Hello, fellow pilgrims. Last week, I introduced you to the concept of our spiritual and ministerial Camino here at St. James’ Episcopal Church, Mt. Airy, MD. We are pilgrims. Like St. James the Greater, who left everything to follow Christ (Matthew 4:21-22) and became an apostle for Christ, the community of St. James’ Mt. Airy is also apostolic, sent out by Christ to love and to serve. Our call is not to know Christ’s Love in the world, but to BE Christ’s Love in the world.
We are a pilgrim people, walking together toward Christ
and reaching out together toward the world.
The scallop shell has long represented not only our ecclesial (church) identity, but is also a symbol of pilgrimage—many paths, one mission. Our mission is to love and serve Christ. In doing so, we also love and serve one another. The scallop shell’s many ridges represent missional pathways that converge at Christ and our faithful service in His name.
In January, our Vestry retreated to discern concrete missional priorities as a community of faith. We used the scallop shell as our theological map and missional compass.
Every pilgrim arrives by a different road, and we all converge at Christ.
Questions we discerned included:
Where is Christ calling this parish to move?
What must we release in order to walk more freely?
How are we transformed through our faith?
How can we be transformative through our faith?
After two years of relationship-building, story-sharing, data collecting, and communal faith, here are the Camino paths we will be walking as a community:
COMMUNITY
STORY
STEWARDSHIP
FAITH
ADVOCACY
Over the next several weeks, I will be discussing each of these paths and sharing how we will move along them together as a community.
Pilgrimage is transformational. Much like our witness to Christ’s transfiguration, our witness as pilgrims changes our perspective and makes our mission clear and visible—vibrant, even. Our pilgrimage is Christ opening our eyes to our own transfiguration as Divinely called disciples of Christ, and our sending-out by Christ as apostles. I look forward to continuing this pilgrimage alongside you.
Remember:
Every pilgrim arrives by a different road, and we all converge at Christ.
You are Beautiful and you are Beloved.
Angela+