Statement on the Blessing of Same-Sex Relationships

On July 7^th 2012 The 77^th General Convention of the Episcopal Church authorized a provisional liturgy for the blessing of same-sex relationships. [resolution A049 available here]. The Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island’s deputation voted unanimously in support of this action. Our current bishop, the Right Reverent Geralyn Wolf, also voted in favor.

The 77^th General Convention was careful to specify that this liturgy is not to be misunderstood as a marriage rite, that it is a provisional liturgy while more theological work is being done. It is a pastoral response to those in committed same sex relationships who seek the blessing of the church.

As a provisional liturgy, Resolution A049 calls for three years of careful review and a report to the 2015 General Convention, to include diverse theological perspectives, “further engagement with scripture and the relevant categories and sources of systematic theology (e.g., creation, sin, grace, salvation, redemption, human nature)” and an open process to review the liturgy through responses from dioceses, congregations, individuals, the Anglican Communion, and our ecumenical partners.

A049 also specifies that the liturgy will not be authorized for use until the first Sunday in Advent 2012, which is December 2^nd of this year. Due to Bishop Wolf’s retirement and Bishop Elect Nicholas Knisely’s consecration November 17^th, the implementation of this liturgy will be at his direction in consultation with others.

Bishop Elect Nicholas Knisely did not have vote at this year’s General Convention, but during his election process this past May he spoke in support of authorizing a blessing of same-sex relationships while at the same time honoring the diversity of opinion on this subject in Rhode Island Episcopal Parishes.

Bishop Elect Knisely reminds Rhode Island Episcopalians of Roger William’s legacy of religious tolerance. He said this week “How do we live into a world where people disagree? We are Episcopalians. We understand and fully expect that we won’t agree. That would be a “pure” church – and we have historically rejected that understanding of how to live as God’s people in the world.  We find our unity in common prayer.”

In the time between now and December 2^nd the Bishop Elect will be working with diocesan bodies to craft a process of mutual discernment between parishes, clergy, and congregations for whom offering a blessing liturgy would be appropriate in their context.

General Convention July 12th Closing Eucharist: The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori

General Convention July 12 Sermon:
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

I have some bad news.  PB&F [1 ] asked Gregory Straub [2] to find the latest audit, and when he went looking in the Archives, he discovered that we have been using the wrong edition of the Constitution and Canons all through our deliberations.  The general conclusion is that everything we’ve done here is therefore invalid.  Are you ready to start over?

That’s basically what happened with King Josiah.  Hilkiah went to investigate the Temple finances and discovered that they’d been reading the wrong rule book for years and years.

We’ve had some struggles here that sound a little bit like that – like whether this body is hierarchical or not, or what kind of governance or structure fits what those guys who held the first Episcopal Church convention had in mind back in 1785.

It will take many more Conventions before we all agree about anything, but, you know what?  IT DOESN’T MATTER!  We won’t all agree before the Second Coming, but there is only one essential rule – “love one another,” says Jesus, “as I have loved you.”  That is the one and only rule of life together in Christ.  It is the same one that Augustine of Hippo cited:  “love God and do as you please.”  Martin Luther’s version was, “sin boldly… and more boldly still rejoice in Christ.”

Our task is not to timidly take comfort in the details of our nice behavior – not even in impeccable parliamentary procedure!  Life in Christ is risky, it’s about leaping into the uncertain choices before us, like Indiana Jones on that light bridge [3 ] – stepping out over the chasm without knowing if the bridge will be there until we do.  Way down in the depths, deep down, the body of Christ has an abiding memory of the trustworthiness of that bridge, even if some of the individual members don’t remember quite so well.

That’s what Lars Olof Jonathan Söderblom offered the world.  The body of Christ, indeed the whole body of all faithful people, has much to teach its members about trust and confidence – and it is all about love. 

Söderblom – who went by Nathan – was a Swedish Lutheran pastor, theologian, and Archbishop of Uppsala, born in 1866 and died in 1931.  He came from a tradition of border crossers, and it was evident even in his early life.  His university degree was in Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, and Latin, and he started the formal academic study of comparative religions.[4]  In 1890 he came to the United States for a meeting of the Student Missionary Association – something like a General Convention for young adults.  He went back to Sweden, was ordained and was appointed chaplain to a mental hospital. Then he started looking for a job that would pay enough to let him get married.  Anna Forsell was one of 20 women students among the 1700 men in the University, and she was his writing partner as well as his wife.  Söderblom did find a job; he was appointed to the Swedish church in Paris, and stayed there until 1901.  That Parisian congregation was filled with Scandinavian artists, diplomats, and merchants, among them Alfred Nobel and August Strindberg, and the several older of the Söderblom’s 13 children. 

The Church of Sweden started planting churches abroad in 1626, and that church in Paris was the first one.  Several of the ones in the American colonies were later transferred to The Episcopal Church.[5]  The Church of Sweden has an ancient tradition of ecumenism, loving and learning and working with others.

Söderblom went back to Sweden to take an academic post in theology at Uppsala University, and he began a theological revival in the Swedish church that spread about the world.  He worked on the easy stuff like world peace and liturgical renewal.

Söderblom is remembered most distinctly for starting the modern ecumenical movement, with the Conference on Life and Work in Stockholm in 1925.  He insisted that personal spirituality made no sense if it was divorced from work for justice in the larger society, and he repeatedly called on Christian leaders to make common cause for world peace.  He received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1930.

Peace begins with loving one another.  Start with the people in this room.  This body has done a pretty good job over the last few days.  We’ve seen quite a few leaps beyond old spheres of safety for the sake of the other.  Each person who has stepped out has done so in order to meet another.  And we have discovered a new place, a third way beyond what either one knew before.

Take what you have learned here about deep hospitality [6] and keep moving toward the other.  Maybe we can even figure out how to love everybody in this church.  This reconciling work isn’t like BASE jumping [7] – finding a thrill by stretching some rubber band that ties you to the earth.  God’s mission is real faith work, the kind of trusting vulnerability that knows there’s only one rule to keep us safe, the spirit’s tether that will draw us into the arms of a Friend on the other side of that chasm. [8]

So step on out there past this narrow ledge of safety and love one another.  Step out there and expect to find your Friend on the other side.  Cross the chasm and you will find the other – and every single one of them will bear the image of God.  Trust the wings of the morning, and take a flying leap!  Take a flying leap into the future, and toward the other.  The bridge is there – we call it the Light of the World.

[1] Program, Budget, and Finance – committee that develops the budget
[2] The Rev. Gregory Straub is the Secretary of General Convention
[3 ]Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
[4] A good biographical review can be found here:  http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1930/soderblom-bio.html
[5] http://www.colonialswedes.org/Churches/Churches.html and related sites
[6] http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/07/11/the-rev-stephanie-spellers-preaches-at-convention-eucharist
[7] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BASE_jumping
[8] Draw us in the Spirit’s Tether, music by Harold Friedell; text by Percy Deamer

General Convention Deputy Reflections: the Passing of the Budget

Dennis Stark, Lay Deputy to General Convention
On July 10th the Program Budget and Finance Committee (PB&F) presented their recommended budget for the Triennium 2013-2015. Yesterday each house debated that budget.  The House of Deputies started by suspending the rules for one hour so that the discussion could be free of motions to amend, divide, and call the question.

