Church in the Glen

It's called St Peter's in the Glen and it is a small church in the woods. They left their church building, their denomination and the city seven years ago. Since then they have been meeting in a house and building this new church building. It sits on the grounds of the oldest plant nursery in Florida. So, it is surrounded by forest and flowers and it is no problem to come up with fresh green wreaths for Christmas. The dedication service was this past Sunday. Several Anglican clergy from across the state were there and the Bishop led the service and preached. His text was from St Peter. In his first letter, Peter wrote about the church as living stones. The Bishop reflected on the stones of the Temple in Jerusalem that were probably on Peter's mind as he wrote. They were huge, weighing many tons. When I read this second chapter of First Peter before I thought of little stones, like bricks. We, as church members, were little stones but the Bishop pointed out we are BIG Stones. Each of us has a really important part to play in the church of Christ. And, of course, we are living stones because of our faith in the Cornerstone, who is the Living Lord, Jesus Christ. The Anglican service of dedication was tightly scripted so it was a welcome and joyful interruption in the service liturgy to worship with the choir from a local black church who had come to join the celebration. They were not scripted and their wholehearted, soulful, singing moved the congregation, and got them moving. After the dismissal, we adjourned to the house where the church used to be and sat down to a delicious Southern bar-b-que. It was enjoyed on the porch on a warm night under white lights. Food and conversation both were abundant and you could sense the blessing.