The Audacity to Expand the Circle
Communities of faith each have their own “DNA:” distinct qualities present since the church was founded that are expressed throughout time as core values. When a church is at its best, these core values are evident and dynamically expressed in everything it does, from worship to service to community life.
When we gather for worship on Pentecost this Sunday, we will celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit, given to the growing community of faith. But we’ll also remember the DNA of the church that was abundantly present at its moment of birth: dynamic, beautifully chaotic, expansive and outward-focused, inclusive, spirit-filled, and hard-wired to transgress the norms and biases that keep people from fully loving one another.
Pentecost is a celebration, a party, and a quickening. On this day, we remember that we are sustained and inspired by the Spirit of God, and that our hearts open when we turn towards the world to invite, heal, and create with God. In a world that mercilessly polices its borders and raises its walls ever-higher, it is profoundly counter-cultural to not only claim an identity based on expanding the circle, but to have the audacity to sing and dance as we do it.
May the fire of the Holy Spirit burn brightly in you, as you join with God in widening the circle of belovedness!
The Very Rev. Bernard J. Owens