I am a cradle Episcopalian and have been a pastor for 20 years. Over the course of my 45 years, I have absorbed and even promoted significant change within the church. I have experienced the acrimony, pain and divisions caused by prayer book revision, the renewal movements and the ordination of women. I became an early proponent of revising the prayer book, and guided three different congregations through that process. I have spent 15 years of my ministry promoting the spread of renewal in the parish, diocese, national church and the Anglican Communion. I became a proponent of ordination of women in 1973.

With that background, my basic premise is threefold:

1. I have never seen the Episcopal Church so deeply and fundamentally divided over core values and issues. The House of Bishops is divided. I see those divisions within my own diocese.

2. We need to begin talking seriously about reconciliation. We need God to raise up men and women throughout the Episcopal Church who will be instruments of reconciliation in our parishes, dioceses and the national church.

3. Up to this point, I have seen comparatively little discussion in church-related publications about the need for reconciliation as the primary focus of bishops, clergy and lay leaders within the Episcopal Church.

Therefore, I would like to offer three salient points on this subject as a means of provoking discussion, debate, dialogue and action.

First, reconciliation is at the heart of the gospel message. The primary message of Jesus was the proclamation of the kingdom of God. At the heart of the kingdom of God is the experience of reconciliation with God, self and others.

In 2 Corinthians 5:18-19, Paul writes, "All this is from God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting our sins against us. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

In essence, then, the New Testament proclaims that true reconciliation can only be found through Jesus and the cross.

If this is true, then we have something unique to offer the world that cannot be found anywhere else: the possibility of true reconciliation.

Herein lies the basis of common ground in the midst of our divisions. At some point, we have to ask the question "Who or what is the basis of unity?"

Many search for unity on the basis of ideologies, institutions or issues. However, ideologies, institutions and issues, by their very nature, tend to divide people rather than bring them together.

Can we find common ground and come together around the person of Jesus Christ? We proclaim Jesus to be the Son of God, source of eternal life, forgiver of sin, and messianic reconciler available to all people. Can we not find sufficient ground in the Episcopal Church around the person of Jesus Christ?

Second, there are many different facets of the work of reconciliation, which include building bridges, demolishing walls of hostility, resolving conflict, healing relationships, promoting social justice, healing the wounds of history, and helping people to find peace with God.

Bridge building is essential in situations that involve irreconcilable viewpoints around highly charged issues such as those of human sexuality. In such situations, individuals and groups easily become polarized. Bridge building means creating the tangible and intangible conditions to enable a conflict-inhabited system to become a reconciling system. I see the dynamics of a mostly conflict-inhabited system within the Episcopal Church that eventually will lead to schism.

Finally, I want to challenge our bishops, clergy and lay leaders to become conscious and intentional instruments of reconciliation. I believe that at the very least the following needs to happen:

• Both the Presiding Bishop and Episcopalians United need to make a conscious decision to become instruments of reconciliation instead of instruments of polarization. Both have the potential to become bridge builders in bringing together leaders in the church who hold irreconcilable viewpoints.
• During the process of selecting the next Presiding Bishop, we need to pray that God will raise up a healing centrist who will see as his or her primary task the ministry of reconciliation.
• The House of Bishops needs to have a protracted discussion about the ministry of the bishop as a reconciler in his or her own diocese.
• Diocesan bishops need to make an intentional effort to bring clergy and lay leaders together for dialogue with the express purpose of creating understanding and relationship among those who have irreconcilable viewpoints.
• We need to focus openly and unashamedly on the person of Jesus Christ as the basis of our unity. We need to talk more about Jesus and what he means to each of us.

I offer the fervent prayer that we will choose the painful, narrow path of reconciliation rather than the broad and well-worn path of schism. I harbor no illusions about the depth of our differences in the Episcopal Church, but I, for one, am committed to being an instrument of reconciliation. What about you? q