It doesn't seem possible to me, this is my tenth Convention Address. It remains a high privilege to serve with you in Maryland where I see so many signs of the Holy Spirit's guidance and presence, where so many parishes are deepening and growing, and where so many of you are contributing actively to our health and life. A while back, it occurred to me, I am one of the senior members of the House of Bishops (most other active bishops were elected in more recent years. ) I don't feel at all decrepit, but I do value the insights and contacts age and experience have afforded. I am delighted our Companion Diocese relationship with Accra and other international contacts enable me to have a finger on the pulse of our Communion, and being a member of the Theology Committee of our House of Bishops and President of Province III keep me actively involved in wider church issues. These things and more give me considerable hope and optimism about the future of our Church in Maryland, the Episcopal Church, and the Anglican Communion.
Yes, I am very optimistic about the health and future of the Anglican Communion. While there are strident voices calling us “broken” and extremely judgmental voices declaring one part or another of our Communion “apostate,” in fact, we remain remarkably intact. I am not minimizing strain and hurt feelings-these exist, as they do in any relationship where cultures clash and difference is taken seriously. What amazes me is the extent to which most Anglicans around the globe remain committed to the basic tenets of our faith and honor the fact we will have different points of view, different theological perspectives, and different interpretations of Holy Scripture. Bound together by the basic Creeds and Councils of the early Church, the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral, and a commitment to define our theology through liturgy especially evident in the Book of Common Prayer, we continue to honor our diversity and live into our unique understanding of the Reformation. At its bottom line, the special charism of our denomination is this respect for different theological perspectives being held together in Christ. He is our unity. We acknowledge we are neither like-minded nor uniform-Christ provides a unity our minds and wills cannot achieve. This embracing of difference and respect for diversity is the charism, the special spiritual gift, our Anglicanism manifests in every age. Its roots go deep into Celtic and Benedictine spiritualities, reflect the unique development of Christianity in the British Isles, and become operative in the “Elizabethan settlement,” in which old style Catholics and new-minded Protestants formed by the Grace of God one Church, Catholic and reformed. In more recent centuries, this openness to diversity has been tested and tried in cultures widely different from one another. The issues for dispute have changed, but the essential commitment to inclusion and basic faith in a divine unity expressed in diversity have remained in tact. I believe with all my heart this is the work of God and a living miracle.
One of my favorite collects is that for Richard Hooker Day, November 3; it is a wonderful reminder of our Anglican charism: “O God of truth and peace, you raised up your servant Richard Hooker in a day of bitter controversy to defend with sound reasoning and great charity the catholic and reformed religion: Grant that we may maintain that middle way, not as a compromise for the sake of peace, but as a comprehension for the sake of truth.” We need as Anglicans to say to the more narrow-minded in our midst and to the world at large, the truth is not narrow but comprehensive! Truth is so comprehensive, no one of us knows it fully, so the best we can do is understand its parts and hope in community to construct a more complete sense of truth. We need to be clear that our maintenance of the “middle way” is not a compromise but Godly inclusion, that is, it mirrors the comprehensive truth of God. This is a breath of fresh air desperately needed in a world where warring, petty and often shrill, voices compete over “truths” unworthy of the name! As a denomination grounded in Scripture, rooted in tradition and valuing reason, we have a unique place in world dialogue and a voice needing to be heard. Let us not forget that this is not the first time in our history we have been engaged in “bitter controversy,” nor is our destiny in the hands of fallible men and women. This is God's Church-what God wills will endure.
