On All Saints Day, I am Reminded that I vote with the Majority

 Several years ago, I was leading a workshop on New Member Ministry in a North East Diocese when I made a comment about formation of new church members.  I referred to the Nicene Creed as a summation of Episcopal/Anglican Doctrine.  To my surprise, a Canon of the Diocese interrupted me and said, “I don’t agree with what you just said.”  I became an Episcopalian and then a Priest because you can be an Episcopalian and believe whatever you want to believe.”  

Since I was not quite clear where the Canon was coming from, I said, “How do you square this with a church with a liturgy where every Sunday in almost every congregation we say the Nicene Creed?”

 

“Oh,” the Canon replied, “that is just there because it is a part of our history.”   

I paused for a moment and then said, “Well, you are wrong on this.  We have a section of the Prayer Book that has ‘historical documents’ in it.  The Creed is in our Eucharistic service as a summary of the Church’s teaching.

“Well,” said the Canon “You have a right to your opinion just as I have a right to mine.” 

Now I had several responses that I could have given to this dismissal of my statement, but I thought for a moment and realized that if the Canon actually believed everything I had just said was a matter of opinion then nothing I could add would make any difference.  I went back to talking about how to better welcome new folks.  I have, however, never forgotten this encounter because of the way that objective truth was negated by a person’s subjective opinion.   

As all Episcopal clergy should know, of course, the Nicene Creed was placed in our Prayer Book liturgy, before the sermon in early Prayer Books and after the sermon since 1979, so that any individual sermon would be proclaimed in the context of the Church’s wider teaching and doctrine.  I know this fact because scholars who have studied the Prayer Book liturgy have documented the editors’ intentions on the matter.  I had the privilege of doing my theological study during the publishing of the Prayer Book Studies which laid the framework for the 79 Book of Common Prayer.  So I read every one of the Studies.   

The placement of the Nicene Creed as well as the use of the Apostles Creed in Baptism and the placement of the Creed of Athanasius in the 79 book served a two-fold purpose.  First, they affirmed the Anglican Principle that only the Doctrinal positions of the undivided Church of the first three centuries could have universal authority among “catholic” (note small “c”) Christians.  As our theologians have often said, “We are a Creedal Church not a Confessional one.”  

Second, the presence of the Creed serves as an on-going connection to our apostolic origins as a living presence in today’s Church.  This second reason is based on the Anglican attitude toward Tradition.  Again, most of our clergy would know that the three sources of authority in our community (as attributed to Hooker) are Scripture, Tradition, and Reason.”   

Over the years, I have often heard leaders in the Episcopal Church appeal to this “three-legged stool” as our authority which allows them to explain what modern “reason” has to teach us.  In doing this I usually note two things about their attitude.  First is that Reason (which meant for our forbearers “logic” or philosophically or scientifically information) seems always to be the most important leg of the stool.  So, for example, what we “know” today about gender and human sexuality triumphs anything the Scriptures have to say on this matter.   Hooker actually said it quite differently.  He said that the first authority is the Scriptures, then “What cannot be proven by the warrant of Scripture” should then be referred to Tradition.  And “What cannot be proven by warrant of tradition” should then be referred to Reason.  This is why we should never really refer to a “three-legged stool” since Hooker, who is our authority on this matter, clearly had a hierarchal view of these values.  

 

Second, anyone who listens today to what many of our leaders have to say about these matters must know that “Tradition” has almost no value whatsoever for them especially as it comes to what the Church has taught in the past.  Quite the contrary, when many of our leaders use the word ‘tradition’ they mean it in the same negative way one may speak of those who say “we never did it that way before” use the expression to veto any new or innovative ideas.  Tradition as it has to do with what vestments you may wear or what altar hangings you might put in place for Lent is fine, but Tradition in teaching is a constraining and confining arbitrary restriction to what Reason has come to understand.   

