Unless your full time job requires it, you may not be aware of the sequences of events that are propelling the current state of affairs for The Episcopal Church. And, like me, you may want to come up to speed for the coming summer of 2008. It will have its share of love and PIM (power, influence, and money).
Much has been said about who we are and who we are called to be.(1) Scores of dedicated people, among them lifelong volunteers and academically-honored clerics, are working tirelessly to influence the future of this great community we call The Episcopal Church. They need your love, your prayers, and your wise counsel.
For starters, I recommend that you download or borrow a copy of Garret Keizer’s article in the June issue of Harper’s Magazine. Try not to let the title of the article put you off, because ‘Turning Away from Jesus – Gay rights and the war for the Episcopal Church’ doesn’t do justice to Keizer’s well-researched, even-toned piece. All the while sounding refreshingly reasonable, Keizer touches on Anglican polity and provincial differences in Anglican belief and governance. He’s not offering an opinion to his readers so much as he is selecting focus from a kaleidescope of observations.
Then I suggest a second reading selection, well two actually. Because if you and I are at all alike, you might wonder why any of this matters when church for us is about Sunday school and garden club and choir practice. I’ll tell you why. Actually, I’ll suggest that you let Jim Naughton tell you why. Jim is formerly of the New York Times and is now director of communications for the Episcopal Diocese of Washington D.C. While mild-mannered Episcopalians have been working for the Heifer Project, donating to ERD‘s disaster relief fund and running food pantry‘s from our parish halls, ‘Millions of dollars contributed by a handful of donors have allowed a small network of theologically conservative individuals and organizations to mount a global campaign that has destabilized the Episcopal Church and may break up the Anglican Communion.’ (2) Said another way, people outside of The Episcopal Church are trying to define what The Episcopal Church can, and cannot, be.
On View: We Are One, Painting by Delda Skinner. More of Delda’s art is on view at her website, here>
(1 )In this church I have learned that I am undeniably human and irrevocably made in Love’s image. In The Episcopal Church I have received forgiveness, undeserved, and I have learned to forgive. I have learned to tithe, to feed the poor and to support a house of worship; to study scripture, to read theology and to listen to the experiences of others. The Episcopal Church has taught me the value of tradition, and the essential application of reason when it comes to the discernment necessary to live a faithful life.
(2) Jim Naughton in “Following the Money”, a Special Report from The Washington Window.