The excitement of a new year begins! Hopefully you have found the summer to be a time to recharge, reconnect, and feel renewed. Perhaps you went away, perhaps you have stayed put. Perhaps you have basked in the sun, or perhaps been overwhelmed by the heat. Whatever your experience of the summer, September is a time to get re-oriented and re-organized for the new program year. That is a whole lot of “re-”s all at once: recharge, reconnect, renew, re-orient, re-organize, and on it goes. All of the “re-” words remind (another one!) us that while September is about starting anew it is also about returning. It is a time to get back to the routines of the year and the schedules and traditions that take up the bulk of our time. It is a continuation of what was that we had taken a bit of a break from, but also brings in new elements and ways of doing things. The excitement of this time of year is that it is both a return to the familiar and yet also a time when new possibilities abound.
This combination of what was and what might be is continually the reality of a life of faith and life in the church. We both cling to the familiar old old story of the gospel, which is a story of endless newness of life in Christ. We live our life of faith rooted in ancient traditions that are ever renewing and taking on new forms as our living faith encounters the ever-new situations of the world around us. In Christ we are restored and renewed, as well as transformed into singing a new song. What was and what will be are brought together in the God who was and is and is to come.
The Messenger this month is full of news of new things and returning things. This is very much in line with St. Matthew right now. There are many continuing traditions, some recent additions that continue, and some quite new things going on. Over the summer we had several new lay leaders step forward on our council, new Stephen Ministers commissioned, upgrades around the building. We look towards new directions in our music ministry and a new addition to the building. New things abound. We also return to a weekly adult forum, we persist in gathering in worship around God’s Word and in celebrating the sacraments, and we continue to proclaim new and infinite life in Christ. The old and the new come together as we gather as church. That is something for which we can all rejoice!