From the Rector

Dear Friends in Christ,

We’re entering that point of the year when lots of loose ends are tied up as program calendars are set, forums and formation opportunities settled, outreach opportunities finalized, and much more. 

In conversation after conversation what I’ve heard from clergy, staff, and lay leaders is a desire to go deeper. Whether it’s in prayer, formation, service, study, or care for others, I hear a consistent hope that what the pandemic has done is not only remind us of the value of faith, community, and relationships but also give us the energy and conviction to follow Jesus deeper in all of these.

The other consistent thing I hear is a desire for greater visibility and presence in the community. Early in the pandemic, we were able to announce the medical debt relief program. Throughout the pandemic, Saint Philip’s has served the Tucson community in a numbers of ways—through Beloved in the Desert, the parish’s hands-on partnerships, and our support for a wide range of ministries locally and statewide. This year, we will continue to offer Compline to the broader community, partner with the Tucson All Souls Parade, and have concerts, gallery shows, and other events to help folks see and find us.

I always return, though, to something a mentor told me about churches. He said, “Growth without purpose is metastasis.”

Of course, churches want to grow. Or they say they do because that’s the thing one is supposed to say. The question I have is this: What kind of growth?

Churches can grow all sorts of limbs and appendages and be kraken-like in their sprawl, and frighteningly efficient in their consumption and productivity. 

But if a whole bunch of people who have little interest in going deeper with Jesus find themselves in a place that is sprawling and about which only a small segment of ministry matters, then the growth can quickly lead to dissension, quarreling, and frustration. Without a shared commitment to what it means to grow, it’s impossible to make decisions about life in community that aren’t reduced to consumer desires.

What kind of growth? We can answer this ourselves. 

Will we be faithful in attending worship, in serving those in need, in giving to keep ministries thriving, and in the basic work of prayer and scripture reading? The work we put in will determine the growth we see and experience.

My own experience is that when I put in the work, I suddenly see growth everywhere! It’s amazing, really, how swiftly my view of fellow Christians, humans, the church, creation, culture, and so much more changes when I am faithful about what it means to be in Christian community. 

One of the reasons I love Beloved in the Desert is that it holds up, visibly and out in the community with those in need, what it means to live one’s faith. All the decisions the corps members make are shaped by the desire to go deeper. That sense of purpose, that willingness to set aside so much to find even more, is life changing and church changing. It’s powerful, intentional, committed growth.

So there will be all sorts of things on offer and much that we will be diving into in the year ahead. We will grow. But how? What kind of growth shall we seek?

Yours in Christ,

—Fr Robert