We are a small Episcopal Church on the banks of the Rappahannock in Port Royal, Virginia. We acknowledge that we gather on the traditional land of the first people of Port Royal, the Nandtaughtacund, and we respect and honor with gratitude the land itself, the legacy of the ancestors, and the life of the Rappahannock Tribe. Our mission statement is to do God’s Will in all that we do.

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Focus on the Lord’s Prayer

Lord’s Prayer – Matthew vs. Luke

The prayer as it occurs in Matthew 6:9–13

The prayer as it occurs in Luke 11:2–4

Our Father in heaven,

Father,

hallowed be your name.

hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come,

Your kingdom come.

your will be done,

 .

on earth, as it is in heaven.

.

Give us this day our daily bread,

Give us each day our daily bread,

and forgive us our debts,

and forgive us our sins

as we also have forgiven our debtors.

for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us.

And lead us not into temptation,

And lead us not into temptation

but deliver us from evil.

Lord’s Prayer in Luke Chapter 11

Another famous story from Luke. The Gospel reading is here. 

“”The Lord’s Prayer” -Psalter (2008) 


The Lord’s Prayer is both in Matthew and Luke. Luke’s version is probably older since it is shorter. There are also a few differences in word choice (“sin” instead of “debt/trespass,” for example)

Luke puts a greater emphasis on prayer than the other gospels. -Jesus is praying at his baptism before heavens open (3:21) -Jesus spends the night praying to God before selecting the twelve (6:12) -Jesus is praying before he asks the disciples, “Who do the crowds/you say that I am?” (9:18) -Jesus is praying on the mountain before the transfiguration. (9:28, 29) -Jesus is praying before the disciples ask him to teach them to pray. (11:1)

It may be that Luke was writing to a group of people unfamiliar with Christian/Jewish prayer, so he emphasizes the importance of prayer as he moves among the gentiles.

The contexts for the Lord’s Prayer in Luke and Matthew are quite different. The audience in Matthew (6:5-15) seems to know about praying. Jesus says, “When you are praying,…” They seem to know how to pray and the importance of prayer, but they need further instructions about prayer. In Luke, the audience, (including the disciples,) don’t know how to pray (at least as Jesus’ followers).

The disciples (and Luke’s readers?) ask Jesus to teach them to pray.

There is a reference to John the Baptist. John’s disciples were known for certain practices, such as prayer and fasting (5:33). These practices served as markers for their identity as John’s followers. Jesus prayer also puts an identity on us as Christians. The prayer is intended to be communal, rather than personal. Note also the plural pronouns in the prayer: “our” and “us.” The Lord’s Prayer is a list of those “good gifts”, gifts we may ask of God in the sure knowledge that they are ours in the asking.

Clift Notes version – “God is Holy. Ask for God’s kingdom – reign over all things to become a reality in your life and in your world. Live simply; one day at a time. Stay humble and ask pardon for your wrongdoings. Offer pardon to others just as you want that for yourselves and ask for help to stay out of trouble. When you live with these things uppermost in your life, you will begin to live in God’s kingdom with the help of the Holy Spirit to help you”

There are five key words in the prayer 1. Relationship 2. Hope 3 Nourishment 4 Reconciliation, 5 Peace

1. “Our Father in heaven” – “Relationship” 

Possibly the most important one is relationship. Prayer is a relationship — as an intimate, loving, caring parent/child relationship. Jesus begins his prayer with the expectation of close relationship with God.  The intimate relationship with God and becomes a model we should have with others. Rather than saying something like “Almighty God, Lord of the Universe,” Jesus starts with a familial word. By addressing God as “Father,” Jesus tacitly shows himself to be in the role of child. And because he is teaching his prayer to his friends, he lets them and us know that we, too, are God’s children.

When we think of prayer we think of asking – and that get’s back to understanding our fundamental dependence on God. When we ask God for something in prayer, we acknowledge both that our need and God’s goodness and mercy God’s presence can often change you as it brings their comfort and love to the situation — and perhaps you are better able to accept what lies in the future with their support. You can live with the uncertainty of the “we’ll see” answer.

Prayer is the presence of God — not that God will always change the situation, but knowing that God is with you, that God is going through the tragedy or suffering or depression or even death with you, not as a far off God, way out in space, but as your very close and loving father.”