Some naively anticipate a “quick fix,” some universal Anglican agreement on the place of homosexual persons in committed relationships within our Church. Others forecast schism, an inevitable split between Anglicans who ordain gay and lesbian persons in committed relationships and bless their unions and those who reject such practices. I anticipate a third option: an extension of our present reality in which we respect the integrity of member churches of the Communion to disagree. We have already been living into this reality for some time, and while dialogue needs to be encouraged, I do not see universal agreement happening any time soon. The Windsor Report, paragraphs 12-21, describe (if somewhat idealistically) how we have lived into serious disagreement over the ordination of women. Women priests, deacons, and bishops ordained in one part of the Communion are not recognized and cannot function in another, and so there is “a measure of impairment” (paragraph 21). What can we learn from this model? All parts of the Communion need to share local developments and the rationale for them more widely in the whole Communion. I am pleased that the American and Canadian Churches have prepared or are preparing theological rationales for their actions. I trust that other parts of our Communion, especially parts in which discussion of homosexuality has never taken place or where discussions are in their infancy, will read and prayerfully reflect on these theological and Scriptural statements. Some of our Anglican partners need to stretch to stand in our shoes, to become acquainted with debates which have been going on in the West in academia for fifty years and in our Church for over thirty years. For our part, we need to be patient to allow others to grapple for the first time with new materials and new ideas. Both sides will have to work hard and live into genuine dialogue. Over the next few years, I believe, we will not come to one mind but will live into a new appreciation for the other and agree to respect our different interpretations of how Scripture informs our responses to gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
Taking both the authority of Holy Scripture and its interpretation most seriously will be essential in all parts of our Communion if we are to grow in faith and remain united in Christ. I encourage all of you to read and read again paragraphs 52-62 of the Windsor Report. Scripture bears witness to the authority of God. “The purpose of scripture is not to supply true information, nor just to prescribe in matters of belief and conduct, nor merely act as a court of appeal, but to be part of the dynamic life of the Spirit.” (paragraph 55). The Scripture is so much more than the printed page. It requires a worshipping community in which to be read, discussed, and interpreted over time: “Questions of interpretation are rightly raised, not as an attempt to avoid or relativise scripture and its authority, but as a way of ensuring that it really is scripture that is being heard, not simply the echo of our own voice.or the memory of earlier Christian interpretations.” (paragraph 59). Scripture, like our relationship with Christ, is dynamic and not static. Over time passages of Scripture have been reinterpreted in very different ways. “When a fresh wave of scholarship generates ideas which are perceived as a threat to something the Church has always held dear, it is up to the scholars concerned, on the one hand, to explain how what is now proposed not only accords with but actually enhances the central core of the Church's faith. And it is up to the Church, on the other hand, not to reject new proposals out of hand, but to listen carefully, to test everything, and to be prepared to change its mind if and when a convincing case is made.” (paragraph 60).
Some here at home and abroad accuse Americans and Canadians of embracing secular culture. It is well to remember that the Church in every age has appropriated aspects of its culture in a valid attempt to communicate the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the times. Many of the most beloved aspects of our celebrations of Christmas were, in fact, pagan customs appropriated by Christian missionaries to communicate the faith in northern Europe. Today in our Companion Diocese of Accra, there are concerted efforts to “Africanize” the Church and to make the Gospel more acceptable (less European) to people in West Africa. We struggle to make the Gospel real in America and to let our culture inform our theological thinking. This is not so simple as “selling out to culture,” it is our engagement in a time-honored method of living into God's authority and into the authority of Scripture.
A word about reconciliation. It distresses me greatly whenever I hear someone say that within our Church we have “irreconcilable differences. ” Our differences are not to be reconciled by your changing my mind or my changing yours. Nor is reconciliation something which takes place because I will to forgive you or you will to forgive me. Reconciliation is the work of Christ! Jesus Christ has already reconciled you and me to himself and to God. Reconciliation is a gift by grace which surpasses our meager understanding and has absolutely no dependence on our resolving our disagreements. We participate in the reconciling work of Christ when we get to the altar and remember we have offended a sister and brother, leave the altar and seek out that person to ask pardon. We participate in reconciliation when we “respect the dignity” of the other as a loved child of God despite our differences. To suggest we have “irreconcilable differences” is not only to be frightfully un-Anglican, it is to reject the power of Christ to transform us and others by his love.
