Liberian president attends Epiphany Mass at St. Thomas Church
Episcopal News Service – Monrovia, Liberia. January 6, 2010 [010610-01]
Lynette Wilson
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf attended morning Epiphany Mass at St. Thomas Church here Jan. 6. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preached and celebrated, emphasizing the light of the season.
The presiding bishop is nearing the end of a weeklong visit to Liberia at the invitation of the Episcopal Church of Liberia. The visit marks the first time Jefferts Schori has been the official guest of an African church.
About 250 people attended the Mass at St. Thomas, expecting to see the presiding bishop. The president's attendance was not announced.
The previous day, Jan. 5, at the invitation of Johnson Sirleaf, the presiding bishop shared lunch with the president, members of her cabinet --some of them Episcopalians -- and invited guests including Liberia Bishop Jonathan B. B. Hart and Henrique F. Tokpa, the president of Cuttington University, Antoinette "Toni" Daniels, the Episcopal Church's co-director for mission, and the Rev. Emmanuel K. Sserwadda, Episcopal Church program officer for Africa, in the Cabinet Room of the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs – the William R. Tolbert building.
At the start of the lunch, Johnson Sirleaf expressed appreciation for the presiding bishop's visit to Liberia and the longstanding partnerships between her country and the Episcopal Church.
"We are pleased with the partnership that our country has and the government has with the Episcopal Church," the president said. "They have been very supportive in health and education and goes back to the 1880s and has remained that way throughout the years through support of education institutions, the hallmark of that being Cuttington University."
During the lunch, Jefferts Schori commended Johnson Sirleaf for her government's work in rebuilding Liberia. She said the healing of Liberia is a light to Africa and the rest of the world; a theme that continued in her Jan. 6 sermon.
Throughout the 1980s and 90s, Liberia, a west African nation of nearly 3.5 million, was crushed by civil war, with more than 250,000 people killed and more than one million people displaced.
The presiding bishop chose "lustration," a word that has its etymological root in "light" and that is used in the final report of Liberia's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, to draw a connection between the West African country's efforts to recover from nearly two decades of civil war and upheaval to Epiphany.
"Lustration is about light shining and overcoming darkness," she said. "That's also what Epiphany is all about – light shining into a world too often living in shadow. And I can't think of a more fitting image in this nation. As Isaiah says, 'Arise, shine, for your light has come! Darkness may cover the earth, but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will shine around you. Nations will come to your light and, and rulers to the brightness of your dawning.'"
Jefferts Schori then asked: "Is Liberia ready to shine, to become a source of light for others?"
The congregation answered: "Yes."
The opportunity to shine the light is there, but it will take cooperation, shared ministry and the cooperation of all Liberians, those at home and those living abroad, Jefferts Schori said.
"The source of all this light is the presence of love itself in our midst. That light has begun to shine in the darkness, but it hasn't yet penetrated all the dark corners and caves and crevices," she said. "Epiphany celebrates the dawning of awareness of the nations that this light exists in our midst, in spite of the attempts by Herod and others to quench it with darkness."
Light in darkness is needed throughout the world, she said.
"Americans have our own work to do on issues of poverty and racism, immigration, and fear of the stranger, as well as too great a willingness to resort to war and violence," Jefferts Schori said. "As a church we continue to repent for our part in the slave trade that engendered some of the pain of Liberia."
Progress, she added, often leads to the discovery of the long journey still to come.
"We are in abundant need of light," she said.
"Liberia has equally tough work to do – healing from years of war, sorting out how to ensure that God's children can find a place of dignity in this nation – female and male, of every tribal origin, Americo-Liberian, or from other national or ethnic roots," Jefferts Schori said. "Healing will take the gifts of every person here, and some beyond. Where and how can this nation become a light to the nations? What fears need to be engaged? Who will share the hope and confidence to overcome these fears?"
The text of Jefferts Schori's sermon is available here.
The presiding bishop's message was very good for the nation, said the Rev. James B. Sellee, rector of St. Thomas.
"There are a lot of dark spots in our national fabric," he said. "She spoke directly to us."
Sellee and his congregation were thrilled to have the presiding bishop and the president at St. Thomas's, he said.
"It's very historic," Sellee said. "It's a rare opportunity to have the president of a nation and the presiding bishop. We are just thrilled."
St. Thomas members Harriett Wallace, 30, and Wannie Wallace, 38, sisters, both attended Mass and were surprised to see the president.
"I am overwhelmed," said Harriett Wallace, adding that she knew the presiding bishop was coming but didn't expect the president. "It's a joy for me."
Wannie Wallace called the presiding bishop's message inspiring and said she'd like to see Liberia make its way back to a place of "peace, understanding and love."
The president's attending a Mass celebrated by the presiding bishop sends a strong message to women, said Julia Duncan, a member of St. John's Episcopal Church in lower Buchanan County.
"The president coming to this service sends the message that women can do anything they set their mind to," she said.
During her visit, Jefferts Schori has also visited the all-girls Bromley Episcopal Mission School, met with clergy and vestry members, U.S. Embassy and USAID officials, and received an honorary doctorate from Cuttington University. She also preached and celebrated solemn high mass for more than 1,500 people on the second Sunday after Christmas at the cathedral in central Monrovia.
"The presiding bishop's coming to Liberia is an honor for the Church of Liberia," said Hart. "All the Liberians have heard about the presiding bishop in America. Her visit shows that the Episcopal Church in North America values the church in Liberia, and how both churches value partnership."
Founded by the U.S.-based Episcopal Church in 1836, the Episcopal Church of Liberia was a diocese in the Episcopal Church until 1980, when it became part of the Anglican Province of West Africa. As part of that change of affiliation, the Episcopal Church and the Liberia diocese established a covenant partnership, which pledges each entity to mutual ministry and interdependence and calls for financial subsidies with an eventual goal of self sufficiency and sustainability for the Church of Liberia.
From 1983 through 2007, the Liberian church received close to $6.6 million from the Episcopal Church.
The most recent version of the covenant was adopted by the Episcopal Church's Executive Council in April. Information about the Episcopal Church's four other covenant partnerships with Anglican provinces is available here.