Today we held our annual "Deanery" meeting at Mt. Vernon, Illinois. In the Episcopal Church most dioceses are subdivided into deaneries that each cover a geographic part of the diocese. My deanery, the Eastern Deanery, consists of five churches (one of which is inactive) spread out over eight counties in south-central and eastern Illinois. One of the priests is elected Dean every three years and gets to have the honorific "The Very Reverend" instead of simply "The Reverend." This year we elected Fr. Gene Tucker of Mount Vernon. Congratulations to Gene.
The bishop, The Right Reverend Peter Beckwith spoke for a fairly short period of time. He said that the Episcopal Church's General Convention just past was better that he thought it would be and spoke about his move into retirement. The process to elect a replacement has begun, but is months away from completion. Bishop Peter also urged each of us to be "Witnesses for Christ" in a Church that is hurting, in an economy that is hurting, in a nation that is hurting, in a world that continues to see so many live without hope.
Concerning the election of his replacement, Bishop Peter said that there was concern, at national headquarters in New York, that he would attempt to exercise control of the process. He said he assured them that this would not be the case, since he feels that his attempting to control the process would be, at the least, unprincipled. Others with more intimate knowledge of what has been happening have told me that this is true. I can think of no good reason to doubt him on this. Since, like me, he is a retired Naval Officer (albeit him as Rear Admiral USNR, me as Lieutenant Commander USN) the need for honor and honesty in all of our dealings is strong in our lives.
No, I believe that Bishop Peter is acting with a "hands-off" policy. He and I have had a number of differences of opinion on various topics, but I have never doubted his honesty or basic integrity (even when I think he is wrong).
He made a comment that I do think is all too true - that a big problem in the Episcopal Church is our very strong tendency to act like congregational churches. I have long been disappointed by the parochialism I find in my church and observe in others. Since we are a hierarchical church with diocesan, national, and international ties (to other Churches in the Anglican Communion), for individual congregations to think and act as if they were not connected to others makes the entire structure vulnerable. That problem may be more significant in rural areas (which is where I have all of my experience), but I don't know if that is true or not.
From my personal standpoint, it is frustrating to stress in sermon after sermon that we are ALL interconnected, only to have the people talk about what THEY are doing or have done. It then becomes way too easy to blame "What THEY have done" for our local failures to florish, grow, and carry the gospel into the world. A good example is the decades old discussion on "Evangelism." The National Church periodically urges that as a program, a set of goals, and a way of life. But then nothing happens and I hear people say, "Well, the latest evangelism program didn't work, did it?" Of course, none of them did anything in response to the call to be evangelists, but somehow the National Church was supposed to wave a magic wand and evenagelism would just happen. The people in the congregation see that as unwarranted interference by THEM, but fail to see that there is a challenge to US. The feeeling seems to be, as one lady in my church told me, "If they are interested in the Episcopal Church they will find us. We don't have to do anything but be here." That's not a positive recipe for success.
'till next time, sweet dreams and God Bless All. FrTom+
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