This morning I attended St Bede's Church in Santa Fe. The church is located just off a large suburban street. Like most buildings here, it has adobe walls and the sanctuary is in an octagonal shape with large windows looking out at the desert and mountains.
They are very friendly. When I entered the building, there was a welcome desk where I was warmly greeted, given a blue ribbon to identify me as a visitor and a very informative pamphlet about the parish, mission, fellowship, services, as well as a welcome for all people. There was a rainbow flag out front also. Others greeted me as I received the bulletin and entered the sanctuary.
I found a seat in one of the large wooden pews and took in the simple but lovely space and the views of the mountains. Tom Woodward, a retired priest and deputy to GC came over and introduced himself.
The organ was an undistinguished electronic one, but it was well played with nice spirited tempos for the Hymns. There were two young singers from the Santa Fe Opera program there one of whom sang "If with all your hearts" from Elijah.
The Gospel read by the Deacon was ever so familiar to me as we have used this for meditation and reflection in the Partnership for Missional Church process. The sermon given by the rector the Rev Dr. Richard Murphy tied in the OT reading, recounting the miracle of Naanan's cure merely by taking a bath.
For the Luke passage he said that the most important thing was that the 70 were bringing the message that the Kingdom of God has come and that the world will begin to be healed. He then recalled another miracle concerning the gathering of a bunch of disagreeable men in Philadelphia who protested against injustice and began the process of founding our nation
The Eucharist was celebrated and bells (no smells) were used. As we went up to receive we sang Fairest Lord Jesus followed by all 3 verses of America the Beautiful. I choked up as I looked out the window at the real " purple mountains' majesty" while I sang those words.
There were some prayerful celebrations of birthdays and anniversaries. Prayer shawls were brought to the front. The church had hosted a party for Gene Robinson at his visit last week for the gay pride march here and that committee was given a round of applause. Then Tom Woodward came forward and told a remarkable story of healing through prayer of a young person with severe brain damage
After the service I spoke with many many people including the musicians of course. I met the rector and spoke for some time with Tom. He is a fascinating and multi -talented person who also writes plays. As a blogger, a Deputy, and in other venues he has been a tireless advocate for full inclusion of all the baptized, evangelizing strongly to the gay community.
This seems like a wonderful warm church, and I hope to come back often.
John Cheek
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