One More Thing

So what is our church, St. John’s all about? Listen to this episode to hear Fr. Chris, Fr. Ben, and Lalla discuss what makes our parish a special place and community. We discussed that church and community is fun– but what makes that fun different from the fun we have with the same people in other places? What makes the good works we do at church different from other non-profits? The core mission of the church is to connect Jesus Christ to the world and make him known. We talk about how St. John’s was founded to bring church to a new neighborhood in Lynchburg as Lynchburg grew and expanded. We talk about how a church home can be a sanctuary, or place of peace, once you have made a connection to a church. Our church has a strong emphasis on family and many families (2 and 3 and 4 generations) worship together in our parish. Our church building is also special. It has been added to and expanded many times by each generation of our church family.  So– we turn it over to you. We’ve asked why you want to be a Christian and Episcopalian; now tell us what most excites you about this church family, and what you would change about our church if you could! Reflection Question: What excites you about St. John’s and coming to church? What would you change about the church?

(Updated to correct episode!) Why Christianity? This episode, we continue to explore Christianity and ask the question “so what?” What difference does being a Christian make? We are a Christian, now what? Just joining us? We're so glad you're here for Season 4. This is a new recording of our topic from Season 2--Confirmation-- with a new member of our team and a fresh take on three important questions: Why Christianity? Why The Episcopal Church? and Why St. John's? Join us & our youth this season as we prepare for confirmation in The Episcopal Church! Will you continue in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers ?I will, with God’s help. Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?I will, with God’s help. Will you proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ?I will, with God’s help. Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself?I will, with God’s help. Will you strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being?I will, with God’s help. (Book of Common Prayer, 417) First we explore the answer to each of these questions we promise in Confirmation: “I will, with God’s help.” Then we jump into each question. What is the apostles teaching and fellowship (Acts 2:42)? We discussed a lot of it last week- it's our basic beliefs about Jesus. We discuss how Jesus instructed his apostles to live and how he sent the Holy Spirit to them in the first days after his resurrection. We also discussed passing on our faith, celebrating Holy Eucharist, and praying together as a community. We further discuss evil, sin, and how we always wrestle with sin; we can’t just will ourselves not to experience these challenges. God is asking us to return continuously to God. We chat about the Good News, and how we proclaim it to all people. We discuss loving all people, and God’s commandment to love our neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40). We finally turn to what the dignity of every human being means, and how that affects our journey towards justice. Reflection Questions What does it mean to live a Christian life? How does one live out a Christian life?

This episode, we shared our stories from the churches where we grew up. We hope that it helps you think about what stands out for you at your church! All our hosts have a different experience of growing up in church; one of them even grew up here at St. John’s when they were young! Storytelling is so important for how we understand our faith, and how we begin to understand how God works in our lives and calls us into new life.  Join us next time for some more about St. John’s, and who we are and where we are now! If you want to learn more about our history,  St. John’s has several published histories of the Parish available in the Parish Library (or from Fr. Ben or Fr. Chris). Reflection Question: What are some memories from your childhood church? Or, if you didn’t grow up in the church, what do you recall from one of the first times you went to a church?

Why The Episcopal Church? This episode, we continue to explore the history that led to The Episcopal Church, picking back up at the revolutionary way and continuing through today. We talk about what our church stands for, and where one might learn more about our beliefs. Along the way, we see how the faith continued to evolve, while remaining centered on the creeds and common faith that Christians around the world share. In the first days, clergy were educated in England and sent to the colonies; there were not priests formed from the local community yet, or Bishops in the colonies. Other religious groups also came over. Those clergy had to swear loyalty to the King; church and state were connected. So when the state(s) separated, the church also had to separate from the Church of England. Thus The Episcopal Church was born of political necessity. Apostolic succession was the hardest to secure—we wanted to keep our connection to the historic church, so our first Bishops received ordination through the Scottish Episcopal Church. Our Church continued to be governed by the Book of Common Prayer (BCP), revised for the Episcopal Church. The Prayerbook changed over time to fit the needs of our church and our culture. The way that we pray informs our beliefs, and vice versa. We recognize four things that bring Christians together, including us: Scripture, Bishops, Sacraments, and the creeds. Our Catechism (Outline of the Faith) beginning on p. 845, elaborates on more of our beliefs as a church, though it is not enforced in the way other churches put weight on certain beliefs. We believe these things, and we encourage you to question and wrestle with those beliefs! We seek unity (what we share) more than what separates us from other denominations. Find out more about what your friends or family of different faith traditions or Christian denominations believe! We do our best to include all and make our churches welcoming places for people from all walks of life. You can learn more about our church and our beliefs at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/  Join us next time for conversation about our own parish home, St. John’s—and hear about where Fr. Chris, Fr. Ben, and Lalla grew up in their home churches! Reflection Question If you walked into a church, how would you know it is an Episcopal church, without being told?

Why The Episcopal Church? This episode, we explore the history that led to The Episcopal Church, tracing our origins from the Acts of the Apostles all the way up to the Revolutionary war. Along the way, we see how the faith continued to evolve, while remaining centered on our creeds and the things we’ve talked about that Christians around the world share in common.   Just joining us? We're so glad you're here for Season 4. This is a new recording of our topic from Season 2-- onfirmation-- with a new member of our team and a fresh take on three important questions: Why Christianity? Why The Episcopal Church? and Why St. John's? Join us & our youth this season as we prepare for Confirmation in The Episcopal Church! Fr. Chris read a quote from A History of Global Anglicanism, by Kevin Ward (2010), about the common history, faith and liturgy of the Anglican Communion. Find out more about the Anglican Communion here: https://www.anglicancommunion.org/  The history of the church, or her birthday, starts at a Pentecost celebration, almost 2000 years ago, as written in the first chapter of Acts of the Apostles. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit (or Advocate) descended upon the first Apostles and led them out to start the movement we now call “Church.” Not everyone was the same—there was diversity in language, culture, and more from the beginning of Christianity. As Christianity initially spread, it remained in unity about the faith, but the particular expressions were different across different places and times. The Council of Nicaea in 325 A.D./C.E. set down the Nicene Creed and clarified central pillars of the faith. The Canon of Holy Scripture also came into clearer focus, giving us the selection of books that are in our Bibles today. Finally, Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire; as the religion of the state instead of a minority of people, it changed a lot of things for the early Christians! Christianity continued to spread, including a leap over to the British Isles. The Church of England is one of the groups that break away from the Roman Catholic Church. Martin Luther expressed differences and then broke away first, but England was not far behind. One of the main motivations was about power; the church having political and monetary authority over people in many kingdoms was challenged by King Henry VIII, who also challenged the spiritual authority of the church. Both of these challenges led to King Henry VIII separating the English church from Rome. And yes, a divorce was involved too; listen to learn more! Also involved was translating the Bible into the language of the people, as well as the prayers. This led to one of the greatest gifts to the church that the English church has offered, the Book of Common Prayer. Yet they did not depart from the tradition of the church any more than necessary. The polity and structure of the church changed, but the belief in God stayed central. **One correction: Fr. Ben misspoke. William Tyndale penned the Tyndale version of the Bible, a precursor to the King James Version.** Reflection Question: If you would change anything in the church, what would you change, and why?