My dear sisters and brothers in Christ:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I welcome you to this 184th Annual Diocesan Council of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi.
This year we have gathered in our capital city in this brand new convention complex – one of the outward and visible signs of the renewal and revitalization of downtown Jackson. Many of us are staying in the historic King Edward Hotel, aka the Hilton Garden Inn, another sign of the economic redevelopment in this area. The new restaurants downtown that you will pass by as you stroll around also witness to the hundreds of new downtown residents who now call this section of Jackson home.
The diocesan Executive Committee has made the decision to alternate our Council gatherings so that every other year we will return to this, our see city, while in alternating years we will be hosted by other communities around the diocese.
This year, our host congregations are St. James', Jackson, St. Mark's, Jackson, St. Alexis', Jackson, and St. Columb's, Ridgeland. Many new activities and events have been added for our time together this year – from the Mission Marketplace that you discovered when you registered located immediately adjacent to us this evening; to the workshops on Saturday afternoon – to the children's worship and choir on Sunday – and much in between. Because of the addition of all of these things, someone likened the fullness of our gathering this year to a three-ringed circus. I prefer to think of it as the Church gathered in all its joy and fullness.
Special thanks to our co-chairs of this gathering, who over the year became know as the "Council Queens" – Ms. Sheri Cox and Ms. Del Harrington. We deeply appreciate the time and energy that you and countless others have put into making our time together so special. Special thanks, also, to our new diocesan liturgical coordinator, the Rev. Canon Bryan Owen and Mike Flannes who does a variety of things year after year for Council. The work of your Diocesan staff, coordinated by Canon Kathryn McCormick, is essential to making all of this all come together. Thank all of you who have worked so long and so hard.
The last time Diocesan Council gathered in Jackson was on the heels of the Y2K non-event in February 2000. Now at that gathering on the fairgrounds or inside the fairgrounds, you spent the vast majority of your time asking questions, listening, praying and discussing the five nominees for bishop-coadjutor. Maybe you knew what the next eleven years would look like – I certainly did not. But I remember saying, in February 2000, that the church and the culture were undergoing dramatic change, and though I was not smart enough to see into the future as to the content of those changes, it was clear to me that a model of being the church, a model that had worked reasonably well for a good half a century, was, by necessity, changing dramatically.
Not surprisingly, it was the youth of this diocese that picked up most quickly on those words of mine as I met with them separately, and their conversation with me was the richest and their questions the most insightful, during our time together.
It is that path of discernment in this extraordinarily difficult time of change that you and I have been given to walk in our day, to be faithful in our day, to discern to separate wheat from chaff in our day, so that our children and grandchildren will know the salvation of Jesus Christ in their age and the transformational power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.
One piece that is changing and one piece that requires our ongoing discernment is our relationship with the wider Anglican Communion. We certainly are aware, every one of us, of the tensions and strains within that worldwide community where we find our place. We will continue to discern, to think and to pray through that relationship. The serious discussion of the proposed Anglican Covenant at a conference next weekend designed for all clergy and the lay leadership of this diocese will be a piece of that particular discernment. It is my hope that what is gleaned from that time by the clergy, at least, they will take home and use to stimulate conversation in their own home congregation.
Over my decade 'plus' as your bishop, you have heard me speak a great deal of the Mission of the Church and the false, even idolatrous, dichotomy of evangelism and social action. But as we move into the second decade of my time with you as bishop, it seemed appropriate to reflect, a bit more intentionally, on precisely why we do what we do. Thus, our theme for this council is the "Spirit (or you can also read the 'Soul') of Mission." What are the core values for what we do? What does it mean to live fully into being One Church in Mission – Inviting, Transforming, Reconciling? What informs our decisions and shapes our actions? What is foundational for our life together? What serves the Kingdom of God and What serves God's purpose for the salvation and healing of the world?
Too often these questions are not the ones that guide us. While many congregations have shown significant growth in so many ways, others are addressing serious financial challenges due to the economic uncertainties of the past few years. In such moments of challenge, we are tempted to forget our core identity – who we are, whose we are and why God has called us into this peculiar community we know as the Church. A word of caution here – a fear-based response in challenging times is always problematic. It is my hope that this weekend can be a time to refocus on that Spirit of Mission. Why do we do what we do and just what Spirit is leading us?
