St. Peter’s by-the-Lake in Brandon has long had the reputation of being different from typical Episcopal churches, a reputation we embrace and celebrate. We doubled down on celebrating our out-of-the-mainstream ways on July 23-24 when we held an Episcopal revival. And our new bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr. Dorothy Sanders Wells, supported the effort by joining us at the revival on July 24th.

When I told people we were having a revival, many people responded, “But Episcopal churches don’t have revivals!” Well, this one does, and it was wildly successful and energetic.

On the first night of our revival, we celebrated the Christian tradition in general, hoping to give listeners energy and encouragement in defending the faith. In modern life, Christians are criticized and mocked for being naïve at best and dangerous at worst. I gave the first talk on Faith, an effort to give us ways of thinking about and talking about our tradition. The Rev. Deacon Pam Rhea gave a poignant and powerful talk on Hope, and the Rev. Andy Andrews finished the evening with a Spirit-filled inspiring talk on Love. The evening started with music—both traditional hymns and more contemporary selections—and music formed bridges between the presentations.

The second night we focused on the Episcopal expression of Christianity, with Eucharist celebrated by Bishop Wells. We heard a talk on “Gathering the Saints” by Bishop Wells and one on “Equipping the Saints” by the Rev. Deacon Pam Rhea. The Rev. Josh Shipman of Corinth delivered the sermon, entitled “Sending the Saints.”

Why would we attempt a revival in such a turbulent time in our culture? At St. Peter’s, we feel that our neighbors are hungry for God, even though they might identify their hunger as a need for something else. We also believe that, while all religions are human-made and thus flawed, the Episcopal way is a particularly beautiful expression of traditional Christianity. Yet it remains largely unknown, especially in the South. The Episcopal tradition encourages human beings to use our intellect and imagination in service of our faith, rather than setting up a false conflict between faith and intellect. But people need to know about us.
And so, we step forth, with courage and optimism, into revival.