The first step was for small groups of sixteen to discuss the budget together, in our case we were paired with the deputies from Delaware.  We talked about the asking of l9% for each year, the block grants, and the approach to funding the development office by a grant from past operating surpluses.  We did not have any problem with these proposals.

Next the entire body was able to make comments and ask questions.  Various members of PB&F answered those questions.  Some people asked about the recommendation to fund the Anglican Council at 50% of the amount requested, others asked about the reduction in the budget for Committees, Commissions, Agencies and Boards, the amount appropriated for legal costs to defend property rights, and how Block Grants in the program area would work.

Then the house went back into normal session and various motions were made.  One deputy proposed to reduce the amount allocated for staff costs by 25%.  That motion was defeated by a substantial majority.  Another motion proposed to add $500,000 to Miscellaneous Income and to appropriate those funds for the work of the Digital Communications Department.  This motion failed as well.

Someone called the question and the budget passed as originally proposed.  We subsequently learned that the House of Bishops concurred by passing the budget as well.

What this means for the Rhode Island Diocese is that our share of the expenses of The Episcopal Church for the next three years will be approximately the same as this year ($400,000).  We should be proud that we have a long track record of paying the amount requested.

During the next Triennium a special committee appointed by the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies will be studying the matter of structure and making a recommendation to the 2015 General Convention about possible changes in the amount of funding requested and how those funds are expended.

Also this week, a nominating committee for the next Presiding Bishop was elected, including Dante Tavealaro from Rhode Island.  That committee has two lay and two clerical deputies from each of the nine provinces.  Byron Rushing from Massachusetts was elected Vice President of the House of Deputies, and the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings of Ohio was elected President.

General Convention Deputy Reflections: Joel B. Gardner

By Joel B Gardner, RI Alternate to General Convention

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ;

As a “first timer” at a General Convention, I was immediately struck by the immenseness of the undertaking, and the tremendous amount of work done by so many people to put together this triennial meeting.    I was also impressed by the intense dedication of the leaders of the convention, and their willingness to devote the countless hours necessary to work out the details needed to make the days as productive and meaningful as possible. 

When one considers the “business” of our church, it is important to remember that our business is doing God’s work, and that His will must be paramount in all deliberations.  I am pleased to be able to report to all of you, that this convention is considering a number of resolutions regarding equality on all levels, integrity in our church’s relations with the world around us, and changing the structure of the church to better position it to be God’s arm in the world, and to enable its members to grow in their faith, and as followers of Christ. “Flexible” and “nimble” are two of the buzzwords being used to describe hopes for the outcomes of upcoming resolutions.   I hope that you will take the time to follow other links on this website, and to explore other news venues for information.

There have also been incredible worship services each day with wonderful music and great, thought provoking preaching.  Each service celebrated the rich diversity of our church.   It was great to spend some time each morning worshiping with hundreds of Jesus’ followers.   It was also wonderful to be part of a group of faithful followers who met to dream about what a church could be, and even held “flash prayers” this week. 

I would not be entirely honest if I did not admit to some frustrations.  For example, parliamentary procedure entanglements, and “amendments of amendments” resulted in a considerable waste of valuable Legislative Session time.    I also feel that the length of the convention (a registration day, eight days of legislative business, and travel time) makes it difficult if not impossible, for many people to consider being involved.  In fact, I spoke to several people who were using all of their annual vacation time during these two weeks.  It is my hope and prayer that these issues will be considered over the coming months as part of the larger effort to “streamline” church governance, and make the church more inclusive.  

I would like to leave with these thoughts.  There seems to be an understanding by most of the people here that we as a church can’t keep doing the same things, and survive as an institution.  There also seems to be a willingness to boldly take on some of the big issues that need to be dealt with.  In fact some resolutions regarding these issues have been addressed through legislation already.  Let us pray that God empowers this convention to make more bold decisions that will put Him first, and enable us to focus on doing His work and “Sharing the Good News”.    Please continue to pray for our delegation, and for the convention and its work.

God’s Peace to all of you

General Convention July 11 Sermon: The Rev. Stephanie Spellers

“Pray Like You Mean It” Homily for Community Eucharist at the Episcopal General Convention (July 11, 2012)
The Rev. Stephanie Spellers

(Sung) Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall fresh on me.

If you want to know what Anglicans believe, hear how we pray. Well, we just prayed, “Give us grace, following the teaching and example of thy servant Benedict, to walk with loving and willing hearts in the school of the Lord’s service.” It’s a beautiful prayer. I sure hope we meant it.

Benedict of Nursia came on the scene in 6th century Italy, when corruption had saturated the church. Even monastics were kind of doing their own thing, indistinguishable from the culture at large.

Faith didn’t change anyone, and it didn’t cost you anything. It was like the man in this morning’s gospel, the one who decided one fine day, “I’m building a tower” – even though he had no idea what it cost, what sacrifice he would bear. In Benedict’s day, people took on the name Christian, but had zero interest in bearing the cross and being transformed into Jesus’ people. Imagine that.

But Benedict wanted to be a Christian. He wanted Jesus to melt him, mold him, fill him and use him, and he wanted to be surrounded by companions who would hold and prod him through that change. So he founded a new monastic community, a “school for the Lord’s service” shaped by three commitments. They were – please join me in some Latin call and response – stabilitas, obedientia, conversatio morum. Let's break it down:

Stabilitas: is stability, or sticking with your community. Obedientia: obedience, obeying the authority of the community and of God. And finally the commitment toward which everything else pointed: conversatio morum. It’s an untranslatable phrase that means something like committing to this rule, bearing the cross, embracing The Other, and trusting that God is working this out, using all this to convert, confound, transform and ultimately bless you.

That’s following the teaching and example of Benedict. Do we really mean to pray that?

I’m a textbook Generation Xer, so I’ve never been much for stability, even less for obedience. Up to 12 years ago, I was still wandering from church to sangha to fellowship. And when I found this body, I found you. I found so much that I had longed for, and plenty I never would have asked for and now can’t imagine living without. A table where Jesus lives, not in memorium but incarnate. A liturgy that still vibrates with the rhythms of the ancient ordo. A theological tradition that makes sense to me here, here and here. A vowed life as a priest, obedient to the church’s and God’s calling.

I love this church. It’s easily the longest committed relationship I have ever been in. My mom drove up last night from Kentucky, and I’m sure she’ll be standing at the back to thank all of you. The Episcopal Church has given me stabilitas and obedientia, and I know that my salvation depends on the conversion that God is working out in me right here with you. Thank you for that.

But if my Baptist mama drove all this way; if you, my church family, have actually gotten up for the second to last Convention Eucharist, then I have to be honest and tell you the rest of the story.

And what I have seen is, we love to pray these commitments, and we like to live them – as long as they don’t change us too much.

Want to test that theory? Benedict would point to hospitality. In his Rule, he wrote: “Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ, for He is going to say, ‘I came as a guest, and you received Me.’” Benedict told his monks to offer prayers and praises when anyone arrives at the door, especially the poor and dishonored. Send the abbot, send the guest brother, send the whole community to bow and wash that guest’s feet.