We'll reflect on some of this as we go through the weekend, but I trust this is but a beginning of a prayerful conversation that you take home to your congregations and continue to deepen.
I'd like to spend a little time reflecting on the year past before suggesting what the coming year might look like in our common life together.
At last year's Council, I challenged each congregation to prayerfully find ways to become involved in overseas mission. So many of you responded so faithfully to my charge. Thank you and God bless you. Several congregations focused on our relationship with the Church in Sudan. You purchased prayer books and bibles for the Diocese of Twic East; you held vigils and special days of prayer for a peaceful referendum on independence; you provided scholarships for medical training; and you have cared for and nurtured the Sudanese refugees who have made this community of Jackson and this church their home. Some of you focused on Uganda and found ways to respond. Some of you hosted Bishop Masereka of Uganda in his fall visit to Mississippi and helped support the educational and medical ministries of the Bishop Masereka Christian Foundation. Some of you focused on Honduras and have deepened and expanded the ministry of the Honduras Medical Mission and others have made commitments to be sponsors for its future work. Some of you have found ways to stay in touch with the church in Panama.
Of course, when we met last year, the earthquake had just destroyed Haiti. So now we have just passed the 1st anniversary of that devastating earthquake. As you know, I trust, the Diocese of Haiti is the largest diocese in our Episcopal Church. It's not some foreign entity. They are us, just as the Diocese of Alabama or the Diocese of Louisiana. We are part of the Episcopal Church with the Diocese of Haiti. Many of you have responded generously to the Episcopal Relief and Development appeal for emergency relief and assistance. Last fall the House of Bishops committed themselves to a $10 million campaign to rebuild the Cathedral in Port au Prince and its educational institutions. That Cathedral, as you have learned if you have been listening to the news, is a terribly important icon and symbol for both the Episcopal Church, but also for the entire country of Haiti. In coming weeks, you will be receiving information about our church's efforts to rebuild this spiritual center in Haiti. Mr. Dave Kelly of St. Andrew's Cathedral has agreed to be our diocesan coordinator for this appeal. Surely, those of us in Mississippi, 5 years removed from Katrina, understand the transformational power in people's lives of churches restored and rebuilt.
A workshop on Saturday afternoon will focus on ways that you and your congregation can deepen your commitment to overseas mission in Uganda, Haiti, the Sudan, Honduras and Panama.
Closer to home, on December 12, I dedicated and consecrated the newly rebuilt Church of the Redeemer, Biloxi – the final Katrina-destroyed church that now can once again open its arms to a hungry and hurting world. It's been a long road back for our sisters and brothers on the coast, but their faithfulness and your support in so many ways have brought them home. It was also significant, that night in December, that at that dedication were Bishop Bud Cederholm and other representatives from the Diocese of Massachusetts, a diocese that sent dozens and dozens of work teams to assist at Redeemer and along the coast as well as being a major financial support to Redeemer. You see, we are "One church."
In a related matter, we have been able to sell some of the former church properties on the coast, thus providing sizeable savings in our diocesan budget from which, as you will see when our budget comes forward, we can fund new mission initiatives. Now, one inside tip. We still have eight acres of prime beachfront property in Long Beach, Mississippi. If you are interested, see the delegation from St. Patrick's.
During the past year our ministry at All Saints' School, Vicksburg, has transitioned significantly. After two years of selfless volunteer service as manager of the campus and point person as All Saints' was transformed into the crown jewel of the AmeriCorps Service Program for young adults, the Rev. John Jenkins retired (again) to take up his pew at St. Peter's-by-the-Lake. As I have said so often in so many contexts to John, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
The new managers for the facility are Richard and Susan Price from St. Alban's, Bovina. They will live in the rectory at All Saints' and oversee and tend to the full range of needs, both property and personal, that the young people of AmeriCorps and their program require.
Gray Center continued its unique ministry of spiritual formation and hospitality. The summer program at Camp Bratton-Green showed a dramatic increase in campers, and groups within our wider church community are discovering the spirit of this special place and locating their meetings there. We have deepened our relationship with the United Methodist Church and are finding ways to do programming together in a redesigned Center for Formation and Mission as we particularly focus on the areas of retreat ministries. Financially, Gray Center has moved dramatically in recent years to much firmer footing, thanks in large measure to the sacrificial labors of the Finance Chair of Gray Center Board of Managers, Mr. Wallace Pope.
