#HolyComforterMGM
the Episcopal Church of the Holy Comforter
Montgomery, Alabama
The Rev. Rosa Lindahl
March 27, 2025
Let the Whole World See and Know
Dearest Holy Comforter,
“Look favorably on your whole Church, that wonderful and sacred mystery…let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new…”
This is part of the Collect that’s used to start the Ministry of the Word at each ordination for all the orders (deacon, priest, bishop) in the Episcopal Church. It may be the most powerful, moving mission statement I know. These days, it also gives the Church of the Holy Comforter and me our marching orders.
I say that because we find ourselves in a time of new growth and renewal. In the past month I’ve been advised that a new household is joining our parish and the spouse of one of our members, a long-time member of another parish in Montgomery, is transferring her letter here. The vestry has started the year with a ‘can do’ spirit that energizes me constantly. I had the joy of asking Angela Sherbine (who provides invaluable assistance to me each and every day), to order a combination of trinkets and candy that will fit in the Easter eggs we are using for not one, but two Easter Egg Hunts on Easter weekend. A few weeks ago, the first concert in the music series Kris has launched had me in tears, it was so beautiful. Another one is coming up on the first Sunday after the Sunday of the Resurrection. There is plenty else going on but this gives you some sense of what is unfolding in our church!
Now, our challenge is to “let the whole world see and know” that we are doing the work of being a church as a community with a diversity of views and values—political, theological, and social. Our differences don’t make us enemies of each other. They make us stronger and better able to extend Christ’s grace and hospitality to our neighbors. All our neighbors!
Your staff and members of the leadership team are beginning a project that was overdue in some ways. Over the next few months, we need to work on a mission statement that makes clear who we are (our identity) and what we are called to (our vocation). We will then use that new statement to review our website, how we use social media, how we make it easier to communicate amongst ourselves, and how to develop other ways to tell the story of life, death, and resurrection that we have known and been a part of as Church of the Holy Comforter.
One of the first, very small steps, we have ahead is to prepare a photo-directory. After church on Sundays, Michael Paul will start taking pictures of individuals and households for the directory. It will take many small steps like this to get the word out about us. In a time when it seems like everywhere we look there is conflict and brokenness, isn’t it amazing that at the corner of Fisk and Woodley, we can say with utter joy and wonder: LOOK! It can happen. What had been cast down can be raised up. What was old has been made new, and vibrant, filled with life and love and grace. We are here. We are alive. We welcome you. Yes. You!
With prayers for all the blessings of the Risen Life, we receive once again on Easter Morning, Rosa+