And when you do, he said, remember this: you’re not just blessing them. This discipline is about you: you moving out to meet The Other, you being humble and stretched, you being converted and blessed by God. If you’re truly rooted in Christ, if you’re obedient to his commandments, if you have surrendered to the mystery of conversatio morum, you will receive Christ as The Other, you will be changed.

Throughout this Convention, we have prayed and proclaimed our desire to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to welcome emerging generations and cultures. Did we mean to pray that? Do we want the conversion that hospitality entails?

I pray that we do. Because right now, here's what our legendary welcome sounds like: “The Episcopal Church Welcomes You. We're so glad you're here! Now, this is the Book of Common Prayer. Obey it. This is our musical tradition. Master it. This is our English heritage. Adopt it. This is our sense of order. Assimilate it. And the gifts from your home culture, your young culture, your lower-class culture? Would you leave them at the door and pick them up on your way out? They're not quite Episcopal enough.”

I do not think we mean to be unkind or unwelcoming. I think we love what we have received and the most natural thing in the world is to share it with others in that very form. I think we are afraid that opening to two-way transformation with The Other could shatter or simply erase the foundations of our Episcopal identity.

Benedict would say this is not so. To be Christian is to engage in a dance. To be Anglican is to engage in a dance. Stabilitas keeps us anchored, holding fast to what is holy and true. Conversatio morum makes us free to say, “Here is the way we have known Jesus. May this path bless you. How have you known him? What song sounds like God to you? What dream has the Spirit whispered to you in your ear? I am confused, I am scared. But I embrace this dying and rising, this sacrifice and blessing, this transformation into the fullness of Christ. And, I embrace you.”

The prayer to be like Benedict will shatter our well-drawn boundaries, it breaks our hearts, it grows our capacity to love and to fail, and sends us humble as beggars into the arms of Jesus and the arms of the stranger. It is a dangerous prayer. Pray it anyway. And then watch out. God might just give you what you prayed for.

General Convention Deputy Reflections: Proposed Budget Overview

By Dennis Stark, RI Lay Deputy to General Convention

Yesterday afternoon the House of Bishops and the House of  Deputies met in joint session to hear the Program Budget & Finance Committee present their proposed budget [available here] for the next Triennium (2013-2015).  The Committee held three meeting at General Convention for input on income, expenses, and funding.  They considered the budgets recommended by Executive Council and the Presiding Bishop, but decided to create their own document.

The budget is based upon expected income for the next Triennium of $111,546,000, with $73,500,000 coming from Diocesan Commitments.  The asking from Dioceses will be 19% for all three years, the same amount asked for this year.  The expected receipts factor in historical payment rates and expected diocesan income.  Rhode Island is one of the dioceses which pays the asking in full.

Based upon an expected total return on invested funds of 8% and a draw of 5%, income from that source is expected to total $29,364,000.  They also recommend making a grant of an additional $4,100,000 from accumulated past surpluses of income over expenses to cover the cost of the development department.  They expect the department to produce a return on this investment of 100% to 1,000%.  The total draw including the grant is 5.8%.

The third source of income is rent from three and one-half floors of the office building at 815 Second Avenue.  The budget includes both principal and interest on the debt undertaken to cover the cost of restoration and improvements.

The expenses side of the budget is divided into three broad categories.  The Canonical portion is 20,125,000 or 18%.  This covers expenses of General Convention, the stipend of the Presiding Bishop and the expenses of that office, and the expenses of the President of the House of Deputies.

Corporate expenses total $33,997,000 or 31%.  These funds provide administrative support of the Domestic & Foreign Missionary Society Offices.

The Program (mission) portion of the budget is $57,394,000 or 51%.  The allocations within this budget are based upon the “Five Marks of Mission”.  They are as follows:

1.  To proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom
2. To teach, baptize and nurture new believers
3. To respond to human need by loving service
4. To seek to transform unjust structures of society
5. To strive to safeguard the integrity of creation and sustain and renew the life of the earth.

Rather than make specific appropriations for particular programs the budget contains block grants within each area.  Examples are as follows:

• $2 million for grants to start new congregations
• $1 million for strengthening Province IX for sustainable mission
• $1 million making missionary service available for all Episcopal young people
• $1 million for engaging Episcopalians in the eradication of domestic poverty through Jubilee Ministries
• $500,000 for creating and strengthening local networks to care for creation.

As in the past,  Executive Council will be responsible for adjusting the budget as diocesan commitments become known.

I expect there will be consternation in some quarters about the diocesan asking continuing at 19% for all three years and the lack of detail on the expense side about specific grants.  However, I expect that the budget will pass and that Executive Council will do its usual good job of managing expectations and results.

General Convention Sermon: July 10

By The Rev. Albert Cutié, Diocese of Southeast Florida
Remembering Bartolomé de las Casas: Tireless Advocate for Justice (MT 10:26-31)

In the name of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

I am so blessed and so happy to be here. While this is only my second General Convention, I have to tell you that I feel like I have been a member of The Episcopal Church all of my life.

My wife and I have received so much love from all over the church. I just had to begin this sermon by telling all of you – especially those who are particularly interested in church growth - that my wife and I just became the proud parents of a “little boy”. He is five weeks old. He will be baptized this Sunday. We also have our little 17 month old girl and our 17 year old son who decided on his own he wanted to be confirmed by our bishop this past Spring. So we are doing our part in contributing to church growth… Think about it, just with us at home, we have five new Episcopalians!

In the gospel we just heard proclaimed Jesus says, “Do not be afraid” - “No tengan miedo…”I don’t know how many of you are familiar with “The Turtle Family”…

One day the Turtle family decided that they were going on a picnic, and because they were turtles, it took them about three months to figure out what park they were going to. Then father turtle announced it was time to leave and they took about five days to get to the park.  Once they arrived, it took mother turtle about one week to spread the picnic cloth on the ground and place the basket on it. It took the Turtle family about a day to say grace before eating – they really sped through their prayers. Eventually they were ready to take the first bite from their sandwiches when little boy turtle told everyone “Wait!” I forgot to bring the salt… I have to go back home to get it.  So they all waited one day, two days, three days… Until little girl turtle announced to the family, “ I am so hungry, I am going to take the first bite”. The whole family insisted she wait for her brother, but there was no way. She just had to eat! So just as the little girl turtle was about to take the first bite, the little brother who has hiding nearby behind a tree said, “You see, that’s why I didn’t go get the salt, I was so afraid you would begin without me”
 

The tenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew has always been very appealing to me!  It begins by giving us the names of “the twelve” and then presents us with a number of instructions and peculiar warnings Jesus offers to the disciples as they are sent on their mission to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Yet, in this particular passage we just heard, three times in just a few verses we hear Jesus say: “Do not be afraid”.

If you pay close attention to the context of this chapter, one clearly sees that the disciples had every reason to be afraid. Jesus tells them they will be persecuted, rejected, even “flogged in the synagogues” – yet he assures them they should not worry and he tells each of them it will be the Spirit of God who will “speak through you” (Mt 10:20). The most important instruction and advice Jesus gives his disciples is not be afraid…
 

Fear paralyzes. Speaking from personal experience, as one who was ideologically and somewhat spiritually paralyzed for some time, I can attest to the fact that fear is often our worst enemy.  Fear does not allow us to see things with clarity and often makes us seek what is comfortable and what we have grown accustomed to, avoiding doing the hard work of discovering the will of God, which brings us true freedom and lasting peace. I am convinced that fear is ultimately responsible for keeping us from doing the work of the Kingdom; that kingdom of justice, peace and love which Jesus challenges his disciples – both then and now - to proclaim and make real in this world.
 

