Recently I noticed the Presiding Bishop, Katherine Jefferts Schori’s sermon to the opening Eucharist of the Executive Council, meeting in Salt Lake City UT. Ever the scientist, she began speaking about botanical subjects, namely trees, vines and common root stocks. These seemed metaphors for different branches or denominations of Christianity today. Because the Executive Council was meeting in Salt lake City and the upcoming General Convention will also be convened there, she spoke of her hope that folks attending General Convention would be mindful of their common root stock with the LDS people who settled the Salt Lake Valley and what is now the State of Utah.
When General Convention shows up here just over 3 months from now, many of the volunteers and dispensers of hospitality will be our sisters and brothers from that [LDS] tradition. Will we recognize their welcome as a product of the same root, or will we assume that they come from a different and unrecognizable species?
The Presiding Bishop is suggesting that those attending General Convention view the LDS folks as fellow Christians. How about you, do you have LDS neighbors in your patch? Can/do you interact with them as fellow Christians? Or are they unrecognizable and alien to you?
posted by David Allen
Salt Lake Temple photo from http://www.mormonhaven.com/pdatemples.htm