Episcopal Church: The Time is Now

I believe that, three years ago, B033 passed in a moment of fear.

As I walked around during the early part of the Columbus Convention in 2006, the place was abuzz over who would be the next Presiding Bishop. Person after person expressed their impressed opinions of the Bishop of Nevada, Katharine Jefferts Schori. “She’s so articulate, she’s brilliant, she’s personable, thoughtful, spiritual, etc etc etc. Then everyone would end with the words, “Too bad she’s not electable,”

Well, we all know what the Holy Spirit did...

None of us non-bishops know what really happened next, but I think what I like to call an “oh s#%t” moment happened. There was an onset of fear that the conservative wing of the church and perhaps the rest of the Anglican Communion would never embrace a female bishop after receiving no contrite action on the Windsor Report.

So B033 was hatched...

I believe the hope was that this would give the new Presiding Bishop a chance of acceptance with the rest of the Communion.

The cost, however, was great: a heavy burden on the clergy and lay deputies to approve something they disagreed with, a sense of betrayal to the GLBT leaders in the church, disappointment to Episcopalians who thought that the barriers of discrimination were coming down, and a message to those outside the church that the Episcopal Church was stalling on the promise that all were welcome to full inclusion of the church.

The ironic thing is, it didn’t work. The conservative wing still left, and the general reaction of those looking to punish the Episcopal Church for lifting up GLBT people was “not enough.”

I will acknowledge that B033 was passed by the House of Bishops in 2006 with the idea that “this was the best we can do right now.” I will accept that action then as a well-intentioned mistake.

The mistake must now be corrected.

The window of opportunity for the Episcopal Church is near closing. For once in the last 100 years, the church is leading the cause of inclusion. We pathetically waited too long for the full inclusion of African Americans and women, as the rest of our society moved on and lumped us with other churches as “out of touch” with real life. If we wait any longer, we will once again only be “catching up with the times, and apologizing for our hesitation and short-sightedness.”

Fanning the Flames

Before General Convention began, I asked the All Saints' Littleton congregation not to settle for the "partial picture" from Anaheim. Newspapers will focus on what sells (sex and controversy), and various people will pick and choose peoples' words carefully to sway.

So, I'm not the least bit surprised (but still shaking my head) when I see things like:

"Bishop Gene Robinson says "Gay Church? You Bet we are!"

and

"The Presiding Bishop defined heretics as those who confess Jesus as Lord and Savior"

Wow! What Controversy! Quick, call your friends to get outraged together!


What they actually said, in context, fans the flames in a different way.

The Rt. Rev. Gene Robinson:
“God’s love is about celebrating one another in the fullness of their diversity."

"There are a lot of Episcopalians who say they are embarrassed when people say you are the ‘gay’ church.” To this, Episcopalians should say, “You bet we are.

“We are the church of the people of color, the church of women, the church of the mentally ill,” he said, a church of no outcasts."

(These quotes came from the question time, covered in the article here @ The Living Church, but it's worth noting the "sensational headline and opening sentence" are meant to provoke and aflame. Watch what Robinson said leading up to this. )

I believe that Bishop Robinson is saying that we are all the church, and we especially need to claim the place in the church for those who tend to be marginalized and discriminated against.

Presiding Bishop Katharine Jeferts Schori said:

The overarching connection in all of these crises has to do with the great Western heresy –that we can be saved as individuals, that any of use alone can be in right relationship with God. It’s caricatured in some quarters by insisting that salvation depends on reciting a specific verbal formula about Jesus. That individualist focus is a form of idolatry, for it puts me and my words in the place that only God can occupy, at the center of existence, as the ground of all being.

The "heresy" there is not in confessing Jesus, but the thought that our salvation rests only on our one individual action...that nothing else matters to God.

It's sort of like "loving God" without "loving neighbor." Jesus was pretty clear that the two were related.

It's worth noting that, for many people, the "confessing Jesus as Lord and Savior" is the first moment of conversion. It's the mountain top experience of transformation, and one's life is never the same. It's powerful and beautiful.

But it's also seductive and potentially stagnate: remember Peter, who wanted to stay on the mountain top and build booths. That idea wasn't a good one because it meant an end to growth and engagement. It would mean an end to mission and service. It suggests that transformation is over the first time our eyes were opened.

That's the PB's point: our development in God and the Church never ends. Our identity is one of constant change and discovery, and the points of transformation happen as we come together, just as much (if not more so) as when we sit alone and reflect, meditate and pray.

Episcopal Church GC: Wednesday

I'm in NH, keeping tabs on the work of the General Convention in Anaheim.

The official Daily Wrap is available here from Episcopal Life online.


Archbishop addresses Convention on Global Economics
From the Episcopal Life online article by Matthew Davies:

Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, addressing the Convention in a forum called The Christian Faithfulness in the Global Economic Crisis, described the economic downturn as a "crisis of truthfulness."

Williams said, "We have suddenly discovered we have been lying to ourselves. For the last decade or more there has been a steady erosion of trust in our financial life. Our word has not been our bond. We have learned to tolerate high levels of evasion and anti-relational practices.

"We have lied to ourselves about the possibility of profit without risk. We have lied to ourselves consistently about the possibility of limitless material growth in a limited world. We have denied precisely that ubuntu that this convention seeks to venerate and reinforce," Williams added, referring to the convention theme that emphasizes the interconnectedness of people in community.

“The task before us as people of faith is to name this as a crisis of truthfulness and to challenge ourselves about the truth and above all to live in the truth."


Deputies adopt mission priorities for 2010-2012
From the EpiscopalLife online article by Mary Frances Schjonberg and Melodie Woerman

The House of Deputies adapted the Anglican Communion's Five Marks of Mission

Here are the five priorities proposed by the House of Deputies

Networking the members of the body of Christ
* Establishing and supporting collaborative efforts within and among dioceses and congregations to promote vibrant ministry in service to God's mission
* Structuring healthy relationships with overseas dioceses of The Episcopal Church and those Anglican provinces historically related to The Episcopal Church, clarifying commitments with firm timelines and establishing necessary accountability
* Promoting partnerships with other dioceses and churches of the Anglican Communion, encouraging multi-diocese mission efforts that reduce redundancy and enhance relationships both domestic and foreign
* Advancing ecumenical relationships and collaborations

Alleviating poverty and injustice
* Inspiring and modeling a genuine commitment to the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals.
* Addressing, domestically and abroad, the challenges and consequences of a failing global economy
* Advocating for and working to provide education, healthcare, employment, housing, and equal rights for all of God's beloved
* Promoting environmental sustainability and stewardship of creation

Claiming our identity
* Exploring and discovering who we are as the Episcopal Church, within the comprehensive reality of our complex culture and in relationship to others
* Educating about Episcopal Church governance and polity, forming at all ages our Christian, Episcopal, and Anglican identity
* Telling Christ's story and our story, utilizing current technology and a vibrant contemporary communications network

Growing congregations and the next generations of faith
* Establishing lifelong Christian formation throughout the Church, with specific support of youth and young adults
* Making evangelists of all communicants
* Teaching and developing the spiritual discipline of giving
* Providing discernment and formation of lay and ordained ministries
* Supporting congregational vitality and development, with particular attention to immigrant, indigenous, and underserved populations

Strengthening governance and foundations for ministry
* Inspiring and developing sound leadership at all levels of the Church
* Moving from programmatic structures to ministry networks
* Collaborating with seminaries and dioceses to restructure and retool theological education for a changing church
* Reviewing provincial and diocesan configurations and composition
* Assuring standards of accountability and measurement of outcome
* Providing legal and operational support for dioceses in transition or litigation