In my own faith journey, not unlike a good number of the members of our church who have come from other communions, one of the things that attracted me most to The Episcopal Church and our Anglican way is this sense of belonging to a spiritual oasis where we can “agree to disagree”, where there is room for ambiguity, where people can be heard, accepted and loved regardless of the popularity of their varied and diverse positions; a place free from the constant imposition of ideas and the rigid demands of dogmatism – which provide such little room for reason and simply do not value our God given ability to make personal decisions regarding what God may or may not be asking of us as individuals and as a community of faith.  Indeed our church is a spiritual oasis for many – and must continue to be that unique place - where the people of God and their leaders cannot be threatened by our rapidly changing world, but on the contrary, wish to embrace it with God’s unconditional and beyond-all-boundaries type of love! “Do not be afraid…” Jesus says.
 

Bartolome de las Casas is a great example of what it means to be radical in following the Gospel and in the balancing act between dealing with the status quo - required of him due to his political and ecclesiastical position - and being truly unafraid to live the fullness of the gospel and work for justice, even when those he answered to, were systematically oppressing the native peoples he defended. Those unique political abilities and capacity to negotiate with the powers that be led him to be known as “The Protector of the Indians”; I believe these qualities would have made him a huge asset to our own General Conventions.  Yet, like so many of us, God surprised Bartolome in calling him to ministry, since he originally came to America thinking he would just be another “conquistador”, but God had other plans – eventually he would become a priest and later a bishop that would offer his life in fighting against the grave injustices that Native Indians all over the Americas suffered.
 

As we look around our world today - in the United States and beyond – we sense the need for a renewed discipleship and commitment to justice – contemporary voices that are willing put fear aside and “shout from the rooftops” that we must “strive for justice and peace among all people, and respect the dignity of every human being” (Baptismal Covenant – Book of Common Prayer).  Our sermons, even our tweets and posts – our daily work in church and especially in the larger community – must clearly express that we are not afraid and that every form of prejudice, injustice, inequality and bigotry are not compatible with that Kingdom which Jesus expects us to help build. We have work to do and we cannot allow fear to paralyze us or keep us from moving forward.

General Convention Deputy Reflections on July 9th

By Dante Tavolaro, RI Lay Deputy to General Convention

A few days ago we heard a fabulous sermon by Bishop Michael Curry on being Crazy Christians [available here]. This sermon has shaped much of my thoughts and prayers as we progress through this General Convention. Much of what we have been doing in the House of Deputies seems a bit crazy, but not in the spirit filled way that Bishop Curry called us to. I find myself asking myself, "If we adopt this resolution will it help us be Crazy Christians"? Most often that answer is no.

At times I find myself frustrated with what are we doing when it is hard to tell how it will proclaim the Gospel in the world in which we live. I often wonder why we spend so much time on the "apple pie" or "puppies and chocolate" resolutions. Do we really need to spend all this time making ourselves feel better? 

Yesterday - I think it was yesterday as time seems to have stopped here in Indianapolis - the House of Deputies (HoD) voted against making September Lay Ministry Month. That wasn't because the HoD hates lay people, but rather because lay people - and clergy - got up and said that lay ministry is important all year long, not just in September. We also voted down a resolution that would, "encourage that in the great fifty days of Easter the people of The Episcopal Church make a commitment to practice the holy habits of weekly worship, prayer, scripture study, tithing, and honing the Sabbath as part of the renewal of baptismal vows". Again we did not vote this down because we don't think prayer and other holy habits aren't important during Eastertide, but rather because we think these things are important during every season of the Church Year. 

The votes of these resolutions are signs of hope for me. The testimonies deputies gave talked about the importance of the ministry of all the baptized and the importance of the holy habits of living at all times. These are the things that Crazy Christians do.

Over these last few days at General Convention we will look at important questions around budget and structure. It is my prayer, and I hope you will join me, that this General Convention can remember that we are called to be Crazy Christians and act from a place of hope, joy, and resurrection.

Earlier today, the Pesident of the House of Deputies called for us to pause our business to sing. The song leader came up and led us in singing Hymn 488 - Be thou my vision

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
be thou my best thought in the day and the night,

both waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, be thou my true word,

be thou ever with me, and I with thee Lord;

be thou my great Father, and I thy true son;

be thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

High King of heaven, thou heaven's bright sun,

O grant me its joys after victory is won;

great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

still be thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

May those of us gathered in Indianapolis have the vision, wisdom, and joy to do the work we are called to do - to live into our call to be Crazy Christians.

General Convention July 9 Sermon

The Rev. Dr. Mary Crist (Blackfeet)

Lord, I am yours. Let my words glorify your name.

Oki niksokowaks, nitannnikoo Piitaki. Nistoo Ampskapi Pikanii. Apistootooki spomohkinahn, kitnastatstimaht nohkotohkinahn. Aiyo ninaa natoosi, skomohkit kinaitapiwa.

Greetings, my relatives. I am known as Eagle Woman. I am Southern Robe Indian (Blackfeet). Creator help us all. Hear our cry (prayer). Listen father sun. Watch over all the people.

Samson Occom’s people were the Mohegans. In 1859, he was the first indigenous person to be ordained a minister, a Presbyterian. A few years later Enmegahbowh of the Ojibwa people was ordained the first indigenous Episcopal priest.

Occom was also first American Indian to have his writing published. He demonstrated courage, connection, and commitment, qualities that continue to characterize many indigenous people in this church today. He brought the light of Christ to many people.

The qualities of courage, connection, and commitment are the backbone for small church ministry.

Luke’s gospel today bids us to make this work known. Let it come to light. Celebrate it. Listen to it. In obedience to the gospel of Luke, and in the Native tradition, I share a story of what can happen when we listen.

Shortly after my ordination to priesthood about six months ago, my bishop told me that he was appointing me to serve in a church. I was so excited! This was such good news.

The bad news was that my church had no congregation, no budget, and no salary for the priest.

You see, the congregation at this church had come to the point where as a traditional church it could no longer meet its expenses. This happened even though the former clergy and a few of the faithful had worked very hard and very faithfully. The church in its old form had died.

The faithful few grew a community garden, and it gave life to ministry to the homeless and the hungry.  They sponsored a pow wow with the help of the priest and helped students in a local Native American boarding school. They welcomed new groups to the land.

They listened to the Spirit, and they experienced new resurrection.

Today the church building itself remains beautiful. Located on four-and-one-half acres, it has an expensive pipe organ given by the organ-builder, himself. Silk clergy vestments, beautiful choir robes, and acolyte vestments hang neatly in the sacristy. Silver and gold chalices wait in protective coverings. The brass is polished. The sanctuary light glows. The large altar is covered in spotless linen and brocade. A life-size carved wooded crucifix adorns the wall behind the altar. Sunlight cascades through glass panes set in French doors. Flowering bushes and trees abound. One can almost hear lusty strains of songs sung to a booming organ on a Sunday morning.