“Hallowed be thy name” Hallowing means respecting, treating as holy. This is fundamental to our relationship with God and to all other relationships. Acknowledging the holiness, the dignity, the otherness of the other

Joel Green in The Gospel of Luke also comments on this petition: “Why must God sanctify his name? Because it has been profaned by God’s own people (cf. Lev 22:32; Isa 52:5-6; Ezek 36:29-21). God’s work to reestablish the holiness of his name, then, invokes shame on the part of his people and invites them to embrace practices that honor him

2. “Your Kingdom Comes” – “Hope”

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven.

It has to do with the “reign of God” coming to earth. This asks for an end to life on earth as it is, and end to all oppression, injustice, and unrighteousness, and instead for God’s realm to replace all earthly rulers and rule. The early Christians were very familiar with this.

With the words “Your kingdom come,” Jesus introduces hope into the prayer. Hope is about the future. When we hope, we begin to expect that the boundaries of possibility are far wider than we once supposed. When we pray for the coming of the kingdom, we show our willingness to participate in the advent of that kingdom here

Our eucharist remembers the image of that kingdom as a great feast where all are included focused on a life broken and poured out in compassion

3. “Give us this day our daily bread” – “Nourishment”

This section and the next focus on needs fundamental to every human and what is necessary to realize this Kingdom of God now.

Nourishment that sustains us just for this day – not yesterday, which is past, nor tomorrow, which is yet to come, but right now. When we pray for sustenance today, we remain grounded in the present moment, the moment in which we can encounter God moving in our lives. Nourishment today helps us hope for tomorrow, and sustains us to continue walking the path with Christ.

“Give us each day our daily bread” may be a reference to the manna, the bread from heaven, that was provided enough for each day during the 40 years in the wilderness between the time of fleeing slavery in Egypt and entering the promised land. ( Exodus 16.). And it is what is needed for service. And it may be a reference to the feast yet to come in the future life to come. But it most certainly addresses the very real and present concern of Jesus’ followers – to have enough to eat that day

4. “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtor” -“Reconciliation”

“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” – Anne Lamott

Forgiveness is the action we take in the present to participate in the coming of the kingdom. Nourishment sustains us in the present. Hope drives us to the future. And a close relationship with God allows us to pray

We ask for forgiveness, and at the same time we make a commitment to forgive others. It is when we serve God imperfectly. That we can forgive a little reminds us that God can forgive much.

Forgiveness is in the present tense – it is continual. The word forgiveness means “release” or “letting go.”

People would have understood the reference to debt which was devastating on the people. Debt is control. When the Romans conquered the region, they claimed they owned all the land and promptly started charging people rent. People who, heretofore, were living and farming their own land found themselves burdened with debt. Debt was a way in which the conquerors continued to afflict the conquered.

In forgiving the debts of others, the followers of Jesus reject the power to coerce others. “Release” of debt was a way of living out the reign of God on earth. Forgiving others, both sins and debts, is a sign of the coming kingdom. Disciples who do so “get it,” and they request the same from the Father.

The “forgiveness” we are invited to extend to others is not a personal well-wishing; it is changing the material circumstances of the poor such that they and their families no longer teeter on the brink of disaster, but can earn their living by their work. And we as Jesus’ followers are taught to ask God to extend mercy toward us in our sin precisely to the degree that we extend mercy toward others with our wealth and our power.

5. “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. – “peace”

This is the fear, the fear of being tested. But we are encouraged to send this fear up to God. And the thing that occupies the space left by that fear is peace. This peace frees us from the worry that might keep us from praying in the first place.

We will always be tempted and will often fall, but Jesus promises that no temptation, test, or trial has the power to destroy our faith. Let us not be overwhelmed

The sense of the petition seems to be that God not make life any more difficult than it already is: “Dear God, don’t give us more than we can bear.”

->Parable of the Friend At Midnight – Persistence

The “Lord’s Prayer” is only the beginning of Jesus response to the prayer request. The last verses emphasize how much more God will give in this parable.

Summary -A friend comes calling for bread at midnight when you are asleep with your family. The sleeper at first declines but due to the persistence of the friend he gets up and provides.

