Pastor
Bob’s message at Grace City today was Identity, Purpose, Quest; using the
example of The Rich Young Man in Mark chapter 10. Part of Bob’s message centered around how
Jesus gives us an identity, a purpose and a quest.
Someone
sent me a link to a Virginian-Pilot
article about TQ. The article,
orginally from 1977, quoted a 17 year-old parishioner who said, “They think he is crazy, but he isn’t. He is creative. It took a lot of people a
long time to get used to him. I like his
style.” I have a small archive or
articles about TQ, but I had never seen this one. What’s more amazing is the person quoted was
me.
When
I put this article together with Bob’s message, I saw more than ever the
magnificent gift of knowing TQ. Even at
age 17, I recognized TQ was a special person.
Today I realize what an influence he had on my life and I’m beginning to
see the enormity of his gnerosity by giving me time at the end of his life to
make a film about him.
Identity
TQ
brought identity to every parish he served.
Whether it was leading good Shepherd in Alexandria to reinterpreting the
gospel for the modern age by driving a VW Beetle down the aisle for Palm
Sunday, or encouraging St. Vincent’s to become an integrated parish, TQ
emphasized each parish find it’s identity.
Arriving
at St. Mary’s, TQ lamented the congregation was “de-Blackized and Romanized,” encouraging
them express their African-American heritage and use that culture to enhance
the worship there.
Purpose
Establishing
identity is the foundation for discovering your purpose. St. Kateri’s identity as a parish connected
to the Poquoson and Tabb communites led to the Thrift Shop, a pillar of the
community working hand in hand with local government and other churches to be
the safety net. St. Mary’s identity led
them to become the preeminent Aftican-American minor Basilica in the U.S. Church of the Holy Family’s search for an
international identity birthed that parishes paratnership with a parich in
Haiti, leading to water projects, a hospital and a school.
