Dear Saints in Santa Fe and other far-off places,

Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, who envisioned and embodied the Beloved Community.

Growing the Beloved Community is our vision, grand as it is.  We’ve talked a lot about it, now how do we put that vision into practice?

Just last week my wife Jenny and I attended the Wild Goose Festival (a wild goose is a Celtic symbol for the Holy Spirit) at a farm in North Carolina, along with 1600 other people of all ages including more youth and young adults than I have seen in a long time.  Some were still part of a church, others had left.  Many were still seeking, and waiting, and hoping for something new.

We sang, talked, ate, walked from tent to tent, and listened.  I kept close to well-known authors and preachers like Diana Butler Bass, Brian McLaren, Bill McKibben, and Tracy Blackmon.  One spoke of the Third Great Awakening happening right now (could that explain what’s going on today?!).  Topics ranged from Christian nationalism to yoga to a demonstration of “Guns to Gardens” that I helped lead where fifty people showed up.  It all felt like a festival.

What if our Sunday mornings felt like a festival?  What if we surrounded our Sunday morning worship and education with Spiritual Direction and contemplative exercises, art and cooking classes, music lessons and wellness activities, meetings and gatherings, service opportunities, excursions, and any and all ideas that meet the needs and desires of our members and friends, young, old, and in-between?  Oh yes, and how about good tea and coffee in the Lobby?

What if we used every available space in our building all morning long?  Consider chairs rather than pews (a task force of people on all sides of this issue are already exploring this).  What if committees (is there a better name to reflect a church gathering and not a business meeting?) met at a local coffee shop, because less people are willing to attend meetings at night, and then returned for worship?  And while we’re at it, what about a Saturday night service geared to our youth followed by fellowship and food and whatever their hearts desire?  (Two rooms on the third floor are being renovated for our children and youth, along with a CDC Infant Care Center across the hall).

In short, during the pandemic people found other activities for Sunday mornings.  Why not offer them here?

And what if we spend the fall as a congregation sharing our own visions with one another, and then make them happen in the coming year?  From now through August, I will be preaching on various parts of the Beloved Community to get such conversations going.

So that’s my vision.  Instead of a farm in North Carolina, we have a triangle in Santa Fe.  And the Beloved Community, and a Wild Goose, just waiting for us.

Grace and peace,

Harry