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My submission for the contest at [link] - (I am an Anglican, but they graciously invited the faithful from our denomination to participate!)

Contest info: [link]

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"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith." -St. Paul, speaking to persecuted Christians caught in the midst of the violent and oppressive Roman empire.

The religious landscape is becoming increasingly polarized.

More and more individuals choose either fearful fundamentalism or write off God altogether. Meanwhile, those historic, old churches in the middle have seen a sharp and rapid decline in recent years.

But for those who seek the middle way, there is hope.

I offer you this photograph as evidence of that hope. This group of teenagers are among the poor and the outcasts. They are members of the newly formed community of St. Jude's Episcopal Church in Phoenix. Urban kids with rough lives, who are overcoming obstacles together. They are resisting the pervasive culture of death - drugs, gang violence and racism. They are serving their community against all odds, united in prayer and the breaking of bread.

The Diocese of Arizona's Cathedral has doubled in membership over a single year, with thousands of curious newcomers streaming in to experience the joy of Easter. Most of them are young adults living in the downtown metro area. At a time when the whole world is dying and collapsing under its own greed, we will make "Alleluia!" our song.

There are three vibrant and growing ministries on the state college campuses - ASU, U of A, and NAU - and ten new parishes have been announced in the past several years alone, most of which are serving the needs of young families who seek a better life for their children.

We kneel before the altar and the tabernacle where God is mysteriously Present. And we turn to each other in love.

In the words of Bishop Frank Weston:

"You cannot claim to worship Jesus in the tabernacle, if you do not pity Jesus in the slums...It is folly - it is madness - to suppose that you can worship Jesus in the sacraments and Jesus on the throne of glory, when you are sweating him in the souls and bodies of his children."


Seek peace and pursue it.