Once upon a time in a basement during a global pandemic, a small group found themselves ‘wandering Arameans.’
“A wandering Aramean was my ancestor.” (Deut 26:5, recited at the Feast of Weeks harvest festival) This verse from Deuteronomy reflects one of the oldest creedal statements in Scripture. It refers to the kind of life Abraham lived as he sojourned in the land of ancient Palestine waiting, hoping, and believing in “the promise yet to come.”
For most who began the communal journey that has emerged into St Mary Magdalene Equal to the Apostles, the upheaval of the pandemic disrupted and for some devastated the life they were used to.
Like the Judeans exiled from their homeland to Babylon or simply dispersed among the nations, there were 3 basic options.
One could abandon their faith and religious connection and simply dissipate into whatever culture they found themselves in.
One could entrench in the faith traditions of the past and build up walls of resistance to change.
Or one could embrace the traditions of the past and accept the challenge of living that out in a new and unfamiliar context.
So, once upon a time in a basement during a global pandemic a conversation began in a priest’s basement. That conversation evolved into a vision, and that vision rooted itself into response. The exile led to exodus, and that journey led to a partnership and shared community with St. Peter and St. Mary Episcopal Church in the Baker neighborhood of Denver.
[Oh and by the way, we would have no Scripture at all if there were not communities who chose option 3.]