St James

Today is the feast of St James. This year I have begun worshipping regularly at St James, King Street. It is wonderful to feel accepted in an Anglican church within the Diocese of Sydney. The form of worship may not be to everyone's liking but I find it very emotional and satisfying. I feel the Eucharist is truly a time of Union with God. The sermons have been wonderful. Dr Muriel Porter on the 7th May was on the Motherhood of God. Such views are so refreshing and her book has been a breath of fresh air for a Gay man forced to worship in the Sydney diocese.
Michael Horsburgh last Sunday affirmed the acceptance of women and gay men as priests and bishops. His sermon can be read. I felt God speaking as both my sister and I were there just 2 weeks after Mum's death and Michael concluded with the words of John Donne
"The church is Catholic, universal, so are all her actions; all that she does belongs to all. When she baptizes a child, that action concerns me; for that child is thereby connected to that body which is my head too, and ingrafted into that body whereof I am a member. And when she buries a man, that action concerns me: all mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated; God employs several translators; some pieces are translated by age, some by sickness, some by war, some by justice; but God's hand is in every translation, and his hand shall bind up all our scattered leaves again for that library where every book shall lie open to one another."
While Michael was referring to the acceptance by God of all men and women, I felt God was especially speaking to us in our recent loss. I thank God for guiding me to St James this year.