Fr Robert Hendrickson
Dear Friends in Christ,
I have an interesting task on my “to do” list this week. We’re working on a new website which will be ready in a few short weeks. My task is to write the “Who are we?” section.
The worst part about this assignment is that I’ve been given a maximum word count. And it’s not a long one!
So I’ve a short elevator ride to come up with a way to summarize 2,000 years of Christian history, 500 years of Anglican history, 250 years of Episcopal history, and almost 80 years of Saint Philip’s history—in a digestible way for a newcomer to this parish, the Episcopal Church, and the Christian faith.
Simple.
But we have to start somewhere so here’s where I think I’ll begin:
Saint Philip’s in the Hills is an Episcopal Church, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, that has sought to share our love for God, and his love for the world, for almost eighty years.
We are a community that strives to make this a more beautiful world through art and music, a more just world through service and advocacy, and a more loving world through care and compassion.
We’re not a perfect church but we strive, day by day, to follow with joy where we are led as we seek and serve Christ. We are a Church that is shaped by timeless traditions, creeds, and worship that believes God still speaks today.
We believe that God gives himself to us in Bread to be life for the world, in Word to be hope for humanity, and in each other as a blessing through this life and in the next.
We believe God in Christ has created, redeemed, and restored Creation and we are called to be shepherds of the faith, from generation to generation, confident in that love and ready to be faithful witnesses proclaiming with our lives what we profess in our worship: that we are called to go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”
I don’t know if that’s where we’ll land with the website but it seems like a good starting place. There’s surely more or less that could be said—or less poetry or less prose or more doctrine or less theology?
How would you share who we are? How would you share what faith means to you?
It’s a challenging question and I won’t give you a maximum word count!
Yours in Christ,
—Fr Robert
