It can’t just be Episcopalians who make “church tourism” a routine part of their travel plans, no matter where they go. There aren’t enough of us to make up the lines at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris or the tour groups that head for the Marc Chagall chapel windows near Strasbourg. Why do so many go out of their way to gaze at the painted wonders of Notre Dame in Old Montreal or the sheer alabaster windows at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles? 

It has to be a more universal kind of pull – to walk the stones where others have walked, to feel the years of prayerful attendance, to kneel in a new place. 

When we first made plans to go to London in the late 1990s, my mother-in-law wanted us to be sure to see St. Clements, a tiny church on the Strand that had been rebuilt after World War II bombings and now is the spiritual home of the RAF, complete with an organ gifted by the U.S. Air Force and a festival of beautiful embroidered kneelers. “Oranges and Lemons say the Bells of St. Clements,” she said, quoting an English nursery rhyme. 

Years later, for another trip, she sent us to Holy Trinity Church Sloane Square, which is a treasure trove of design elements from Arts and Crafts masters, including William Morris.

Truly, the breadth and scope of terrific churches to visit could fill itineraries seemingly to infinity. And you don’t need to travel abroad to savor the spirit of churches not your own. My sister who lives in Texas has wandered the small towns between San Antonio and Austin, finding and appreciating holy places of many denominations. Every once in a while, there will be a photo on my phone from her, detailing “a sweet Methodist church” built from the hopes of a young community a hundred or more years ago. 

Bruce and I have had some wonderful experiences. We found that it was easy to line up for evensong at Westminster Abbey on a weekday afternoon, which drew just enough people to allow us to sit with the choristers in the choir. We’ve nosed through the modernist aisles of  St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco, and wondered at the healing history of Santuario de Chamayo outside Santa Fe. Though I can tire of churches one after another on a trip, opening the door of the next one usually has rewards. 

Here’s what I mean: In Lyon this spring, we turned a corner in the old town into the courtyard of Eglise-Saint Paul. Held tight among neighborhood buildings, this structure dated to 598, and had been reconstructed in the 11th and 12th centuries, gaining several impressively old stained-glass windows. It became a retail store after the French Revolution, and endured more renovations through the 1800s as a parish church. But to our travelers’ eyes, this church seemed cool and tranquil, exuding a sense of permanence and peace – some quite good things to visit when you can.

-Molly Bowler

Along with many of you, I've been thinking a lot about the immigrants in our community and trying to better understand how things have changed for them.  It may seem that immigration is not really an issue in Montana, but it is indeed – and I’d like to take you on a little journey of what I have learned.

To begin with, there are probably at least 6 times more immigrants in Montana than there are Episcopalians.  In 2023, the Migration Policy Institute reports 24,623 “foreign born” residents of Montana (some of these may have become naturalized citizens or hold green cards).  And we know that many of these immigrants attend churches, including Episcopal churches.

In addition to these residents, we know that we have agricultural workers visiting the state to help our farmers and likely traveling through the state to work elsewhere.  I’ve seen them and interacted with them in the Flathead, where my wife and I helped with translating in previous years.

And we know that there are at least three organizations in the State working specifically on refugee resettlement: the IRC (International Rescue Committee) in Missoula, Lutheran Refugee Services in Billings and Soft Landing in Missoula.  The first two are among the ten previously authorized refugee resettlement agencies financed in part by the Federal Government and Soft Landing is an independent community organization.  An estimated 1,000 refugees have been resettled to Montana, most in the Missoula area.

In addition to these refugees, the National TPS Alliance has identified at least 145 immigrants in Montana with Temporary Protected Status (most believed to be Venezuelans in the Flathead area).

Despite immigration not being a major issue in Montana, some entities in our state have reached “287(g) agreements” with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 287(g) is a program for allowing state and local agencies to act as immigration enforcement agents.  Recently, the Montana Department of Justice signed a 287(g) agreement, which suggests that our Highway Patrol will likely become involved.

