Forward Today: The gift of hospitality

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Image by Oscar from Pixabay

Dear friends in Christ,

As you read this, I have gone on a bit of summer holiday. I love seeing new places, so we’ve gone to explore a couple of countries that we’ve never seen. Perhaps you will have some holiday time, too, as summer continues.

One of my favorite things to do when I’m away is visit churches on Sunday mornings. Usually I try to find Episcopal or Anglican churches, but I’ve visited many other denominations over the years. Of course, it’s always a joy to offer thanks and praise to Almighty God for his grace and mercy. And I enjoy seeing what feels familiar and what feels strange when worshiping away from home.

Some of my most memorable experiences in life are connected to receiving the gift of hospitality from churches when I was a first-time guest. People have been welcoming in all sorts of ways.

If you are traveling, I encourage you to visit churches. For one thing, setting aside the Lord’s Day for worship is the duty and delight of all Christians. But beyond that, in our seemingly divided world, it never fails to bring joy when people offer hospitality to me, a stranger, in the name of Jesus Christ. I always leave inspired to offer hospitality myself, when I have the opportunity to welcome strangers.

If you have a story to tell of receiving or giving hospitality in Christ’s name, please share it with us on social media. You can find and tag Forward Movement on Twitter or Facebook.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

From Grow Christians: Experiencing Thin Places as a Family

Pocket-sized inspiration for travel: Forward Day by Day

Create a spirit of hospitality at your church: Invite Welcome Connect

Welcome newcomers to the Prayer Book tradition: Inwardly Digest

 

Forward Today: Evangelism for everyone

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Photo by Benjamin Davies on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

Last weekend I was in Vancouver, BC to preach at Christ Church Cathedral. While I was there, I also offered a workshop on Saturday called Anglican Evangelism for Everyone. We had much lively conversation together.

I meant the title in two meanings. Evangelism is for everyone in that Jesus told us to make disciples of all nations. That is, there is no one with whom we should fail to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. But there’s the other angle, too. All of us Christians are meant to be evangelists.

To be a disciple of Jesus, we must choose to follow him. Evangelism must never be coercive or manipulative. While it’s true that there are some “bad” evangelists out there, that’s no reason for us to try to hoard our faith but fail to commend the hope that is within us.

The greatest gift we can give someone is to invite them to know Jesus, to know they are loved by him, and to love him back. I hope we’ll all proclaim by word and example the Good News of God in Christ when we are able to do so.

Sometimes I hear people lament that fewer people find their way into our churches. Other times I observe people wishing for a more just, more compassionate world. The solution to both challenges is the same: we can invite others to know God’s gracious love for us and for the whole creation.

If we experience God’s grace and mercy, we simply won’t be able to contain ourselves from sharing that same grace and mercy with those around us. As Jesus commanded us, let us hasten to love others as he first loved us.

Evangelism is for everyone. Let’s get to it.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Share the gift of Forward Day By Day: Order a Share It Forward pack

Foster evangelism in your church community: Invite Welcome Connect

Spiritual growth in individuals and churches: Signs of Life

Forward Today: Summer reading

Dear friends in Christ,

The summer solstice may not be here yet to make summer official, but to my reckoning, the arrival of June brings the beginning of unofficial summer.

For many folks, summer brings a different rhythm. We may have some vacation time, and many of us enjoy a slightly slower pace of life. If that sounds familiar, you may be wondering what to do as life gives you bit more breathing room.

In our go-go-go culture, there’s nothing wrong with slowing down and resting! Sleep more! Take naps! Goof off! Do nothing!

As for me, I hope to do more reading this summer. I’m always looking for summer reading suggestions, and maybe you are, too. There are loads of great books out there. As you might expect, I want to suggest a few books from Forward Movement that might make some good reading this summer.

If you’re spending more time reading the Bible (which is a great idea!), you might enjoy having a copy of Bible Women handy. We’ve recently updated this book, which includes every word spoken by women in the Bible. You’ll also get the back story on what she said and why.

Looking to refresh your spiritual disciplines? I wrote The Way of Love: A Practical Guide to Following Jesus as an encouraging companion for increased discipleship. Seek and You Will Find will help you find new prayer practices.

A Generous Beckoning may be helpful in your devotional life. Thinking of revitalizing your congregation? Check out Signs of Life: Nurturing Spiritual Growth in Your Church. Finally, if you want a challenging read about the church and its relationship to money, check out The Unjust Steward: Poverty, Wealth, and the Church Today.