Now let me contrast this attitude to what Archbishop Michael Ramsey said on this topic.  “Traditionalism is the dead weight of the past; worshipping the past just because it is the past.  Tradition is the living presence of those who have going before.  It is the vote by those who are no longer present with us but who will be with us in the world that is to come.”  I have always thought that this idea of the vote “of those who have gone before” is a wonderful way to express the importance of Tradition.  So when a parishioner asked of his Eastern Orthodox Priest, “Do I have to believe the Creed?”  The Priest replied, “Oh my goodness no.  You do not have to believe it.  You get to believe it.  The Creed, like the Church itself is God’s gift to you.”   

So when some leaders argue that we should remove the Nicene Creed from the Eucharistic liturgy to make us more inclusive and relevant to non-members, I see this argument as just one more expression by folks today who believe that we present living humans have a superior view of all things that have gone before.   I have found that when visitors, especially non-Churched people, visit a Church, they expect it to have a form of liturgy, a Holy Book that we would read and expound, and a set of beliefs that we hold.  I would expect this of either a Jewish service or a Muslim service.  Inclusiveness as an argument for not having these things is at best condescension and at worst folly.  It demands that we surrender our identity in a way that most visitors would never ask or understand.  It is in the final analysis one more argument against tradition by those who have long ago lost any regard for it.   

Of course, I have a right to my opinion, but this is not my point.  My point is that I do not refer to myself as a minority in the Church.  Sure, I understand what conservatives in the Church mean when they say this.  Many times I have voted on a Diocesan level in the minority.  I have certainly as a Deputy to General Convention frequently voted in the minority.  I have often found myself marginalized by so-called “Inclusive” people.  Yet, none of this convinces me that I am a minority.  They simply convince me that in today’s rapidly declining Church, strongly influenced by the secular spirit of the age, and certain of the rightness of every position on social and political issues that I am out voted at this moment.  Then I say the Creed and remember that I have voted with the overwhelming majority with whom I have on-going fellowship, if the All Saints Day Liturgy and the Creed are correct.   By the way, I have Progressive friends who also say the Creed with integrity and belief. Not all Progressives dismiss the Creedal affirmation of Doctrine as mere Tradition or worse, as the Canon did, as opinion.   So, even if I have voted differently on an issue, we have already voted on the essentials.  That is what has, is, and will in the future hold us together. 

 

We have cast our vote, indeed our lives, with Peter, James, John, Matthew, Paul, Mary, Mary Madeline, Perpetua, Felicitas, Justin Martyr, Francis, Claire, Patrick, Augustine, Augustine of Canterbury, Cranmer, Hooker, Brooks, Hines, and a heavenly host of those known and unknown who have already voted. 

And Now “The American Presidency” Starring?

When the 2016 Presidential election cycle began last year, many political pundits envision the election coming down to a Clinton/Bush dynastic battle.  This was because political pundits think that presidential elections are about politics.  Now that Donald Trump is surging in the polls and Hilary Clinton is hanging on to what was once considered an “insurmountable lead,” we have a clearer view of current American political reality.  What with all those reality shows; the popularity of programs like Dancing with the Star, The Bachelor, The Great Race and, need I say it, The Celebrity Apprentice, we should have expected this.  We now have the full emergence of the merger of politics and the Culture of the Celebrity.   

We saw the beginnings of this in the Regan era, but it emerged fully during the Bill Clinton presidency.  We need only remember that Hilary’s emergence on the public scene was not her failed attempt on Health Care, but her role in Presidential Candidate Clinton’s story as The Good Wife forced to stand by her man.  She played out that role in such an effective manner that she was able to claim in her own book that the revelation by Bill about his affair with Monica Lewinski was a genuine moment of betrayal.  Of course, she already knew of several other affairs, but she has kept the script moving forward.  She is now the Julianna Margulies of prime time politics.  By the way, The Good Wife is rumored to be her favorite TV program. 

