We are the Church

Almighty God, you have built your Church upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone: Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Proper 8 BCP 230)

The Church is really the unity of the community. As the Collect of the Day for this coming Sunday says, "Grant us so to be joined together in unity of spirit by their teaching, that we may be made a holy temple acceptable to you." I have seen lots of statements about churches closing and reopening in the last couple of months, but my favorite was a cartoon drawing of an empty church with people doing other things in the community. It said, the church is empty because we are all busy being the church: sharing food, running errands, social distance visiting, creating online worship. (See the cartoon here: https://cartoonchurch.com/content/cc/category/2020-cartoons/) 

While we have suspended in-person worship, we are still being the church. We the people are the holy temple of God. As long as we continue praying, sharing, helping, learning, and growing in Christ, we are still doing the holy work of the Church.

We have a wonderful foundation of people who have gone before us in this work, some of whom had church buildings to support them, and some of whom didn't. We are built on the work of the apostles, the prophets, the martyrs, leaders and community members. We follow in the footsteps of all those who have struggled to bring the Good News into a broken world in the centuries before us. 

Our community brings great hope to many. Our work as the Church in the wider Franklin community brings hope and courage to those who are hungry and longing for peace. We are still the church, we are still the beloved community, we are still St. John's and Grace. May we rest assured on God's great foundation.