Dear Calvary family,
I use the word family in the greeting above because it pertains to the gospel reading for this Sunday. In Mark 3:20-35 Jesus refers to his immediate family members as not necessarily being his family at all. Of course, he is saying that what constitutes a family is all those who know God. So, God’s gathering of folks are from various and different families, in terms of blood relation or adoption. However, the heart of his statement is that his truest brothers and sisters are fellow believers. Gene pools aside, I will dive into this topic more in Sunday’s sermon!
Who makes up your family? There are the people who are related to us and then there are those who are in God’s family. They might be some of the same folks, but the point is clear that Jesus’ understanding of family is by having a shared faith.
We have our Calvary family, and we have our Ashland community of churches that we can call our Chrisitan family too. We have our larger Diocese of Lexington family that includes thirty-four “pulpits” or congregations in the Episcopal Church. We gather once a year in a different location each time somewhere in the diocese for our Diocesan Annual Convention. The Diocesan Convention has business to vote on, but it is all about reuniting as a family in worship and fellowship too.
The Episcopal Church exists in the USA and sixteen other countries around the globe. Every three years this ECUSA family meets in a different city in the U.S. to conduct business, pass votes, and for worship and fellowship. I have been to parts of three other ECUSA General Conventions over the last twenty years and have found each time to be inspiring. Plus, it is the one time I can sing and worship with my Episcopal brothers and sisters as a mega church!
Our ECUSA General Convention 2024 is happening in Louisville, Kentucky! We are including information about how you can check out what is happening over those dates which are coming up soon. Please take a little time to look online and check out whatever you find of interest. And if you can go in person for a day or two, then please register online. This is our Episcopal family from all over the world. A reminder that the love of God through Jesus Christ is what reunites us all!
Blessings, Fr. Jon
