Embodied Grace for Every Body

Why in the heck would I still go to church after all I've been through? Here's why.

At a church board meeting recently (which we fancifully call vestry), a thought came to me during a conversation about our WHY.

Why still gather as a church? Why still practice this Christian faith? Why the heck are we doing what we're doing?

I wrote down, “Embodied Grace for Every Body.”

We didn't ask this question as part of an identity crisis, but rather, to better clarify why we're all showing up day after day, week after week. For most of us, we've already BEEN though that identity crisis of faith. Lord knows I have. Like, he KNOWS.

I genuinely believe that you don't NEED church to know God. Because the "church," and what we've done to it, is too corrupt. At least this westernized, capitalismized, politicized, Americanized version is.

But WHY do *I* need church? Why Grace Episcopal Church - Hutchinson, Kansas, specifically?

I took this picture of my teenage daughter lighting candles at Christ Cathedral in Salina, after a diocese youth lock in the night before. It's a breathtakingly beautiful church. Ancient. Serene.

As the youth gathered in front of the congregation to sing "Seek Ye First," tears welled in my eyes.

"Ask, and it shall be given unto you;
Seek, and you shall find.
Knock, and it shall be opened unto you..."

You see,

- SO many have TRIED to ask, but they were told their curiosity made them unfaithful
- SO many have TRIED to seek, but they were told the answers were only for the select few
- SO many have TRIED to knock, but the door wasn't opened for people like "them"

But not here. Not in the The Episcopal Church.

Gay? 🏳️‍🌈 Ok!
Women? 👭Amen!
Trans? 🏳️‍⚧️ We're fans!
Immigrant? 🌎 Heaven sent!

We are embodied grace for every body. When we gather together, physically gather, in one space, with one goal--communion, with God and with each other, no barriers, no bigotry, no ulterior motive, I feel the Spirit as it was meant to be felt. And every body should be welcome at that table. Every. Body.

That's my why. ❤️