The Rev. Kerry C. Neurhardt has been a priest for 30 years, and was just recently assigned a new mission: to become the priest in charge of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Christiansted.
Neurhardt arrived in St. Croix on March 1 from Arizona, where he had been the priest in a diocese in Phoenix.
St. John’s celebrated its 250th anniversary in October and its building is an iconic representation of how faith has played a role in overcoming hardship. Twice it has been almost completely obliterated, but community members rebuilt the structure, and Neurhardt’s new mission is to help restore the building and rejuvenate its members.
“Christianity is not about believing the right things – nor is it about necessarily doing enough of the right things in this life in order to win the reward of an afterlife. It’s about a relationship with the sacred now, so that the reward of having a relationship to that which is sacred and transcendent is as much about ‘now’ as it is about something that is hoped for later,” he said.
For several years, Neurhardt has been sent to revitalize congregations that have had significant difficulties – generally with church splits or financial hardships. St. John’s structure is becoming unstable, and as well as the congregation since the former priest, the Rev. Robert Dendtler, left.
Neurhardt believes he will have to be at St. John’s for at least three years in order to create sustainable change and implement new and restorative ideas.
“My strategy is to encourage people to focus on the positive; I think what we focus on becomes our reality – it has been said ‘that what we water with intention, is what grows,’” he said.
The Episcopal Church as a whole has undergone an extraordinary amount of change in the last few years. For example, there have been church splits over the ordination of gay and lesbian priests and also women – the presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, is the first female bishop to lead a national church in the Anglican Communion. Neurhardt explained in detail how the Episcopal Church has emerged with some newer ideas about Christianity.
The worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is a part, used to have a three legged-stool approach to Christianity: scripture, tradition, and reason. Neurhardt explained that primacy was always given scripture in this older version of Christianity, which held these three main beliefs:
• Scripture is a divine product, therefore it is inerrant and to be taken literally.
• Christianity is about getting to heaven; doing the right things now to win reward of the afterlife.
• Christianity is the only “true” religion and is exclusive.
However, the emerging, newer form of Christianity that the Episcopal Church embraces is said to rely on a four-legged stool approach, which holds equality with scripture, tradition, reason and experience.
“All four are equally important and we learn religious truths from all of them – there’s not just one way to experience the love of God, but we must be open to everything,” he said.
The newer form of Christianity holds:
1 – The Bible is a human product based on the Old and New Testament of two communities, Hebrew and Christian, and two voices, God and Jesus, respectively.
2 – Christianity is not about “doing the right things” but about experiencing the sacred and transcendent in the community now.
3 – Christianity is not the only “true religion” but is one of many enduring world religions which connect us to the sacred.
4 – Christianity is inclusive of all persons, no matter what unique traits they may have.
In the short time since Neurhardt has been here, he has tried to initiate a new style of thinking by using a method called “appreciate inquiry,” where he puts the focus on parishioners by continually motivating them to experience the sacred in every moment.
“I try to ask the congregation to tell me what their best experience of the sacred is, and then tell them that every time they come to St. John’s, it could possibly be their best.” He continued, “As Jesus said to his disciples, who do you say that I am? Ultimately everyone needs to answer that question – and church is really about making a difference in the world – not about getting people to church, but about being the church in the world.”
Neurhardt is also planning to bring new music and ways to worship song at St. John’s because he says that music is such a vital part of the Episcopal Church and is in need of constant revision. The Church’s musician, Otis Gibbs, has done a fantastic job with the music, Neuhardt said, and he is excited to share some more modern Christian music with him. He feels that it is one of many ways to revitalize the community, and as St. Augustine famously said "To sing once is to pray twice."
