St. Peter’s Church, in McKinney, is over 130 years old. This is not a boast, it’s really important to understand who we are, and what we are about. 130 years ago, McKinney was a much, much smaller community, and so was St. Peter’s! It was a place where folks knew one another by name, and where you did business by the shake of a hand and the trust established in long standing relationships.

We aren’t quite the same anymore, either St. Peter’s or North Texas. But we would like to think that we have built on a foundation and an ethos that was established then. While it is true, that you may not know everyone here by sight, it wouldn’t take long to get to know enough folks, that pretty soon, you would find someone who knew someone, who knew of whom you were speaking.

You see, St. Peter’s is about relationships. With God and with one another. In the Episcopal Book of Common Prayer, we are reminded that the mission of the Church is to “restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.” Yes, we try and be active, and there should be plenty of activities and groups to attract even the most reluctant. But underneath it all, St. Peter’s is about being there for one another, and being there as Christ’s light in the world.

I’m still a relative newcomer to North Texas, myself, having moved here from Lubbock. Before that I lived in rural Kansas, and going back even further, I grew up in a small town in Iowa. In a lot of ways, St. Peter’s feels like home. I’ve learned too, that others seem to have a similar experience. There are quite a few folks who have told me either that they felt immediately at home when walking in St. Peter’s, or that they knew immediately that there was something special about the church on College Street.

What I find especially pleasing, too, is that this is a church which likes to have fun. Sure there are serious and deep problems with the world. But the Lord God made us for joy. How else do we explain those Texas Sunsets? The sound of children at play? The boisterous energy of youth? The sublimity of music on Sunday morning? While we do take seriously our Lord’s call to serve in the world, and the awesome nature of true worship, let’s never get so caught up in either that we forget the wisdom of one of His saints, Julian of Norwich.

Christ carried us within him in love and travail,
until the full time of his passion.
And when all was completed and he had carried us so for joy,
still all this could not satisfy the power of his wonderful love.
All that we owe is redeemed in truly loving God,
for the love of Christ works in us;
Christ is the one whom we love.