Where does this leave us? I believe in the years ahead the spirit of Anglicanism, a spirit of dialogue and respect for difference, will triumph. We will become more sensitive to each other's perspectives and form deeper faith as a result of our dialogues and the leading of the Holy Spirit. We will continue to find our unity at the altar and through liturgy (as we currently do here in most of our parishes despite widely different beliefs relative to homosexuality). In this we will emerge as a Communion stronger in faith, more able in evangelism, uniquely equipped to proclaim the Good News in a multicultural and increasingly diverse world. I believe this is our call, and I believe God is equipping Anglicans to extend God's Kingdom in exciting ways around the globe. I am committed that we do so here in Maryland. The danger is we may let the devil triumph instead! We may give in to party strife, exhaust ourselves on issues of sexuality rather than address the truly essential issues of Christian faith: communicating God's love in a broken world, learning to share our resources as God's stewards, truly “seeking and serving Christ” in our neighbor as we live into our Baptismal Covenant. We have great opportunity to extend Christ's Kingdom here in Maryland-so many are hungering for the things our Church does best. As Anglicans and Episcopalians, we are a Church for the present moment, a Church which has withstood the tests of time, and a Church for the future. I believe our future is especially bright if we can keep our sites on mission and keep from draining our energies on secondary concerns which always have an attraction and endanger our primary call. “The harvest is plentiful,” and Our Lord beckons us into the vineyard. We go together, strengthened by one another and empowered by Christ.
In the late 11th and early 12th centuries in the midst of major economic, social, political and religious change it was two preachers that were given much of the credit for the social, political and economic changes - most notably the increase of justice between classes. Neither preacher was an economist. Neither held office or had status. Both, in fact, were mendicant preachers - that is having nothing of their own. But their preaching transformed both people and society.
There is an old adage about preaching when we start to address matters economic, social or political - “Now, preacher, you have gone from preaching to meddling!” Neither of these preachers sought to do anything but proclaim the Gospel. They were Francis and Dominic. Many scholarly accounts of the economic and social changes of the time reflect the incredible influence of these preachers and their communities.
We live in times of great change and stress in matters economic, social, political and religious. Yet the church often has a hard time finding its public voice. In fact we are usually highly individualistic in our approaches to faith. In addition we compartmentalize - separating out our faith from our work, our views on world affairs and the ballot box. Or when we do seek to speak publicly we often do as Peter Berger notes, use public rhetoric but with private virtues and thus it does not ring true with many and is dismissed as our concerns only.
There is always a fear when we speak of going public that we are going to try to drown out other faithful voices. Let me say that we are Marylanders. As such we are heirs to a great tradition of religious tolerance and of the valuing of the variety of religious voices. This tradition is to be cherished and affirmed. For us to speak of a public voice is not a voice which seeks to drown out others. Rather I like to think like a choir making beautiful music; each of us singing our part and in the combined beauty of many voices comes meaningful music.
The public voice for the church, and in particular for those of us who are the Diocese of Maryland is not in developing a laundry lists of issues and the seeking to influence the appropriate bodies. Rather it is to re-appropriate our faith such that we see in service to Christ Jesus that we are called to proclaim in word and deed how God's wills God's people to live. For too long we have concentrated on the maintenance of our structures, satisfied our individual or parochial needs and participated in the compartmentalizing of our lives such that we could and did ignore the genuine crises around us.
We must claim the public dimension of the Gospel, for we are about a transformed world, one reconciled to God's will. Francis, specifically, said that the world is our cloister. For us the world is the place for our ministry and mission. I want to address in particular social justice. What does God ask us to do to have a society that is just?
Francis and Dominic preached repentance, and it was a call to a right relationship with God, with all people and with all creation. The prophet Amos is noteworthy because he prophesied against the “violation of the social order.” The penitential preachers of the 12th and 13th centuries are heirs to the prophets and point us towards our ministry to speak against the violation of the social order and for the restoration of things in accordance with God's creation. This is the work we call social justice and it cannot be done unless we see as Francis did that “the world is our cloister.” Ultimately to move from maintenance to mission is to about the restoration of all things to God in Christ.
