The Very Reverend Billie Abraham, Rector
St. Alban's, A Community
March 2011
O God in Trinity,
you made us to need each other and to grow best with
companions;
bless those who shall sit or talk or work together here.
May they share your care and understanding.
Susan and Richard Price are stewards of the All Saints’
School rectory for the Diocese of Mississippi. They invited
the Saint Alban’s community to participate in a house
blessing service at the rectory that took place on Saturday,
February 25. The above prayer is from the service for The
Blessing of a Home in the New Zealand Prayer Book. It was
one of the prayers offered during the blessing celebration
as our community moved through the rectory, asking God’s
blessings on the living room, study, dining room, kitchen,
bedrooms and bathrooms.
Following the blessing service, we shared a meal and spent a
leisurely evening visiting with each other. Before we left,
we assisted in the clean-up. We were the living body of the
church at All Saints as much as we are the living body of
the church at Saint Alban’s. We assembled together, we
prayed to the honor and glory of God, we asked for God’s
blessings, we offered each other the sign of peace, and we
shared a meal together. Our community left “in peace to love
and serve the Lord.”
The prayer from The Blessing of a Home expresses an innate
longing for communal life, God in Trinity, made us to need
each other and to grow best with companions. God calls us to
community life. Community is defined as a group that belongs
to a particular place, that shares fellowship, and that is
rooted in a common belief system. Our center of operation is
Saint Alban’s Church where we exist to witness to Christ and
in Christ. We need each other to make up the Body of Christ.
We companion each other in the complexities and joys of our
lives.
Our community cannot be contained in the walls of the Saint
Alban’s Church. We spill out into the world fortified by our
communal experience to proclaim God’s love for us and our
love for God, and to offer God’s love to others.
At our best we are reflections of the image of God that
dwells within us. At our worst we are stiff-necked people
with harden hearts. We are frequently somewhere between our
best and our worst. No matter where we are on the continuum,
we are a diverse group of individuals drawn together by the
Holy Spirit.
Saint Alban’s community can be compared to the crazy quilt
my great grandmother made from scraps of fabric left over
from her hat making business. The quilt is pieced together
from a variety of fabrics in various shapes and sizes,
colors and textures. The random fabric pieces are stitched
together to make a unique quilt.
That describes Saint Alban’s Church. We are composed of
distinct individuals stitched together by our faith in God
to make a community. One difference exists between my great
grandmother’s quilt and the Saint Alban’s metaphorical
quilt. My great grandmother’s quilt was bound on all four
sides to make a perfect square. It was never going to get
larger. Our Saint Alban’s quilt is not bound. More pieces
can be continually added and the shape can be organic.
Saint Alban’s Church is on a journey to mature into a
blessed community that is grounded in our shared experience
of God’s guidance and grace. We may slip and slide along the
way, but we are on the right path.
In peace,
Billie+
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SPIRITUALITY & WORSHIP
Billie's Corner