This week, E News is wearing red vestments for the Feast of St. Martin, observed Sunday! This is a bit untraditional but, because our church color is also red, we took some creative license.

As the nation lurches agonizingly through this general election cycle, I have found the only way for me to get through this: going into a 24-7 news blackout. For the last week The Great British Baking Show has been a welcome alternative to the 6 o’clock news and the endless commentary-on-speculation that dominates the airwaves at present. I also drew courage and hope from this week’s commemoration of William Temple, perhaps the greatest churchman and social progressive of the interwar years, and Archbishop of Canterbury 1941-44.

Temple’s famous claim was that the church is the only organization that exists for those who are not yet its members. Among the bishops of the Church of England in 1941, Prime Minister Winston Churchill described him as the only half crown article in the sixpenny bazaar. At the time a half crown was worth five shillings, and there were 12 pennies in each shilling. Despite the Archbishop holding political views diametrically opposed to his own, Churchill knew that the nation needed a man of supreme courage and conviction – a corrective lesson for our own sorry time.

There is much I could say about Archbishop Temple. But given the times we find ourselves in, I simply want to remind us of Temple’s role as a visionary and progressive thinker who continually challenged the status quo of his time in the name of the God of Justice. At the darkest point of the crisis that faced Britain in 1941-42, long before a victorious outcome of the war had fully emerged, Temple gathered together the leading thinkers of the time to develop the blueprint for the root and branch restructuring of British society after the war had ended. In the Malvern Conferences, Archbishop Temple exhorted others to follow his lead and engage in bold and courageous thinking - what we call "thinking well outside the box" today.

Although he died prematurely - and his death was a huge blow to both church and nation - his vision came to fruition in the welfare reforms of the Labour Government that swept to power in 1945, resulting in universal health care, universal elementary, secondary, and tertiary education, and social care legislation that established a universal safety net to prevent the most vulnerable from falling arbitrarily into poverty and destitution.

As I write, the outcome of the US election is far from clear. For this, together with the pandemic raging more fiercely around us, we could be forgiven for slipping into a counsel of despair. However, let’s instead be encouraged by the witness of Archbishop William Temple, a witness to the power of light amidst darkness. Let us realize that now is not the time to despair or give up, but to renew our belief in a future better than our past, a future shaped by courageous hope for the reform of our society. May the promise enshrined in the Constitution for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness become the attainable birthright of all our people, regardless of race, ethnicity, class, gender, or sexual identity.

In the midst of a national existential crisis, Temple recognized the moment for change: when the same tired-old answers and cliched arguments against a serious social and structural critique of society had truly run their course. Regardless of the election outcome, we cannot afford to lose hope and give up on working tirelessly to be the change we long to see. Let’s not be daunted when the struggle grows tougher than we expected, when the cost of defending democracy is greater than we anticipated. Keep Archbishop William Temple in mind.

Be safe and stay sane,

Mark+

It's that time of year again! Please bring your items in a brown paper bag. Thanksgiving baskets will be distributed to Better Lives RI and Camp Street Ministries. We will continue to receive non-perishable food items for Better Lives RI throughout the year.

Suggested Items: canned corn, green beans, mixed vegetables, canned cranberry sauce, canned squash or pumpkin, stuffing mix, instant potato, nuts, etc.

We are open for Fall shopping and accepting donations of new and gently-used fall and winter clothing and accessories. Email Heather Tingle for larger donations.

We need more people who can run the Audio/Visual equipment during livestream. Ian Tulungen is offering a training on Monday, November 9 at 5:30 PM in the Sanctuary.