This parable, which is only found in Luke, is connected to the previous prayer by the words for “bread” and certainly the idea of testing. How could the sleeper ask God to “give us each day our daily bread,” and then fail to give that bread to one of those for whom he has asked God to provide?

Is the friend shameless for asking at midnight or would the sleeper be shameless for not supplying the request. Most authors suggest the latter. Honor which was important at that time demanded that a neighbor get up, awaken his whole family if necessary. The neighbor is shaming the sleeper whose honor was at stake.

Like the person who keeps knocking and knocking to get his friend to come to the door, Jesus tells us that persistence is the key to prayer. Just like improvement in sport comes through constant training, practicing prayer makes the act of praying second nature (or perhaps, even first nature).

God unhesitatingly meets his obligations when asked; he is always found by those who seek him and will immediately open himself up to those who approach him.

How much more will God give than these sleeper ?

The last paragraph “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you” – blessing

This goes back to the idea of persistence and note it is in the present tense. The image is with a young child badgering his parents until she/he gets what is wanted. God is compared to a human father. If human fathers give good gifts to their children, how much more will God do? So what are the good gifts ?

Luke tells us that the good gift is the “Holy Spirit.” Matthew just leaves it as “good things.” The gift of the Holy Spirit to the believer does not just entail the gift of the personal presence of the Spirit of Christ in the life of a believer, but all the promised blessings that flow from our union with God through the Spirit. The “good gifts” are the promised blessings of the kingdom, not the presumed needs of believers.

This scripture also prepares the readers for the events and Pentecost and the Spirit’s work throughout the Book of Acts.

Let’s bring it all together. The persistence in defining a close relationship with God, hoping for the future, finding nourishment for the present, reconciling and asking for forgiveness, and discovering peace leads us into deeper faith in God. Through prayer, we participate in God’s movement in our lives, and our persistence helps us notice God’s blessing in our lives.

Two resolutions that could fundamentally alter Episcopal Life

1. Prayer Book conceptual change

What General convention didn’t do ? A comprehensive Prayer Book revision was not on the agenda.

Instead the idea of a Prayer book that is broader adding other liturgies and may go beyond a printed book.

The Book of Common Prayer for the first time would be “those liturgical forms and other texts authorized by the General Convention.” In other words, liturgies that are not in the current prayer book that could be elevated to “prayer book status,” whether they are replacing parts of the prayer book or standing on their own. In the past they revised the existing Prayer Book under Article IX. Article IX has never specifically provided for adding authorized liturgies that are not part of the revision of the entire book . Now, they will be revising Article IX to broaden the prayer book to include authorized liturgies .

Over a dozen liturgical texts have been “authorized” – for trial use, experimental use, or simply “made available.” These include Marriage Rites, Holy Eucharist: Rite Two expansive language, Enriching Our Worship Series, Book of Occasional Services, Liturgies from other communions with bishop permission, Daily Prayer for All Seasons. Proposed changes must still go into trial use status and be approved over two General Conventions.

The substitute left the specific process of authorizing new texts open to future canonical definition, focusing just on the constitutional change that would enable such work.

Why is this important?

The struggle in the past has been a comprehensive edit of the entire book, a massive task. This allows for associated liturgies that stand on their own but become prayer book content and not worry about the existing content.

2. Tackling racism on the local level

The Convention created Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice, a voluntary association of Episcopal dioceses, parishes, organizations, and individuals that will be charged with facilitating, coordinating, encouraging, supporting, and networking efforts of Episcopal dioceses, parishes, organizations, and individuals for racial justice and equity, and the dismantling of white supremacy as part of the goal to become the “beloved community.”

There is an implementing structure intended and associated funding. “Resolved that the Presiding Bishop and President of the House of Deputies appoint a Constituting Group for the development, implementation, and creation of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice, whose work includes determining and proposing all necessary organizational, canonical, legal, and other actions necessary to constitute formally and oversee said Coalition.”

It would bring anti-racism training oversight to the province and diocese levels and create a permanent foundation moving forward where we can learn from each other on what works.

Why is this important? This brings needed resources in content and support to this effort depending on how many join into the group.

The racism of the church is one of the shortcomings identified in an extensive survey. A quote from the survey talk from Bishop Curry at General Convention. “Among non-Christians in particular, those who are not Christian, 50% associated Christians with the word hypocrisy; 49% with the word judgmental; 46% with self-righteousness; and 32% with arrogance. And then, nearly half of non-Christians in America—hear this—nearly half of non-Christians in America believe that racism is prevalent among Christians in the church.”

