Jesus—Rocks—Idols—Cathedrals

Recently The Living Church published an article regarding the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut evaluating a number of possible actions, including closing their cathedral (http://livingchurch.org/cathedral-hartford-future). The article was shared on social media and there were a number of comments regarding cathedrals in general. Rather than engage in warring Facebook comments, I have tried to pen here some thoughts regarding Jesus, Rocks, Idols, and Cathedrals

I start with Jesus. Most of us, even when we find ourselves years into ministry can remember back to the time our faith was simple…and we were excited about it. It is the kind of pre-seminary faith where you do not have all your systematic theology worked out, yet you have pretty much bet your life on the belief that a Jewish carpenter turned rabbi really is God Incarnate…the Second Person of the Trinity. Why do I start here? Because ultimately it is about leading from a core of our foundational beliefs and values; shaped and sharpened by our education, mentoring and prayer; which leads by God’s grace and Holy Spirit to our vision of ministry. And as the years of ministry pile on top of us, and as the institutions of the church…including local parish and regional diocese wear upon us…it becomes ever more important to stand atop those foundation stones, which leads me to Rocks.

Rocks; I cannot find two of them that Jesus left on top of one another. He did not build a physical building. He did not leave any instructions about it. One church building he spent some time in, his synagogue in Nazareth, nearly got him thrown off a cliff (cf. Luke 4:16-30). The other church building he spent time in, the Temple, drew his ire and provided a number of opportunities for his enemies to get to such a fever pitch that they crucified him. [Yes I know this was all part of God’s plan, but hang in here with me.] My point; Jesus did not spend a lot of time on buildings. He did spend a lot of time exposing wrong religion—the religion of idols.

I am not talking about pagan idols…I am talking about how God’s People turned the Law and the Temple, really good things given by God for good godly purpose…into idols. The Law, which Jesus came to fulfil, rightly lived would yield a society in its own day that would have been radically concerned for the poor and needy. Instead the Law was twisted, the Law became an instrument of control by humans, the Law was contorted to demand from people that which was never intended…idols have a way of doing that (cf. Jeremiah 8:8). The Temple, with all its grandeur, similarly became about the humans in charge, the Sadducees, and not about the place where God’s glory resided. The situation in the Second Temple of Jesus’ day is a long way from the vision of Isaiah chapter 6 where the Shekinah of the LORD inaugurated the first Temple. Overtime that which was built for God’s glory, and to be a place where both God’s people were built up and the love and mercy flowed from as envisioned by Ezekiel—turned inward upon itself. Anytime we turn inward on a good gift God has given us, we make an idol, and feeding the idol becomes the mission.  

Feeding idols, a friend of mine says sooner or later they demand blood. So how does that lead to Cathedrals? I only have one reference point, the Cathedral of All Saints in Albany. It is about 140 years old, plenty of time to turn inward. Bishop Doane is properly credited as the force behind building the cathedral, but that description is completely misleading and if we start wrong then we most likely will end wrong. Yes Bishop Doane built the cathedral. Yet to Doane the cathedral was not a building…it was and is an idea (http://anglicanhistory.org/usa/wcdoane/address1874.html). From the cathedral the love and mercy of Jesus Christ must flow. The cathedral is not to be a fixed building which has frozen in stone the truth of the Gospel…it is not enough for Christianity to be true…it must be real. Bishop Doane knew it needed to be real. Before a stone was set in place for this The Cathedral of All Saints, St. Agnes School was built and in operation. Before the mortar was mixed for this Cathedral, Childs Hospital was built and in operation. St. Margaret’s opened for the care of babies in 1883: our cornerstone was laid in 1884. The Cathedral…is an idea more than a building. Of these four projects the only one not finished was the Cathedral…maybe that is the point, an idea is never finished.

Which brings me all the way round back to the Living Church article. I am not sure what the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut should do. Here is what I do know. Every church needs to remember its foundation. Every action taken and every decision made needs to affirm and acclaim the saving love of Jesus Christ not only to the people of the church, but to people of the village, town, city and diocese. I also know that I am by all measures an aesthetically-challenged person, an engineer by training. I am called to be a Cathedral Dean, to serve people who by most measures are completely…and I mean completely…different than me. The see and feel and hear beauty that I do not see or feel or hear…it is why they come to the Cathedral. They also see and feel and hear the poor…much more than I do. They can get comfortable in the cathedral. All of us can get comfortable in our churches. They can get scared, it is hard to be “do” church these days. Frightened people can turn inward; those at a cathedral are no different. And yes it can become their idol. I must tell you though, most church buildings and programs have idol potential…cathedrals are just bigger…which leads me to my closing point.

The population is moving back into cities. Albany’s population went up for the first time since the 1940’s in the last census go round. One million people live within a 25 mile radius of our cathedral. This is not to suggest that a city church, albeit a cathedral, replace the work of the local congregations. Rather it is to note that we, the Episcopal Church, are rarely positioned as the “first-in” with respect to any demographic move. But consider that between an increase in population, and a move among younger folks to rediscover liturgy (simply google millennials and liturgy), and that I have seen in these cathedral people a concern for the poor that I had not seen before, that maybe, just maybe, if we can stay turned outward…we have a chance to actually live into this idea called a cathedral which in the end is to live the Gospel.