Redeemer Review
The Episcopal Church of the Redeemer
July-August, 200
From the Vicar
Through the bonds of community, death is transformed into energy for life.
—Parker Palmer, The Active Life
Shortly before Sam Fletcher’s final illness, he invited me up to the house, as he often did on Sundays after
church. He had something he wanted to tell me. He wanted me to know that he did not believe in God. (I had
kind of guessed.) He wanted me to know that the reason he came to Redeemer even though he didn’t believe in
God was because he loved the people and that this was his community. I think he thought that I might be
shocked, but I remember smiling and saying, “Sam, that is enough. In fact, it is more than enough.”
When Jesus came from Nazareth and gathered together his ekklesia, the word we translate as “church,” he did
not come to found, or even particularly change, a religion. He came to build a community of people who loved
one another. He knew that love for one another is what brings people closer to God, not religious leadership.
Indeed, the religious leadership of his day was driving people apart. Jesus called his friends the ekklesia, which
is the Greek word for assembly. In classical Athens, the ekklesia was who governed the first ever democracy in
the world. Jesus wanted the same kind of face to face life. Jesus made friends. And that was enough. In fact it
was more than enough.
During the years I have served the Church, I have discovered that there are things far more important than
religious belief. Love is more important. Showing up is more important. Making a commitment to people is
more important. I don’t need a Creed, but I do need a connection. When I was a chaplain in Oakland, people
were reluctant to talk about religion, but they were passionate about community. With them I realized that
spirituality was another word for community, for walking the walk with others, about not being afraid to make
mistakes in their presence, about coming back, about learning how to be me and not be ashamed. I learned that
community was enough. In fact, it was more than enough.
Spirit also means breath. The spirit, the breath, is what we humans and animals, and indeed all life, share. Spirit
brings us together as life. There can be the breath without the religion, but there can be no true religion without
the breath. That is what Jesus knew. He did not say, “I come to teach you to worship God correctly,” he said, “I
come that you might have life in abundance.” Life is enough. In fact, it is more than enough.
This summer, I invite us all to think about the life of our community. I know that when I walk through the doors
of Redeemer and enter the peace of a place shaped by prayer, the place where Sam came to be with his friends, I
know, in some profound way, that I have come home. And home is enough.
Your friend in Christ,
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