[The] Rev. Jeffrey H. Walker, a tall man with dark-rimmed round glasses, walked in singing. He led the congregation through prayers that reminded me those similar to Catholic masses like the Nicene Creed and the Lord’s Prayer. But The Book of Common Prayer was a new addition to my understanding of prayer in church.
Rev. Walker is a good storyteller, but he is also genuinely funny. He began his sermon with the words of an old friend. “I don’t go to church, but if I did, I’d go to yours,” he started. “If I counted all the times someone said that to me, I’d be the rector of the largest congregation in the Episcopal Church.”
This began a story about people who walk away from religion. Some have cited the inclusion of gay clergy more recently; others have declared the appointment of V. Gene Robinson in 2003, the first openly gay bishop, as the “end of civilization.” (They are the same people, no doubt, who dislike the recent nomination of gay priests for promotion.)
Considering all of the challenges and changes facing the church in recent months – both when the General Convention affirmed gay clergy and same-sex unions and the Anglican Communion’s reacted to those affirmations – it was compelling to hear Rev. Walker talk about the reasons people stray from organized religion.
I am in Austin tonight, and know a little about St James. In the posts following the article in its original location, I found this comment about St James, for what its worth:
[blockquote]By Tim
August 4, 2009 4:10 PM | Link to this
Actually, St. James is why I gave up on religion. The first thing you notice when you’d pull in to the church is all the luxury cars parked as close the front door as possible (at least at their location in 2006). You can walk into the church, sit down, attend the service, and be totally ignored—but you will get endless requests for money, in some cases money for people who have fewer financial issues than I myself. These folks are anti-conservative, but you can hardly call them liberal. They don’t care about any people except for show. And those involved in “civil rights†at that “church†are the worst of all.[/blockquote]
I saw that, too. Of course, if seeing well dressed people with nice cars is all it took for this guy to lose his faith, I doubt it was much of a faith to begin with.
St. James is in a part of town with its share of problems. From my understanding, they do a pretty good job of being active in the community.