In addition, Lewis and Clark and Missoula Counties have apparently joined a Secure Community Program with ICE, allowing for automatic screening of individuals booked into county jails to identify criminal aliens… including the use of “facial recognition” (which has been shown to be inaccurate).  And Cascade County has a contract with ICE to provide detention services at their county jail and earn income as a result.

Beyond these facts, any pretense of treating immigrants with dignity may seem to have gone out the window over the past eight months. But I encourage us all to be mindful that this is a Montana issue – and it should be viewed through the lens of our Baptismal vows, which call for humane treatment, keeping families together and human dignity for all.

Then as they grew older, there was a new season of church. We all fell out of the habit, that all-rise togetherness of Sunday mornings. It may have been the increasing busy-ness of the weekends, growing children needing more sleep, that darn COVID, or maybe just everyone settling into their own personhood. In this new season, some of us would go to church and others would stay behind. And usually whoever went would come home and say, “I am so happy that I went to church, it felt good” and articulate what it was that felt good. The joyful music, the unity of reciting the liturgy together, seeing familiar faces, the cross leading the procession, being in community at the altar, sitting in silence with light streaming in the stained-glass windows. Instead of being a family activity, church was becoming more personalized – my children finding something different there, that one special thing that resonated with them that extended beyond just our family space in the pew.  

The season we are in now, as they are moving into official adulthood, is going to church together as a family only on Christmas. This is the only time that we have now. And it is a pretty heartwarming experience –  my son reciting the liturgy he learned so many years ago, my daughters singing with joy and vigor, everyone well practiced in the ways that we celebrate our faith as a community. 

And I think that this is what will keep them coming back, these moments in their spiritual home where they feel close to God and each other. Maybe they will become regular churchgoers once again. Or perhaps they will just wander into a church from time and time and feel that comfortable beautiful sense of belonging to a loving God. In any season, it is a good and pretty amazing thing.

“’Goodbye,” said the fox. ’It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.’”  The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.

Last week I was talking with a friend who said he had lived and taught in Korea for several years. He told me about the Korean way of expressing understanding of an idea or situation. In Korea, a person will physically gesture to their heart, not their head, and say, “ We understand!” Wow!  In one intuitive word and gesture they integrate knowledge of the heart as well as the head.

Since the Age of Enlightenment and René Descartes’ famous Cogito ergo sum pronouncement, (I think, therefore I am) all religious / spiritual belief and thought have been subjected to the rigors of scientific analysis. We forgot that the origin and meaning of the word ‘belief’ is not an intellectual assertion; the word derives from the old English and German words for love, or to hold dear, to have confidence in. It is not about scientific facts! It was an enormous relief to me when I first learned that saying “I believe” in the creed was not an intellectual declaration but much more about that which I gave my heart to. I was no longer stuck in a binary dilemma. Doors opened to studying and learning from many wonderful, wise sources.

There’s an unfortunate misunderstanding and assumption that ‘religious’ people don’t have or shouldn’t have questions and doubts!   Around the age of 10 years old, human beings begin to experience doubt; children start to question their parents’ judgements and everything else too! These doubts will and should continue for the rest of life: Faith and Doubt exist inseparably as twins.

Doubt, when it is actively and courageously engaged, is the seedbed of creativity. Without doubt we’d have no curiosity, no challenge to go deeper and explore further: We’d be stuck in a world of juvenile thinking! Instead, we dare to follow our hearts and intuitions and learn how to translate deep and received wisdom from other times into the language and understanding of our contemporary world.

I’m grateful to belong to a church that dares to explore the tensions between faith and doubt, between past and present, that allows for knowledge of the heart as well as of the head.

Ask any of the many Holy Spirit parishioners who, time after time, open their homes to visiting choir members for the Montana International Choral Festival and you’ll hear about this distinctively Missoula summertime adventure. As a host, you get to see Missoula and Western Montana through the eyes of visiting singers, and yes, you’ll have stories – lots of stories – to tell.

