Thank You All Saints

Two weeks ago while planning our college trip for the end of the month, Sarah Katherine asked me if I knew who the Episcopal chaplains were at the schools we were visiting and if I knew who the Episcopal chaplain was at UVA. The answer was no to both--I could tell her where to get a great late night hamburger at UVA, good running routes, where the cute boys used to hang out, and many other things, but the name of the chaplain or even where his/her office would be I couldn't do. These were also not questions I even considered when I was looking at colleges. Academics and social were the only considerations for me. I can assure you both of these are important to her; nonetheless, she was serious in not only wanting to know who the chaplains were but whether we could meet them. And so as I've been trying to get the answers for her (thank you Ben Badgett, Candyce Loescher, and Wendy Claire Barrie for the names you've given me), I've also been reflecting on why this is important to her and wasn't to me. I don't know whether I have the whole answer, but here is what I've come up with as I think about Sarah Katherine and the youth of the Episcopal Diocese of Ky. These youth understand what it means to be a part of the capital c Church. And so my mind asks why, and although there are probably several reasons, the glaring answer is....

All Saints. These youth love All Saints, they "own" All Saints, and they have learned about life and faith, about a life of faith, about life, about love, about friendship, about loyalty, about forgiveness, about inclusivity, and about Church. At All Saints every summer, every weekend gathering, they are reunited with their friends from all across the Diocese from individual parishes, but it is together that they feel Church. These youth understand what we are all supposed to understand, our individual parishes are just that individual parishes--it is the Diocese that is the local church and the many Diocese that make up the Episcopal Church which is just a part of the Church. They understand Church to be beyond state borders and beyond denominational boundaries. They love their individual parishes, but they understand in a way I believe everybody should that the Church is made up of people, and one group of them, one congregation, one building is not it.

As I've reflected, what All Saints has given these youth goes beyond Church and into what it means to live a life of faith. All Saints under the leadership of Beth and now Kendall, provide these youth a place to explore their faiths and to figure out what being a Christian means Monday-Saturday and not just going to church on Sunday morning. They continually are trying to figure out how their faith impacts their lives in their schools, on the athletic field, in the ballet studios, at weekend parties, and in their families, and All Saints gives them a safe place to do this. All Saints has helped them to explore and to discover that their faith is not compartmentalized and only brought out on Sunday morning. One part isn't teased out from the rest--all these parts of their lives are simultaneously present informing one another, impacting one another, and supporting one another. These youth experience true Christian fellowship; fellowship that is equal and honest and open. Fellowship that has bumps and bruises, that has hurts, but that learns how to live through them and to come out on the other side with love and respect. These youth have learned that they are truly full members through their baptism and that membership extends beyond individual parishes. It has given them them the confidence to claim their faith, live their faith, and share their faith.

Last summer one of these youth went to church every week during her six weeks at GSP. When I asked her what it felt like to go to a church other than her own, her response, "It wasn't another church; Father Matt is the rector. I know him and tons of other people." It wasn't just another church, it was part of the family. Thank you All Saints.

Not two years ago, Beth and Mitch buried their daughter. There was no question in the mind of these youth that regardless of school work, sports, or any other obligation, they had to be there. A member of their family was hurting and they had to do whatever it took to be there. Phone calls were made, drivers were summoned, and they were there. Thank you All Saints.

A couple of months ago I got a frantic text from my daughter that a name needed to be added to the prayer list. A young developmentally delayed teen was missing, a teen who went to All Saints, and although they never saw her outside of All Saints, she was a member of the family and she needed them. The All Saints Youth Council lit up the text lines making sure everyone knew and everyone was praying. Thank you All Saints.

In two weeks we will have coffee with the chaplain at NYU and then later in the week we will meet up with the chaplain at Harvard. I am now facebook friends with the chaplain at UVA and we plan to meet the next time I'm in C'ville. These are people who know the chaplains at All Saints, and so already they are comfortable; they are friends; they are part of the Church; they are part of our lives. Thank you All Saints.

And so this is what I've discovered, SK will be leaving for college far more balanced than I was. She will go to a good academic school; she will join a sorority; she will go to football games; and she will participate in Canterbury Club. Her life of faith is as much a part of her as her academic life or social life. These parts of her life are intricately connected. And she is not confined to her local parish, to her local priest--she understands that the Church is so much more than that. She understands that one building, one priest is not better than another--only different, and she understands that her faith and the practice of her faith is not limited to one building or one priest. She understands in a way I wish we all could the capital C Church.

Thank you All Saints.