During the summer of 2008, I had the sabbatical opportunity to spend time at three great churches – The Church of the Resurrection (Holy Sepulcher) in Jerusalem, St. Peters Basilica in Rome, and the Washington National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

I had been to the Holy Sepulcher before, but not for (Orthodox) Holy Week and Easter, including the Holy Fire Ceremony when thousands jam the church and the streets outside to see and receive the flame which the Patriarch of Jerusalem brings out of the tomb of Jesus.  One can speak of but never adequately describe this event when Christians of many different (and divided) traditions gather in an atmosphere which is both exciting and frightening, to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus and to Christianity’s roots.

St. Peters Basilica in Rome is the largest church building in the world, just as the Roman Catholic Church centered there has the largest membership of any Christian body.  Yet in a strange way all Christians are somehow at home there and thus it stands for something larger than Roman Catholicism alone (witness the funeral of Pope John Paul II).  Here, maybe more than anywhere else, we see Christianity as a worldwide community of faith.

The Washington National Cathedral is both an Episcopal Church and the National Cathedral in our nation where no religion is officially established.  Its memorials, windows, and other art try to express this and it has indeed become a center of ecumenical and interfaith events, of engaging important social issues, and of great national occasions.  Here we see the challenges of faith in a free and democratic society.

For me these three great churches represent a challenge – how do we hold together our Christian roots, the Church as a worldwide body, and our deeply held American values regarding freedom, including religious freedom?  How can our differences lead to the strength of diversity more than the strife of division?  Taking up this challenge in our community, society, and world is a good bit of the work God has set before us in our day.