Weekly Clergy Letter from Mother Abbott

“Where does God reliably show up in the here and now of your congregation?”

I love this question posed in the book, Vital Christian Community: Twelve Characteristics of Healthy Congregations. As the reflective prompt, the authors, Philip Brochard and Alissabeth Newton, write about the Benedictine practice or value of stability.  They share that stability, in this sense, “requires two essential and interdependent characteristics – rhythm and balance,” and a community often experiences this place when it “establishes a rhythm of common life.”  Stability in this sense is not stagnation or “rigidity in thought and practice.” Instead it is often from this place that a congregation can take risks and stretch itself in ways wise and even playful. “In stability,” they write, “the community recognizes where God is in its midst in this moment, place, and people.”

I often used to invite groups of Episcopalians to the “edge of chaos” because, ecologically speaking, it is the most generative, creative, ripe with possibility place to exist. Too far away from the edge results in stagnation. Over the edge is, well, over the edge. So the edge of chaos is the sweet spot. “The edge of chaos” sounds a bit more daring, dramatic, and perhaps even scary, so I’m going to invite you to consider the practice of stability instead (lol). What I love about the invitation to stability is its rootedness in wisdom and practices that have been shaping our common life as Christians and, and specifically, Episcopal/Anglican life for centuries upon centuries. So, I leave you with their question: Where does God reliably show up in the here and now of Grace/La Gracia?