Dear Friends,

Welcome to worship for Sunday, August 14, 2022.

I have just returned from four weeks of holidays and am freshly reminded of the blessings of a break. This year I chose to do something on holidays that I have not been able to do for longer than I can remember. I chose to go to the same church three Sundays in a row. I was fairly intentional about this. Since worship has been so disrupted since March 2020, it was good to be reminded of the practice and blessings of the routine of attending worship week after week. And I have always held that ‘attending worship’ is a lot different than ‘leading worship’ though of course there are many points of intersection.

So my experiment went a little like this. I would choose a church in which I would be comfortable. Now is not the time for experimenting with ‘the latest thing.’ I would choose a church where I would not know anyone and no one would know me. I just wanted to slip in the back and take it in. I would choose a church where the liturgy would be familiar and comforting and I wouldn’t be constantly tempted to steal a good idea or think to myself “that’s not how we do it.” So for three weeks I became…an Anglican!!! And I’m glad I did. The congregation was warm but not overly familiar (no one tried to sign me up for a committee). They were quite engaged by the service which made it easy for a visitor to follow along. And while I cannot say that many of the hymns were known to me, the congregation carried the singing quite well. I suppose I would call it quite formal in the sense that it felt like a service would be at any time of the year and not altered for summer. The congregation were casually dressed but the priests, musicians, and leaders were all fully gowned (did I mention the church had air conditioning?). I may be a little critical in this regard but I would say the preaching ranged from blissfully short to quite good (there were three different preachers as it appears Anglican priests get summer vacation too!!!).

But what I appreciated above all was the rhythm of the whole experience. A congregation gathered in the same room at the same time each week. A familiar flow of welcome, song, prayer, scripture, and sacrament. A pattern to the day which helped create a pattern for my week. It was clearly a progressive community but gathered in a traditional format which I found encouraging, comforting, and inspiring. All in all a reassuring reminder that worship matters if only to slow us down in an ever speeding world. An opportunity to once again explore the touchstone of our being and be blessed by it. “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” is the wise advice of ancient Israel and although that seems like something increasingly forgotten, it is no less important.

There are actually three different forms of Sabbath rest in Israel’s understanding. One day in seven to rest. One year every seven for the land. And a jubilee at the end of seven sabbaticals, or 49 years, for all debts to be forgiven and the community to start anew. But it all starts with a willingness to accept the break that worship offers. At least, that’s what the Anglican in me believes.

Grace and peace,

Michael