The Montana International Choral Festival, happening July 17-20, is once again welcoming singers from all over the world to Missoula. Members of Holy Spirit Episcopal Church and University Congregational Church are planning on hosting the three dozen 15 to 19-year-old singers of the Estonia Radio Girls Choir. 

Hosting a couple of singers allows for a uniquely personal Festival experience, and many lasting friendships have developed between host families and guests throughout the years – sometimes lasting a lifetime. 

Of course, summer is just getting underway and July may seem a long way off, but the Festival is already lining up host families for its international singers. If participating in this memorable international experience appeals to you, ask a fellow parishioner about their experience as hosts. Consider asking another Holy Spirit person or neighbor to share hosting with you. Ideally, the goal is to host the entire Estonia Radio Girls Choir between members of Holy Spirit and UCC, and even have them join us during the Sunday July 20 worship service. 

Every other year, the Montana International Choral Festival brings exciting choirs from all over the world to Missoula. Our Montana International Choral Festival has become known throughout the world for its artistic excellence and clearly for its hospitality. Having evolved from its grassroots beginnings into a prestigious international event, the Montana International Choral Festival remains a flagship for choral festivals worldwide.

There are many new events planned for the celebration, and the Festival has invited some great choirs that are anxious to come to Missoula and experience the beautiful scenery, international camaraderie, and hospitality and we have to offer. 

The Montana International Choral Festival is deeply grateful to the hundreds of Missoula residents who graciously opened their homes and hearts to international guests during its past Festivals. You’re invited to be part of Holy Spirit’s effort to host young singers from Estonia in July. To learn more, visit the MICF website, https://www.choralfestival.org/hosting/ 

--Lance Collister

My husband and I arrived at Holy Spirit in November 2023. Post pandemic changes had left us adrift from our faith community of two decades, and we were looking for a place where we could fit in. My vision loss and my husband’s hearing impairment further added to the challenge of trying to find our way.

On our second visit, we filled out a newcomer card and were delighted to receive an invitation to meet the priest. Soon enough, we had the opportunity to join a class to learn more about the Episcopal church. And within a couple of months, we were invited to a dinner for those new to the parish. There, we were welcomed and introduced to some of the longtime parishioners. Attending coffee hour each week gave us the chance to meet and get to know more people. We were also provided with permanent, engraved magnetic name tags. This simple gesture created a feeling of inclusion by signifying that we belonged.

The concept of welcoming the stranger, or xenophilia, is deeply embedded in biblical narrative. Indeed, it is a cornerstone of Christian teaching. Time and time again, Jesus exhorts his followers to show love and compassion to those normally shunned by society. He healed lepers, spent time with women, dined with a tax collector, and defended those considered to be sinners. In the parable of the Good Samaritan, he illustrated the radical love that defined His ministry. Jesus taught that caring for those outside our social or ethnic boundaries is not optional. We must show compassion to all, even to those we see as other.

In today’s fragmented culture, it can be hard to find places where we feel that we belong. We can join Facebook groups, subscribe to YouTube channels or follow TikTok influencers. But little of this creates true human connection. We are a social species and require relationships with family and friends to thrive. As English poet John Dunne observed, “no man is an island.”

At Holy Spirit, my husband and I have found open arms and open hearts. Not only do we have a wonderful place to worship, but a community where we can make new friends. People have taken the time to learn what we like to do and have found ways for us to serve that use the gifts and talents that we bring. Holy Spirit parishioners embody Jesus’ mandate to welcome the stranger, and we thank God for the opportunity to be part of this community of faith.

--Sara Streeter

Loneliness “can do everything from increase rates of high blood pressure, heart disease, increased rates of dementia, and actually decrease how long we live," Dr. Kelli Harding, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, told "Nightline” last fall. "It's as risky for health as, you know, smoking 15 cigarettes a day.” 

According to a 2024 public opinion poll by the American Psychiatric Association, one in three U.S. adults experiences loneliness at least once per week. About 10 percent of us feel lonely every day. 

