What is in Kelvin's Head?

  • Trinity Sunday Sermon


    In the name of God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Amen.

    So. I arrived back from my holidays all relaxed and tanned and chilled out.

    And then I looked at the preaching rota.

    First I found that I had scheduled myself one weekend to preach at a big diocesan service – that wasn’t so bad, I thought. I rather like a bit of drama.

    But when was I scheduled to preach next for the Sunday morning congregation.

    My finger ran gently down the preachers list that I had carefully constructed weeks ago.

    Ah yes. 3 June. Jubilee weekend – Hmm. Quite tricky preaching about the monarchy in Scotland these days. Lets look and see what Sunday it is. Perhaps there will be a jolly story in the gospel to build something erudite upon.

    Which Sunday is it on 3 June?

    Ah. Trinity.

    And immediately the questions begin.

    Now, you may have your questions on Trinity Sunday about the One in Three and the Three in One.

    I had just one philosophical question. (more…)

20 responses to “Becoming a Welcoming Cathedral”

  1. Meg Rosenfeld Avatar
    Meg Rosenfeld

    My husband and I became members of All Saints Parish, San Francisco not long after our first experience attending Sunday Mass in that charming little church in the notorious Haight-Ashbury district. At that time we’d been members for over 20 years of a parish in another diocese, but were beginning to stay in San Francisco on weekends. What inspired us to join All Saints as members was the receipt of a simple hand-written letter from the rector some two or three days later, saying it had been a pleasure to have us there and hoping we would come again. Neither of us had ever had such an experience in any church we’d attended. We were absolutely amazed (in a positive way!) and made up our minds then and there that we would, indeed, go back. Mind you, we were also welcomed by the official greeters, urged to come to coffee hour, and approached at coffee hour with friendly overtures from the regulars–which is not always the case in Episcopal churches, at least in California. I guess it was just the right balance between friendliness and respect for one’s privacy. In any event, we are still at All Saints, almost 20 years later, up to our ears in choir, committees, and activities. To me, it was the letter from the rector which did the trick. He (an introvert like myself) wasn’t too busy to acknowledge new people, and in a way which was totally unthreatening.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      Thanks Meg – that’s a great story.

      Reply
  2. Andrew Connor Avatar
    Andrew Connor

    I go to a church which gets the coffee just right. But I don’t feel welcome.
    I go to a church which gets the welcome team just right. But I don’t feel welcome.
    I go to a church which denies that I was born gay and have chosen to love my same see partner whom I am not allowed to celebrate with. You see? I don’t feel welcome.
    The homilies never include such exclusion. Never did they mention my being part of the Us of the parish though.
    We have regular celebrations of love but not mine.
    Many speak of going home to love one another and others exhort us to reach out and love the stranger. But I am in the midst of you and m only loves if I deny my own self.
    There is indeed much still to do.
    Welcome in our Church? Discuss.

    Reply
    1. Kelvin Avatar
      Kelvin

      I know Andrew. I know it all too well. And I know that the ease with which these loves can be spoken of here in St Mary’s in pulpit and pew is tragically remarkable in its rarity.

      Reply
  3. Father Ron Smith Avatar
    Father Ron Smith

    Bravo, Kelvin. I always feel that we in the Church are standing in the place of Christ – who welcomes all. Agape, Fr. Ron, ACANZP

    Reply
  4. Dharma Nicodemus Cuthbert Avatar
    Dharma Nicodemus Cuthbert

    Strangely enough about 1 hour before you posted this, I had been in a meeting in which one of the subjects discussed was getting more people to come to the church. The comments were full of “what can we do” I know that unless someone is willing to do outreach work nothing changes. I feel that as the church, St James the great, in Dingwall, will be having an open day when the refurbishment is complete, an ideal opportunity to raise the profile of the church.
    I have taken on board the difficulties of being welcoming and at the same time not being separate, as you put it us and them. I have had experience of being both, part of a group and the new face

    Reply
  5. Janet Koch Avatar
    Janet Koch

    conscientize?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous Posts

  • Skills Transfer

    Last week I spent a lot of time learning new web-skills, as I said yesterday. It is amazing to me that the things that I started to learn long ago, when I first left school and went to do and IT degree are now so useful. The internet was unheard of when I first went…

  • Such a busy day

    Such a busy day that I forgot to post anything this morning.Met Bishop Michael Henley this morning in Perth and have spent the rest of the day rushing around and coughing. (It must be the smoke from this morning's meeting).The Changing Attitude Website is nearly ready to proclaim to the world. Early previews available at…

  • Changing Attitude Scotland

    I'm delighted to announce the formation of Changing Attitude Scotland, a network of people straight and gay, lay and ordained. The aim of the network is to work for the full affirmation of gay and lesbian people within the Scottish Episcopal Church and the wider Anglican Communion. The inaugural day will take place o­n 4…

  • Monastic Tat

    Yesterday was a meeting of the Scottish Episcopal Church Information and Communication Board in Perth. We were meeting up the hill in the monastery. It is such a sweet place. Well, sweet in a gothick kind of way. Every time you go, they have re-arranged the furniture. This time, they had moved loads of monastic tat…