We have moved into a long-term timber management program at Gray Center to more fully utilize our resources, all the while being careful to maintain the beauty and mystery that makes it a special place. You will hear much more about Gray Center tomorrow in the report by our Executive Director, Mr. Bill Horne.
During the past year we have also begun a serious conversation about our church's move to a denominational health plan that would apply equally to clergy and lay persons who work a minimum of 30 hours per week. This will be challenging for some, I know, and we are looking for many ways to assist, but I am committed to being in conversation with wardens, vestries and clergy so we can move seamlessly into this new reality. Canon Kathryn McCormick, one of our Church's best authorities on this new plan (and one who wears full bullet-proof garb whenever she makes one of her presentations on the denominational health plan) will be providing ongoing opportunities to discuss local issues related to this change which will be implemented in 2012.
Now, a few personal notes. Over the past year, I have spent a significant amount of time and energy serving on the Court of Review for the Trial of a Bishop, a necessary, if distasteful, role in our common life as a church. The moral and legal complexities of the cases the Court addressed were some of the most difficult I have encountered in my ordained ministry.
Somewhat related to that, a few months back, I was asked by the Presiding Bishop to sit on a Task Force to respond to concerns being newly raised by some about the recently adopted revisions in our Title IV disciplinary canons. Since these revisions were passed by General Convention in 2009 after several years of conversation, they are binding on us as a diocese. I didn't need the Chancellor to tell me that, but he did it anyway. We will be voting during this Council on changes to our diocesan canons to give us the structure to deal with certain disciplinary problems in ways consistent with our national canons. I trust we will act accordingly. However, this task force the Presiding Bishop has asked me to sit with has been charged to take seriously the questions raised by some and report back to the HOB and General Convention about any additional revision that may be required.
Some of you know I also serve on our Church's Standing Commission on Evangelism and Domestic Mission. In my capacity on that Commission, I have sought to generate conversation throughout the church, in something of a gadfly kind of way, to stimulate conversation about the restructuring, but more importantly, the re-envisioning, of General Convention. My hope, without any particular specific proposals at this time, is to allow General Convention to serve its necessary function, but to spend the bulk of our time focusing on the training and educating of the church for evangelism and mission. I ruffled a few feathers along the way and at least one blog has referred to that "radical bishop from Mississippi" ... somewhat of an oxymoron.
I was also blessed, this year, to receive an invitation from the Archbishop of the Sudan to visit Sudan, my daughter's native country. Traveling with Dr. Greg Miller of St. Andrew's Cathedral, we returned with a deeper appreciation of the challenges facing this Church and this about to be, following the referendum of earlier this month, newly independent country. But I also returned renewed by a people whose faith in the transformational power of the Holy Spirit guided them through 30 years of Civil War and is their hope as they seek to build a new country.
On a more personal note, words cannot describe my feelings when we arrived in the village of Tabitha' people and the elders remembered Tabitha's young mother and that three year old child who fled the fighting to who knows where almost twenty years ago. Before we left they said, "We can tell her family that Tabitha is living with a bishop."
When I became your bishop, the diocesan office had twice the full time staff we have now. What this means, in practical terms, is that fewer people are doing more things and that the absence of one must be compensated for in a variety of ways. Thus, the well-deserved sabbaticals by the Canon to the Ordinary and the Canon for Finance and Administration over the past year, along with staff illnesses, made us all feel like there were many loose ends that didn't get taken care of as they usually are. Please forgive us, but now, renewed and refreshed, we're ready to rock and roll!
With that in mind . . .