We all can point to a host of reasons – too many screens, packed schedules, working at home, new habits leftover from the pandemic, living far from family and more. Today there are stacks of studies on loneliness and its antidote: In the UK there is even a Minister of Loneliness.  

But, interestingly, some of the prescriptions for easing loneliness and building in-person social connection are as simple and time-tested as joining a club, finding a hobby group, or going to church. 

If you’ve decided that pickleball is your way to connect with others, good for you. If it’s a hiking group or a scrapbooking club or the Kiwanis, great choice. If it’s trying out a church, here are some things to keep in mind because going to church is different from a yoga class or grabbing a coffee with friends.     

• It’s not transactional. As you come through the doors, you come without a ticket, reservation or the price of a cup of coffee. You come as you are.
• Welcome should be the first thing you experience. Look for a congregation where people reach out to say hello while also extending you the space you need to observe or quietly participate, as you wish. 
• Take your time and take it in. Churches are sensory experiences – old wood and stained windows or gleaming modernism; choral harmonies, praise band or even silence. Consider what you need and allow time and space for resonance.      
• Recognize that church not only offers connection with others, but it also sets us up to experience connection with a divine reality that is larger than ourselves. 
• Most of all, know that within church denominations, it’s certainly not “one size fits all.” Visit more than one to find the fit that’s best for you.  

Ultimately, church is community. That’s the appeal – people who come together in community to serve God and each other while building bonds of friendship and care. And that’s one good reason it could be  worthy of a place in your life.

Preparing for Holy Spirit's Spring Market is the perfect time to rethink the relationships we have with many of the material items in our lives. Wouldn't it be a blessing if some (or many) of the items we no longer needed no longer took up our space or worry time? Items that will instead bless someone else and, at the same time, allow with their purchase at the sale, for Holy Spirit to help others? Ahh, space – a blessing in itself.

Our donations to the market keep that relationship energy flowing. And, every inch of space created in our lives by donating items becomes a new place for us to enjoy – in whatever ways that might be. People bringing donations often thank us for opening up "room" in their home, garage, or life.  All the "I haven't used/needed this for years" or the "No one in my family even wants this" make us smile. And smiling is exactly what appears on the faces of those who come to the Spring Market and make their purchases. Because of our gifts. Again this year smiles will appear on the faces of residents as far away as Montana's Fort Belknap Indian Reservation. Mary Tromly's sister, Elizabeth, will again transport remaining items to the Service Center at Lodge Pole for distribution. All is passed along. 

Energy moving. Circulating in all the best directions. Open up spaces in your life by donating your items just as you have done by sharing your spirit in many other ways with Holy Spirit. Our relationships with and through Holy Spirit are among the finest we will ever experience.  Come. Participate in that joy!

 To learn more about Spring Market 2025, click here.

Budde’s message at Washington National Cathedral sought to underscore universal values shared by most world religions over the politics of hate and division. 

“We have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a people and a nation,” she said, “not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good. … It is not conformity. It is not victory. It is not polite weariness or passivity born of exhaustion. Unity is not partisan. 

“Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects our differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect, that enables us in our communities and in the halls of power to genuinely care for one another, even when we disagree.” 

Budde’s call for respect has its roots in Christian theology, and in the Baptismal Covenant that links Episcopalians and Anglicans around the world. The Baptismal Covenant connects believers with the ancient Christian tradition, calls us to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being. 

So the bishop’s plea to President Donald Trump was extraordinary, but quite ordinary, in terms of our church’s values. 

She said, “I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land.” Bishop Budde also raised the concerns of many gay, lesbian and trans individuals who are apprehensive about what policies of the new administration might mean for their lives. 

Hailed across the country for her calm but ringing words that are at the core of Christian action, Bishop Budde reflects the values of Episcopalians as far away as the National Cathedral and as close as your neighborhood parish. Unity, dignity, mercy and compassion, alongside kindness, love and care for neighbors no matter who they are – these virtues are words we all can use, and actions we all can strive to take.