Many forget that both George Bush and Al Gore ran on a campaign aimed at “restoring dignity” to the office of President.”  This was, I think the failed attempt to snatch politics back from celebrity status to statesmanship, but after the interruption of the 9/11 Presidency and the professorship of the Obama Administration, the celebrity election has fully emerged.  Now our election in 2016 is a kind of combination dance off, survivor Iowa, bachelorette, and shark tank that will lead to one exciting final vote on the second Tuesday of November, 2016.  With celebrity reporters acting as judges and the voters as the audience, it could be one heck of a show with the biggest ratings ever on American TV.  In fact, the most important cultural trend in all this may be the movement of Americans from citizens to audience. 

The build up to all this will be a social media frenzy combined with late night appearances on the all the talking heads.  There will be the obligatory emotional laden appearances on The View, The Chat, and Steve Harvey  where Donald or Hilary whip up their favorite dessert while dishing the latest gossip on their enemies, friends and family.  OMG, I can see Rachel Ray in tears over Hilary’s testimony of her forgiveness of her wayward husband and the struggle of making her own professional way.  By the beginning of 2016, we should have both parties producing a reality program for each major candidate, a kind of behind the scenes look at what makes each of them so interesting.  I doubt even Ms. Jenner can compete with those ratings.  Imagine too the excitement of so many in the entertainment community.  Comedians will be relishing in all the one liners.  Producers will be speculating on all the spin offs; think Keeping up with the Trump Clan or Living with Bill. 

Now, do not get me wrong, I am not saying that politics or the presidency is no longer important when it comes to governing or policy, I am just saying that Americans have changed the criteria by which we will decide who will be best at this.  There was a time when demonstrated leadership, political philosophy, the ability to build consensus, and decision-making were our criteria.  Now with the Cult of Celebrity, the criteria are different.  Now public image is the most important thing.  Hilary Clinton may be able to build on her “stand by my man/great right wing conspiracy/good wife” image combined with being “the first woman president” combined with her “defender of the rights of women, migrants and the poor” (even though she is in the 1%) to win.  Perhaps a last minute November revelation of Bill’s latest betrayal will cement her election.  Or Donald Trump can continue his strong-will/tough decision maker/simple solution image that dominates not only his past TV programs but so much of the image of leader in our media.   

Or a last minute contender may emerge.  I understand Kanye West is considering giving the presidency a run.  Even if he loses, we can easily imagine him grabbing the mic away from the winner to announce that Kim would have been “the greatest First Lady of all time.”  The exciting possibilities here are endless and this is the great strength of The Celebrity Presidency.  After all, politics and politicians get pretty boring after a while.  Then after an election, they have to govern and this is fraught with on-going frustration and criticism.  Against this reality, we have a greater reality show, the realization that either The Hilary Show or The Donald Show can last for at least four seasons.   

And if you are concerned about our image in the world, do not worry.  Media consultants will help the President improve it.   American Culture is, after all, not about substance but about image.  Should we expect the Presidency to be any different? 

 

 

 

Evangelism and Millennials: Why the Atonement Matters

Three years ago, I was teaching a two week class for the Doctor of Ministries students at Nashotah.  It was on congregational development.  Almost all the students were clergy in small congregations.  They were eager to hear what I had to say on attracting and making new members.  In the middle weekend, I traveled to eastern Michigan to visit friends who were once members of my church in Seattle.  They insisted and I was glad to attend their new church that Sunday. 

Victory Fellowship was located in the next town.  It had an interesting history.  The founding pastor was a Pentecostal and had recently retired.  He was replaced by a younger pastor in his mid-30s.  My friends told me he was a great pastor and good preacher.  When the new pastor arrived, the church began to grow and changed its name to Victory Fellowship form The Pentecostal Church, Assemblies of God.  For Episcopalians who do not know much about the Assemblies of God, it is one of the three major “old line Pentecostal Churches of North America.   

My friends told me that the Pastor was a former drug addict who had experienced a miraculous deliverance and sobriety from his addiction and had eventually gone to seminary.  They also explained that he had introduced small group fellowships (they led one) and the church had a huge youth ministry with lots of young adults attending.  They were very excited that on this Sunday a young twenty year old member of their home group was going to be baptized.   

