A Pastoral Letter to the Church in Upper South Carolina

http://upperscvii.wordpress.com/2007/05/15/a-pastoral-letter-to-the-church-in-upper-south-carolina-2/

[The bishop's blog] 16 May 2007--In March I attended a meeting of the House of Bishops at Camp Allen, Texas. It was the first House meeting over which ++Katharine Jefferts Schori has presided since her installation as Presiding Bishop. And she did just that—no more, no less. She presided as we, the members of the House, strove to live faithfully into the ministry we all share. Like the presiding officer of any deliberative (and in this case, prayerful) body, she kept order and insured that everyone had the opportunity to speak. She pressed no agenda and did not take sides, which was not always true with her predecessors. She is off to a great start. Her task is monumental, yet the constitutional role of the Presiding Bishop is extremely limiting. This is unlike the other Primates of the Anglican Communion, who have powerful authority to act autonomously within their Provinces. Our Constitution gives the Presiding Bishop oversight in only three areas: the consecration of bishops, the obligation to visit every diocese at least once during the nine-year term, and the discipline of bishops charged with misconduct. This limited role and authority are consistent with our American democratic heritage politically, socially, and in the Church. After all, many of those who designed the governmental structure of the United States participated in the design of the structure of our Church. ++Katharine and I served on the Special Commission on The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. During our meetings she would knit (or crochet—some kind of sewing). But at the same time I could almost see her mind constantly at work. She’s sharp, and she looked for the Lord in every idea offered, in every proposal made. In the most difficult of roles, the Presiding Bishop has my prayers, support, and I might add, my affection. Collegiality among the bishops seemed to me to be deeper and more authentic than usual. Although none of the Forward in Faith bishops (those who do not ordain women) was present, there was broad representation otherwise—conservative, moderate, and liberal. In keeping with our custom, we worshipped daily with the Holy Eucharist and Morning and Evening Prayer. For the first time in my memory, we did not sit pew-style, facing front, but monastic or choir style. We faced each other, so that God’s Altar and our community were our focus. I was personally quite moved, looking across at bishops pro-this, anti-that, different from each other in so many ways. But we prayed together, praised God together in word and in boisterous singing of hymns. And then, together, we approached the altar, to receive there the broken Body and spent Blood of our Lord. There were differences, yes—differences in opinion on any number of things. But there was solidarity in love of the Lord and the Lord’s Church—love of each other. I was reminded of the paradox again when reading the Gospel for this Sunday: Jesus said, “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”