That September feeling

This is Bishop Hughes in the Diocese of Newark. And this week in New Jersey, students have headed back to school, and every year, I have the same feeling when I see the school busses, when I see the kids heading back to school, walking through the neighborhood – I want to get out my pencils and sharpen some and I want a fresh, new notebook. There’s something about this time of year and the years that we spent going to school and then watching others go that make us want that fresh start in September. It’s something I think we want quite frequently in life, but there are certain times of year – September, the first of the year, the start of summer – that give us a sense of having a fresh start.

I think it’s a helpful thing for us to consider, as many of us kind of go back to our regular routine in terms of being in church on Sundays for worship, and in doing that routine, wanting a real sense of the fullness of our community, worshiping together, and very often wanting what we had, wanting what we had before pandemic, and wondering when is that going to come back to being what it was? And one of the things that I think many of us have come to understand is, what we’re going into, what we’re experiencing now, is not what it was. It is something completely different. And I’d say one of the biggest differences right now is the number of people who consider themselves spiritual but not religious, and are needing help with the spiritual life, who will say, while I feel like I don’t necessarily need church, I do recognize I need something. I need a place where I can go and talk about faith. I need to know how to navigate my way through this world as a faithful person, as a Christian person. What people really need at this particular time that may be slightly different from before pandemic, is people need a sense of belonging, a place where they know that they are cared about, where they can be truthful, where they can be honest, where they are not judged, where they’re accepted. And I would say from our point of view, where they are prayed for, where somebody wonders how they’re doing, where someone looks after them or looks out for them, who wants to help them along the way in their faith.

It is time for a fresh start in our churches. We spend a lot of time worrying about growing the church, and I want to encourage you this year to take a fresh start and think about growing the faith. Growing your faith, growing the faith of others, growing into being a faithful place where people can fit in, where they belong, where they know that they are loved and that they know they can be bring their real self, not the self that is a facade of all things being perfect, but the self that asks questions and that is worried and that is scared right now.

I’m aware that every time we set out on a fresh start, that there’s a chance that we may fail, and there’s a chance that we’ll have a success, and we want to repeat that success over and over and over again, and then sometimes it stops working. And I’m reminded of something that Winston Churchill said, that success is not final, failure is not fatal, that courage, courage is continuing the course, continuing for us, continuing to be a place where people can belong.

It is September. It is time for a fresh start. People are going to come and visit your church. Welcome them with open arms. Be their friend. Help them to find a place where they belong.