I knew the moment we pulled into the parking lot that I was in for a lesson on reaching millennials.  Everyone seemed to be in their twenties and thirties with a few of us older boomers mixed in.  Also, as we parked, a tattooed biker pulled up next to us with his wife riding behind him.  I noticed that there were lots of motorcycles in the lot.   

I was not surprised to see a theater type modern facility.  I also found that it had a welcome center that served Starbucks Coffee and lots of friendly greeters including the biker and his wife.  The building had two worship areas and a state of the art nursery and education section.  Parents signed in their children and were given a pager in case of emergency.  The two worship centers were for the adults and teens.  The teen area was already rocking with contemporary Christian music led by a youth band.   We made our way to the main worship center.  A music group was playing on the stage which had only a stool and a large screen behind it.  After an opening announcement, the worship began.   

I had been to this type of service before and stood as the music group led by a twenty something “Worship Pastor” led the opening music set.  It contained at least six songs.  I sat down after three songs and noticed that several of the older folks had joined me.  The service contained special prayers, music, scripture, and announcements about planned mission work.  The Worship Pastor was commissioned because he was leaving to start a new church in a nearby community.  Then there was a special song about Faith that led into one of the best teaching sermons I had heard on the biblical subject of Faith.  The theme was Faith what is it, why we need it, and why faith without works is not true faith.   

The pastor started his sermon sitting on the stool.  He was casually dressed and carried an IPad.  It was linked to the screen and, as he made his points, scripture verses and pictures appeared to amplify his message.  His sermon ended with a transition through the offering and offertory music by the band into an introduction to the baptism.  

At the front of the auditorium just below the stage was a large water tank much like you see on the farms in central Michigan.  The young lady was introduced and then the pastor asked her if it was her desire to be baptized into Jesus Christ.  He handed her the microphone and she proceeded to explain how she had “come to Christ.  Now her family, who were not Church Members, watched all this.  Wearing jeans and a top blouse she climbed into the tank and the pastor baptized her in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  Then after she emerged from the water and was wrapped in a large white towel he anointed her with oil and prayed that she would be filled with the Holy Spirit.   

The pastor turned to the congregation.  “Perhaps there are some of you here today who want to follow this dear sister and receive baptism too. You too may feel that you are lost and need a new direction and a new life.”  To the family’s surprise, the woman’s younger sister stepped up and said she wanted to be baptized too.  (I found out later that she had never been to the church.)  She explained to the pastor and to her family and the congregation that she had seen the change in her sister and wanted this life.  Ultimately three other members of the extended family and two other congregants received baptism that day. 

While all this was going on, I stood looking at the members of the congregation.  So many were clearly not the kind of people you see in typical Episcopal Churches.  Many were Millennials, and remember this was the older service.  It was clear that the Church was racially and economically diverse.  I kept asking myself why we Episcopalians have so few examples of churches like this.  I knew that many of the clergy in my D. Min. class would be eager to reach such people.  I also knew that few would. I think that I know part of the reason why we will not. 

The Episcopal Church aims at two kinds of people.  We aim at the “already churched” and the “de-churched.”  We seldom aim our efforts or activities at the unchurched, especially the Millennial Unchurched.  If we are going to evangelize the unchurched youth of today, we will need to change, and I don’t mean style.  You see behind this church’s efforts lies a different interpretation of the meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection, or as we call it, the Atonement.  It is not the progressive view that Jesus gives us a model of how to live a life of love.  It is not the Evangelical view that Jesus’ death saved us from our sins.  It is the classical biblical view expressed by Gustaf Aulen’s in “Christus Victor.”   