Related is D044 the creation of an independent Reparations Fund Commission, creating a fund from the Episcopal church assets. The magnitude of this fund and date for accomplishing the target amount will be determined by the Commission.

Christ in the House of Mary and Martha – Johannes Vermeer

The painting is inspired by Luke 10:38-42 where Jesus enters the home of Mary and Martha. It happens after the Good Samaritan. The passage only occurs in Luke’s Gospel.

Martha greets Jesus but is preoccupied with tasks. Mary chose listening to the teachings of Jesus over helping her sister prepare food. Jesus is friends with this family who live in Bethany. Later, just before the crucifixion, Jesus will raise Mary and Martha’s brother Lazarus.

The three figures are bound in a circular composition. Circular compositions were frequently employed to unite complex figure groupings and impede the viewer’s eye from straying aimlessly around the picture If, however, the implied circle becomes too influential, the observer may feel subliminally entrapped. As a remedy Dutch artists often included a sort of escape route Vermeer provided a similar visual relief in the half-opened doorway  to the dark recess of the upper left-hand corner of the composition.

The work is known for the handling of light and shadow. The play of light on different surfaces such as the loaf of bread or the different fabrics  (Mary seated) is noted. There is color contrast in Mary’s clothing. Martha is statuesque with her downcast eyes. She seems to ignore Jesus pointing. The painting seems to be echoing the last verse. But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

Dutch interior paintings are their own genre in the 17th century. Many of the paintings focus on love and/or the virtues of domestic life, the latter appropriate for this painting.  The Dutch had fought a ware for independence culminating in 1648 The new Dutch Republic was the most prosperous nation in Europe and led European trade, science, and art. A distinctive feature of the period, compared to earlier European painting, was the limited number of religious paintings. Dutch Calvinism forbade religious paintings in churches, and though biblical subjects were acceptable in private homes, relatively few were produced.

This is one of the largest and  earliest surviving paintings by Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675). It is also his only known work of a biblical subject though he was a specialist of interiors. It was done between 1654-1656.

Around the time that he painted this picture, Vermeer married Catharina Bolnes, the youngest daughter of a wealthy Catholic in Delft, Maria Thins. This match would have required Vermeer’s conversion to Catholicism, and the young couple soon moved in with the bride’s mother. Given its large size, it is likely that Christ in the House of Martha and Mary was a specific commission, possibly intended for a clandestine Catholic church in Delft or for a Catholic patron, perhaps even Vermeer’s mother-in-law.

The Spiritual Side of Apollo 11

On  July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the moon. Although faith and science have often been in conflict in the past and many see the mission as only a triumph in science, there are examples of faith a part of the Apollo program.

One of the first acts performed on Apollo 11, after first landing on the Moon, was a celebration of the Communion by astronaut Buzz Aldrin. In 1969, Buzz Aldrin was an elder at Webster Presbyterian Church in Houston, where he was given the communion kit that he took to Sea of Tranquility. Upon landing on the Moon in the Eagle LM, Buzz made the following announcement to Mission Control:

“Houston, this is Eagle. This is the LM pilot speaking. I would like to request a few moments of silence. I would like to invite each person listening in, whoever or wherever he may be, to contemplate for a moment the events of the last few hours, and to give thanks in his own individual way.  

Aldrin reported later  “ In the radio blackout, I opened the little plastic packages which contained the bread and the wine. I poured the wine into the chalice our church had given me. In the one-sixth gravity of the moon, the wine slowly curled and gracefully came up the side of the cup. Then I read the Scripture: “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whosoever abides in me will bring forth much fruit.

“Eagle’s metal body creaked. I ate the tiny Host and swallowed the wine. I gave thanks for the intelligence and spirit that had brought two young pilots to the Sea of Tranquility. It was interesting for me to think: the very first liquid ever poured on the moon, and the very first food eaten there, were the communion elements

It is especially fitting and poignant that Buzz also read Psalm 8: 3-4:

3 “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established;

4 “What are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals[a] that you care for them?”

Each year since 1969, his church, Webster Presbyterian,  holds a Lunar Communion service to commemorate Buzz Aldrin’s celebration on the Moon.

