Diversity in Faith: Father Matthew Presents
Okay, so I'm a little unnerved by this young man calling himself "Father," but this is so very good I had to share it.
"Finally, I suspect that it is by entering that deep place inside us where our secrets are kept that we come perhaps closer than we do anywhere else to the One who, whether we realize it or not, is of all our secrets the most telling and the most precious we have to tell." Frederick Buechner
Thursday, February 08, 2007
3 comments:
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(With thanks to Sojourners)
Well, SPCY.org is real, as is Fr. Matthew. I like the message even if the man is...oh...unorthodox. He appears to be the Curate of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, indeed in Yonkers.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure the oddities of his presentation add to or detract from the message. Juggling is cool, and I'm impressed by how adroit he is; but does it add something. And staging a fall-over at the end perhaps is even less so. It reminds me too much of Chevy Chase ("and you're not").
I don't think he's trying to be Chevy Chase. My take on it is that he's trying to reach a young audience. I researched the St. Paul's Yonkers website and found that they are building a church from the ground up. The old church had closed and then was reopened. He was interviewed on TV and is getting national attention through the internet. A quote from one new member states :
ReplyDelete"I decided that's the church I want to be in because it spoke to a younger audience, my generation," said 20-year-old O'Connor.
O'Connor is one of a growing group of congregants at St. Paul's who have joined since its reopening. Sunday service at the church now draws some 25 people, up from just five when it closed. Part of that audience comes from a supporting parish in Manhattan that sent congregants to Yonkers to help revive the church.
Moretz's video blog has drawn fan e-mails from throughout the United States and abroad, and at least two other churches have tried to duplicate his efforts."
Not only do I think that he is on to something, but the results speak volumes.
I know this young priest from before he was a priest, working as a camp counselor in the diocese in which I live. He used to juggle for the kids - I have remarked a couple of times for him to juggle on his vlog. Who knows, maybe because he had some folks encouraging him to do it?
ReplyDeleteVery sincere kind young man who deeply loves God and the Episcopal Church!