These young people did not need to know that they are sinners.  Everyone knows that.  They needed to know that there is a Savior who can deliver them from the power of sin, evil, addiction, dysfunctional families, broken relationships, despair, hatred, and death.  The Christ presented at Victory Fellowship is the one that Paul said “nailed to the Cross the Principalities and Powers of this world” and won for us the victory of a new life in his Kingdom.  Who better understands this than the Pastor who was delivered from his addition?  No wonder the name of the Fellowship was VICTORY.   

Here is my point.  The more secular our culture becomes and the more it moves from its Christian heritage, the more Churches will have to discover the full Doctrine of the Atonement.  Surely, Jesus is the model of God’s love for us to follow.  We also find forgiveness in his Cross and a new life.  But we also have a power in this new life that is able to deliver us from the Powers of this world.  This last expression of Atonement will take on much more importance in the coming years, and we had better figure this out as a Church or we will not reach Millennials in any significant way.  We can also consider recruiting from such Millennial Christians those who will plant new congregations.  We may not call them “Victory” Churches because we are after all Anglicans, but we will learn to explain that the Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Mary, and other such folks all represent followers of Jesus who experience the triumph of Christ’s victory over the Principalities and Powers of this world.  The more secular the culture, the more relevant this message. 

 

Evangelism and the Episcopal Church

I will be writing in my next few blogs on the topic of Evangelism.  When I served on the Standing Committee in the Diocese of Dallas, I would ask those in the ordination process an important question related to evangelism.  First I would tell them that the question that I was about to ask was not a pass or fail one, but rather that I genuinely wanted to know their response.  Here is the question:

“As you know from your theological studies, there are several ways in which the Doctrine of the Atonement has been expressed.  Which one of these best expresses your own personal understanding?”

The reason I asked the question was because I believe there is a direct relationship between what an ordained person believes about the Atonement and how they would do the work of Evangelism.  Almost all the candidates gave a similar answer.  They would say that they believed that Jesus had on the cross paid the price for their sins and that they believed they were forgiven and saved by his death and resurrection.  This, of course, is a standard answer based on The Substitutionary Doctrine of the Atonement.  Now even though we were a conservative diocese, we had folks who had studied at a number of different seminaries.  A number of candidates went to Southwest Theological Seminary which is generally on the Progressive side of the theological spectrum, yet even these candidates gave similar answers.

One would have expect at least some of them to suggest that Jesus’ act of self-sacrificial love that he modeled on the cross showed us God’s love and that we who follow him are to live out a life of love, forgiveness and self-sacrifice for others particularly for the hurting, lost, and marginalized in our world.  This would be more consistent with a Progressive Theological view point.  I never heard it.  One very high church candidate who had gone to Nashotah said that he knew that he was a sinner and that Jesus’ death paid the price of his blood for his sins.  Most any American Evangelical would say the same.

With this the standard answers, one could expect that such people would be active advocates of people repenting of their sins, accepting Jesus’ death, and his blood as a covering for them.  Then they might ask others to make such a profession by repeating, say, “the sinner’s prayer” which is a standard tool among Substitutionary Atonement Evangelicals.  In my time, no rash of evangelical altar calls or invitations were taking place in the diocese, and neither were more Progressive calls for people to follow after the example of Jesus’ love; “his way, truth, and life” as a Christian.

What I found was a disconnect between what our clergy were professing and any behavior that would follow logically from such professions.  Indeed, I would observe around the wider church where Progressive Theology dominates, that there is no active recruiting of new Christians based on this view.  Episcopal Clergy on the Progressive side seem content to find those who wish an inclusive and non-judgmental denomination to join their churches.  If you notice, not very many are doing this, in fact, even less each year. 

There are clergy in our church of differing theological perspectives that are genuinely interested in the growth of their congregations especially with newer and younger members.  Some will even buy my books on congregational development seeking to be user-friendly and seeker sensitive.  However, they do not seem interested in actual evangelization.

Some clergy have told me that they are not interested in numbers and some rather strongly that they do not want to proselytize other people.  These folks seem to have moved so far out into the Universalist arena that they see no value in bringing others to Christ and the Church.  Personally, I believe that such people should be denied a pension, but perhaps I am too judgmental.

