LAKE JAMES

NORTH CAROLINA

THE PARISH CHURCH

Shortly after Doug LaFever’s funeral here at Saint Paul’s, I came upon a wonderful piece of writing by Father Victor Lee Austin, an Episcopal Priest and author of A Priest’s Journal, which contains the following insights – insights I’d like to commend to all our people.

“Let me take you around our parish church. Outside is the churchyard with the ashes of the faithful. Inside is the font, where life is regenerated in Christ. Between those two places falls much celebration such as in the Parish Hall: fairs, potlucks, coffee hours, private talk, receptions. But in the midst of it all stands the altar, the focal point of every true celebration in this life and the next. Each of us is a pilgrim on our way, from font to altar to grave, to a place we will truly be able to call home. Scripture warns us against attachment to this world. And yet it is a wonderful, dear place, created by God for us; a place that our Lord Jesus desired (over all other possible places) to enter, and dwell within, and love, and redeem. We die; we are born; we celebrate. A parish church is a place where death and birth and celebration are not only put in heavenly context, but rooted in this earth. And for us pilgrims, it is the most wonderful place in the world.”

As I read Father Austin’s words, I thought how well they applied to our own St. Paul’s and its role in our lives. Fr. Austin could have been commenting on Doug LaFevers and his love for the parish, but also about the coming entrance into this world of Angie Valmassoi’s little Isabella – or why both Father John and I care so deeply about the parish – or why so many people give more than generously of their time and tithes to maintain the parish so beautifully. With Advent so close at hand, this is a perfect time to give heartfelt thanks to God for His Son, for our Faith, and for our parish.

A. T. K. Z.+

This page last modified on Friday, April 11, 2008 09:40 PM