Yet, the Spirit called the people to ministry in the community garden.

When the former priest, a Native American, moved away to take care of a sick relative, the bishop appointed me. He asked that we feed the poor, house the homeless, teach the children, and support those struggling with substance abuse and other issues.

When I asked him for more details, he said the Holy Spirit will help you figure it out.

In the first six months of small ministry, my own life has been transformed as it was for Samson Occom. I have learned to listen to that still small voice of the Spirit within, as Luke directs us…to listen deeply.

If you were to ask our community who is the leader, people would say, “we are just following the Holy Spirit.” We pray and we plan as a group. I work from within the circle of our ministry partners.

The church has three staff members. The church secretary, a former Franciscan nun, takes on the toughest people and the most vulnerable with equal grace. She is paid for 20 hours a week and works over 40 hours.

The second staff member, a plumber and welder, was losing his health when he heard a call to take time off “to figure out what that God-thing was all about”. He lived on the street for several months, he fell in love with God.  Although he can fix anything on our property, he says his ministry is to the poor and those trying to escape substance abuse. He says he speaks their language because he was on the street with them. He is unpaid.

The gardener/grounds-keeper/security officer also lived on the street a few short months ago. He began to work in the garden. Today he is healthy and a valued member of the community. His only compensation is a small room where he sleeps at night.

One day I witnessed a woman leaning up against the wall outside the office. She looked lonely, and I asked her if she would like to help us hang some pictures. She now runs the office after the secretary leaves. She is a new person. Her compensation is a monthly bus pass. Recently, she began a new ministry to cook meals using fresh food from the garden.  She wanted to feed some of our homeless friends. “They can’t cook on the street,” she said, and she responded.

Two Talking Circles for First Women of the Land established many years ago are growing. The women come from many Native American Nations, learning from one another. They reach out to students in a nearby Native American boarding school.

Two Spanish-speaking evangelical congregations now worship in our church building. Both are actively involved in developing our community.

Through our Second Harvest, we now distribute food five days a week. We want to improve our kitchen to expand the cooking ministry. We collaborate with the Women’s Sober Living House across the street.

A publicly-funded charter elementary school will open on our property in September. It will develop math, science, and leadership skills for inner-city children. The African- American school principal is also a member of our Partners Planning Council.

In our last report to the bishop, we documented services to more than 500 persons every week.

When I go to the new ministry center, I am filled with joy. It comes from witnessing lives transformed. by people loving their neighbors as themselves. From the many ministries, mission is being born. We are meeting the Five Marks of Mission. 

People ask us questions about what is happening at the center, giving us a natural opportunity to speak about our relationship with a loving God. Following the Great Commandment to love another naturally gives rise to following the Great Commission, to share the good news of Christ. We are preaching the gospel in the four directions through our words and actions.

Someone driving by the new ministry center today would probably wonder who planned the signage? The answer is the Holy Spirit. It looks a little bit like signage for a bazaar. One sign invites people to attend Freedom Church. Another tells people about REACH Academy, the new school. Yet another announces in Spanish a family festival that is coming soon. And yes, the Episcopal Church Welcomes You sign is there, too! 

It all looks a bit messy. The signs are not color-coordinated. They aren’t the same size or even the same style. All of them are blowing in the wind. And yet, people tell me they are fascinated to see what is coming next. I tell them we are listening to hear what the Holy Spirit has planned for us. We know it will be filled with life, and it will be filled with the love of Christ. We are becoming a new spiritual family – brothers and sisters in the faith…we are the early church resurrected.

What I have learned from this experience is awesome. From what people tell me, the Episcopal Church is dying, but from what I see, the church is being reborn.

We are being called by the Spirit into something new. 

I am standing in the middle of the whirlwind.

I can feel the wind on my face. It blows my hair around.

I can hear the Eagle’s call.

It is exhilarating.

It is unpredictable.

It is messy… yet it is God… and it is good.

Amen.

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General Convention Deputy Reflections: July 8th

Budget for Next Triennium
By:  Dennis Stark, Lay Deputy

Dennis served as a member of the General Convention Program Budget & Finance (PB&F) Committee in 2000, 2003, and 2006.  He was also volunteer staff to PB&F in 2009.  In addition he served on Executive Council from 2006-2009, was a member of the Finance Committee, and is a past treasurer of the Diocese of RI as well as a past chairman of finance commission.

The budget for the next Triennium (2013-2015) has not yet come from the Program Budget & Finance Committee (PB&F) to the House of Bishops and House of Deputies.  Both Executive Council and the Presiding Bishop have produced drafts.  We will meet in joint session to hear the final recommendation of PB&F  tomorrow.

In the meantime, other committees are hearing requests for funds, and the committee I am on, Stewardship & Development, has submitted a resolution to reduce the asking for the Triennium of  2016-2018 from the present l9% to l5%.  Presently less than 60% of the dioceses pay at the requested level.  Rhode Island is one of the dioceses who pay the full asking.

There is much talk of  restructuring how we do “Church” at The Episcopal Church level, including a proposal to sell the central headquarters building at 815 Second Avenue in New York.  Everyone wants to do more program and spend less on staff.

Stewardship and Development has supported the inclusion in the budget of a professionally staffed development department with funding to come from accumulated past surpluses in the operating budget.

I will report again after PB&F submits their proposal.

General Convention: July 8 Sermon

UTO INGATHERING and FESTIVAL EUCHARIST
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

[Sunday, July 8] Did you hear Ezekiel? Mortals! Stand up and listen! God is sending you to a rebellious house, full of impudent and stubborn folks. Your job is to go tell them, “listen up – here’s the deal, from the Big Man himself.” And if they don’t listen, at least they will have met a prophet.

Garrison Keillor is famous for noting that nobody wants a prophet at a birthday party. Our image of prophets is something like fire-breathing dragons or maybe Nunzilla, but a prophet is simply somebody sent to speak for God, to tell it like it really is. Sometimes prophets speak words of comfort and strength, the kind of words the psalmist is asking for – mercy and relief. And sometimes the prophet speaks words that are harder to hear, reminding us that we’re supposed to love God with all we are and have and love our neighbors as ourselves. The reminder usually comes because the audience hasn’t been living up to that expectation. Whatever Jesus said in the synagogue seems to have been that kind of challenging word.

Jesus’ friends and neighbors obviously don’t expect to hear anything prophetic from the ordinary carpenter down the street or from the brother of their friends. He has never stood up in their synagogue before and said anything particularly challenging – so who does he think he is? Mark doesn’t tell us what he reads or says. Luke says that it’s the part of Isaiah that says, “the Spirit has anointed me to bring good news to the poor, release to the captives, healing to the blind, justice to the oppressed, and to announce the year of the Lord’s favor.” And his friends and neighbors are offended.

It is offensive – and confronting and challenging – to hear that even though you think you’re getting along OK, you’ve missed the boat. Yet until we can see the chasm between what is and what ought to be, we don’t have any hope of changing. Indeed it is the act of crossing that boundary between what is and what ought to be that is so characteristic of prophets. When Jesus is called a prophet, it has to do with erasing the boundary between God and human flesh. Prophetic words of comfort or challenge urge a kind of frontier work – getting across the fence between fear and possibility, reconciling division, transforming injustice, urging the lost onto the road home.