Last fall, I sent to the clergy, a letter detailing a new initiative on racial reconciliation. Copies of that letter are at the racial reconciliation booth in the Mission Marketplace and posted on the diocesan website. As we approach the 50th anniversaries of events of the Civil Rights Movement that dramatically shaped our lives in Mississippi and the nation, it seemed to me to be a God-given moment to do what such occasions – in and outside of the church – invite us to consider. Thus, in that letter, and now at this moment as we gather as a church in Council, I invite this church, in the spirit of humility and hope, to look honestly at our past, to confess our personal and corporate failings – We have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and we have done those things which we ought not to have done – and recommit ourselves, through this wonderful opportunity that presents itself over the next few years, in word and action to building a church and a society that respects the dignity of every human being. This work of racial reconciliation is much harder than we first imagined. It's not simply about being nice to each other, although that's a start. It is so difficult because it requires an honesty, a vulnerability, and a capacity to listen that does not come easily or natural to us. Yet, I believe it is part of the foundational work that we have been called to do in this place in our time.
To those who, with good intention, raise the question about looking back into our past rather than forward into our future, let me read from that aforementioned letter I wrote back in September.
"As a native of this state for 61 years, I have lived through the events mentioned above, and I am acutely aware of how far we've come. In fact, because of our often tortured past, we have been forced to confront directly the evils of racism while many others have hid behind a veil of denial. I am enormously proud of our efforts to this point."
"But I also know," I wrote, "that stain of racism that still infects my own heart and soul. I am not proud of certain thoughts and feelings that I find within me in unexpected moments. The acknowledgement and confession of those things done and left undone in both my present life and in my (our) past is critical to my healing."
I concluded my letter with these words: "It will not be easy to return to parts of my (our) past. The temptation is always to call the past the past and move on. However, the past in both our individual and our corporate lives, left unexamined or ignored, will control us in very unhelpful ways. My redemption and my freedom require the cross of accountability. As Mr. Faulkner once noted, 'The past is never dead. It's not even past.'"
Again, a personal example. A few years ago, I was in a small, interracial bible study group that was formed to provide a vehicle in which we could move this very conversation around race to a deeper level in the context of Holy Scripture.
After a couple of sessions, I felt comfortable enough to tell one story of deep regret. I was a junior in high school in Meridian, having just moved to town. And this particular year would be the year of the first very limited desegregation activity. So it was that six African-American girls were enrolled in the senior class for the first time.
I was instructed by parents to reach out to those girls – to make them feel welcome. To stand up for them in case anyone began to bully them. But for reasons that a sixteen year old could use to justify his own inaction, I did not. That has lived with me for a long time, I told that group.
There was a long pause. Then one of the women sitting next to me in the group said, "I was one of those girls. It was brutal. I sure wish someone would have reached out."
Then she took my hand. We both shed a tear. It was enough.
You will be hearing more about some of the first steps of this new initiative later during Council and the Racial Reconciliation Task Force will be a resource for congregations as we live more fully into the opportunities of these next few years.
Over the years I have served as your bishop, I have tried to make as clear as I could that the work of the diocesan office and staff, even as it grows smaller, is to be a resource for local congregations, a resource that enables those congregations to do the work God is calling them to do within their local contexts. You have heard me say before that though we do have plenty of "Come to Jesus" meetings in the diocesan office, I don't think anyone has ever found Jesus in the diocesan office during those moments.
The Risen Lord is known most readily within the gathered community of faith, locally based – worshipping, caring and serving – in a particular place among a particular people. An important part of my job is to offer resources that will contribute to the health and vitality of the local congregations.
To that end, we have expanded, going forward, certain programs in the coming year and will initiate new ones with the primary purpose of strengthening local congregations. We are in a transitional moment in the life of this church. I didn't know how true it was when I said it in 2000. Old models are less effective, financial resources are receding, young people are having difficulty connecting to traditional parish life, and our surrounding popular culture has become less supportive, and at times, even antagonistic to our calling and mission. What is being called out of us in this moment are new, sometimes untested, but creative approaches to the eternal challenges that have faced people of faith since the beginning of time.
Let me address some of these new initiatives, many of which are reflected in our diocesan budget. We are testing new models for ordained ministry. Our Delta Missioners, Robert Wetherington and Betsy Baumgarten, being the most visible of those new models. However, new models of ordained ministry are being thought through on an almost daily basis in my office. I have just accepted as a postulant for holy orders, one who has a clear call as a bi-vocational priest. What that means is that she will draw her salary from her secular employment and will be free, then to live into her sacramental and pastoral leadership in new and creative ways. We have also begun a new partnership with the Diocese of Texas and the Seminary of the Southwest to provide us, under certain conditions, an alternative educational track for ordination.