However you choose to use the gift of this time, God bless you.

Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn's signature
Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. If you’re ordering books published by Forward Movement, it supports our ministry if you order directly from us. But if Amazon is how you need to get them, that works too.

More from our ministry:

From Grow Christians: Endings and New Beginnings

New from ChurchNext: Keeping Your Daily Devotions Fresh

Pray through the new season with us: prayer.forwardmovement.org

Forward Today: Fulfillment of the Lord’s promises

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Dear friends in Christ,

By Deror avi – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. We remember the time that St. Mary visited her cousin St. Elizabeth and St. John the Baptist leaped in St. Elizabeth’s womb. You can read the account in Luke 1:39-57.

The scene with these two strong women coming together after God had given each of them a miraculous pregnancy must have been something to behold. And Mary’s very presence was a blessing to the child Elizabeth was bearing. Such grace!

In light of their very palpable awareness of God’s power to act in the world, it’s inspiring to contemplate what it might have been like when Mary proclaimed her song, the Magnificat. It’s a song that extols God’s deeds in the past as a way of celebrating God’s promises for the future. Unlike the advice given by financial planners, when it comes to God’s power to act in the world, past performance is a guarantee of future returns!

This is a rich festival with many facets on which we might focus our devotion. Maybe you’ll ponder these strong women stepping forward in faith. Perhaps it’s Mary’s beautiful proclamation of God’s deeds of old. Or you might like to step back, imagine the scene, and give thanks for an almost incomprehensible abundance of God’s grace.

I invite you to join me in praying the collect for today:

Father in heaven, by your grace the virgin mother of your incarnate Son was blessed in bearing him, but still more blessed in keeping your word: Grant us who honor the exaltation of her lowliness to follow the example of her devotion to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Pray with Mary and Elizabeth in the new edition of Bible Women

Delve deeper into this Gospel narrative: A Journey with Luke

Reflect on God’s promises and invitations: A Generous Beckoning

From Grow Christians: Love your enemy. Love your neighbor.

Forward Today: Let’s not tame the Holy Spirit!

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Photo by Adam Wilson on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

We’re coming up on our annual celebration of the Day of Pentecost, when we give thanks for the gift of the Holy Spirit in the church.

My sense is that we have domesticated the Holy Spirit. When something happens in the church that we like, we may say, “The Holy Spirit was here.” And that may well be true! But if we read the scriptural accounts of the Spirit’s arrival, people are almost always pushed into places that might not have otherwise gone.

The Holy Spirit does not bless the status quo, but rather leads us to the places beyond our imagining to which God calls us.

So, by all means, let’s celebrate the gifts of the Spirit! And then let us open our hearts and our lives to be led to places we might fear to tread. Lord knows the church needs some shaking up!

Jesus has promised that the Spirit will lead us in all truth, but that requires us to get our own agendas out of the way. Let us pray:

Come, Holy Spirit, come. Take our minds and think through them. Take our lips and speak through them. Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. Forward Movement is looking for feedback so we can improve our ministry. If you haven’t already shared your thoughts with us, you can help us by filling out this questionnaire with your honest responses. Many thanks to all who have filled it out already!

As a thanks for your time and consideration, we’ll provide everyone who completes the questionnaire with a discount code for 15% off your next Forward Movement order. Thanks for your support!

More from our ministry:

Consider contemporary challenges of the church: Signs of Life

From Grow Christians: When the stakes seem high

Wealth and poverty through a surprising lens: The Unjust Steward

Where is the Spirit leading you? Discern with My Way of Love

Forward Today: We are not comfortless

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Dear friends in Christ,

“Christ Ascension”, icon from Michurin, Bulgaria, 16th century (Wikimedia Commons)

Tomorrow we celebrate Ascension Day. Rather than getting hung up on the logistics of how Jesus returned to his Father in heaven, I hope we can focus on the truth that this day celebrates. In returning to heaven, Jesus has blessed his followers to carry on his ministry of reconciliation. He has also promised to intercede for us to his Father in heaven. We have an advocate!

I am especially heartened by Jesus’ promise that he will never abandon us. The NRSV translation we usually read in Episcopal churches says that Jesus will not leave us orphaned. Personally, I prefer the language of the Authorized Version (King James): “I will not leave you comfortless.”