Sometimes those encouragers of boundary crossing come in very ordinary, even quiet, packages – and that may be what the people in Jesus’ hometown were so annoyed about. It’s harder to ignore somebody you respect or know pretty well.

A prophetic invitation arrived in my inbox a couple of months ago. A group of Christian leaders and politicians was asked to come to Washington, DC, to consider the state of public discourse in the United States. The invitation made reference to one of our better known political figures, Senator Jack Danforth. [1] A conversation about civility seemed a highly appropriate endeavor, but as the day grew closer, getting ready for this gathering seemed a lot more urgent, and I came very close to canceling. But those who went heard a prophetic chorus of voices – Roman Catholic clergy and religious, Southern Baptist preachers, Senators and Representatives from both parties, Lutheran and Methodist bishops, evangelical pastors from the Assembly of God and Pentecostal traditions. Each one lamented the loss of respect for political opponents and the inability to make common cause for the greater good. We didn’t read today’s psalm, but it certainly fit the conversation:

Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy, we’ve had more than enough contempt.
Please! No more ridicule from the arrogant,
or abuse from proud and conceited people!

We started our gathering by talking about the hope of Americans and indeed people across the world for change, in the face of the contempt and arrogance they hear from Congress and other politicians. We soon moved to talking about the abuse and ridicule we hear from our brothers and sisters in Christ. That sort of confession brought hope, and urged us into other kinds of frontier crossing, beginning with finding a prayer partner. Mine is the Rev. Franklyn Richardson, pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Mt. Vernon, New York and Port St Lucie, Florida. Other kinds of prophetic action and word are going to emerge from this process, including a statement and a number of positive actions to encourage more civil and effective discourse in politics and in our religious lives. Words matter profoundly, and as Christians we affirm that every time we gather to give thanks for the frontier crossing incarnate Word in our midst.

Prophets speak and act for God, with spoken and incarnate words of strength, hope, and challenge. That ministry comes in many forms. Today we’re going to give thanks for the prophetic work of the United Thank Offering, reaching out in creative possibility around the globe. Each triennial gathering of the Episcopal Church Women begins with a blessing and distribution of crosses, and the hands that are extended to receive them are a sacrament of blessing for this kind of prophetic work. When Jesus lays on hands and heals a few, even in a place that doesn’t think he’s got much to offer, he’s doing something prophetic. The work those hands of ECW members do in gathering and blessing ministries around the globe is another way of reaching out across borders, boundaries, walls and fences of division.

What about your hands? They, too, are instruments of healing, reconciling, re-creation – let’s see those hands! Here is a sacrament of God’s mission. How will you use those hands in an impudent and rebellious house? These hands can be instruments of warning, or to comfort and strengthen the wavering. Hands can be instruments of prophetic communication, a gift only some among us have learned.

When Jesus goes off to other villages to teach, he is using words and hands in prophetic ways, announcing the reign of God close at hand, healing, feeding, and drawing people into community. He sends his friends out to do the same things:
- to announce the good news of the reign of God
- to teach new believers
- to heal the hurting
- to challenge injustice
- and to tend the garden we share with all the rest of creation.

Those five marks of mission are the work and mark of prophets, of all Jesus’ friends and their partners. All of his commentary about what to take on the trip across the border is a reminder to keep it simple – to go as emissaries of the incarnate word, to be a gift and to speak and act for God’s dream – to GO into the world of God’s dream.

When we gather like this to make Eucharist, we offer all that we are and have for this work. That little exchange that starts, “lift up your hearts,” is about entering another reality – some old translators put it, “hearts aloft!” Get moving! Go cross the frontier between heaven and earth – boldly go where Jesus has gone before – and invite others to go with you to help build the world that God intended at creation.

So – mortals, prophets – stand up! God is sending you to a rebellious house, full of impudent and stubborn folks. As the prophet Pogo said, “is us.”[2] Your job is to go and say, “listen up – here’s the deal, God’s got a better world in mind, and you are needed to help make it happen.” And once you’ve started the conversation about good news, keep moving, keep showing and telling the world what God’s dream looks like.

Eventually, the world will know they’ve met a prophet – a whole community of prophets.

[1] An Episcopal priest as well, he’s been a prophetic force in the search for peace in Sudan.
[2] “We have met the enemy, and he is us.” Walt Kelly, cf. The Pogo Papers, 1953. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Walt_Kelly

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The Death of The Rev. Al Barnaby

The Rev. Alcide Barnaby died Thursday, June 28, 2012 at the Philip Hulitar Hospice Center after a lengthy battle with Cancer.

Al served as the Rector of St. James Church, North Providence prior to his retirement and was a member of the RI Commission on Ministry where he led the discernment program.

Visitation was held Thursday July 5th, from 3-5 pm and 7-9 pm in the Robbins Funeral Home, 2251 Mineral Spring Ave., North Providence. Bishop Wolf flew back to RI from General Convention in Indianapolis to officiate at a service held Friday July 6th at 10 AM in St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pawtucket.

Condolences may be sent to Mr. Dan Harvey, Al’s devoted life-partner, at 32 Audubon Avenue, Providence, RI 02908. You may read Al’s full obituary at www.robbinsfuneralhome.com.

General Convention July 7 Sermon: Bishop Michael Curry

We Need Some Crazy Christians
by the Rt. Rev. Michael B. Curry, Diocese of North Carolina
[July 7, 2012] The following sermon was presented today at the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church

This day we are commemorating the witness of Harriet Beecher Stowe, a woman who used her words to set the captive free.  I’ll say more about her later, but right now I want to note that in 1944 her witness was celebrated in a Broadway play titled Harriet. It was Helen Hayes who played the part of Harriet Beecher Stowe. At the end of the play Beecher Stowe’s family stands around Harriet and sings the words of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic,” affirming the Christian witness of this brave and bold woman.  Part of the hymn goes like this: [1]

In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom, that transfigured you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.

Glory, glory hallelujah,
Glory, glory hallelujah,
Glory, glory hallelujah,
God's truth is marching on. [2]

For a text today, I offer these words from Mark 3:19-2: “Then [Jesus] went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, ‘He has gone out of his mind.’”

The King James Version of the Bible translates the concern of Jesus’ family for him in these words: “He is beside himself.” The old J.B. Phillips New Testament translates it, “People were saying, ‘He must be mad!’” But my favorite is from the 1995 Contemporary English Version which says, “When Jesus' family heard what he was doing, they thought he was crazy and went to get him under control.”

So, forgive me for saying it this way, but Jesus was, and is, crazy! And those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way, are called and summoned and challenged to be just as crazy as Jesus. So I want to speak on the subject, “We Need Some Crazy Christians.”

I don’t want to be too quick to judge Jesus’ mother and the whole family. They had good reason to be concerned.  We just read from 1 Peter a teaching that reflects what Jesus taught in the Sermon on the Mount: “Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing” (1Peter 3:9). That's crazy.  In the Gospel reading from Matthew, read just a few moments ago, Jesus says, “The greatest among you will be your servant” (Mt. 23:11). That's crazy.

