Saturday, November 10, 2007
I attended Diocesan Council, the annual business meeting of the Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, yesterday and today. I was expecting to be bored out of my mind, evinced by the fact my purse contained a Newsweek, a book and my Hebrew flashcards, just in case. Much to my surprise, there was enough entertainment that my Newsweek remains unread.
It was exciting to sit in a room with over 600 priests and laypeople (and the Bishop, of course) from all over Atlanta and the region. There's something special that happens when every priest from the diocese comes together in one place to worship, pray and look ahead to our 101st Diocesan year. Judging by the news stories of past few months regarding the Episcopal Church, I expected uncomfortable debates about homosexuality to prevail. It shouldn't have surprised me that the media presented a rather skewed perspective about the work of the church. We actually have missions, ministries and business to attend to that has nothing do with with homosexuality. Of the five foci the Bishop outlined for the upcoming year ranging from fighting poverty to being on the forefront of environmental conservation, not one included anything about sex. Can you imagine?! In a church? It was refreshingly reassuring. We deliberated on everything from making buildings conducive to those people with disabilities, to environmental initiatives, to the budget. And, it was a great networking opportunity--I was offered 2 jobs!!
I almost left early Friday night and skipped out on the Friday night Eucharist. I'm glad I didn't. Despite my drowsiness, it was a powerful experience to sit in the Cathedral of St. Phillip (pictured above), whose interior rivals that of many of the Cathedrals I've seen in Europe, surrounded by so many people who came together with singular vocations and purpose. Bishops present and past attended, and we renewed our baptismal vows together--a pivotal statement following disagreements and varied opinions about almost every resolution that hit the floor this weekend. Diocesan Council provides a great lesson in peacemaking--we've all got to get along somehow. The fractures in our church the media portrays are, of course, not complete fairytales. I have been fearful of a split on the horizon, despite the Episcopal Church USA's decision to halt gay ordination in the U.S. in order to repair relations with the worldwide communion. Bishop Allen was an encouraging voice to that fear: "I have one message. I am here. We are here. And we are not going anywhere."
Diocesan Council came on the heels of All Saint's Day in the Church Calendar. This is the Sunday when we celebrate the communion of Saints--the greater church consisting of the living and the dead. It is these high holy days that make me love the Episcopal Church. I remember the first time I celebrated All Saints. It was a Wednesday night, a week before the anniversary of my Grandpa's death. There were about 12 of us gathered in the small chapel at my seminary. At the litany of the dead, we spoke aloud the names of all those we knew who had died in the past year. We brought them into worship with us, and acknowledged our continued connection with the dead--through the church instead of through their physical presence. In that moment, I felt the church to be about more than me and Jesus. It was about more than the differences that define denominations and even the bickering within denominations. Rather, we affirmed our belief in the great communion of people who read the same stories, said the same creed, preached the same gospel. A communion beyond all physical, temporal and spiritual boundaries that has given us the church we inhabit that we have today, for better or worse. It is that community with whom and through whom we see Jesus and without whom, we might not see him as we should.
Like any family, there are not just heroes and brave patriarchs. The church has their fair share, to be sure, but we also had crusaders and racists. Still, the saints are our companions and teachers. They stand with us in the same way I felt Grandpa with us that All Saints night last year, a vital part not just of our church's past, but of its present.
Diocesan Council had a similar effect for me. Surrounded by these wise men and women, committed to the church's gospel mission and furthering God's kingdom, I said "Thanks be to God" in unison with those 600 others in a new way. And I was thankful--thankful for newfound love of liturgy, unity and a church family.