Jesus says we’re never alone. He promised he would send the gift of the Holy Spirit, and he delivered on that promise on the Day of Pentecost. He has promised to abide with us always. You can read that promise in the very last verse of Matthew 28.

Isn’t that good news? We are not left on our own to face the challenges in our lives. Jesus hasn’t promised to make things easy for us—quite the opposite!—but he does tell us he’s with us in our triumphs and in our struggles.

That’s a beautiful truth to celebrate, and that’s part of what we celebrate tomorrow. Whatever else might happen in this earthly life, know that Jesus is for you. Always.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. Forward Movement is looking for feedback so we can improve our ministry. You can help us by filling out this survey with your honest responses: forwardmovement.org/survey.

As a thanks for your time and consideration, we’ll provide everyone who completes the questionnaire with a discount code for 15% off your next Forward Movement order. Thanks for your support!

More from our ministry:

Invitations from Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: A Generous Beckoning

Take prayer with you wherever you go with the portable BCP Gift Edition

Reflect on living a Jesus-centered life: The Way of Love Practical Guide

From the Grow Christians archive: Superman Jesus and the Ascension

Forward Today: Happy Easter… still!

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Dear friends in Christ,

From the resurrection chapel at Washington National Cathedral

We’re just about two thirds of the way through the Easter season. So let me wish you a Happy Easter! By my count, we have about 18 more days to celebrate the glory of Jesus Christ’s resurrection with special intention this season.

How are you celebrating? If you stopped celebrating, it’s OK! In the Christian Gospel, it’s never too late. So feel free to pick up where you left off and start celebrating again. Maybe you’ll say prayers giving thanks for the resurrection of Jesus each day. Or maybe you’ll be bold and share the Good News of God’s victory over sin and death. Love wins!

At Forward Movement, we have a few ways to help you keep up your Easter celebration for the full fifty days of the season. You can visit 50days.org and read daily reflections. You can buy my book of Easter reflections and start partway through. It’s all good!

I find it spiritually refreshing to celebrate Easter continuously for the full length of the season. If I’m honest, it’s a bit selfish. You see, sometimes I get discouraged by the state of the world and condition of the church. Remembering that God has utterly defeated evil and sin with his grace and mercy in the triumph of love helps me keep the right perspective.

So if you’re like me and you sometimes don’t feel like it’s still Easter, fear not! God’s victory is still true. In the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God shows us the ultimate power of his grace and mercy. Thanks be to God for that. Alleluia!

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Proclaim the resurrection with Mary Magdalene in Bible Women

Celebrate God’s work on the earth: The Creation Care Bible Challenge

From Grow Christians: This is the mystery of Easter

Pray the Daily Office (complete with Alleluias!) at prayer.forwardmovement.org

Forward Today: Anchored by grace

Dear friends in Christ,

Photo by Brett Sayles

After a few months without much travel, I’ve had several back-to-back trips these last few weeks. As I write this, I am in Portland, OR to speak at a conference for church leaders. In the last few weeks, I’ve been to New York City; Hendersonville, NC; St. Louis; and Mt. Pleasant, SC.

One of the things I love about traveling across the Episcopal Church is meeting people who are glowing with the enthusiasm of thriving ministries. And I also savor my time with people who are struggling valiantly in difficult circumstances.

One can surely point to patterns of decline in our church, and that picture should be sobering for us all. I hope we can urgently seek to reverse decline not for the sake of institutional security, but because Jesus Christ has commissioned us to make disciples. There’s a world that yearns for hope, and we need to share the Gospel!

But it’s also true that there are thriving churches of all sorts: small and large, urban and rural, conservative and liberal, high and low. I hope we can pay attention to where the church is flourishing to see what we might learn and apply elsewhere.

Finally, it’s also true that in these challenging times, many lay leaders and clergy are exhausted or even burned out. It’s completely understandable. No one signed up for… this. So what are we to do?

As I’ve said before, we can take comfort in knowing that we don’t have to save the church! Jesus has already saved the church, and our job is to tell the world that very good news. We can care for our souls by praying daily, reading the scriptures regularly, and worshiping weekly.

The world changes quickly, and it’s never more apparent to me than when I travel all over and see this crazy, beautiful world in new ways. But in all this, we’re never alone. We’re never far from Christ’s presence. Jesus has given us the gift of sacraments, sure and certain means of grace.

