Renewal - April 19
Where is the Church?
empty narthex
hand sanitizer baptism
light of Christ shine in our hearts
when our buildings are empty
where is the church?
it’s out in the neighborhood.
it’s grieving the loss of how things were.
it’s changing.
gone too far to go back
looking back to chart a new way forward
how to honor justice, tradition, creativity, and hospitality?
God increase our capacity to share life with others
we are on holy, fertile ground
if we want it to be
we will need all types of folk
to plant seeds for a church we have yet to know
it’s just around the corner
if we just have the open hands to imagine it
What I like about renewal is that it does not necessarily mean going back to the way things were. It honors the past and imagines a better future. That is my hope for The Episcopal Church as well. I’d like to be a part of what it becomes.
Janelle Hiroshige
Janelle Hiroshige is a candidate for the priesthood in The Episcopal Church. Originally from San Diego, she has also found home in Nashville, Tennessee, and Atlanta, Georgia.