Planning to attend the State Fair this year? Please come on
Saturday, August 12th. That is when the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa will be
hosting a Revival evening at the State Fair with a Breaking Bread Eucharist.
Fair organizers were impressed with the Breaking Bread event last year, and
invited us back. We are returning with an expanded worship agenda and, with
your help, in greater numbers. The State Fair Episcopal Breaking Bread Revival
starts at 5:30pm and will be at the Farm Bureau Shelter House, located behind
Pioneer Pavilion.
At the congregational level, this month Revival 2017 picks
back up after a six-week summer recess. We are exactly halfway through and have
held nineteen revivals impacting twenty-nine congregations and attended by 500
people. The Revival moves west over the
next few months and up to the north east and north west. We held a second
orientation meeting last month at the Cathedral of St. Paul which was attended
by representatives from St. Andrew’s, St. Timothy’s, and the Cathedral in Des
Moines. Fort Dodge, Mason City, Spirit Lake and Emmetsburg, Shenandoah and
Glenwood, Cedar Falls and Waverly were all represented, as well as Trinity,
Iowa City and New Song, Coralville.
I believe that God honors our efforts to draw closer and in
fact is the One meeting us more than halfway through the presence of the Holy
Spirit. The Revival is about our personal relationship with God in Jesus
Christ. It encourages us to take stock of what is driving us spiritually, and
through the various prayer stations gives us an opportunity for reflective
action–whether more traditionally in renewing baptismal vows, or receiving
prayer with the laying on of hands, or in the contemporary and creative ways of
“prayer through coloring,” journaling, or joining me for a one on one
conversation on your life in the Spirit. Some congregations are adding to these
ways of responding that I think are vital to letting God act in renewing,
recharging and rekindling our lives as followers of Jesus.
We have found that music is a key ingredient for an
effective weekend. Angie Dowd of St. John’s, Mason City shared at the
orientation several reasons for this. She gave six reasons for music’s
importance: music gathers us in; it unifies; opens hearts preparing us for new
ideas and possibilities, providing a “solid emotional base”; it supports the
message of the day; provides segues; and uplifts the energy level of a
gathering space. She also added, “and it adds raw entertainment value.”
One thing that the Revival 2017 evening does is make us
think of how to incorporate elements into more regular services. The impact of
music is an obvious given, but what about offering opportunities for immediate
responses through prayer stations on a Sunday? Some of this might flow into a
new small group or house group movement as we follow up in the months and years
following Revival.
There are some excellent referrals out there already–such as
from Carl Mann of Christ Church, Burlington, or Fred Steinbach of St. Andrew’s,
Chariton. Whether the attendance was large or small (rule of thumb seems to be
one third of your Sunday average attendance), God has “shown up” and the
evidence is in the nine filled canvass tiles which have captured people’s
prayers and commitments as a result of the Spirit’s nudges. These are prayers
which we carry around to each Revival as the tiles grow in number, and which
will be featured throughout the Diocesan Convention in October. The final Revival
2017 weekend will be in Des Moines at the Cathedral on Saturday as St. Paul’s
combines with Indianola and St. Mark’s, and wrapping up at St. Timothy’s in
West Des Moines Sunday evening at 5pm, October 22nd.
Give yourself a chance–Give God a chance–to stir up the gift
of the Spirit within you, which many of you received through the laying on of
hands in confirmation or reception, and all of us in baptism.
In the peace and love of Christ,
+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe
Bishop of Iowa
