The Holy Spirit is alive and active at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City, South Dakota! The positive energy experienced on Sundays and every other day of the week is so noticeable that everyone who walks through the doors seems to mention it!
It is difficult to put into words exactly what this means since it's more of a sense of the spirit than an intellectual recognition. Furthermore, it's about quality NOT quantity, so statistics, graphs and quantitative comparisons are not as important as the qualitative realities experienced by those attending services, workshops, educational seminars, classes, meetings and even clean-up days.
None of this is new at Emmanuel. The oldest continually operating church in Rapid City (since 1887), the Holy Spirit has been alive and active for a very long time. It is new to me, however, since I myself am relatively new to Emmanuel as their Rector.
I remain in awe of the people of God here. From the Outreach Committee's commitment to the impoverished of our community to the one-third of our members who are registered to minister at our weekend liturgies on a rotating basis, I am continually overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude. The Confirmation Class is engaging and our Adult Education Forums, though on break during the summer months, is highly attended. Our Celebration Dinners draw a huge crowd twice per month for food and fellowship.
All of these things draw the human soul into a community of faith that deepens our experience of God's Son, Jesus Christ, in and through each other. It's wonderful to know in our minds and hearts that we are never alone, that it's really not about us individually, but that it's about us collectively! As St. Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 3:12-13a: "May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all...so as to strengthen your hearts..."
Our Mission Statement is simple: To Know Our Lord and To Make Him Known. It is apparent that the people of Emmanuel Know Jesus. In their daily lives, by the testimony of their words and actions, they are making Jesus known to others.
We are committed to prayer, the celebration of the sacraments, preserving tradition while being open to new revelations, studying and living scripture, being hospitable, educating our young people in the ways of the faith, serving our community, and being the hands and feet of Jesus Christ in our world. These soul-stirring desires aren't new. They're part of our ancient history as a Christian people. And we're not doing it any more (quantitatively) or any better (qualitatively) than any other Christian community in the world, so we don't pretend that we've got it all figured out. Instead, we simply acknowledge with gratitude that God has blessed us, is blessing us and will continue to bless us in a spirit of love, peace and joy. It's the kind of experience that compels us to shout from the rooftops!
I don't know why I felt compelled to write this post today, except that I'm proud to be among these hard-working, devoted, spirit-filled people of God. It's a privilege that I don't take lightly. I pray that those who live and work in Rapid City as well as tourists and visitors might find their way to experience God's love alongside us.
It's a shared journey. We're not there yet, but we're closer today than we were yesterday and, with God's abundant Grace, we pray that we'll be closer tomorrow than we are today!
In Christ's Love,
Fr. Chris+
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