At the heart of all this is what I see as four dynamics that hinder our effectiveness in evangelism even when clergy think there is really something in this Atonement business that speaks to us personally.  Why?

1.      Episcopal clergy see ourselves as generous and accepting people who through our willingness want to show others Christ’s love and acceptance so that they will eventually come around to a Christian point of view. 

2.      There is a detachment between our liturgical and parish life from the acts and opportunities for evangelism.  For example, what better Sunday for an altar call or public decision than on Palm Sunday?  Yet clergy believe that having people observe the liturgy is enough.  “They will get it,” we rationalize.   

3.      In addition, many clergy would never interrupt the beauty of the service and its liturgical acts and symbols with such an action.  In summary, many clergy were taught and believe that participation in the Church’s liturgy will bring folks into a decided and deeper relationship with Christ.  They fail to hear the prophetic warning, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me!” 

4.      There is a lack of willingness of our clergy to create opportunities for evangelism.  Even at the end of confirmation instruction, few clergy actually ask people if they are ready to make a commitment or a more intentional commitment to follow after Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Many people believe that a confirmation they are merely joining the Church. 

Before I go on, let me remind my reader of the Episcopal definition of evangelism.  “To present Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit in ways that people are led to believe in him as Savior and follow him as Lord within the fellowship of his Church.”Ironically we fail to do such a presentation even though we ourselves admit to an experience, or event, or moment when we led to do so!

For six years, I was Rector of an Episcopal Church that had a weekly evangelistic service.  I led and have seen hundreds of individuals make a conscious and prayerful decision to accept Jesus as Savior and to follow him in the power of the Holy Spirit as Lord.  I am not bragging at this point, but stating a fact.  I would be the first to admit that I had never done such a thing regularly in a parish before I became the Rector of that Church.  What I want to say is this.  I learned to do it.  And I want to suggest the following to my fellow clergy and lay leaders who are interested.  I learned the following:

1.       Never assume that you know where a person is in her or his relationship with Christ until you hear it from them.  And NO ONE has a greater right or opportunity to inquire about a member’s spiritual life and relationship to Christ than the Rector. 

2.      There are many church members who love the Church, its liturgy, its parish life, its Anglican style, but who are not disciples of Jesus Christ.  I have had so called “life-long members” of the Episcopal Church say to me that they see no reason for them to ever have to make a decision to follow Christ: note that we teach that Confirmation is an adult affirmation of our Baptismal Vows to do just such a thing.   

3.      In our subtle way of presenting the Gospel, we fail to understand the importance of a conscious moment of commitment.  As a lay evangelist once told me, clergy in our church seem reluctant to “close the deal.”   

Here is what I think is both a pastoral and spiritually valid way of closing the deal.  “Have you come to a place where you are comfortable accepting Jesus as Savior and following him as Lord?  If not, why not?”

Notice that “No” is an acceptable answer to the question, and that a no answer allows up to speak to any objections the person may have.  What I find is that there is a real spiritual value in a person honestly admitting (even if a Church member) that he or she is not yet at a place where that person is comfortable with this.  I have had many people come back to me at a later time and say that NOW they are now ready to do it.   

I did not write this blog to make anyone feel bad especially my fellow clergy.  I had to learn how to do evangelism.  What I am suggesting is that clergy need to connect our view of the Atonement with a practical way of applying this.  This is the work of evangelization.  If you want to discuss this with me more directly, feel free to email me at deankevinmartin@gmail.com  I would be happy to reply.

In my next blog, I want to suggest a fuller understanding of the Doctrine of the Atonement and how I apply this to our increasingly more secular world. 