But we have also tried to provide new models for congregations. We have made a serious effort to provide to the clergy and congregations the best available resources for congregational development. The Cooperative College for Congregational Development – a week-long in-depth training program housed at Gray Center and sponsored by six southeastern dioceses – is a new resource that I hope more and more congregations will utilize. I know that some congregations have made plans to use resources made available through the group called ACTS 29. I applaud your efforts. We are also developing locally trained stewardship consultants that are available to assist with year round stewardship programs. You may know that the first Bishop's Annual Stewardship Summit (BASS) is scheduled in May at Gray Center. Workshops on Congregational Development and Stewardship will be held tomorrow afternoon, and in fact, all of the workshops being held tomorrow afternoon are being designed to assist local congregations to do the work they have been given to do.
In an effort to upgrade our leadership training of lay persons, we have inaugurated a small pilot program of the Lay Ministry Training Institute that will offer a year-long training experience, utilizing the best leadership resources in and outside of the church. After this year we will evaluate the program and, building upon what we have learned, offer this training to the entire diocese in 2012.
The second largest category in our diocesan budget is our work with young people. This year, we have increased that investment as we have restarted campus ministries at the University of Southern Mississippi and Delta State. These new initiatives grew out of the commitment of local congregations – Calvary, Cleveland; Ascension and Trinity Churches, Hattiesburg – but are funded through the giving of congregations throughout this diocese. In addition, this spring I will be conducting a series of conversations with young adults around the diocese to gather thoughts and ideas about new directions for expanding our young adult ministry. And not to be forgotten, our Bishop's Mission Corps is still alive in my own mind and heart. It just lies dormant for now as we begin to rethink the model of this very important ministry to young adults.
Even in these challenging economic times as a church, because of your generosity, we have been able to do so much together that we could not do separately. Three congregations where mission and ministry have dramatically increased in recent years – Good Shepherd, Columbus; St. Francis, Philadelphia; and St. Timothy, Southaven – have been funded over the short term so as to increase or provide full time clergy leadership for the first time. This investment in mission and growth has been the hallmark of Executive Committee decisions around funding.
In another area of local resourcing we will be reestablishing a model of support of local outreach ministries that we have used in the past. We will look to redevelop an Outreach Foundation that will assist local congregations with ideas, consultants and start up funding for new outreach initiatives. It is my hope, here and elsewhere, to more fully utilize one of the great resources of our church, our deacons, in the broadening of our servant ministries.
Our partnership with Lutheran Episcopal Services of Mississippi has served us well, especially in the post-Katrina rebuilding. However, I believe it is now time for us to find better ways to resource local congregations. Thus, several of our cooperative ministries of LESM may be reincorporated into our diocesan ministries. The first and most visible of which will be our disaster preparedness coordination efforts which will be headed by the Rev. Deacon Carol Spencer.
As you well know, the fastest growing segment of our nation's population is the Latino/Hispanic community. Our country's economic system is so structured that immigration, legal or otherwise, from south of our border will be required to satisfy the needs of businesses and commerce for years to come. Thus, the growth of Spanish-speaking residents will continue unabated for years.
Fifteen years ago while I was rector at St. Peter's, Oxford, the now Rev. Deacon Penny Sisson and my wife, Kathy, both of whom were teachers of English as a Second Language, came to me with a deep and heart felt matter.
"We believe," they said, "that God is calling us to begin a Spanish language service."
Seeing their heartfelt plea, I responded in the only way that a spiritually sensitive person like me would: "God has not spoken to me," I said to them. "You go do it, and we'll see what happens."
And they did, and it took root, and before long, I was shamed into learning enough Spanish to do a rough approximation of the eucharist that at least God could understand.
And a whole new world of gift and grace was opened to me.
Shortly after I stumbled through the Eucharist, the Rev. Bob Carver, a bi-lingual priest came on board and took over the liturgical or the sacramental leadership. Presently, the Rev. Bruce McMillan, provides significant sacramental leadership while the people of St. Peter's offer medical, educational, social and pastoral support. Ever since that beginning, St. Peter's, has recommitted itself to the biblical imperative of welcoming and caring for the stranger and alien in their midst. It's in the Book, brothers and sisters. Look it up. The rest of us, have been noticeably reluctant to move in that direction.
