Browning Calls Bishops To Teaching Ministry
Episcopal News Service. October 8, 1987 [87201]
ST.CHARLES, Ill. (DPS, Oct. 8) -- Making his second report to the House of Bishops as Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning today set forth eight mission imperatives he hopes to see achieved during his tenure as primate. He also challenged his fellow bishops to join him in a teaching ministry.
His report had been eagerly awaited since, in the nearly two years he has been in office, he has made a point of "listening" to the many diverse voices of the Episcopal Church.
"I am prepared to put forward the leadership that will give direction and support to all our people," he said. "I believe that we are at a place where we can nurture, nourish and succor the faithful so that they can do the job that needs to be done.
"I believe that this Church is on the move," he told the bishops assembled for their interim meeting at the Pheasant Run Resort. "The message I got everywhere is 'let's get the show on the road!'
"The way ahead is clear to me," he continued, then shared the following "mission imperatives" that will guide his leadership:
- A ministry of servanthood.
"I think we can't rest until every Episcopalian accepts the call to be a missionary, living a life of service, reaching out to others bringing nourishment for soul, mind and body. I'm going to say over and over again that faith is mission."
Browning went on to pledge major expansions in the Volunteers for Mission and Jubilee Ministries programs.
"The time for words is over. The time for faith and action has begun," he said.
Browning's first imperative included a call for active evangelisation. "To be a missionary is to be an evangelist," he said. "Therefore we must help each other to share more openly."
- Educational programs.
"I hope through the next triennium to invest the resources of this Church in developing educational programs to enable, to enrich and to empower the people of God for mission... Every Episcopalian is a missionary. That's what baptism means. Faith put to work... Total education for total ministry."
- Strengthening and affirming the partnership of the Episcopal Church within the Anglican Communion.
"Too few Episcopalians understand or appreciate the fact that they are part of an historic worldwide communion," he pointed out.
He urged the bishops, through their own travel and programs, to join in n active witness to "the intertwining bonds of affection that seek to bind the parts of our communion together."
"This must be a major goal for all of us," he said.
- Communication.
"It has been said that the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church was the best kept secret in history. I am not satisfied at all by the way we communicate with each other, and I am not satisfied with the way we communicate to the world through the secular media."
- Justice and peace among all people.
"I deeply believe that without justice there will be no peace, liberty or equality," he said. "Justice really is the ultimate good.
"The Church must be the first, not the last, to point out and protest instances or institutions of injustice. Racism, sexism, elitism, classism are social heresies that also violate our covenant with God."
- Stewardship of all creation.
"Have we left the care of the earth and all God's creatures great and small to the Sierra Club?" he asked. "Have we forgotten the lesson of Noah... I do not think that the issues of development and the environment are outside the purview of theological thinking and action any more than those of money."
- Families and individuals.
"I think we have to move beyond the middle-class smugness of focusing on the Dick-and-Jane families of the 1950s and start dealing with the realities of family life today," said Browning.
"I affirm the family," he asserted, adding that he also affirmed those called to remain single or who live in alternate or extended families or communities.
"It is my firm belief and my vision for this Church that we will acknowledge that God works within each of us to make and keep us whole," he said.
But, he conceded, "there are going to be many who refuse to hear this message."
- Unity of the Church and of all God's people.
"The time has come to move beyond the annual octaves for Christian unity, the time has come to put the ecumenical movement on the local level," said the bishop. He added that the time has now come to include a realistic world view of interfaith dialogue with Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and other world religions. "I want the Episcopal Church to live up to its global responsibilities in every facet of its life, and that includes not only the unit of Christendom but all God's people whatever their faith."
Concluding this section of his report, Browning said, "I believe that these imperatives are the faithful expressions of a Church focused on the vision of compassion, justice and service -- the vision of a Church giving itself in that service which is perfect freedom."
Then Browning went on to say that, to accomplish these imperatives, one of his primary tasks would be to strengthen his teaching ministry and to encourage and enable the Church to be a more effective education ministry. He urged other members of the House to undertake this role for themselves.
"I have come to understand that it is the teaching role of the episcopal office that enables the pastoral and prophetic roles," he said, observing that a bishop's teaching ministry need not be hierarchical.
"It is from Jesus that I think we draw our model of teacher because it is the model of engagement," he said.
"Episcopacy provides the community of faith with sacramental leadership... and sacramental leadership names the issues and provides the resources so that the community can appropriate the faith....
"My friends, I have a vision of a missionary Church. A Church that takes the issues of our time into the center of the life of faith... a vision of the people of God gathered to hear and to do God's will... engaged in compassionate service...gathered around their bishop to reflect and think theologically about their active service in the world... a vision of a people of God working for justice, peace and equality... a vision of a Church gathered to share and be nourished by the good news of its Lord and Savior."