The mission also carried goodwill not only with the message “We came in peace for all mankind” but also left a special disc. The company Sprague used a photo-etching technique using lithographic thin films to create a long-term alternative to microfiche to engrave letters (scanned and reduced 200x) from the leaders of the world’s nations.   Each letter was photographed, and optically reduced to the point where each letter was ¼ the width of a hair! 

Some like Buzz Aldrin carried their religion to the moon but at least two others felt the tug of religion on their return.

Jim Irwin of Apollo 15 felt the presence of God during his 67 hours on the Moon’s surface. In his autobiography Destination Moon he wrote:   “Before the flight, I was really not a religious man. I believed in God, but I really had nothing to share. But when I came back from the moon, I felt so strongly that I had something that I wanted to share with others, that I established High Flight, in order to tell all men everywhere that God is alive, not only on earth but also on the moon. “

Astronaut Alan Bean recounts another experience on Apollo15, “I can remember when he and Dave were riding along on their rover near the end of their 3rd EVA and Dave said, “Oh, look at the mountains today, Jim. When they’re all sunlit isn’t that beautiful?” Jim answered, “Really is, Dave. I’m reminded on a favorite biblical passage from Psalms: ‘I look unto the hills from whence cometh my help.’ But of course, we get quite a bit from Houston, too.

The Work of General Convention 80 in 2022

This was not an easy convention (most of them aren’t). COVID forced the postponement from 2021 to 2022. Then in May, the convention was cut in half from 8 days to 4 days.  Presiding Bishop Michael Curry said they would consider “matters essential for the governance and good order of the church.” and save the rest for the next convention in 2024 in Louisville.

 It was all business – no receptions, exhibition hall or vendors or even photo sessions with the delegates. The normal 10,000 in attendance dwindled to 1,200. Despite this mandate, the lower numbers and the reduced time to consider business they had to weight in on 412 resolutions in 4 days which they did.

How did they do it ?. Planning

1 Legislative committees acted online with of the resolutions before gathering in Baltimore.

2 Bishops and deputies had floor debates only on more controversial measures or on actions that they wanted to raise to greater prominence.

3.They passed the resolutions in batches through consent calendars.

What major actions were taken ? This review will group resolutions into 5 areas

  1. Book of Common Prayer
  2. Racism
  3. Social policy
  4. Reacting to Gun Violence
  5. Environment

Book of Common Prayer .

What General convention didn’t do ? A comprehensive Prayer Book revision is not a part of this. Instead the idea of a Prayer book that is broader adding other liturgies. Most importantly Convention would create a framework for this to happen for future evaluation by revising Article X the implementing part of the constitution for the prayer book which is used to change the Prayer Book. It will require a second reading at the next convention in Louisville in 2024 since it is a constitutional amendment.

The Book of Common Prayer for the first time under A059 would be “those liturgical forms and other texts authorized by the General Convention.” In other words, liturgies that are not in the current prayer book that could be elevated to “prayer book status,” whether they are replacing parts of the prayer book or standing on their own.  In the past they revised the existing Prayer Book under Article X. However, it has never specifically provided for authorized liturgies that are not proposed revisions to the existing book

Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee, bishop provisional of Milwaukee, chair of the House of Bishops’ Committee on Prayer Book, Liturgy & Music – “The idea of the prayer book [evolving from] a book bound and physically present in a pew to a curated collection of texts that lives online”

Only the 1979 BCP has currently been “authorized.” All of the other liturgies have been “approved” for trial use. Anything to be “authorized” has to still be approved by two successive General Conventions.

Over a dozen liturgical texts have been “authorized” – for trial use, experimental use, or simply “made available” These include Marriage Rites, Holy Eucharist: Rite Two expansive language, Enriching Our Worship Series, Book of Occasional Services, LitGuries from other communions with bishop permission, Daily Prayer for All Seasons. Propose changes must go into trial use status. The substitute left the specific process of authorizing new texts open to future canonical definition, focusing just on the constitutional change that would enable such work

The final version creates a working group to propose canonical changes that would clarify or alter the status of the rites that have been authorized for trial or experimental use over the last few decades. That working group will present those recommendations to the 81st General Convention, where A059 will come up for a second reading. It leaves in place the requirement that any prayer book changes must be approved by two successive General Conventions, and specifies that any changes must be authorized for trial use first.

