In his characteristic enthusiastic style, the Rev. Anschutz led the whole congregation in a singing of the children's "If you're happy and you know it touch your nose." Following the Gospel reading, he had adults and children try to build a wooden block tower, which, as he placed the top piece, crumbled and fell, giving a strong concrete example of Jesus’ teaching that while it is difficult and we are tempted to do otherwise, we should always remember the truly firm foundations of the Christianity are not tangible edifices, but love, faith, faithfulness, peace, God, grace and generosity. He reminded us that God gave us the gift of generosity, and that we should care for each other and our community around us. We are called to be part of building part of God's Kingdom and our work is to build a church, which is a group of a people, not a physical building. He emphasized how the generosity of loving one another is such an important part of any religious church congregation. He ended his sermon at the 9:10 a.m. service by engaging the whole congregation in a sung Amen. In his 11:15 a.m. sermon, he expanded on many of his previous comments, especially the tenet of "love one another as he loved you," saying it is the ultimate source of a sustained community.
In the forum, the Rev. Anschutz spoke of how humbled and grateful he was to be called to be a shepherd to a congregation and how proud he was to be an Episcopalian, and he lauded the efforts of St James' to be at the forefront of very difficult issues: racism and apartheid; the Vietnam war; the role of ordination of women; and most recently, human sexuality. He talked about his concerns for the Episcopal church in the USA: its aging population (and what a great thing it is to be in a church filled with children and young people as St. James’ is); Anglicanism and the assault on its core; some groups in the church not really wanting to enter into a dialogue and communicate, but only wanting to push their own agenda; little evidence of interfaith work, which will be so essential to our future as a Church and for the world. His passion for the Church’s role in alleviating poverty and drawing others into support of the Millenium Development Goals has become a great passion for him and was evident in both of his sermons and at the forum as he spoke movingly about the suffering of the children of Haiti, and how transformative it is to see poverty up close.
-Seth Cunningham
