Faithfulness in Focus at House of Bishops' Meeting
Episcopal News Service. September 27, 2004 [092704-1]
Pat McCaughan
Faithfulness amid struggles confronting the Episcopal Church is essential for "any authentic expression of Christian life," Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold told worshippers who packed the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist during Sunday morning services here September 26.
"At the end of the day all that really matters is not who wins or loses but faithfulness," Griswold said in a sermon preached during the House of Bishops' meeting now underway through September 28. "And faithfulness is required of us all, wherever we stand on any number of questions, none of which admit easy answers and can only be lived patiently and in a spirit of mutual respect..."
Gathered here with the goal to deepen reconciliation and communion across the church and the Anglican Communion, more than 130 bishops are studying ways to build relationships that surpass theological and political differences underscored by the consecration last year of an openly gay bishop.
"This is not an easy time in the life of our church, nor for that matter is it an easy time in the life of this nation or the world around us," Griswold said. "The other, the stranger, is frequently looked upon with suspicion, if not fear, and even hatred. We who proclaim a gospel of reconciliation, and of division overcome not by agreement but by love, are engaged in struggles that have drawn much of our energy away from a common sense of mission and turned us in upon ourselves."
He added: "Sexuality, that fearsome, awesome, unruly dimension of what it means to be truly human appears to have trumped the Creeds in determining the fundamentals of our faith."
Griswold asked: "Is it not possible that what may be perceived by many as sexual otherness is in some way revelatory of the fullness of Christ in us -- the hope of glory? This is a question we are presently living -- a question that contains within itself many other questions, each of which contributes to an answer that has yet to be revealed."
Noting that the "strains in the Anglican Communion at this present time" are "an urgent invitation to encounter the other and to enter into one another's reality," Griswold called the church to self-examination.
"Given the disproportionate power that the United States has in this world -- and, by association, the Episcopal Church has in the Anglican Communion -- is it not time to meet our Anglican others in a stance of availability to realities other than our own?"
Griswold's sermon came 22 days before the October 18 release of the report of the international Lambeth Commission on Communion. While Griswold has not speculated on the content of the report, he said "it will contain a number of recommendations to guide the churches of the Communion, in all their distinctiveness, into the way of mutual care and concern, inviting them, in the words of St. Paul, to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ."
Griswold's sermon also challenged the bishops to live into the questions raised by the current struggles in the church. The homily commented on Luke 16:19-31, the morning's gospel passage in which a rich man has in death come to awareness of Lazarus, a poor man covered with sores who sat at his gate, just at the edge of the rich man's awareness.
"A question for each of us: who is the other who stands at the edge of my awareness? Who is it that I either fail to see or am afraid truly to acknowledge because at some level I know that if I give space to the other will oblige me to change and to see with different eyes?
He cautioned that, in meeting the other, it must be done "not with confident self-assertion, which is so characteristic of the American way, but with a genuine availability to the other, and a willingness to receive what is proffered, even if it comes ... in anger."
Cathedral's 75th year, endowment gift
The bishops were among more than 400 worshippers at the Gothic-style cathedral, located near downtown Spokane. A carillon recital preceded the service, featuring two compositions by John Courter, commissioned to celebrate the cathedral's 75th anniversary and the 35th anniversary of the dedication of the carillon, both this year, host Bishop James Waggoner of Spokane said in welcoming remarks.
Following the service, Waggoner accepted a $10,000 check from Bishop Jon Bruno of Los Angeles to kick off an endowment fund.
Waggoner said that Bruno, as a guest preacher at the Spokane diocesan convention two years ago, challenged the diocese to start an endowment fund.
"He surprised us all when, in the middle of the sermon, he said whenever the foundation was up and running he'd give us the first $10,000," Waggoner said.
"So he called me up and said, 'bring the check,'" Bruno interjected, and added: "This is a gift from the four bishops of Los Angeles and from the Diocese of Los Angeles. It represents the good stewardship and planning which has made it possible for us to do things beyond anybody's expectations."
Honest exchange, common ground
Later in the day, when the House assembled in session, several bishops said that, while still holding different theological positions, they were able to find common ground through insights gleaned from presentations about "otherness" by guest speakers Professor Miroslav Volf of the Yale Divinity School and San Francisco author Richard Rodriguez. Following the presentations, the bishops met in groups of 20-30 to share their perceptions.
Bishop Gladstone "Skip" Adams of Central New York, reporting the conversation in his group, said it was "the most real conversation I think I've ever had in the House of Bishops."
He said the discussions pushed the group to question, "how can we build a framework among us, who we are in the Body of Christ, to honor our individual stories, recognizing in the midst all we are trying to do is be faithful no matter what our perspectives?"
He said the presentation by Volf gave them a way to discuss the issues each is facing in his or her own diocese and Rodriguez's "vulnerability enabled vulnerability to take place in our conversations."
Rodriguez brought an energy level that was remarkable, said retired Bishop Charles Duvall of the Central Gulf Coast diocese, reporting his group's conversation. "It led us to think about ourselves, led to a description of our own incorporation of others within our selves. It was very revealing, honest, open, energizing. It felt like Volf gave us a theological framework while Rodriguez presented us with an image of us in that world and framework."
His group expressed the desire to "just get on with it," said Bishop Ed Leidel of Eastern Michigan, who said it was "one of the better experiences we have ever had ... We were glad we were here."
The Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, chaplain to the House of Bishops, shared a conversation he had with Rodriguez in which Rodriguez called the bishops the most attentive audience he'd ever faced.
"He believes this is a unique work you're doing," Battle said.
In drawing the session to a close, the Presiding Bishop observed that "more is going on than any of us realize. Those of us who are focused on outcomes are perhaps not aware of all that we are doing ... I cannot tell you how privileged I feel to share ministry with all of you."