Bishop's Blog

Tongues of Fire Pentecost Chili Cook-off in Rushford, MN.

With the South East Mission Area Gathering and Pentecost celebration this last weekend, I have wrapped up this year’s Spring visits to faith communities. During this time, we have well-surpassed 100 folks who have been confirmed, reaffirmed, or were received into the Church!

It also brings an end to the 2012-2013 program-year for Mission Area Gatherings. It has been a great year of gatherings across the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. Each Mission Area is evolving more into a reflection of their distinct “neighborhood” in ECMN. The particular gifts of the faith communities and how they are using those gifts in their specific neck of the woods is truly inspiring.

At their core, Mission Area Gatherings are an opportunity for collaboration, networking, resource-sharing and celebration. As such, members of your team of missioners have shared resources, community leaders have shared needs, and best practices have been shared in a marketplace-type format.

We have gathered around the Lord’s table, in fellowship halls, in community centers, in a state park and at a chili cook-off.  We’ve engaged God’s mission through serious conversations, fun fellowship, and truly moving worship services.

I am truly grateful to the Mission Area Teams, the clergy and local leaders, and your team of missioners for their hard work and creativity.

Just as quickly as we bring this program year to a close, excitement and planning are already under way for the 2013-2014 Mission Area Gatherings across the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. Fear not! There is plenty of time to join in on the planning for this upcoming year.

You can find the names and contact information for your Mission Area Team and the dates for all Mission Area Gatherings at our website. I not only invite you, but I strongly encourage you to be a part of the creative process of planning your next Mission Area Gathering.

Image by Thomas Kempe

One of the greatest blessings — and greatest challenges — of the Episcopal Church, and of the Anglican Communion, is our diversity. I have been very fortunate to travel extensively for the Church, and it never ceases to amaze me how different cultures and contexts embrace their Anglican heritage. And the reality is, all the travel you need to do to see that diversity is right here in the great state of Minnesota — or even through a few different neighborhoods in your town. Travel just a few miles, and you will experience a different expression of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota.

As Episcopalians/Anglicans, at our theological core we embrace a comprehensive nature that is replicated in very few other faith traditions. We have those who express their faith in a more evangelical piety, others in a more catholic piety, and still others who fit in the great broad middle. We have those who consider themselves theologically conservative, and others who see themselves as progressive, and all points in-between. That is our diversity, and that is the wonder of Anglicanism that makes us comprehensive.

Regardless of our piety or theological frame of reference, as Anglicans we come to understand our faith through scripture, tradition, and reason. And for us as Episcopalians, we live out that faith in our Baptismal Covenant.

It is important that we have this foundational understanding of who we are as Episcopalians. It is especially critical in the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, with the impending change in the law allowing for same-sex marriage.

When I became Bishop, I inherited a practice with certain significant stipulations that allowed for the blessing of same-sex relationships. This past summer, General Convention passed a resolution providing a liturgical resource for the service of blessings. Soon it will be legal for same-same couples to be married in the state of Minnesota. (HF 1054 and SF 1015.)

For a number of our faith communities, this will now provide them the opportunity to provide to all of their members who desire to make a life-long, covenant relationship and to be legally married in the state of Minnesota to do so. The Church’s expectation for the couple is the same as for opposite-gender couples.

Other of our faith communities may not find this calling among their membership, within their context, or in culture — and will not be providing such services.

This represents the diversity and the comprehensive nature of who we are as Episcopalians and Anglicans.

The faith community in Ephesus had a different context and culture from Corinth. The Episcopal Church in Cuba differs from the Episcopal Church in Minnesota. And an Episcopal faith community in one neighborhood is often significantly different from one a mile away. Each have been uniquely gifted by the Holy Spirit, each called forth to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ, each engaging in God’s mission in their context and culture.

Whatever your faith community’s context and culture, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

Groundbreaking at St. James, Marshall

Last week, after a great morning gathering at Holy Communion in St Peter’s, I made the two-hour dash to St. James in Marshall. As I was getting out of my car into a light rain, I received a photo on my phone from a long-time friend.

My emotional reaction to the photo almost stopped me in my tracks. The picture showed an endless blue sky, deep green water and a boat filled with dear friends smiling at me.  How I longed to be with them.

As I crossed the street toward the church, a voice from behind me yelled out: “Hey Bishop! Thanks for being here!”

This comment quickly shifted my mind from the place I longed to be to my present reality.

Over the next two hours, I had the privilege (and I choose that word intentionally) to be with a group of people who have worked hard to create a plan to make the historic building that houses their faith community more accessible. Their vision and drive to make their church home truly welcoming to everyone is nothing short of inspiring.

Sure, it would have been great to be on a beautiful lake on a warm sunny day with dear friends. Yet, standing in the rain with incredibly faithful folks who want to share their church home with others was, in fact, exactly where I wanted to be.