First this means our congregations must see their ministry as to all in their communities. Let me share four examples of many. St. Luke's on Carey Street in West Baltimore has completed the work of study and is devising a mission statement. They are one of fifty-five houses of worship in their neighborhood, but it is a neighborhood where seventy per-cent of the people are not churched. Their work pointed out that persons struggling with addiction, persons who have been incarcerated and children at risk are not being fully served. These persons remain largely at risk and marginalized. Their ministry is accord with Micah 6:8 is to be “the safe harbor.” All Saints, Sunderland is one of the 1692 churches and its elegant colonial worship space is one of the oldest and most historic in our diocese. Yet one Sunday a month, in the parish hall, a special seeker service is held for persons for whom traditional worship is not an option at this time. One of our oldest congregations doing a very new thing. In western Maryland, Lonaconing, a mining community with a decreasing population would on paper seem unlikely for growth. However with intentional focus on children and youth saw its Sunday school double. St. James, Mt. Airy aware of the pain and risk to children in divided families where divorce and custody battles take their toil on the most vulnerable - children - established the “transfer station” as a safe place for children to be picked up and returned so they are not caught up in the tragedy of domestic strife. Social justice begins with asking “Who among God's children is in pain, who is in need and who is left out?”
Social Justice is about being stewards. For all we have is from God. Francis and Dominic went out owning nothing because all they needed was from God. We need to recover a true sense of stewardship, which is to share generously from what God has given us. In the Acts of the Apostles in both chapter 2 and chapter 4 we see that the disciples saw all they had as being “held in common. ” I believe one way we must learn to live into this is to see that all God's people have what they need. I am pleased that our Health Care Task Force and Mission Strategy Task Force are combing efforts to make health care for all a priority. For this is about health and wholeness for all God's people and not about possession. We have churches such as Guardian Angel and Holy Nativity in Baltimore that need the resources of others, from us, to serve the people in their communities. All resources must be shared generously if we are going to living justly as God demands and as Christ exemplifies.
Amos warns Israel as we are to be warned that God's justice will not tolerate transgressions against God's people, and that all worship done without justice does not delight God. Two examples here point to the necessity of the church showing the world what it is God expects of us all. The first is our commitment to anti-racism - to break down the barriers of prejudice, power and discrimination that exist and work for a society where all of God's people can feast on the bounty of creation. We have an Anti-Racism Commission, changed from task force to commission, as a sign of our long-term commitment. We are working on anti-racism training and our reparations task force is well along in both its education and its work for a solution that restores and repairs that which has been broken and separated. Later in the convention you will hear from the Safe Church Committee on steps we are taking to assure that all are safe in the care of the church. We do this because God demands it, and we do it because we must show the world that all children must be safe. As we work to protect the children in the church's care, we must work to make safe places and communities for all God's children everywhere.
For too long our understanding of the word vocation has been work in the church. When I asked a wonderful saint named Meg to be my senior warden, she told me she would have to pray about it. For being on the vestry was her third vocation. Her first vocation was a wife and mother. Her second vocation was as public school teacher. Her third vocation was for St. Anne's. She had her priorities clear. We must reclaim the word vocation, which is to be an instrument of God's purposes in all creation. For too long vocation has meant what I do in and with the church. Vocation is what we do in the world; in teaching, in business, in education, in our communities and within and among our families. Christian vocation is about being an instrument for God's greater purposes in the world. Frederick Beuchner stated it this way: “Vocation is when our passions meet the needs of the world.” We cannot separate out work in the world from vocation.
Discipleship is the work of the church; it is the servant work to which Christ calls us. In so much as the most often repeated commandment from our Lord is whosoever will be first of all must be last of all and servant of all we must always be about servant hood with and among all of God's children. The church is, in fact, is always called to disinterested service. We do not do what we do for our own reasons, but because others are in need. The shift from maintenance to mission by necessity is requiring us to understand the true discipleship to which we are called - that of servanthood.
Francis and Dominic reflected servant hood by focusing on those most in need, those most at risk and those left out. The public focus of our ministry is the work of discipleship with both the people who are at risk and with the causes that create their situation. We must actively serve the poor and actively work to overcome the factors leading to poverty. For several years we have taken a strong stand against domestic violence. We have trained persons to minister to those who are victims. At the same time we must address the systemic causes of violence. The prophets, notably Micah, Amos, Hosea and Isaiah, state that we most always sound the trumpet when there is a violation against God's good order. We sound this trumpet both in service to those in need and against the causes which harm God's people.
