The early church described in the Acts of the Apostles provided inspiration for the members of the 202nd annual council of the Diocese of Virginia, as they faced the divisions that threaten to impair the mission of the church, not only in Virginia but throughout the world, during their meeting in Richmond, Jan. 31-Feb. 1.

The first-century church was also divided, the council heard, but in its weakness God gave it power for witness, and the church grew when it might have faltered. That was the message which delegates and visitors heard from their own bishops, as well as from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. George L. Carey. The archbishop and his wife, Eileen, attended the council meeting at the invitation of the Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, Bishop of Virginia.

The Careys have been in residence for four weeks at Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, where they are reading and studying as part of a seven-week sabbatical.

Archbishop Carey preached during the council Eucharist on Friday afternoon, to a standing-room-only congregation of more than 1,000 people in the nave and in a chapel wired for sound and video.

In addition, council heard Bishop Lee reflect on "power for witness" in his pastoral address. Suffragan Bishop Clay Matthews reflected on how God transforms our weaknesses into strengths, and Suffragan Bishop David Jones spoke about the variety of gifts which were needed in the early church, gifts which are still needed today.

In his sermon, the archbishop praised the American church and its contributions to the Anglican Communion. "You are a generous church; you are a committed church; you are a powerful church," he said. "To such a church the words of our Lord apply: To whom much is given, much is required.'"

He cautioned, "The temptations that challenge strong churches often arise from aspects of strength," and he reminded the congregation that for those who belong to "settled, strong and comfortable churches in the first world ... our weaknesses and temptations are the mirror images of blessings; subtle distortions of the things God has done for us."

Later, he said, "To be an Anglican is to accept a body of doctrine which is centered on scripture and historic Christianity. We must disabuse people of the idea that Anglicans ... do not care about truth. We do care. But we also care about tolerating differences and doing all we can to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bonds of peace. Let us never be among those who separate from other Christians because of our disagreements with them over matters to do with discipline or doctrine."

The council had numerous opportunities to consider that plea. The troublesome issues that affect the church were evident in each of the three items of business considered on Saturday: the budget, resolutions, and proposed changes to the diocesan constitution and canons. And anticipation of the 72nd General Convention served to heighten the intensity of some of those issues.

Budget discussions were overshadowed by uncertainty over the pledges of two congregations which have registered their dismay over the result of last year's ecclesiastical proceedings against the Rt. Rev. Walter Righter. Both churches are unwilling to have the diocese's customary 21.9 percent go to the national program. But the bishop, the annual council and other diocesan leaders have stated their unwillingness to allow churches to restrict or designate their giving to avoid that participation, and there was no move during the meeting to lower the percentage.

In the end, the budget of about $3 million passed by the council represented a decrease from the 1996 budget by about $250,000.

Many of this year's resolutions were related to actions which are expected to come before General Convention, including standards of sexual behavior for ordained persons; rites for blessing relationships between homosexual persons; church structure; and the "Rowley report" on the 20-year-old canon permitting the ordination of women.

Following two rounds of hearings, the resolutions committee proposed a substitute for two diametrically opposed resolutions on sexuality and a third resolution which had asked the bishop, the standing committee and the treasurer to develop ways to all allow conscience-stricken congregations to continue to support the diocese without necessarily supporting the general church. The substitute resolution calls on the members of the diocese to pray for one another as they struggle for discernment on issues of faith and practice, and asks the bishop to provide opportunities, in addition to annual council, for "continued prayer and dialogue among ... the elected leadership of the diocese and all of the baptized people of the diocese which will provide opportunity for serious engagement on contemporary issues from the Anglican standpoint of scripture, tradition and reason." That substitute received overwhelming support.

When it was all over, Archbishop Carey commended members for "how well people have taken the debate, seriously, intelligently, and humorously, as well, and I think this is most admirable."

And in remarks that seemed to bring the deliberations and the preaching full circle, he reflected on his own study of the Letter to the Ephesians, in which he was struck by "the way in which the apostle speaks about Christ loving the church, who gave himself for her, and I began to ask myself, 'Do I love the church?' It's easy to love your own congregation, but do you love the wider church? Do you love the national church?"