The prayer book contains rites for both public and private devotion, as did the earliest versions of Thomas Cranmer’s, the original author. But now also  the adaptation1 of liturgy is stated here: “The Book of Common Prayer in this Church will be communal prayer enriched by our church’s cultural, geographical, and linguistic contexts. “  This goes back to the original Prayer book which had to alter the English Prayer book “to fit the local conditions and circumstance.” Presumably. this would include new liturgies and those form prayer books around the world.

President Jennings of the House of Deputies reminded the  convention that,  even as Jesus calls us, he is already on the move. We are not simply called to be with Jesus, though that is important; we are called to follow him. The church is never allowed to remain stagnant or self-satisfied. We are caught forever in the exciting, frustrating, uncomfortable, and ultimately divine process of discerning the direction in which God is calling us as individuals and as a church.  

2 Racism

Resolution A125, for which the budget includes $400,000 in start-up funds for a new Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice which would bring anti-racism training oversight to the province and diocese levels and creating a permanent foundation moving forward.

Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice be charged with facilitating, coordinating, encouraging, supporting, and networking efforts of Episcopal dioceses, parishes, organizations, and individuals for racial justice and equity, and the dismantling of white supremacy”

Gay Jennings in her sermon said “And I am in hopes that the creation of the Episcopal Coalition for Racial Equity and Justice through the passage of Resolution A125, will be among the most significant actions this church has ever taken.

Resolution A127. Confronts racism in terms of  Indigenous boarding schools

Resolution A126  which would have the Standing Committee on Liturgy and Music to study the language of the Book of Common Prayer and report back on colonialist, racist and white supremacist, imperialist and nationalistic language and content and develop proposals for amending text

Resolution A052 clarifies the mandate of the Executive Council  Committee on Anti-Racism and Reconciliation.

Resolution C058 requires the Executive Council to respond to the church’s racial audit of leadership.

Resolution A086 would allocate money toward making a priority the development and support of programs that respond to eco-justice concerns, address environmental racism, and work to alleviate environmental burdens on Indigenous communities, and to provide training and financial aid and other resources for the work

  1. Social policy

Convention passed Resolution D083 “affirming that all Episcopalians should be able to access abortion services and birth control with no restriction on movement, autonomy, type, or timing.

The Convention adopted resolutions to offer paid family leave and health insurance to lay and clergy church employees through the Denominational Health Plan. 

Resolution A003 urges but does not require, dioceses to adopt uniform paid family leave policies for all employees. 

Resolution D034 created a new task force to provide advice about the Denominational Health Plan, which is provided through Church Pension Group and which churches and dioceses are required to provide to clergy and some lay employees. The task force will provide the 81st General Convention in 2024 with options to reduce health insurance costs across The Episcopal Church.

  1. Gun Violence

Convention spoke out against gun violence, passing resolutions B003 on ghost guns, B006 urging advocacy for state legislation against gun violence and B007 commending investment in community violence intervention to prevent gun violence.

The convention occurred in the midst of 19 children killed in Uvalde, Texas on May24  and  a gunman in Highland Park Illinois killed a gunman in Highland Park, Illinois, killed seven people at an Independence Day parade,

  1. Environmental

A088 Commit to the pressing work of addressing Global Climate

Reiterates that “climate change is not only a scientific concern or environmental issue, but what the United Nations calls “the defining issue of our time… at a defining moment” (UN Secretary General, September 10, 2018), an all-encompassing social crisis and moral emergency that impacts and interconnects every aspect of pastoral concern including health, poverty, employment, racism, social justice, and family life and that can only be addressed by a Great Work involving every sector of society

t General Convention reaffirmed that the Episcopal Church shall support and advocate for policies, programs, pastoral responses, and theologies that work to ensure no community – especially financially impoverished communities, frontline residents, migrants, and BIPOC communities (Black, indigenous, and people of color) – shall bear a disproportionate impact of the environmental, health, and economic threats of climate change;

D064: Endorse and Encourage Green Deal Legislation

Most notably the addition of a “question to the Parochial Report regarding how each parish is reducing their carbon footprint and to share those results as a whole with the Episcopal Church.”

