Auckland Community Church
Te Hahi Waka Huihui i Nga Tangata o Tamaki Makaurau
Family Circle September 2007
Pre-hangover, see the full story at http://stephen.geek.nz/
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Stephen Witherden reports on the miraculous in Dallas
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Choir forming
Making of a Miracle
I ran around the odd-looking patch of bare earth in front of the church and hastened inside, the church bells started their austere clanging.
"Stephen! So good to see you!" I was greeted by a bouncy little round fellow just beyond the front doors. I pressed the diminutive man's hands in mine.
"Likewise, Robert." Robert is an official greeter and it still amazes me that he can take such effortless delight in recalling the names of strangers whereas I have difficulty remembering those of my dearest friends. One of the church's core beliefs is that everyone should feel welcomed. It's something every parishioner takes very seriously.
I took a worship program and made my way quietly down the left aisle to my usual spot. It's hard to miss: Bill's long grey ponytail is a sufficient beacon for all of us in his little group. I think it's fair to call it Bill's group since the 71 year old has such a powerful personality as to instantly bind people to him with a touch and a smile. There are about half a dozen of us who sit together during the service then go out to lunch afterwards. I have the dubious honour of being the youngest by quite a few years.
"Hi Bill". "Oh, Stephen, how fabulous." he hugged me and smiled with pleasure. I was reminded guiltily of the Sundays I had been absent.
"You know today they're doing the big announcement?" I nodded. It wasn't the reason I came, of course, since that information I would be able to get online, still, there was something special about today: the whole place had an irresistible feeling of anticipation about it. Today was miracle day.
"Counting on a Miracle" that has been this year's slogan. It was, in fact, about a yago today, the 30th of July 2007, that I had entered into this church community for the first time and had experienced, much to my surprise, the Cathedral of Hope's 36th annivcelebration. It was in that ceremony that, for the first time, our beloved Reverend Dr.Hudson had outlined the plan for a "miracle". The plan was for this congregation of faGBLT people, their friends and families to collect one outrageously generous offering totaling $3.7 million at a single service. The auspicious day was to coincide with the church's 37th anniversary in 2007, an event which, given the fact that this is a gay church started in the American South back in 1970, is something of a miracle all of itself. Every week since that day (in fact, every week since I had been going to the Cathedral of Hope) Jo had been countingdown the weeks to a miracle: the culmination of our goal.
I have to admit that at the time I was rather skeptical. Not that the church could raise the money, of course. Knowing the people, knowing the culture, knowing how much they spend on shoes, I knew that a group of gay Christians could be generous, dedicated and focused enough to pull it off. Rather, my mind drifted to the reasons why the Cathedral of Hope was no longer affiliated with the Metropolitan Community Church (MCC, the largest gay Christian denomination in the world). I seemed to remember something about finances. Americans take their tithing very seriously and this can lead to a great deal of temptation by unscrupulous people.
It's difficult for me, not knowing the politics or the history of these things to really discern whether my contribution would, in fact, be going to a good cause or if (more to the point) the vision the leaders of the Cathedral
had was the same as God's vision. The vision was, and is, to build a large interfaith peace chapel on that rather oddly-shaped patch of earth I mentioned earlier. The building is one of the last designs by the late celebrated gay architect Philip Johnson. It's intended to be a place where people of all races, religions, orientation, or otherwise, could come together for learning. It would also be used for ceremonies, no doubt to bless unions unrecognized by the state, but recognized nonetheless by God. The building would also serve as a beacon, an audacious monument to turn people's heads, to make them think, perhaps even to make them question their long-held beliefs.
In much the same way as the largest gay church in the world forces people the world over to reconsider the teachings Christianity, to re-read their Bibles and probe, once again, the heart of God, so too (we hoped) this building would serve as a focal point, to help people realise that war and a xenophobic "us and them" attitude to global politics is not the way of true faith. It was a lofty goal, a bold goal, a worthy goal, but was it my goal? God's goal? On balance, after a year's meditation on the subject, I decided that even if it wasn't God's perfect will, it was good enough to warrant my support.
Bill leaned in to me. "I heard how much we raised" he said quietly "don't be disappointed, remember, it was just a goal". My heart sank a little and I felt a pang of guilt. Perhaps I should have contributed more? As it was, it had been the biggest donation I'd ever made to a church. My thoughts were drowned out by the superb orchestra who play little more than two metres from where I sit. We all rose to our feet to acknowledge the procession.
The format at the Cathedral has a Catholic flavour about it. Definitely more "high-church" than most Southern Baptists would be used to. Jo walked up to the pulpit practically bouncing with energy.
Jo had been debating with herself as to whether they should let the congregation know how much had been raised right now, before the service, after the service, or maybe if she should sneak it in somewhere during the sermon so we'd have to pay attention. Her impatience won the day though, so she drew the envelope to her and took a breath to make her announcement. "...and the winner is" Jo teased us as she opened the envelope." We laughed nervously. "Three million, one hundred and thirty five thousand, four hundred and eighty-four dollars and forty-eight cents"
The whole congregation spontaneously leapt to its feet and applauded. True, it wasn't the intended 3.7 million, but in the grand scheme of things it was very close. It was enough that we'd be able to break ground this year and start the building project right away. Standing there, applauding giddily with a bunch of other people, many of whom had made very real tangible sacrifices to attain that goal. I was reminded of something an Atheist once said to me of this congregation. I dragged him in with me for a few weeks. He'd never set foot in a church for many years and hasn't been to one since, but after spending time in that congregation he quietly said: "It's nice to be among all those people, so intent on doing good."
For me, I think that's really the heart of the matter, when it comes down to it: it's not about how much you tithe or what ceremonies you perform, whose prayer book you use or whom you exclude from the proceedings. It's the overwhelming desire of these people to do good that marks them for the entire world to see as Christians. No building could be a brighter beacon.
Stephen Witherden
Rescuing Jesus from the Church conference.
St Matthews from 28-30 September; Bp Spong will be the main speaker
St Matthews 2007 Conference for Progressive Chistianity
Small choir or singing group.
We are inviting people to volunteer for a small choir or singing group, to be co-ordinated by Craig, which will meet monthly to practice our hymns at 6.45 pm before the service on Sunday. We hope that in this way we can add enjoyment of music for those who love to sing, and a boost to our singing and our repertoire of music (both traditional and contemporary). If you enjoy singing and would like to be part of this group then please contact Craig . If you have ideas for songs that you would like to sing at church then please also get in contact with Craig.
Thanks.
to Campion for hosting a great movie “Latter Days”, to Geoff and Craig for facilitating a super Spring party, to Peter for filling in at a moment’s notice to preach one night, to Craig for organising a new look advertisement for Express, to Robin for organizing a literature rack that we are still working on filling, to Cathy and Liz for visiting many in hospital (and others who do the same), to Charles, Craig & Bob for getting our new roster together. And I’m sure I’ve forgotten many others to thank.
Contacts:
by email: info@aucklandcommunitychurch.org.nz
by phone: Cathy and Liz (64)(09)578 1292 or Hugh Dyson (64)(09)579 1850
by snail mail: c/- 187 Federal Street, Auckland, New Zealand.
This date was last updated on 18th May 2006 - the page may have been updated later than this!
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