Simple Church

Dearly Beloved, 

I have always done a lot of the cooking in our family. I am neither a particularly good, nor a particularly creative, cook. Like many busy parents, I have a small rotation of simple meals that help keep us nourished in the midst of full and busy days. Knowing at the beginning of the day what simple meal I will prepare at the end of the day is like having an anchor of something concrete as we navigate the pace and demands of modern life. 

In an era of uncertainty and transformation in the church, of cultural complexity and political rancor, I am firmly convinced we are called to embrace this kind of simple approach to our life together. Most churches (including and especially those I have led as a priest) are doing too many things. Because we are eager to grow our numbers, it’s easy to unconsciously fall into the trap of trying to compete in the marketplace of chronic busyness, rather than equipping one another to resist it, and live the grounded, intentional life that Jesus both models and calls us to. The only way to do this is to keep our focus on the simple basics of discipleship: dwelling deeply in scripture, yoking ourselves to God each day in prayer, doing life together in a real way, giving ourselves away for the world around us. 

One of my favorite phrases in the Book of Common Prayer is in the post-communion prayer on page 365, where we ask God to send us out “with gladness and singleness of heart.” What might simple church look like? What might we need to set down, and clear away, to cultivate glad and single hearts in the midst of a complex and conflicted world? 

Soren Kierkegaard once famously wrote that to be a saint is to will the one thing. Pray that our life together might will the one thing of God’s love flooding, embracing, and healing the whole world. 

Grace and Peace, 

The Right Reverend Craig Loya