 

General Convention; Notes from the Fringe

Leaders of the Episcopal Church are gathering for General Convention.  I am retired , but this does not mean that I am not engaged with this special time in the life of the Church.  There are many important items before this gathering from TREC’s call to restructuring, the debate on changes in the Marriage Canon, to funding of the Church’s Mission for the next three years.  No matter how important these matters are, I am writing from the fringe to remind us of some important ecclesiastical and theological issues before us.  I write to remind us all: 

1.        That the Church (especially Anglicanism in North America) is broken.  It is divided, fractured, and in serious decline.  We are unable to fix this situation on our own power and attempts to restructure the Church and General Convention of our own efforts will fail. 

To acknowledge this truth is not to say that there is nothing good in TEC or that significant ministry and mission is not happening, there are plenty of signs of health and vitality. The centers of health and vitality should be models and examples for all of us to follow. 

The need some leaders to affirm TEC unabashedly or any other way to state that the present fracture and decline does not mean the Church is dying (but is in transformation) and that there is plenty that is good and godly  is helpful and hopeful.  Hope is after all one of the three Theological Virtues.  Where such affirmations bring hope, they are good.  Where such affirmations feed denial and reinforce the status quo of brokenness and out dated structures and forms, they are not helpful. 

The path before us must begin by acknowledging our current situation.  Blaming others for our condition and claiming a self-assured rightness, theologically called “self-righteousness” are both sides of the same coin of dysfunction.  The cure for this condition is repentance and reconciliation.  We should make reconciliation a priority in all that we do and in how we treat one another, even those who have left TEC.   

2.       That there are three important questions we must answer at this time 

We must reaffirm who we are or more importantly “whose we are” or “to whom we belong.”   The historical teaching and metaphors are significant.  The Church is the Body of Christ, the household of God, Christ’s creation by water and the Spirit, the Community of the Resurrection, the incarnation of the reign of God, or my favorite, The Community of the King.  

As this community, we acknowledge that we have both the Great Commandment to love one another and the Great Commission to make disciples as our core values.  These call us to mission and the second question is simply “What is our mission at this time?”   

This leads us, as TREC has so rightly pointed out, to the question of “How we are to organize and structure our present community to accomplish this mission?” Although, IMHO, TREC has too quickly assumed that the wider Church has really engaged these primary questions of identity and mission. They are right that forms must follow and flow from the first two questions; who are we, and what is our present mission?   

The over-arching consensus that has emerged among those who have seriously engaged these questions is that this mission should focus on having our structures and methods serve the local congregations, ministries, organizations, institutions, and Dioceses, and that our corporate entities (such as General Convention, Executive Council, and the Office of Presiding Bishop are primarily to serve these local communities and ministries.   

It does seem that many of the recommendations to restructure our corporate entities are caught up in too many details and that one General Convention cannot fix this and can easily be caught up in debate on details that are not that significant when it comes to the three main questions.  For example, who can really say whether a bi-cameral or unicameral legislative body best serves our current mission?  This work can only begin now with some clear guidelines to direct us, and it will take the new Presiding Bishop and the Executive Council to guide significant change and evaluate efforts at restructuring with on-going feedback from these local communities.    

Historically, Anglicans and Episcopalians have believed that Scripture, Tradition, and Reason are our authorities in ordering our life as a community.  We should affirm and trust that as these values have guided us in the past.  They can guide us in the future.  May those at General Convention remember these values as they seek God’s direction for our community at the critical moment in our life.

In Honor of Ashes to God

Columbus Post

1/15/2015 

Baptismal Font Goes on the Move 

Even though heavily endowed, Grace Memorial Episcopal Church in Kelso, Ohio, a town just outside of Columbus is facing hard times.  The Rector, an Assisting Priest, and a Deacon have only three remaining Church members.  That is when the Reverend Alice Fairweather and her staff got an idea on how to reach out to others.  At the beginning of Lent In 2012, the staff took to the streets of Kelso to offer ashes to anyone who wished them.  “This January, as we prepared for the Sunday that remembers the baptism of Jesus, we realized we should do the same only this time with the baptismal font,” said the Rector Fairweather.  “We removed the silver bowl lining from the stone font, blessed the water and headed downtown to our main intersection.  We wanted to offer baptism to anyone who wanted it.” 