It also opens a conversation about “adding portions relating to environmental stewardship in the Canons of the Episcopal Church” and resolves “that this Convention transmit a message to each diocese of The Episcopal Church with a copy of this resolution before each Diocesan Convention following the 80th General Convention.”

Adding Sustainable development goals rose to the attention of Convention:

  1. Zero Hunger
  2. Good Health and Well-being
  3. Quality Education
  4. Gender Equality
  5. Clean Water and Sanitation
  6. Affordable and Clean Energy
  7. Decent Work and Economic Growth
  8. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
  9. Reduced Inequality
  10. Sustainable Cities and Communities
  11. Responsible Consumption and Production
  12. Climate Action
  13. Life Below Water
  14. Life on Land
  15. Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
  16. Partnerships to achieve the Goal

Resolution A020 “encourage[s] all parishes, dioceses, and jurisdictions” to not only learn about and teach these goals, but to undertake “self-audits to assess how their existing mission work and ministries already address the SDGs.” 

A087: Net Carbon Neutrality by 2030

A087 sets for the Episcopal Church a “goal of net carbon neutrality in its operations and the work of staff, standing commissions, interim bodies, and General Convention by 2030,” in line with the UN’s Decade of Action on the SDGs. It also encourages “parishes, dioceses, schools, camps, and other Episcopal institutions to pursue their own goal of net carbon neutrality by 2030.

One amendment is worth highlighting. At the resolution’s Legislative Hearing, Bishops Bascom (Kansas) and Lattime (Alaska) collaborated on additional language regarding land use. First, the amendment “request[s] the diocesan bishops of every diocese to begin to build networks of landowners and creation trustees in each diocese who will devote portions of their land [to various sustainability projects].” Second, that “The Episcopal Church support and advocate for the subsistence rights of Indigenous people and policies that protect and preserve land and resources solely for subsistence use.”

C015: Carbon Sequestration – Creates An Internal Carbon Offset Program

Resolution C015 is a partner resolution with A087 above that provides specific guidance on the establishment of an internal carbon offset program. Carbon offset programs at large are understandably controversial: the assets traded in many programs are impossible to track, and many carbon offsets, when purchased, do not come to fruition. This is precisely why C015 is central to achieving net carbon neutrality in the Episcopal Church by 2030. An internal offset program would be thoroughly vetted and ethically allocated.

 

And one more thing about General Convention – What else is significant ?

1. A Change in generations

From Gay Jennings – “But what I am proudest of are the people I have had the opportunity to call into leadership. There has been a generational change in our church. The houses of General Convention are more racially diverse than they have ever been. A new generation of young leaders is on the rise in our legislative committees, thanks, in part, I would like to think, to the creation of additional leadership positions which I filled exclusively with younger deputies. At this convention we are focusing special attention on the House of Deputies Committee on the State of the Church, which was composed almost entirely of millennial leaders.”

2. Videos from the Episcopal Church – the GC Show. Here is an example

https://media.episcopalchurch.org/video/gc80-show/?mc_cid=955c49c016&mc_eid=bb9fa5686d&wchannelid=u0ozx2qu3w&wmediaid=raaza08md1

Looking at Congregational Vitality in  a different way – “that goes beyond average Sunday attendance, and really in terms of how lives are being transformed and how we can walk in God’s footsteps out in our community.

Another example from NC

3. Navigating the changes during the Pandemic

Six resolutions came about to help The Episcopal Church adapt to changes in society and find new ways of supporting the church’s mission and ministry, from experimenting with creative uses of technology to rethinking how congregations report membership and financial data.

“Little did we know when we began this work that a global pandemic would place the church in the midst of the greatest adaptive challenge of our lifetimes,” the Rev. Chris Rankin-Williams, chair of the committee, told deputies …“The pace of congregational decline across the country has been accelerated by the pandemic, and there is great uncertainty about the future and financial viability of many of our churches

“We are truly navigating off the map. With the depth of challenges, the solution is not clear,” he said. The resolutions the committee proposed were intended “to position the church to address adaptive challenges and evaluate the experiments that are necessary to create our future.”

