elephant
Aging beyond interest in ongoing active involvement, as with many folks I nevertheless enjoy watching what's going on around the Episcopal Church. As well as from our local parish and the bishop and diocese, online I receive ENS, the Episcopal News Service publications; and now and then I scroll down Episcopalians Online, to encounter a mix of prayer requests, earnest conversations, and the usual cuckoos. ENS has a list of priest searches around the country, and sometimes I check out one or two of those and think about what if I were 38 or 42 instead of 84. Yesterday, one such was St Luke's, Live Oak where along with Jacksonville I have family history.
Two priest search notices were for parishes in Maine, which caught my eye. In the 1700s my Wäller ancestors came from Northern Europe part of Germany to a shipbuilding town on the Maine coast. I've been to Maine twice, and I often think about how I might love to live there in a quaint historic town such as Bath or Broad Bay if Maine were on the Gulf Coast instead of the North Atlantic. In browsing the listings for two Maine churches, I noticed that the folks in one of them regard themselves distanced from what they perceive as the political and social stances of the Episcopal Church at large, and they don't hesitate to say so. I'll share what they said, for anonymity changing the name of the parish to our traditionally legendary St Swithin's in the Swamp - - read this:
St. Swithin’s in the Swamp is evangelical in all senses of the word. Its services begin with praise music; its theology is generally conservative; its welcome is warm; and its people care deeply for one another. The congregation is small and dedicated, and full of capable, can-do people, a number of whom have served in the military. Bible Study is an important part of life at St. Swithin’s, as is stewardship: the congregation has one of the highest levels of pledging in the diocese. The congregation is a leader in local ecumenical ministry, especially the clothing and food banks. St. Swithin’s is committed to the Episcopal Church even though it sometimes experiences tension with the larger church over social and political issues. The Diocese of Maine similarly treasures St. Swithin's as a faithful expression of a way of following Jesus that is different from many other congregations in the diocese, and will warmly embrace the priest called to serve St. Swithin’s in the Swamp.
This encourages me to point out yet one more time again that Episcopalians are a broad swath of Americana. If you ever wonder "maybe I don't belong in this church with these people who don't think as I do" what you need to do is sit down and have another think. We make room for everybody. We are not a monolith, we are not "an issue-driven collection of like-minded people". Do you want to be in a church where everybody thinks as you do? how boring! Votes as you do? Identifies with the same social and political issues as you do? Believes as you do? Where there's nothing to discuss? Where you would not be welcome if you didn't buy into the accepted political and social certainties? We are not a single focus denomination like the Roman Catholic and some Baptist and other "evangelical" churches who circle around a particular social issue such as being against birth control or against abortion or against LGBTQ people or against same sex marriage or against a particular political outlook. We are not against anyone or any political, theological or social viewpoint. We are a conglomeration. There's a saying that "On any issue, if you ask five Episcopalians you will get six opinions". Each one of us has our own perspective and point of view on every topic, and some of us, like me, don't mind being outspoken about our opinions.
Me, I write for myself, not for the Episcopal Church, and I continue to do so long as I am of a mind. I speak out as and when driven as a priest, on issues that seem incontrovertibly tied to the Gospel and to our obligation as Christians bound by our Baptismal Covenant, especially having to do with how people are treated, how WE treat people who are different from us; people whom Jesus the swarthy, brown-eyed
black-haired, dark-skinned Middle-Eastern no-nonsense, usually loving, pointed but often illusive, sharp-witted, alert and crafty, sometimes sarcastic roving preacher, healer, social working Son of God with what's been called "a preferential option for the poor and oppressed", would insist are my Neighbor and command me to love as I love myself.
I'd never from the pulpit try to say how people should vote, as is done in some Christian churches and denominations. On the other hand, we are part of the Jesus Movement, and "politics" is about human relationships: when it comes to the institutional bullying, abomination of racism, and entrenched hatreds that, far more than the covid19 pandemic, are tearing our nation apart, I am bound to speak.
I do not dance around,
there are no elephants in my room.
ὁ ἀναγινώσκων νοείτω.
In the Episcopal Church, more than Paul who is concerned with being Saved into the faith of Christ before the End of the World comes, our Gospel comes from Mark, Matthew, Luke and John, where Jesus is about people and how people treat each other. It's called Love, αγάπη, and nothing else is important.
RSF&PTL
T+
Art. Elephant by Rembrandt van Rijn
Art. Historical Jesus depictions, pinched online.