Now, regardless of your own thoughts on the ongoing immigration debate, the fact that by 2050, 30% of our nation will be Spanish-speaking, requires that we ask what is God saying to our church in this moment in time.
After a discussion at our recent Clergy Conference of this new cultural reality, 20 clergy from this diocese committed themselves to learning conversational Spanish by Clergy Conference next year. That's a very good start, and we will have a test on Spanish at our next Clergy Conference!
Thus, a major initiative of this church in the coming year will be the hiring of a Latino/Hispanic missioner and the establishment of a Spanish-speaking congregation. Some preliminary conversations have been held with the vestry of St. Luke's, Brandon about the possibility of hosting this initiative. I am deeply grateful for their willingness to entertain this possibility.
My deepest hope is that this ministry not be set apart in one or two specific places within this diocese, but that all of us have better eyes than I had fifteen years ago to see these extraordinary changes taking place in the makeup of our communities. I pray that we might have prayerful hearts to ask what that most foundational of all biblical values – hospitality for the stranger – means for our church today. It is my most fervent hope that what appears to be a fear-based, politically motivated approach to the challenges of immigration will have no place in our churches. This is not who we are. This is not who we are called to be. Our Lord's words – "I was a stranger, and you welcomed me," makes no reference to immigration papers.
Before I leave the subject of resources for congregations let me remind you of another time tested resource. This spring I will be serving again as a member of a Cursillo weekend staff. I believe, as I have said to you before, that the core elements of Cursillo – an easily accessible teaching on the basics of the faith, a commitment to a rule of life and a structure of encouragement and accountability through small groups – is an excellent resource for congregational life and vitality. I have seen its fruits for over 30 years.
So, why do we do what we do? In the few pre-Council meetings I have been able to attend, I have tried to suggest that all that we do as people claimed by God is the result of God's initiative in our lives. God's initiative and human response has been the dance of creation since its very inception. "You did not choose me," said Jesus to those first disciples, "I chose you."
Chosen by God. Sealed with the sign of the cross. Called into community by God. Given the Spirit of God through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To do the work of God. We are called to be instruments of God's redemption and salvation – no more and no less. All that we do within our common life in congregations is to prepare, nurture and facilitate that work that is God's purpose in our calling, God's purpose for the cross on our forehead.
Despite what we are inclined to think you see, it's really not about us. We are only instruments, vehicles, vessels that God, for some God-only-knows mysterious reason, wishes to use us for the healing and salvation of the world.
Recently, a young man in his 20s with a personal connection to me from my Oxford days came to see me. I need only 15 minutes he said. Sure, we can work you in. Sure we can find a place in my very hectic and very important schedule. He came to see me. It took a moment for him to speak from the stillness and quiet of his own heart. I, of course, was watching the clock – fifteen minutes.
"Something's missing in my life," he said. "I need to do some volunteer work, I think – to get involved somewhere." And then a pause, and he said, "And my mother thinks I need to find a church." I quickly pointed him to a few volunteer outreach ministries and gave him a brief description of churches that seemed a good match. Then I realized at the last minute, I hadn't asked the first question that should have been asked: "What are you looking for?" I asked. With a little hesitation, but with words completely free from the ironic tone of much of his generation, he said, "I'm looking for Truth, and I'm looking for a way to make a difference in the world."
My dear sisters and brothers – we are stewards of something so much more than ourselves. Through God's claim on our lives in baptism, we have been made bearers of the Truth this young man is seeking – a truth not in philosophical propositions; not in moral and ethical principles; but truth in a person in whom God was pleased to dwell.
And about needing to make a difference – a good friend and colleague of mine, Andy Doyle, the Bishop of Texas, said he realized at last that the Episcopal Church was home when he realized the he needed to be a part of a church that wanted to change the world.
We are part of a church that passionately believes that the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that has inaugurated the Kingdom of God has profound implications for the ordering of our personal, our social and our political lives.
All that we do as a church – this weekend and back home in our congregations – is to strengthen us to live the Truth that has claimed us and to be servants of that Truth as instruments of grace and healing and hope in a world that is so close to despair. One bit of warning, however. This is going to take more than 15 minutes.
May God bless our time together.
