by Blair Pogue
January 2, 2022
Today another chapter in the history of St. Matthew’s ends, and another begins. It’s a history that started in July 1888 when a group of Episcopalians began meeting in the Saint Anthony Park United Church of Christ building, then located in South Saint Anthony.
The history of St. Matthew’s, like any history or life is full of moments of joy and heartbreak, excitement and frustration. From its inception to the present, the people of St. Matthew’s have cared about many of the same things: worship, education, food, music, and community. I credit my predecessor the Reverend Grant Abbott for partnering with lay leaders and local nonprofits to help St. Matthew’s get involved in outreach ministries in the wider community. His partnership with Beatrice Garubanda led to St. Matthew’s becoming a neighborhood church with a worldwide community. As I reflected on St. Matthew’s history from its inception to the present, one theme in particular stood out: when our faith community trusted God, embraced an abundance paradigm and took leaps of faith, amazing things happened. When our faith community operated from a place of scarcity or fear, its vision was limited, and its faith stunted.
Just as you don’t become a car by hanging out in a garage, you don’t automatically become a follower of Jesus by hanging out at church. Now, don’t get me wrong. Church is a great place to hang out. It’s an important gathering space for community, fellowship, worship, and service, but for me its core mission is apprenticing people into the Christian life. Its most important task is to help men and women, youth and children understand how much God loves them and their neighbors, and to equip them to serve as Jesus’ ambassadors together and in their daily lives. The church is a school for learning how to love God, our neighbors, and ourselves.
Jesus was the ultimate teacher on the subject of love. Before he was arrested, he exhorted his students to abide in his love, God’s love. Jesus told his followers that he wanted them to live lives of abundance and joy. This was possible if they followed God’s commandments, meaning loving God and their neighbors, and if they participated in God’s life every day and week through prayer, service, reconciliation, generosity, gratitude, simplicity, silence, and sabbath.
One of my favorite Episcopal priests the Rev. Daniel Pearson once told me that every rector brings a gift and has something to learn. I wish there was time to thank each of you for what you’ve taught me about love, generosity, compassion, and leadership, but if that were the case, we’d be here for hours. I also wish there was time to share all the amazing things I witnessed behind the scenes over the years, the ways so many of you quietly shared your gifts, skills, and resources with others including neighbors facing difficult situations so they could survive and thrive. Thank you!
As I sifted through sixteen and a half years of ministry and memories documented in my office files and old issues of Tidings, I was reminded of all the things we did together! I was also reminded of how the Holy Spirit moved through our community, shaped, and led us. Let me share a few examples:
We’ve learned together how to listen for God’s voice. We’ve done that in many ways including listening to scripture, often using Dwelling in the Word. I have to say, when I first introduced this practice at St. Matthew’s, everyone stared at their shoes. People were reluctant to share what captured their imagination. But now this practice has become integral to our common life. We’ve used playful means of wondering about where God is leading us, including sticky notes and Legos. We experimented with identifying spiritual practices that describe what it means to follow Jesus. Our Way of Jesus ended up inspiring the Episcopal Way of Love.
Long before I got here, the Spirit was bringing amazing people from around the world. This group of international Christians included Beatrice Garabunda, who died two weeks after I arrived. Her vision of an orphanage in Southwestern Uganda came to life through the Spirit’s leadership of everyone who had the privilege of knowing her. We’ve been blessed with numerous seminarians and clergy who have contributed to our congregation and been nurtured in their callings. We’ve sent so many gifted young adults forth to other states and countries. Their faithful leadership has made a lasting impact in a variety of different fields.
Contrary to common misperceptions, the people of St. Matthew’s are not the frozen chosen (even though we live in Minnesota and it was 12 below this morning!). Our worship has included global liturgies and thanks to Michael and our choir, singing in Kiswahili, Shona, Mandarin and Lugandan. We experimented with a creative Sunday night service that brought our Episcopal traditions to life for younger generations—and some older generations too. We’ve danced to jazz music on All Saints’ day and skipped around the church singing “Peace be to you” during the Jamaican liturgy.
I’ve never been part of a congregation with so many gifted artists. Just look around you at the stations of the cross or the wonderful art shows we host downstairs. The art shows have fostered rich relationships and conversations with neighbors near and far. The Psalms show featuring Christian and Jewish artists was the jumping off point for one of the most meaningful interfaith discussion I’ve ever been a part of. Perhaps the richest relationships have been cultivated at the “second Eucharist”—our many meals after worship, on Sunday nights, or for other occasions hosted so graciously by the Brother Lawrence Guild. Food is a hallmark of God’s generosity and provision for us. Our wonderfully renovated space is a gift not only to us but to the neighborhood.
In March 2020, when Covid-19 hit and forever changed our lives, the Holy Spirit led us to innovate. Some churches simply shut down. We tried all kinds of things and learned a lot. Outdoor worship, the Wednesday face-to-face dwelling in scripture and Eucharist in the Parish Hall, Zoom classes, and delivery kits are here to stay. And it’s nothing short of a miracle that after twenty minute services, you are staying for one that’s at least sixty minutes long.
I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to pray, learn, serve, and laugh with all of you. Today you begin the transition to St. Matthew’s next chapter. What will it look like? What will it feel like? What will you and future generations remember about this next period in the history of St. Matthew’s?
If there’s anything I can leave you with, it’s the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” Let every decision, every conversation, be informed by love. Transitions, times of uncertainty can evoke different emotions and bring out the best and worst in people and communities. My prayer is that this next season of discernment is enveloped in prayer and marked by love, kindness, compassion, honesty, gratitude, and generosity. Instead of asking what others are doing, ask what you can do. Let every word, every action, every decision be informed by the love God has for you and for the world. In a too often graceless culture, continue to be a Christian community that exudes grace.
And most important, continue to seek the leading of the Holy Spirit. You might have thought I was the leader of St. Matthew’s these last sixteen and a half years, but I’ll let you in on a little secret: The Holy Spirit was leading us the whole time.
In the silence that follows I invite you to ponder the following question: What sort of future might the Holy Spirit want to bring forth at St. Matthew’s?
