Acts 1:15-17, 21 – end, John 17: 6-19

What is this building to you? What memories, what sounds, what smells does it conjure up?

Many of you here have grown up with this church as a part of your lives – it is literally part of the furniture – an immovable, grand landmark that was here long before us and, hopefully, long after us. It is history, it is present and it is future.

I love the history, the tradition it represents – the hundreds of worshippers it has welcomed through its doors, the hospitality it has shown. You can sense it in the walls, in the very fabric of the ancient stone.

As I’m sure many of you know it was dedicated to St. James back in the 13th Century – the patron saint of Pilgrims – as it is built near the Pilgrims way – a welcome stop for those on their journeys to Spain to visit the shrine of St. James’ and those on their way to visit St. Thomas a Beckett in Canterbury; A place of rest, reflection and hospitality. A Place of worship, a house of prayer, a symbol of the presence of God in the midst of us. A gathering place in which to learn, to be challenged, to rest, to come close to God.

Like so many of our churches it has nurtured the household of God, connected us to all those who have gone before us, and God has built us together spiritually.

It’s a huge personal privilege for me to step into the shoes of so many faithful clergymen before me. I look at the long list of vicars and Rectors on the wall over there and have to pinch myself that I have the honour of serving you here in this beautiful village and in this special church.

History and tradition are important. But so is the present.

Our church is a building, yes, but God’s church are the people – you. And we are all on our own journey, our own pilgrimage as we stumble along in our faith together. This church brings the weary, the lost, the confused together – the faith filled and the doubters. Pilgrims from across the centuries have gathered here to confess, pray, praise and to look for hope and solace.

Our church still has a place for the seekers. In our current culture our society may have forgotten that church was the place where the lost and hopeless came to find guidance, direction and hope; we may have decided to look elsewhere for the answers to the big questions.

But there is a growing curiosity about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus – and people are beginning to look again at the church, it’s people and its beliefs as they try and make sense of their 21st century lives.

We have pilgrims regularly coming in to gaze in wonder at our church; walkers, pub goers, cyclists. People perhaps without a faith but with a curiosity as to what church is all about. This building, this place offers a promise of sacred rest, a space to stop and reconnect with a power greater than themselves.

So what of the future?

Our readings today speak of the in-between times, we are in between Ascension, which was last Thursday, and Pentecost, which we celebrate next Sunday.

Behind us is the life of Jesus, his death, his mighty resurrection and glorious ascension. In front of us is the unknown, the very new thing that God will do among his people – the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

I sense that God’s church is in the in between times too.

We had the good ‘ole days where churches were packed and we lived in a Christian country. And now we are post Christendom, a bit lost and bewildered at the state of the church and it’s decline – frantically trying every course and throwing grand worship events around in our attempts to draw people back to church. We think we are in the same shoes as the disciples where – between Ascension and Pentecost – as they tried to make sense of the absence of Jesus.

In this liminal stage, the ‘where is God and what is he doing stage’ we forget who is in control.

We forget the natural process of things – the creating pattern that our natural world lives by, the process that God created – the birth, death and resurrection story that we all live by.

Ultimately, we have all we need – God the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit – creator, the sustainer and nurturer.

God is not going anywhere, our church is not going anywhere because we are not going anywhere, but as we travel, as we walk our pilgrimage of faith as disciples of Christ we are renewed and transformed – as is his church throughout the ages.