St Matthew's The Network Newsletter

Here is the letter from Bishop O'Neill and the letter from the House of Bishops, to which Bishop O'Neill refers. I shared part of Bishop O'Neill's letter with you on Sunday as part of my sermon. If you have questions or concerns please call me. As I said on Sunday, much of the debate is at the level of the larger institutions yelling at each other while most of our congregations are working to keep Jesus Christ as the focus and trying to make our own lives as Christ like as we are able. There are many of the same disagreements in congregations, but we simply are not the place where all of this gets decided so we don't tend to focus on it. We know how to focus on the task that we have been given to spread the Good News and that is what we will continue to do!

It is a rare occasion that any of us is given the opportunity to see the face of the Anglican Communion, but that was precisely the gift I received just two weeks ago as I participated in the TEAM Conference (Toward Effective Anglican Mission) in Boksburg, South Africa.

Convened by Archbishop Njongonkulu Ndungane of Cape Town, the TEAM Conference was billed as “an historic Anglican Communion gathering, an international conference and prophetic witness on social development, poverty, HIV and AIDS.” It was conceived as an opportunity to draw the attention of our global Communion to the very dire realities of our world. As Archbishop Ndungane puts it, “In our world there is global apartheid where the rich are getting ‘stinkingly’ rich and the poor are getting desperately poor. We know that there are more than 800 million people living in poverty in the world…this is not only immoral, it is a sin, it is evil.”

It is this stark reality that calls us all to “step back and take stock of the fullness of our calling,” a reality that calls us to insist that the mission of the gospel is put and remains at the center of our life. Indeed the focus of the TEAM Conference was just that—a call to deepen and strengthen the common mission of our Anglican Communion through the full spectrum of our global relationships.

Some four hundred participants, representing thirty-two of the thirty-eight provinces of the Anglican Communion and touching some seven continents, were represented. It was a wonderfully diverse group in ways that exceeded our typical use of that overworked term—young and old, women and men, lay and ordained, priests and deacons, bishops and primates, to be sure, with all sorts of racial, cultural, economic, political, and theologically variations as well. But more than that—people living with HIV/AIDs, those who know first hand the reality of extreme poverty and hunger, those who bear the physical and emotional scars of armed conflicts, those who are working to bring peace and renewal to their communities and countries, those who are working on the ground, at the grassroots level, in so many different ways to make incarnate the love of God by actively addressing issues of poverty, hunger, health care, education, gender equality, infant mortality, and third-world debt relief.

As one lay delegate observed, it was a unique opportunity to see, to actually see, the real diversity of the Anglican Communion, to know that this Communion is not an abstraction but has a face, and to experience the reality that this Communion and our witness to the gospel takes on flesh in and through a remarkably varied and gifted body animated by nothing less than the living Spirit of the living God.

It is from this perspective and through this lens that I have viewed this past week’s meeting of the House of Bishops.

Attached you will find a copy of the formal communiqué from that meeting, “A Message to God’s People from the Bishops of the Episcopal Church.” That message will provide you with a good summary of our time together. It points to three specific actions taken by the House of Bishops in making a preliminary response to the recent communiqué from the Primates’ Meeting in Dar Es Salaam:

I cannot stress strongly enough that these actions do not constitute a definitive or complete response to the Primates’ Communiqué. These actions, along with others taken in the past by both The House of Bishops and the General Convention, state clearly and unequivocally the commitment of The Episcopal Church to the Anglican Communion. These actions, while clearly rejecting the proposed pastoral scheme of the Primates, also make clear the commitment of The Episcopal Church to meeting the same pastoral concerns raised by the Primates but in ways that are consistent with our Constitution and Canons and guard the integrity of our church. None of these actions close any doors or cut off the serious and substantive discussion that is necessary to respond fully and appropriately to the Primates’ concerns and the breadth of issues raised in their communiqué. I expect that that work will continue in the months ahead.

I understand fully that while some may welcome the clarity of the “statement” made by The House of Bishops, others will find it strident and interpret it as dismissive of the Primates’ interests. I encourage you simply to read the “statement” carefully and thoughtfully. It asserts, yet again and in some detail, the commitment of The Episcopal Church to the Anglican Communion. It recounts in some detail the serious efforts and substantive steps taken by The Episcopal Church in recent years to be responsive to the various requests of the Windsor Report and the Primates. It articulates in some detail the reasons for rejecting the proposed scheme for a Pastoral Council and a Primatial Vicar—most fundamentally, that the proposed scheme contravenes our own Constitution and Canons. It does not preclude, however, the possibility of working in a positive and appropriate manner to address the expressed need and request to provide pastoral care for those who feel alienated from The Episcopal Church.

