By the Rev’d Rob Stringer, Priest-in-Charge of Holy Trinity, Meadow Lake and St. George’s, Loon Lake. Recently, one of the congregations I serve welcomed the Reverend Isaac Graham to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of his ordination (see article below). In reflecting on his ministry, the Rev’d Graham asked a question that has resonated with me ever since: “are we open to the change that Christ brings into our lives?” The word “change” is one that doesn’t sit well with many of us. We are often creatures of habit and well set in our ways. One might even suggest that resistance to change is a hallmark of Anglicanism, as we sit week after week in familiar pews, reciting a familiar liturgy, singing familiar hymns and choruses, and drinking a familiar-tasting tea or coffee with familiar people. As the old joke goes: “How many Anglicans does it take to change a light bulb? CHANGE! We can’t change that light bulb; it was donated by my grandmother!”

Yet as we sit in our familiar pews, we are also uneasily aware that the world outside the four walls of our churches is changing at break-neck speed. In the change process, the distance between the church and our modern culture has widened to the extent that words like “Saviour”, “Lord”, “gospel”, “sacrament”, “sin”, “repentance”, “stewardship” and “propitiation” have became part of a foreign language spoken to unfamiliar ears. Unfortunately, many in the church today don’t know the meaning of these words either. Of course, the language barrier goes both ways, as many today use words like “text messaging”, “google”, “facebook”, and “blogging” or use smiley faces as punctuation J . With this ever-widening gap, we might be left feeling unable to know what to do in response. Yet we know deep down we must do something, as our hair grows greyer and our Sunday attendance continues to decline, and many of our congregations are faced with the reality of closing their doors within the next five to ten years - or perhaps sooner.

This brings me back to the word “change” and the question: “are we open to the change that Christ brings into our lives?” To often we look at the topic of change only at a surface level: changing the BCP for the BAS or something else, or changing the organ for guitars and drums, but I don’t think this was the sort of change Jesus has in mind when he told Nicodemus that he must be “born again to see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3). Jesus is talking about something much deeper and more dangerous than casting aside our prayer books and learning to use Powerpoint presentations at our worship services. Jesus is talking about a transformation that only comes through a personal encounter with the living God. We can try and become as hip and modern as we wish, but if we don’t have Jesus, we are simply building our churches on sand. This encounter with Jesus is deeper because it goes to very heart of who we are, makes us acknowledge our sin as we experience the transforming grace and love of Jesus Christ and trust his saving work. This encounter with Jesus is also dangerous because it challenges us to let go of things which at the present we hold dear, yet in the bigger picture actually hinder our ability to truly follow Jesus. Jesus tells us he came to give us “abundant life” (John 10:10), yet often we hold on to other things we think are life-giving rather than Jesus himself, who is the “the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)

What I like about the Rev’d Graham’s question is that it assumes that Christ comes into our hearts to change us. It assumes that this is something we very much need, and hopefully something we desire as his disciples. To seek the change that Christ brings, we must seek his presence and power in our lives every day, so that our lives are open to his presence and guidance. To do this we must be a people of prayer, students of the Scriptures, and committed to the fellowship of the church. In order to gauge your own congregation’s need to be transformed by the presence of Christ, I encourage you to read Acts 2:42-47, which is a text that described the church right after the Holy Spirit filled it, and answer the question, “does our church look like this?” Are we committed to the teaching of the apostles? Are we committed to caring fellowship? Are we committed to worshiping God and seeking him in prayer? Is the Lord adding to our number those who are being saved? If not, why not? I suggest that the Lord’s work of growing the church both spiritually and numerically flows out of our commitments to worship, prayer, the Scriptures and fellowship and making them part of our daily walk with Christ. If we are not truly committed to these things, why would the Lord send people to our churches if the faith of Christ is not being lived out in a meaningful and tangible way?

As an encouraging aside, in our rapidly changing culture—a place where we no longer know our neighbours—many young people are seeking meaning, purpose, connectedness, ritual, tradition, and transcendence and they are finding it in the mainline churches, with our beautifully worded prayer books, our traditions and our appreciation of the sacred. But we must be careful not to keep the traditions for the sake of the traditions, but rather use them to draw us deeper into a living relationship with Christ. What many seek today is an experience of the living God. Unfortunately, what they may find in many of our churches is a group of people reciting the same familiar words week after week, with no real engagement or a sense of lively faith. What they might see is a people doing service for God rather than a people seeking to experience God. When they come to your church, what will they find? It is my hope and prayer that they will find disciples walking with our Lord who hold in their hearts and hands and on their lips the good news of Jesus Christ, so that if they are seeking a change, you might be able to point them to the One who can make change happen.