When you’re not sure which way to turn, what to do at church to keep up with the times, or how to make sense of manifold challenges, turn to Jesus. We can be anchored in his grace as we meet him in the sacraments week by week.

Take heart! Jesus never leaves us. See you around, perhaps in an airport.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

A pocket-sized classic, perfect for travel: Forward Day By Day

Face the challenges of church life with hope: Signs of Life

Recently on our family blog: Growing Christians

Reflect on the sacrament of communion: Gifts of God for the People of God

 

Forward Today: Leadership for today’s church

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Dear friends in Christ,

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

I am writing this from Kanuga, an Episcopal conference center in western North Carolina. It’s a beautiful place in a lovely part of the country. But I’m not just here to enjoy nature!

As you receive this, I am just about to head back home to Cincinnati. I’ve spent three days at a conference that gathers clergy who are seeking to lead the Episcopal church in bold ways in this missionary era of the church.

Back in the 1950s or so, churches thrived because it was the “thing to do” for many Americans. But that did not encourage us to consider our calling from Jesus Christ to make disciples. It was easy to have a full church, so it might have been tempting to take for granted why we were gathered.

Now we are firmly in the post-Christendom era. Fewer people go to church out of obligation. Especially when younger people show up in a church, it’s unlikely to be because they will gain social standing by attending church. They have come because they are seeking Jesus.

As challenging as this era is, it is a blessing. It is a blessing because we need to consider carefully the ways we are carrying out the mission that Christ has given us. We can’t assume that society will educate people in the faith; our churches must form Christians. Sometimes it’s tough to be a clergy leader in this era, and so I’m grateful for time with clergy colleagues who are doing this work.

Over the last three days, I heard stories of great success, with real growth in depth and number. And I heard the pain of contending with a culture that sometimes makes it tough to be a Christian. But we’ve been reminded that we’re in this together. More important: Jesus has promised to abide with us all. We’re never alone.

So if you are ordained and reading this, take heart! There are others who share your triumphs and struggles. If you are a lay person reading this, pray for your clergy. They need your prayer.

The wonderful news is that God loves us in our thriving and in our failing. And we don’t have to save the church. Jesus promised that nothing would prevail over the church, so it will endure until his coming in glory. Thanks be to God.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

More from our ministry:

Consider the challenges facing congregations today: Signs of Life

From Grow Christians: St Mark, Sharing Love with the Unknown

Listen for God’s invitation in scripture: A Generous Beckoning

Celebrate Easter every day of the season at 50Days.org

Forward Today: Meeting Jesus

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Photo by Morgan Winston on Unsplash

Dear friends in Christ,

This coming Sunday, we hear the story of Emmaus, when Jesus met his disciples on a road. Of course, they didn’t recognize him until he broke bread with them. As they reflected on their experience, the disciples said to each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?”

At one level, maybe they knew they were talking with Jesus on that road, but they couldn’t quite believe it. Their rational worldview told them they had seen Jesus die, and he must surely still be dead. And yet there he was. So it’s perhaps understandable if they had trouble grasping this amazing reality.

I wonder if it’s like that for us sometimes. Maybe we meet Jesus along the roads of our lives more often than we recognize. Maybe we begin to treat church like a rote experience, and we can’t quite wrap our minds around the amazing reality that Christ is present for us as bread and wine are consecrated in the Holy Eucharist.

Last month, I heard someone speak about why it’s important to go to church. She said, “I feel that I might meet Jesus out in the world, but when I go to church, it’s like having an appointment to meet him. He shows up every time.”

That’s it, right there.

Let us keep our hearts and minds open to meet Jesus in the world, especially in the last, the lost, and the least. And let us celebrate with great joy on the Lord’s Day each week, as we meet Jesus himself. As we break the bread and hear the scriptures, Jesus shows up every time.

Yours faithfully,

Scott Gunn's signature

Scott Gunn
Executive Director

P.S. You can get some help reflecting on the Holy Eucharist and Christ’s presence in Furman Buchanan’s Gifts of God for the People of God Exploring Worship in the Episcopal Church.

More from our ministry:

Healing and Hope for God’s Good Creation live course begins next week

Explore the sacraments further in Walk in Love: Episcopal Beliefs & Practices

Easter isn’t a day, it’s a season! Celebrate all season long at 50days.org