While I fully support the actions taken this week by the House of Bishops, I remain fully committed to the life and ministry of the Anglican Communion. In this diocese, we will continue on the course that I set out at last October’s diocesan convention. The Bishop’s Task force that I have appointed will continue their work following the charge that they have been given—(1) to revisit the agreements and commitments made in the report of the first Bishop’s Task Force in light of the changing landscape of our diocese, our national church, and the Anglican Communion, and, (2) to identify specific practical steps by which the clergy and congregations of this diocese can most effectively engage the mission of the Church while maintaining the highest possible degree of communion. I have asked them in this charge to find ways to maintain the essential unity of the body by identifying practical means by which different groups can hold and exercise their convictions with integrity without needing either to act out or to split off completely. You can expect to hear updates on their work in the days ahead.

But there is more. We have work to do, prayerful inner work to do, each of us, for the sake of our common life and ministry.

It is a sad fact that in an age of instantaneous communication our cultural tendency is to rush to judgment and to make quick pronouncements rather than giving ourselves and one another the kind of prayerful space and time—indeed the courtesy—that is essential to Christ-like discernment. Already, I have read any number of reactions to this week’s meeting of the House of Bishops that, to my thinking, simply miss the mark—claims that the alienation between The Episcopal Church and the leadership of the Anglican Communion is unbridgeable; claims that conservative voices are not appointed to positions of leadership within The Episcopal Church; claims that various diocesan leaders are hostile either to conservatives or liberals depending on that leader’s particular bias; claims that clergy and candidates for ordination are denied opportunities on the basis of single-issue litmus tests, to name a few. While such claims are true in part, to assert that they are wide-spread and universal simply distorts the reality of the body as a whole. It is a temptation to be resisted. Certainly in all of my conversations with leaders across this Communion—including dozens of bishops and any number of primates including the Archbishop of Canterbury—I have heard nothing but a desire to enter into even deeper relationship for the sake of the gospel. Certainly in the time that I have served this diocese, the consistent practice has been one of working concertedly to bridge all the various differences among us for the sake of the gospel.

It is a sadly overlooked fact that the power of our witness to a sinful, suffering, broken, and divided world is directly proportionate to the unity of the body. As Jesus says, “No city or house divided against itself will stand.” (Matthew 12:25) The power of our witness, our participation in God’s mission, is grounded in the unity of the body. As Jesus prays, in fact, on the eve of his passion that his disciples may be one so that the world may see and know that he has sent them (John 17). And herein lies the challenge, the gospel imperative that cuts across all lines, that reaches into each of our hearts: only by claiming our God-given unity, the deepest reality of our life, does our diversity, theological or otherwise, find its redemptive power.

During these final weeks of Lent, and as Holy Week, the week of our Lord’s passion, approaches, it would serve us all to engage in some honest self-examination. As for self-righteousness, personal affronts, uncharitable behavior, and an all-too-ready desire to feel victimized and excluded, there has been plenty to go around on all sides. I will say only this: I have not so learned Christ (my paraphrase of Ephesians 4:20). To persist in such behaviors only denies the cruciform nature of our differences and robs us all of the divine opportunity to die to self in order to be born anew.

At worst, our Church and our Communion is engaged in a self-interested and self-serving ecclesiastical power struggle that has everything to do with politics and little to do with the proclamation of the gospel. At best, our Church and our Communion—a marvelously varied body of people of good faith and good will, all in love with Jesus—are being called by God into a time of profound transformation so that we as a global Christian body actually have something to offer a broken and divided world. The conventional wisdom, so prominently being played out in all the political factions in the Church, is not, and cannot be, the way forward. As Jesus tells his quarrelling disciples, “It shall not be so among you.” (Mark 10:43) Because God calls us to offer the world a more transcendent vision of itself, God also calls us to discover a more transcendent way of life for ourselves. “Whoever would be first among you,” Jesus says, “must be slave of all.” (Mark 10:44)

Which brings me back to Boksburg and the true face of our Communion—not an abstraction, but people of faith who bear witness to the gospel daily with a courage and clarity most of us cannot begin to imagine. It is all about mission, and the only posture from which we can meaningfully engage the various ecclesial and controversial issues before our Communion is a posture that is engaged fully and wholeheartedly in mission—a posture in which we bear witness to the love of Jesus by actively participating in the redeeming work of Jesus among those whom Jesus would have his disciples serve. The time has come for us to catch the vision and to “take stock of the fullness of our calling.”

It is my prayer that the actions taken this week by The House of Bishops—welcome by some, painful for others, difficult for all—will contribute to the kind of clarity and self-definition that faithfulness demands and that, when faithfully embraced, becomes the crucible of our own transformation—not for our sake, but for the sake of a suffering world that is crying out to us and calling us out of ourselves…for God’s sake.

I wish you all a blessed, convicting, and life-giving Holy Week.

