group reports that church attendance in America has sunk to its lowest level between the early 1980s and 1990s, down from one-half the population attending to a low of thirty-seven percent now attending.
The research group also announced that main line churches have lost millions of members during the past twenty years. The article went on to say that young people are confused about morals and are no longer familiar with religious traditions. They have no idea who Moses is or what he did and Paul is just a friend around the corner. Our culture has become pluralistic, our morals relativistic. The article then concluded with a hard question--and who is helping sort this out?
Well, St. Margaret's is! The good news is that this parish is responding to that hard question. We are doing a great deal to help sort out moral confusion, teaching and living our Christian faith and traditions.
With the reported decline in membership and church attendance in mind, I had a look at the statistics here at St. Margaret's during the same period. Membership is way up from two hundred and fifty to nearly two thousand, and our average church attendance, rather than being down, is up three hundred and twenty-five percent. Indeed, last winter we had a couple of Sundays in which attendance topped one thousand.
Now these are just statistics, but what they indicate is a steady, healthy and vigorous growth in this parish. And I believe it indicates that we are doing and being what God would have us do and become.
One of my favorite books about children is titled, Just Build the Ark and the Animals Will Come. The book is a collection of children's responses to familiar biblical stories. When one young lad was asked how all the animals found their way to Noah's Ark, he responded, "Well, that's easy. God told Noah, 'Don't worry, Noah, you just build the Ark--I'll see that the animals will come.'"
That faithful response has been a working metaphor for me over the past few years, for I firmly believe that God has called us to build an "Ark" in this desert and sure enough--it's filling up, the people are coming.
Noah's Ark began as a boat, but it soon became a place of salvation and safety in a stormy world--a special place where God's creatures learned how to live with each other; a holy place where the Lion could lie down with the Lamb, even for just forty days and nights.
Similarly, this church is more than these wonderful buildings, for it, too, is a place of salvation and safety for all who come here; a holy place where we learn to live with each other and worship our God. It is, as the apostle Paul put it so graphically, the functioning body of Christ here on Earth.
The good news is that the boat--the building which houses Christ's body--is nearly completed. We are now seaworthy, as Noah might put it, and we are filled with people, programs and pastoral outreach. I cannot tell you in words how proud I am of all these wonderful accomplishments at St. Margaret's. Your faithful response to God's call to "Build the Ark" has been overwhelming. You have become a nationally recognized phenomenon.
You have built this exquisite church, you have completely renovated the former buildings, now Karns Parish Hall and the Lee Education building--and just a year ago you completed the Nordstrom campus of our Parish Day School.
This Ark is well underway!
Just as Noah had three sons and their wives to help him tend the animals, we have a fine staff and Vestry of dedicated men and women tending our flock. Our programs are healthy and growing! Often when I walk around this campus night or day, I am amazed to find every building filled with people and the parking lot full. With all of this growth, we still have a little ways to go. I'm sure that Noah had to keep his Ark in good repair during their holy voyage; so too must we do a bit more building and continue our ministry.
Now, I would like to briefly outline my vision for St. Margaret's--a three-to-five year program which will carry us safely into the next millennium and provide a sound place of ministry for all who come to our doors.
We'll begin with upcoming year, 1997. I would like for us to complete two necessary and immediate building projects--expansion of our administration office and the installation of a new organ.
First, the office. To put it simply, we have run out of office space. We are trying to house fourteen full-time staff and as many volunteers in a building originally designed as a parish rectory--a home. Like the lower deck of Noah's Ark, it gets to be like a zoo most of the time, with two staff members crowded into small ex-bedrooms.
The good news is that Lee and Lucy Karns have given us a major gift, one-half the required funds as a matching gift fund. With your support, we will begin construction this spring and more than double the size of our administration office space.
The installation of a new organ is the second project that we must begin this year. Most of us have forgotten that the current organ was to be only a temporary expedient. It is the same organ which was in our former church and was moved into this building for a "couple of years" to tide us over. Well, it's been six years now and way past time to replace it. It's not only too small for this building, but as our organist, Michael Brittenback, warns--it's being held together by proverbial bailing wire and bandaids.
The new organ, designed by one of the foremost organ builders in America (Quimby) will match this beautiful sanctuary in both size and acoustic quality. A drawing in the Narthex will give you a peek at what it will look like. You'll have to wait two years--St. Margaret's Day 1998--to hear its beauty. We have one substantial and generous gift of a home from Don and Madge Hedlund to help us get underway. The contract will be signed December 1, 1996.
Many of you have expressed a need for a St. Margaret's Columbarium, a sacred place where the ashes of our beloved spouses, relatives or friends can be permanently buried on the grounds of the Church. We have a lovely design in the works and will present it to you after we complete this year's building program.
My next vision for the future reflects our ongoing need, expressed by every parent of our school (and, I might add, our community). We need a St. Margaret's Middle School, grades six through eighth, to continue the fine education of our elementary school. The middle school years are times in our children's lives when they are most vulnerable to social and peer pressures. An Episcopal Middle School will provide a stable social structure, sound academic education and religious training which our children will need so desperately to cope with modern society. So let's keep this vision alive as we approach a new millennium.
Last, but not least on my vision list is a response to the needs of our ever-growing senior community. Why not look a bit further into the future and plan for an Episcopal retirement home? It's a huge project, but I want to plant the seed now and let it germinate for awhile. For, as with all our St. Margaret's building ministry--it will happen. "Just build it," said God to Noah, "and I'll see that the creatures will come."
Now, I want to close with just two simple statements:
We need to build up this ministry of St. Margaret's now, because I am convinced that America will experience an upsurge of religious fervor and church attendance as we pass through the year 2000. We need to be ready for these folk when they show up at our doors.
And secondly, I will be with you as we continue on our incredible voyage together. As many of you know, I experienced a "long hot summer." But the good news is that I am fit and I feel confident that I can and will lead you through the years ahead. Amen.
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