What the world calls wretched Jesus calls blessed. Blessed are the poor and the poor in spirit. Blessed are the merciful, the compassionate. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst that God’s righteous justice might prevail. Blessed are those who work for peace. Blessed are you when you are persecuted just for trying to love and do what is good. Jesus was crazy. He said, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, pray for those who despitefully use you. He was crazy. He prayed while folk were killing him, “Father, forgive them; they know not what they do.” Now that’s crazy. 

We need some Christians who are as crazy as the Lord. Crazy enough to love like Jesus, to give like Jesus, to forgive like Jesus, to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly with God -- like Jesus.  Crazy enough to dare to change the world from the nightmare it often is into something close to the dream that God dreams for it.  And for those who would follow him, those who would be his disciples, those who would live as and be the people of the Way?  It might come as a shock, but they are called to craziness.

Let me suggest one example of such a call from the New Testament: Mary of Magdala, Mary Magdalene.  For whatever reason, Mary often gets a bum rap. 

Think back to the crucifixion of Jesus. Crucifixion was execution by the Empire for crimes against the state. It was public torture.  It was an intentionally brutal means of capital punishment, an execution designed to send a message that revolution and revolutionaries would not be tolerated. If you were a supporter or follower of the person being crucified, it was dangerous to stand too close by during the execution. The rational and sensible thing to do was to go into hiding or exile.

Having said that, let’s call the roll of those Jesus called to follow him, let’s take the attendance of the apostles at the crucifixion of their Lord. Simon Peter? Absent. James? Absent. Andrew? Absent. Bartholomew? Absent. Thomas? Absent. Judas? Definitely absent. Mary Magdalene? Present and accounted for! That’s a disciple! When the old slaves sang, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” there was a woman named Mary who could answer, “I was there!” Now that’s crazy!

Now it may not be obvious at first, but we actually have a day to remember crazy Christians. I think we call it All Saints’ Day. It’s not called “All the Same Day,” it’s All Saints’ Day, because, though they were fallible and mortal, and sinners like the rest of us, when push came to shove the people we honor as saints marched to the beat of a different drummer.  In their lifetimes, they made a difference for the Kingdom of God. As you know, we are even working on a book to help us commemorate them. We are calling it Holy Women, Holy Men.  But we might as well call it The Chronicles of Crazy Christians.

One of the people we celebrate in the book is Harriet Beecher Stowe, a descendant of Mary Magdalene.   She was born in 1811 into a devout family committed to the Gospel of Jesus and to helping transform the world from the nightmare it often is into the dream God intends. She is best known for a fictional work titled Uncle Tom’s Cabin.  In this fiction, she told the truth. She told the story of how chattel slavery afflicted a family, afflicted real people. She told the truth of the brutality, the injustice, the inhumanity of the institution of chattel slavery. Her book did what YouTube videos of injustices and brutalities do today.  It went 19th-century viral.  It rallied abolitionists and enraged vested interests. The influence of that book was so powerful that Abraham Lincoln is reputed to have said, upon meeting Harriet Beecher Stowe for the first time, “So this is the little lady who started this great war!” [3]

A woman of her era was supposed to write nice stories, not stories that would disturb the conscience of a nation.  She was supposed to marry well, raise well-bred children, participate in a few charitable activities, and be fondly remembered by all who knew her. That was the life she was supposed to have.  But she had been raised in a family that believed that following Jesus means changing the world from the nightmare it often is into the dream that God intends. And sometimes that means marching to the beat of a different drummer. Sometimes that means caring when it is tempting to care less, or standing up when others sit down. Sometimes it means speaking up when others shut up. Sometimes it means being different – even being crazy.

When Steve Jobs, one of the founders of Apple Inc., died last year, an old Apple commercial from the 90's went viral on YouTube. It was a commercial that aired in 1997 and that attempted to rebrand Apple products. The tag line for the commercial and the company was, Think different, a phrase that is grammatically incorrect, which is part of the point.

In the commercial they showed a collage of photographs and film footage of people who have invented and inspired, created and sacrificed to improve the world, to make a difference. They showed  Bob Dylan, Amelia Earhart, Frank Lloyd Wright, Maria Callas, Muhammad Ali, Martin Luther King, Jim Henson, Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Pablo Casals, Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer, and on and on and on. As the images rolled by, a voice read this poem:

Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels.
The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes.
The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules.
And they have no respect for the status quo.
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them.
About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.
Because they change things.
They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore.
They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward.
Maybe they have to be crazy.
How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?
Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?
Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?
While some see them as the crazy ones, we see genius.
Because the people who are crazy enough to think
they can change the world,
are the ones who do. [4]

We need some crazy Christians. Sane, sanitized Christianity is killing us.  That may have worked once upon a time, but it won’t carry the Gospel anymore. We need some crazy Christians like Mary Magdalene and Harriet Beecher Stowe.  Christians crazy enough to believe that God is real and that Jesus lives. Crazy enough to follow the radical way of the Gospel. Crazy enough to believe that the love of God is greater than all the powers of evil and death. Crazy enough to believe, as Dr. King often said, that though “the moral arc of the universe is long, it bends toward justice.” We need some Christians crazy enough to believe that children don’t have to go to bed hungry; that the world doesn’t have to be the way it often seems to be; that there is a way to lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside; that as the slaves used to sing, “There's plenty good room in my Father's kingdom,” because every human being has been created in the image of God, and we are all equally children of God and meant to be treated as such. 

In the beauty of the lilies, Christ was born across the sea,
With a glory in his bosom, that transfigured you and me:
As he died to make men holy, let us die to make men free,
While God is marching on.
Glory, glory hallelujah,
God's truth is marching on.

[1] Susan Belasco, “Harriet Beecher Stowe in Our Time,” www.nationalera.wordpress.com
[2] Julia Ward Howe (1819-1910)
[3] Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (New York: Church Publishing, 2010), p. 448
[4] Apple’s “Think Different” commercial, 1997

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On the web:
General Convention July 7 Sermon: Bishop Michael Curry
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/notice/general-convention-july-7-sermon-bishop-michael-curry

General Convention: Deputy Reflections on July 6th

By The Rev. Melody Shobe of Emmanuel Cumberland, RI Deputy to General Convention

The Rev. Melody Shobe (far L) with the RI Deputation & Bishop Elect Knisely

As a first time deputy, I have been experiencing the whole gamut of emotions at General Convention 2012: hope, disappointment, exhilaration, exhaustion, fear, love, grief, joy and frustration. But if I had to name a predominate emotion, it would have to be excitement.

I have been excited to take my place in the councils of the Church. I have been excited to see old friends and make new ones. I have been excited to share my voice and to listen to the voices of others who have very different views. Today, in particular, was exciting, as we heard members of the Official Youth Presence speak passionately and eloquently about their hope for, and commitment to, our Church. It was an exciting day, as the House of Deputies passed a resolution urging the sale of our offices in New York City so that we can be a more nimble church in this new age. It was an exciting day for the Diocese of Rhode Island, as we escorted Bishop-elect Nicholas Knisely from the House of Deputies to take his place in the Hosue of Bishops. It was an exciting day as we prayed together, worked together, and played together: diverse Episcopalians from across our great Communion.