House of Bishops: Message to God's People
March 21, 2007 [Episcopal News Service]
Spring House of Bishops Meeting
Camp Allen Episcopal Conference Center
Navasota, Texas
March 16-21, 2007
A Message to God's People...from the Bishops of the Episcopal
Church
As we prepare for Easter and the joyous celebration of the resurrection
of our Lord Jesus Christ, we send you greetings from Navasota, Texas
where we gathered for the spring meeting of the House of Bishops. We
represent fifteen sovereign nations, the fifty United States, the District
of Columbia, Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands, and Micronesia bearing
witness to the Gospel of Our Lord and the wonders of Christ's
redeeming work in the world. We were reminded of the health and
vitality of our Church as our new Presiding Bishop recounted her
travels. We have experienced a sense of identity, clarity, and purpose
in fulfilling our vocation as bishops. We were blessed by the presence
of the Primate and the House of Bishops of the Iglesia Anglicana de
Mexico. Together we discovered a growing unity as we seek the mind
of Christ. Our meeting was marked by a spirit of thanksgiving and
respect, lived in a rich rhythm of worship, work, study, and rest.
That spirit moved us deeper into our focus on mission for Christ. In
that context we discussed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
the Primates' Communiqué, the draft Anglican Communion Covenant,
as well as a number of other mission opportunities.
The central theme of the address by the Rev. Dr. Ian Douglas of the
Episcopal Divinity School was that "the mission of the Church is to
participate in the mission of God". This observation set the tone for our
study and discussion of the MDGs. We gave special attention to the
challenge of environmental sustainability, the theme of a presentation
by Dr. John Pine of Louisiana State University who addressed the
environmental implications of global climate change.
We heard from the Rev. Dr. Ephraim Radner and the Rev. Dr.
Katherine Grieb, members of the Covenant Drafting Committee, each
of whom brought a distinct perspective regarding the proposed
Covenant. Their presentations, which are available on line, will inform
further conversations as the drafting process continues prior to the
Lambeth Conference of 2008.
Mission concerns received attention in a variety of workshops and
presentations, including: the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, Darkness
into Day campaign, TEAM (Toward Effective Anglican Mission), TEAC
(Theological Education within Anglican Communion), Bishops Working
for a Just Society, issues facing returning military personnel from Iraq
and Afghanistan and their families, as well as immigration and border
issues viewed from both the United States and Mexican perspectives.
The fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq was marked by a prayer vigil
for peace. Then, in both formal and informal ways, members of the
House expressed their strong desire to keep God's mission at the
center of the life of the Church.
We also heard a well-documented report by the House of Bishops' Task
Force on Property Disputes on the history and strategy of groups,
including some in the Network of Anglican Communion Dioceses and
Parishes (NACDAP) and others, to remove congregations and church
property from The Episcopal Church. This report will be made available
at a later date. We commend it, once publicly available, to diocesan
Standing Committees.
We had an extended and thoughtful discussion of the Communiqué
from the Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam, which represents the
beginning of a longer process of response that will continue through
the coming months.
It is our strong desire to remain within the fellowship of the Anglican
Communion. The Primates' Communiqué, however, raises significant
concerns. First among these is what is arguably an unprecedented
shift of power toward the Primates, represented, in part, by the
proposed "Pastoral Scheme." This proposed plan calls for the
appointment of a Primatial Vicar and Pastoral Council for The Episcopal
Church whose membership would consist of "up to five members; two
nominated by the Primates, two by the Presiding Bishop, and a
Primate of a Province of the Anglican Communion nominated by the
Archbishop of Canterbury to chair the Council." We believe this
proposal contravenes the Constitution and Canons of the Episcopal
Church. Moreover, because it is proposed that this scheme take
immediate effect, we were compelled, at this March meeting, to
request that the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church decline to
participate in this aspect of the Communiqué's requests. Nonetheless,
we pledge to continue working to find a way of meeting the pastoral
concerns raised by the Primates that are compatible with our own
Church's polity and canons. We should note that our recommendation
to Executive Council not to participate in the Pastoral Scheme, though
not unanimously endorsed by this House, came at the conclusion of
long and gracious conversation.
Finally, we believe that the leaders of the Church must always hold
basic human rights and the dignity of every human being as
fundamental concerns in our witness for Christ. We were, therefore,
concerned that while the Communiqué focuses on homosexuality, it
ignores the pressing issues of violence against gay and lesbian people
around the world, and the criminalization of homosexual behavior in
many nations of the world.
The Theology Committee of the House of Bishops was charged with the
responsibility of developing a teaching guide for consideration of both
the Primates' Communiqué and the proposed draft Covenant for the
Anglican Communion. We anticipate this guide will be available by late
May for use by bishops and dioceses in preparation for the September
meeting of the House of Bishops.
The bishops unanimously affirmed a Mind of the House Resolution
inviting the Archbishop of Canterbury and the members of the
Primates' Standing Committee to meet, at a time of their choosing,
with the House of Bishops.
As we prepare to celebrate the Paschal Mystery we call for your
prayers for and commitment to God's mission of making all things
new.
For we do not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord
and ourselves as your slaves for Jesus' sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5)

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