St. Francis is a place for all to come and grow closer to themselves, their neighbors and their Creator. Christian education is a vital part of this process, as are worship and service. Discipleship, which means being a student, is what Jesus called us to in his earthly ministry. Here at St. Francis we talk about following in the school of St. Francis of Assisi, who himself was a devout disciple of our Lord, by living lives of simplicity, compassion and hope.
Through our discipleship, we learn something about what this hope is. In a New Testament letter, Peter writes "always be ready to give an account of the hope that is in you." Being able to explain our hope is a process that flows from our discipleship. To understand this hope, we must, with our hearts and minds and in a community, consider and discuss this hope. In learning about Scripture and the hope contained in it for our lives we see how the story of God’s creation, relation and redemption is our story. In studying the tradition as it has been passed on to us we see how we are a part of the universal and eternal Body of Christ, which we call the Church. And in considering our own reason we are able to more fully understand and explicate our faith. But we cannot expect to give an account of the hope that is in us if we do not actively learn about what that hope is.
We are all at different places on the road of discipleship. St. Francis is a place for us all to come together, to join each other on the journey towards realizing the hope of God’s Kindgom on earth as it is in heaven. It is a journey for the young and old, the rich and the poor, the novice and those with theological degrees. It is a journey on which I am honored and humbled to be walking with you all.
