Words from the Rector.

Dear Parishioners of All Saints' Episcopal Church,

Wearing my hat as Ecumenical Officer for our Diocese as well as your Interim Rector I just wanted you to know that there is much difference of opinion among Christians with regard to how much excitement we ought to show in worship. Those who give free rein to emotional outbursts in worship are often lumped together as "Pentecostals." So-called mainline churches, like ours, are usually more reserved, to say the least. (One observer has noted that Pentecostals usually don't celebrate Pentecost as a special day or season of the year. And those churches who do celebrate Pentecost definitely do not like to be thought of as Pentecostals).

One thing we can all agree on is that the first Pentecost celebration was an exciting event. Pentecost was actually a Jewish festival. To the "Hebrews it was know as the Festival of Weeks. The word Pentecost comes from the Greek work meaning "fifty." The festival began fifty days after Passover. This festival was always celebrated in Jerusalem, and Jews poured from all over the known world for the festivities. The Scriptures tell us how the Festival of Weeks was to be celebrated. In Leviticus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 we learn that each person was to bring to God a special gift in proportion to the blessing the Lord had given to him. All daily work was to be set aside. The people were to gather and worship and rejoice before the Lord. Who was invited? "You, your sons and daughters, your men servants and maid servants, the Levites in your towns, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows living among you."

In other words, just about everyone was invited. No wonder Jerusalem was crowded on that first Pentecost. No wonder so many different languages were being spoken. This was as much diversity as you were apt to get at one time in one place. In other words, the time was absolutely perfect for the Spirit of God to descend on the church. It was also the perfect time to bring in a completely new era in the history of humankind. It would be an era like no other. It would transcend national borders. It would transcend every known language. It would ultimately draw all people together without regard to gender, color, economic status, or any of the other variables that have served to divide people through the ages. The Spirit of God was descending to build up the church, which is a stepping stone to the coming of the kingdom of God, when God will reign in every heart. The symbolism is so rich--a violent wind, tongues of fire, people hearing and understanding in their own language, observers utterly amazed. This is what happens when the Spirit comes. Our world is shaken. Our senses come alive. We know we stand on holy ground. So Happy Birthday to the Church of All Saints' Episcopal. We are only 100 years young. May we all feel the presence of the Holy Spirit this day and thank God every day for the future joy that we will all experience.

Always in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,

Always in Christ,
Father Sanders+