Followers of the Way

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Gazing across the archeological site that was once Corinth (as in, St. Pauls' letter to the Corinthians... ) and seeing where St. Paul had been bound and on trial for spreading the Good News of God to the Followers of the Way, I gained a new appreciation for the history of what we call today Christianity. I'm not an expert in church history, but I've studied it along my journey. Some lament the divisions amongst our churches, and there is certainly plenty to lament about our history and some of the reasons we are divided. While there are "divisions" I also appreciate the variety of expressions of church made possible by the separation into denominations, even the new denomination creatively called "Nondenominational." 

My working understanding of the Holy Spirit is that she speaks through the diversity of people and cultures, and we come closer to understanding God's guidance the more voices we are able to hear. In this age of the Emerging Church (the phrase scholars give to this new, major shift in the church, which happens about every 500 years) many are creatively looking at how the universal church is called to be followers of the Way of Jesus. We are listening to the wisdom across denominational lines, while exploring, reforming, and deepening our own traditions. Episcopalians are traditionally not known for their Bible Study practices, for example, so we look to the Baptists and other more protestant traditions. To deepen our understanding of liturgy, we study the worship life of the Orthodox churches from Greece to Ethiopia. Aware of our responsibility to be stewards of God's creation we look to our own roots and the passed down teachings of Celtic Christianity. 


I'm grateful for the many expressions of church, even while I value my own tradition and the accountability it provides for me and our congregations. The variety of reasons the church has split has left us with opportunities to reach people of different prayer temperaments. We are all seeking to follow the Way of Jesus, and One in the Holy Spirit.  I'm grateful that I had the opportunity to go to some of the sites where the teaching of Jesus first started to spread across the world, especially before the Empires got involved. It was inspiring to walk around Corinth and Ephesus and to imagine St. Paul sitting at a loom, weaving a tent and getting to know about the struggle of those ancient cities. It shone a new light on his letters that have become our scripture. From those humble beginnings, we can learn a lot about the importance of relationships, and understanding one another. That his teachings and the teachings of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel even exist is a miracle itself, and a gift to any of us who seek to follow The Way.

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