From the Rector:

             There is an old joke that expresses much truth.  “How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?”  The answer is it takes ten.  One to change the bulb and nine to say how much they like the old one.  There is an even harder version of this joke.  It goes: "How many Episcopalians does it take to change a light bulb?" Answer: None. We don't change.

             The truth is that we do change, but the truth is also that change is hard for us because it means shifting the base of our tradition.  Ninety five percent of Episcopalians identify with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer as central to the life of their congregation.  In the Episcopal Church, prior to the 1979 prayer book, their were editions in 1792, 1892, and 1928.  Those of you who have long Episcopal memories will remember how hard the change was from the 1928 prayer book to our present prayer book.  I have either purchased or have been given new revised Books of Common Prayer from New Zealand, England, and Ireland.  In England the 1662 Book of Common Prayer is still the only official Book of Common Prayer.  The current Common Worship is authorized in addition to the 1662 Book of Common Prayer.  The common prayer tradition is a living tradition and change is difficult, but it does happen. 

             We need to remember much that we consider to be the norm in our liturgical life, was rejected as little as one hundred and fifty years ago in the Episcopal Church because of the impact of the Protestant Reformation.  In the Episcopal Church the change point came in 1868 when the Evangelicals failed to restrict the rise of Anglo Catholic practices in the Episcopal Church.  Change is the norm in our life, but it must be well considered.  There is good reason why change is difficult among us. 

             Many Churches were wracked by the “Fundamentalist-Modernist” Controversy.  The Episcopal Church escaped that controversy that raged in the first half of the twentieth century.  However, we are still involved in the struggle of how to engage our culture.  That is a difficult struggle that continues in the Episcopal Church.   It is not new, but the shape that it takes is changing as the issues that we confront in our culture change. 

             We are not a changeless church with a changeless Prayer Book.   The church is often pictured in art as a ship or as an ark afloat on a sea.  Sometimes the sea is calm and sometimes the water is disturbed and the winds howl.  That is a picture of the church that tells where we are as an Episcopal Church.  I enjoy the quiet times, but whenever we enjoy those days we need to store up strength for the times when waves rise up and the winds blow. 

             We are not the “frozen-chosen” as some would choose to joke and say.  We change, but change comes hard to us as Episcopalians.   Our reliance on tradition and scripture is one of our strengths and it is who we are.  Jim+ August 11, 2004