RI Deputies Escort Bishop Elect Knisely to take his HOB seat

Yet underlying my excitement is some concern. Because again and again at this General Convention, I have heard the perspective that the work in which we are engaging is a zero-sum game. It’s an easy trap to fall into, and we all do it. We believe that something given someone else is something taken away from ourselves, that there is only so much to go around: so much time, so much money, so much affection, so much whatever, and what one side or person gains another side loses.

I have heard a great deal of that kind of zero-sum talk here at General Convention 2012.  People are pitting structure and mission against one another, with what is given one taken away from the other. Some talk of a sort of tension of power between clergy and laity, or between the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies. Others worry that the inclusion of more youth will be balanced by an exclusion of those who are older. Members are concerned that smaller committees mean less representation.

I understand the perspective and the fear; I will confess I have played that zero-sum game all too often myself. But when we talk that way we are getting it all wrong.  Because we don’t believe in a zero-sum God. We follow Jesus, who wasn’t about either/or, but about both/and.  That is the message so deeply imbedded in the Gospels: is the kingdom of God now or not yet? It is both/and. Is salvation for Jews or Gentiles? It is both/and. Is God’s love for you or me? It is both/and. Something given one is not taken away from the other. Our God is a God of both/and.  Our God doesn’t operate in zero-sums. In God, 3=1. For Jesus, 5+2 (loaves and fishes)= more than enough to feed 5,000. It doesn’t make sense, it defies computation, but somehow, it is deeply and completely true.

I’m hoping that, as I move forward into General Convention, I will resist the urge to play a zero-sum game. Whenever possible, I want to resist the temptation to say either/or, but instead follow Jesus in the path of both/and. I don’t think that it will simply change the conversation or change my perspective. I believe that it might just change my heart.

General Convention July 6 Sermon: Bonnie Anderson

General Convention Community Eucharist, Friday, July 6

Bonnie Anderson, President, The House of Deputies

In the Name of the Creator, Sanctifier and Redeemer. Amen

Courage.
In the collect we prayed just a couple of minutes ago we recalled that God gave John Hus the courage to confess God’s truth and recall God’s Church to the image of Christ.

Today we are witnesses of incredible courage. We are witnesses to the courage of our ancestor, John Hus, who publicly called into question papal infallibility, calling also for the removal of a heretic pope. John Hus a priest, and Bohemian reformer who influenced a reform movement and willingly gave up his life rather than recant his affiliation with scripture. Courageous John Hus, burned at the stake while loudly singing “Kyrie Eleison.”

Courage.
C.S. Lewis reminds us that “Courage is not simply one of the virtues but the form of every virtue at its testing point.” Courage animates all our virtues- honesty, confidence, humility, compassion, integrity, valor. Without courage, all these virtues lie dormant.

There is no prescription for teaching courage. You may have noticed that courage 101 is not taught in school, or even in college, or even in seminary. Even though, taught intentionally in school or not, all our lives, we are students of courage. We learn it from our parents, from friends, from role models like people in our Christian communities, from public figures who take courageous stands on important human rights concerns. We are students of courage all our lives. We read the wisdom of some early Christian mystical theologians who related that our spiritual journey embraces an essential conversion moving us from fear into abiding courage.

Some people who teach us about courage we will never know. Particularly, however, at this technological age, we have unprecedented opportunity to be watchers of courage all around the world. Even today in this Eucharistic celebration we are blessed by the courage and witness of the language of Southeast Asian highlanders, targeted for genocide in communist controlled Laos in 1975 flow through our ears singing a melody to a courageous tune. The Hmong people in Vietnam continue to be marginalized and live in poverty. Every day they are called to be courageous. So much so, their courage has been intentional and is inherent to their spirit in their daily lives.

Individual courage builds in us from memories created by life events- events we witness where someone we know, love or admire is courageous. Or a time when we ourselves have been courageous and stand up for something that really matters to us.

I can vividly remember the first time I stood up for something. I bet you can too. That memory becomes the story of a defining moment that is incorporated into our spiritual selves and becomes a cornerstone of our morality or our moral courage. If we are to reflect on our life, each of us can probably name today, events and people who helped to shape our moral courage. Moral courage defines us at our core and prompts us to act in spite of fear.

There is something unique about courageous acts. Courageous acts are infectious. We get courage from each other. Like the truth, we know courage when we see it and it is hard to witness a courageous act and not be courageous ourselves. Courage is a kind of “pay it forward” all its own. Beginning with individual courage, inspired by defining moments in our lives, one person acts and others are inspired and encouraged to do the same.

When we don’t “exercise” our courage, like an unused muscle without regular use, courage is weakened and slowly recedes. Without regular use our courage becomes harder for us to conjure up, less available to us. Finally if we aren’t regularly courageous, our courage dries up and “courageous” becomes only a memory of how we used to be.

But make no mistake about it. Regularly exercising our courage, being a courageous Christian, even a courageous Episcopalian, has a high cost. But we have a bit of an edge here. We are spiritual AND religious. No mere ritual for church membership, our baptism places each of us in an ancestral line of wild and courageous people, John the Baptizer and Jesus, for example. The high cost, of course, is that our baptism, in the words of my friend Jeannie Wylie Kellerman, baptism requires “obedience to our Lord’s perverse ethic of vulnerability and gain through loss.”

So really, you see, in order to follow Jesus, in order to be his disciples, we have to exercise our courage. We have to study courage and teach courage by our own courageous acts born out of deep love and faith. We have to be courageous. We need to be in Christian community that is centered always on Jesus. A Christian community that is prayerful, authentic and truthful. Singing all the while loudly until the day we die, “Kyrie Eleison.”
Amen.

General Convention: Deputy Reflections on July 5th

By The Rev. Pamela Mott of St. Mary's Portsmouth, RI Deputy to General Convention

While I have attended a General Convention in the past, I have never been a deputy and so I am writing from the perspective of a "first timer".  By the time we arrived, we had already been inundated with information. The "Blue Book" came out a month or so before convention with 758 pages of legislative information - reports of commissions, committees and agencies of the church, resolutions, and biographies of those running for a position on various councils.

First impressions: the convention center is huge, and so is the church - people from all over with different viewpoints, different worship expressions - and all seeking to find the way we can be church together.  When we registered, we were given huge three ring binders with information and resolutions (I suddenly understand why people use wheeled suitcases to go from one meeting to the next.  My spacious carryall has already given way to a large knapsack - and we have not even had our first legislative session yet!).

I love the fact that, so far, each meeting has begun with prayer.- and not only each meeting but each segment of each meeting.  The  first set of hearings I attended was for the committee that recommends acceptance of the newly elected Bishops, including our own, the Very Rev. Nick Knisely.  Each Bishop-elect was introduced by someone from his/her diocese and then the newly elected Bishop gave a few words (each was limited to 3-5 minutes).  There followed testimonies from people in the diocese about the gifts and skills of each. Finally, the committee asked the newly elected a question or two - and then voted, by orders, to send the acceptance on to first the House of Deputies, then the House of Bishops for final approval.  It was very interesting to watch the process unfold with prayerfulness, structure and humor!

Pray for your deputation and for the church as we gather to do this work, as we struggle in these times to be faithful as the body of Christ gathered in this place.