The staff faced an immediate crisis because the temperature was so cold the water started to freeze.  “That is when we headed to the Tri-Cities Mall,” said Art Dunning, the Deacon of the congregation.  The group moved to the fountain inside the Mall’s rotunda and set up a sign declaring “Free Baptism for Anyone.”  The group  drew a crowd, but at first folks were reluctant to step forward.  Finally Jimmy Dietsel, ”Moonshine” to his friends, a 17 year old son of lapsed Roman Catholics stepped forward and asked to be baptized if he could do it while standing on his skate board.  “At first I thought it was some kind of joke,” laughed the heavily tattooed Dietsel, “but they even blessed the skateboard.”  According to Jimmy, the experience was “cool.”   

By the end of the day, nine people had stepped up and received baptism.  Unusually, Margo Schwartz, a member of Beth-el Temple in Kelso, accepted the invitation.  “I felt bad for the folks, all dressed up in their special clothes and all and no one coming forward,” Schwartz declared.  So I asked myself, “What would Moses do? And I went right up to the fond.”    Rev. Fairweather poured the water over Margo with the words “May the Holy One fill you with new life.”   

“It was sweet,” said Margo, “but then Sparky started barking.”  Sparky is Margo’s purse size Chihuahua.  “So I asked if Sparky could be baptized too.”  “Why not,” said Fairweather. “Sparky is one of God’s creation.”  Sparky seemed to enjoy it all and after a few shakes of the head, ducked back inside Margo’s purse. Deacon Dunning explained that “We are a very welcoming and inclusive community and baptizing Sparky seemed like the right thing to do at that time.  After all, many churches do animal blessings and there really isn’t much difference if you think about it.”   

In the aftermath of the mobile baptism, there has been some controversy.  The Rev. Harold Glummer, long time pastor of First Lutheran in Kelso said, “I think the whole thing was ridiculous.  Maybe Grace Church should change its name to Cheap Grace Church.”  This was a reference to an obscure 20^th Century theologian.  The Rev. Fairweather however was undaunted.  In a later written statement she said, “There are and always have been reactionary people in the religious community that resist change.  In the Episcopal Church, we had those who disliked our 79 Prayer Book, then women’s ordination, then same sex blessing.  We can’t let such people stop us from doing what is right.”  “Besides”, Fairweather added, “John the Baptist, and Jesus and his disciples didn’t sit around in churches and wait for people to come to them.  They went out in the world and baptized anyone who wanted it.”   

Some people questioned the appropriate use of Tri-Cities Mall, a secular retail center, as venue for the event.  When asked, Joe Marshall, the Mall’s manager said, “At first we weren’t sure what to do, but then Rev. Fairweather pointed out that this was a spiritual act and not a religious one, so we let it go on.  It really drew a crowd after a while and it seemed good for business.”  Mr. Marshall did not say whether such events would be encouraged for the future. 

The Rt. Rev. Sydney Atwater, Episcopal Bishop of Central Ohio, was asked his take on all this.  In a statement released by his diocesan office, Bishop Atwater, who was attending a House of Bishop’s meeting in the South of France dealing with “God’s Mission and Global Hunger, was quoted as saying, “I commend the leadership of Grace Memorial for their creative action and I have called for a taskforce of key Diocesan leadership to study ways that this action of inclusiveness could be extended to other congregations.”  

 Although none of the nine people receiving baptism (nor Sparky) indicated any interest in attending services at Grace Memorial, all felt that the baptism was a good thing to do.  Bishop Atwater also noted that, “Nine new baptized persons in one day was the largest number of baptism at one service in the Diocese since 1988.  In addition, the baptized membership of Grace increased over 300% in one day.  Now that is a story of a real miracle and is exactly the kind of mission activity that The Episcopal Church needs to rebuild our membership at a time when so many are disillusioned with the Church’s seemingly irrelevance to society,” Bishop Atwater’s concluded.