BENTONVILLE-Sunday morning was a momentous occasion for All Saints' Episcopal Church in Bentonville. The congregation met for its first worship service in the theater of Washington Junior High School.
In the midst of tensions between the U. S. denomination and the worldwide Anglican Communion, the establishment of the congregation was a joyous event.
All Saints' is the first congregation of the Episcopal Church to be started in Northwest Arkansas since the organization of St. Theodore's in Bella Vista in 1977, and the first in the state since 1991.
The Rev. Roger Joslin said the worshippers were excited and spirited. "We couldn't have asked for a better day," he said.
The theater was filled with about 200 worshippers, including guests and visitors from other Episcopal churches in the area. The church already has a core group of about 125 that has been gathering in small groups for the past several months.
A school theater room isn't a typical meeting place for a church, especially one with such a rich history of liturgy. But All Saints' isn't a typical church. Joslin, 55, said the congregation is on the cutting edge of the emerging church movement, with worship that combines traditional, ancient liturgy with progressive theology.
The room is transformed into a worship area, complete with a pulpit and altar. Worship isn't as "high church" as in other Episcopal sanctuaries, but Joslin said the service provides a sense of history and tradition, as well as more contemporary elements. For example, the music is a mix of hymns, Taize-style chants and praise songs.
"We'll mix the old and the new, the contemporary and the ancient," he said. Only a small percentage of the church's members come from an Episcopal background. Many come from other denominations, and some have never attended church services until discovering All Saints'.
Joslin began forming the church in June, meeting people wherever he could, from city council meetings to art shows. His clerical collar would inevitably draw questions and led to conversations about the new congregation.
The church's foundation was laid with small groups that met in homes, coffee shops and pubs.
"People think of it as a formidable task, but it's like a great secret," Joslin said about starting a new congregation. "It's the best job. I get to go and meet people."
The Rev. Dennis G. Campbell, canon for congregational development for the Episcopal Diocese of Arkansas, said the diocesan leaders had been searching for a new location for a church for several years. Northwest Arkansas seemed to be the logical place, based on the growth of the area. The real test, however, was finding the right person to start the church. Campbell said Joslin was the perfect person for the job. "He's a very entrepreneurial priest. You don't find many of them like that," Campbell said. "Our seminaries tend to create clergy that maintain the institution, not to create something out of nothing." Campbell joked that the Episcopal church waited for trains, hotels and restaurants before joining the westward expansion into the American frontier, unlike other denominations.
"The concept of reaching the unchurched is relatively new to the Episcopal Church," he said, adding that All Saints' is a positive move for the church. "It's getting back to the business of reconciling people in their relationship with Jesus Christ." Joslin hopes the church will appeal to those who haven't felt accepted by churches in the past, or those who believe they have outgrown the theology of their childhood. "They no longer view the Bible as literally true and want to find the larger truth in" the Bible," Joslin said. "The lack of dogmatism is also part of the appeal. People find it refreshing that they can ask whatever they want and explore different ways of conceiving God. Joslin said others are drawn to the church because of its inclusiveness and its willingness to ask questions, while others are drawn to the beauty of the liturgy. "It's an interesting mix," he said. "We are very experimental and are willing to try things and if it doesn't work we will try something different." The core of the church, however, will be the ancient liturgy. "We'll have a different look, but with a solid, well-traveled path and that's exciting to me," he said. "People are looking for something comfortable and solid, but that is willing to try things that are different."
The U. S. branch of the Episcopal Church has been struggling with the worldwide Anglican Communion over several issues, including same-sex blessing ceremonies, the ordination of gay bishops and most recently, the consecration of the first female leader of the U. S. church. Churches in Virginia and other dioceses have voted to leave the denomination, while others refuse to recognize the authority of the new presiding bishop, the Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori.
Despite the tensions in the worldwide church family Joslin said there was no hesitation about starting a church in Northwest Arkansas. "What's taking place in the larger church seems to have almost nothing to do with what we are doing here," he said. Joslin said the Episcopal Church has a history of upheaval and change. Churches have left the denomination in the past over the issue of slavery, the ordination of women and revisions to the Book of Common Prayer, the centuries-old guide to Anglican worship, This is another period of change," he said. The church's name- All Saints-Episcopal Church- is indicative of the congregation's inclusive nature. "We don't think of saints in terms of only those people in the church who've lived exemplary lives, so exemplary that they are canonized, but that we are all saints. We're all children of God," he said. "It fits very well with the idea of reaching out to people of all kinds." Joslin said visitors will like All Saints'. "They'll find a sense of hospitality that surpasses a handshake and a smile and gives a sense of inclusion," he said. "There will be a clear sense they are a part of something ancient, something that is historical and is firmly embedded in Christian tradition, but at the same time is the kind of place that is accepting of people of all kinds."
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