Like Francis and Dominic, we are called to preach by our deeds in and among all people. Going public is seeing that we are called to mission and ministry to all God's people and to see our vocation and discipleship as service to Christ Jesus in and through all things within and beyond the church.
I share the distress of many of you with the tendency of both media and the religious right to define morality as individual piety. Nothing can be clearer from the Gospel accounts of Jesus and the wealth of prophetic witness in Hebrew Scripture than God demands moral behavior which must ultimately be seen in and through our response to our neighbor. Social justice is at the heart of the ministry of Jesus in the world as much today as when he healed in Galilee and taught in Jerusalem. Christian faith is a way of living, not just belief, never only a life of personal prayer. Moreover, Jesus seems clear in his many biblical dialogues with the Pharisees, personal purity and piety pale in significance with sharing our resources with the unfortunate, engaging in acts of kindness, sharing love in community, and working for justice in society. The sin of the Pharisees was their preoccupation with personal purity coupled with their pride and their failure to devote their energies to promote peace and establish justice. Jesus often lauds persons of lesser “purity” because they, at least, have grasped something of the social demands of religious faith. The tax collector, Zacchaeus, is a case in point. Puritanism is a reoccurring phenomenon, and it is currently in vogue (and not only among Christians but among Jews and Muslims as well). At its worst, Puritanism accounts for a great deal of the violence committed in the name of religion-we see this in Islamic fundamentalism and in a host of other extremes. Even at its best, Puritanism is only the beginning of religious faith and a prelude to practicing that faith in the public arena.
As a denomination, we have a proud history of understanding the essential corporate nature of Christian faith. From our very strong, if subtle, Benedictine roots, we have understood that Christians are necessarily practicing their religious faith in the community we call Church. There are no individual Christians separate from the community! We simply cannot be Christian on our own (just me and Jesus.) Being in Christ means living in community and sharing worship in community (hence the prime importance of common prayer,) and working in community for the extension of Christ's Kingdom in the world. His kingdom always entails actively working for justice, sharing our resources, and working closely with our neighbors. Jesus reminds us that our neighbors are sometimes very far away. Tsunami relief has galvanized many people here in America as we collectively reach out to victims and their families on the other side of the world. Our healthiest churches have always put “outreach” at the top of the agenda for financial support and concerted effort. In fact, healthy “outreach” bespeaks a healthy community. One of the first signs of stagnation, loss of vision, and inward preoccupation in churches is the demise of “outreach” ministries.
I keep putting “outreach” in quotes for a reason. It is a bad term. “Outreach” is never just sharing with those outside the community of the faithful; it is an essential part in the spiritual health of the community. Perhaps we should be more honestly calling it justice ministry, since justice is at its heart. My vision for this Diocese is that we will continue to devote ourselves to ministries of justice at home and throughout our world. This is why sharing of resources, working for compassionate public policy, and making voice heard on the issues is so important. I am pleased that over the past ten years, many within our Diocese have witnessed to the centrality of justice to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Both your bishops are actively involved with Bishops Working for a Just Society. All of us need to be speaking out and living into priorities which bespeak our deep faith. Christians are to make a difference in our world, and the Incarnation of Jesus is ever a reminder that God sees no separation between the spiritual and material. We are specifically called to use our material gifts for the betterment of society and to become by grace and the Holy Spirit incarnations of God's love for the world. We do that more by living justly than in being holy. In fact, true holiness always manifests itself in social action as well as personal purity, which is why even secular society lives in awe of a Mother Teresa of Calcutta, a Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the most dynamic Christians in your congregation. We need to be living out our faith with renewed perseverance and pointed actions toward justice and seizing all the opportunities at hand to witness in the world to the love of God.
+John and I continue to be most thankful for the love and support of our wives, Sharon and Nancy, of our excellent and caring staff, and so very many fine and dedicated clergy and laity in this Diocese. To serve here with you is challenge and blessing, hard work and joy, stretching and affirming. Maryland is a wonderful and healthy microcosm of the Kingdom of God, and +John and I give thanks to God daily for it and for you all.