THE CROSS AND A PLACE TO CALL HOME

GOOD FRIDAY

We celebrated Good Friday yesterday, the day in which Jesus was hung upon the cross for the salvation of the world. In the Anglican tradition, this is part-two of a three-day liturgy known as the Triduum. Good Friday is a day of fasting that reminds us of the role our sin played in our Lord’s crucifixion.

This year felt very different for me as I’m sure it did for you. For me, this year felt different because at TFS Mission we have not yet begun public services and in addition to this, we are in the middle of a worldwide pandemic. Yesterday morning I decided to pick up the Anglican liturgy (i.e., worship service) for Good Friday which has a beautiful section called “The Solemn Collects.” One of these prayers in particular reminded me of the rationale behind our logo and some of our hopes for Springfield, Franconia, and Kingstowne. The prayer says,

Let us pray for all those who do not believe in Christ, that the Holy Spirit may enlighten them through the Gospel and bring them into the way of salvation…

Merciful God, creator of all the peoples of the earth and lover of souls: Have compassion on all who do not know you as you are revealed in your Son Jesus Christ; let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

THE LOGO

Clicking the images above will show first our logo, then the Springfield Interchange, and finally, the Racial Dot Map, produced by the University of Virginia using 2010 census data. Most people in northern Virginia will have driven through the Springfield Interchange (i.e., the mixing bowl) which takes people east to Washington D.C., west to Tysons Corner or Fairfax City, north to Baltimore, or south to Richmond. The area surrounding the Springfield Interchange is truly a mixing bowl of diversity: multi-ethnic, socio-economic, age, household size, and industry (e.g., military, medical, government, education, hospitality).

It is only the cross of Jesus Christ which can take this intersection of disparate communities and create a home from which individuals are sent forth with the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as the collect for Good Friday says, “let your Gospel be preached with grace and power to those who have not heard it; turn the hearts of those who resist it; and bring home to your fold those who have gone astray; that there may be one flock under one Shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.” [Emphasis mine]. The cross of our logo creates this home by reminding us of two things: 1) that Jesus Christ is to be worshiped first and foremost, and 2) that we move from hospitality to spiritual formation.

The work of Christ as first and foremost

The cross reminds us that Jesus is the one Shepherd over His flock. He endured the cross and calls His disciples to take up the cross daily to follow Him. This means taking up the difficult task of recognizing where we are privileged, where we might harbor resentments or the need to forgive others, where our addictions might be leading us away from life in God, or where we have preferences because of our culture, story, or family of origin. Dying to self is to lift up the cross of Jesus, worship the Triune God, and put our own desires for notoriety, comfort, and security to death so that people from all walks of life who have gone astray might be brought home into one flock, under the great Shepherd, Jesus Christ.

We move from hospitality to formation

My hope for the Franconia-Springfield Mission is that over the course of time we develop the reputation of being a church of dining room tables, a place where conversation and vulnerability happens, where trust is built between disparate cultures and different life-journeys. The Celtic-style loops that form the cross remind us of the rich monastic tradition of the Celts which was, “characterised by a sense of balance and rhythm, between solitude and community, activity and contemplation, worship and pastoral care.” (Colonies of Heaven, 18) and it reminds us of their open posture of invitation: “The Hospitality and pastoral care practised in the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon monasteries was part and parcel of a broader ministry of presence and availability in which the Church’s primary role was conceived of as simply being there in the midst of the people.” (Colonies of Heaven, 14). This is not unlike the first Christians in Acts 2:42-47 for whom hospitality was a ritual occurrence.

As the prayer from the Good Friday liturgy says, “…let us pray for all those who do not believe in Christ, that the Holy Spirit may enlighten them through the Gospel and bring them into the way of salvation.” And as we pray for our neighbors in Springfield, Franconia, and Kingstowne, let us continue to pray that we become a community of people who take up their cross daily to follow Jesus. May we be a community who by the Cross of Christ creates a home for disparate groups of weary travelers.

In the hope of His resurrection,

Morgan+