  • A097 calls for an evaluation of the 80th General Convention’s use of technology to hold all of its legislative hearings and meetings online, possibly offering a model for future church governance meetings.
  • A098 creates a task force to study how communication and collaborative tools can enhance the work of the church’s interim bodies.
  • A099 relates to the church’s capacity to collect and study data on its adaptive efforts. The resolution specifically cites the need to fund “significant professional research expertise and capacity.” This is the only resolution of the six that wasn’t adopted, as the House of Deputies instead voted to refer the proposal back to an interim body to study further, for consideration at the 81st General Convention in 2024.
  • A132 creates a task force to study “indicators of 21st century congregational vitality and how The Episcopal Church can collect data that measures those indicators.”
  • A155 creates a task force to revise the financial page of the parochial report, filed every year by dioceses and congregations. Updating the parochial report form to better summarize congregational life was a top priority of the Committee on the State of the Church.
  • A156 creates a task force to consider ways The Episcopal Church can re-evaluate how it counts membership to better align with how people today connect with the church including “a wide range of cultural and regional contexts.”

 4. Bishop Curry

https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2022/07/08/presiding-bishop-invites-episcopalians-to-look-to-their-roots-during-gc80-opening-eucharist/

https://anglican.ink/2022/07/08/opening-address-to-the-80th-general-convention-of-the-episcopal-church-by-presiding-bishop-michael-curry/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=opening-address-to-the-80th-general-convention-of-the-episcopal-church-by-presiding-bishop-michael-curry

Preaching on the Book of Isaiah and its descriptions of the Babylonian exile, Curry compared that age of disorientation and turmoil to the past few years in the United States and the unprecedented disruption they have wrought

As a response to that , the Church was preparing  evangelistic campaign reaching into the secular, non-Christian culture of America. “It was an attempt to take the way of love that we’ve been living with and working at and share this with the wider culture beyond the red doors of the church, to share something of the reality of this Jesus and his way of love, to share something of the reality of the possibilities that his way of love opens for all of God’s children

‘But as we were getting ready to do this, someone stopped us and asked, “Have we asked people in the society, who do you say Jesus is?” Maybe have we asked ourselves that? Dietrich Bonhoeffer said that may be one of the most important questions even for the Christian. Who is Jesus Christ for you today? So we contracted with the Ipsos group, a global marketing group that does this kind of research. We partnered with them, and they conducted a poll of the American population. It was a comprehensive poll, which actually gave us a snapshot into the American population across all races, ethnic groups, all religious groups, all political groups, across geographical territories.

Eighty-four percent of the American population says that Jesus is an important spiritual figure worth listening to. Eighty-four percent across all groups

Then we asked them, “What about Christians? What about the church?” Well, they answered. Among non-Christians in particular, those who are not Christian, 50% associated Christians with the word hypocrisy; 49% with the word judgmental; 46% with self-righteousness; and 32% with arrogance. And then, nearly half of non-Christians in America—hear this—nearly half of non-Christians in America believe that racism is prevalent among Christians in the church.

 Remember, 84% of the people surveyed across the board find Jesus attractive, something about him compelling. Eighty-four percent. The problem is there’s a gap between Jesus and his followers. Are you with me? And it’s that gap that’s the problem. It’s that gap that undermines our efforts to commend this Jesus and his way of love to a wider culture, to those who don’t have a religious background. Walking the way of unselfish, sacrificial love as Jesus taught us, closes the gap. Following the way of this Jesus, until his footprints and our footprints become indistinguishable, begins to close the gap

The study will be used to inform an upcoming social media evangelism campaign designed to bring Jesus’ message into secular American society – “to share this with the wider culture beyond the red doors of the church,” he said. 

5. Stats! Stats! Stats!

Two women will lead the House of Deputies for the first time in history

Julia Ayala Harris is the youngest person to be elected president of the House of Deputies. She is also the first Latina to be elected to that post. 

The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton of Olympia is the first ordained woman and the first Indigenous woman to be elected vice president of the House of Deputies. 

The Hon. Byron Rushing of Massachusetts is the longest-serving deputy — serving in 16 conventions since 1973. At this convention he concludes serving as vice president of the House of Deputies. 

The senior bishop here is Arthur Williams, Diocese of Ohio, who was consecrated bishop suffragan 35 years ago on October 11, 1986. 

In the House of Bishops, there are 122 bishops and four bishops-elect. Of them, 38 are first-time bishops at a General Convention and 34 are women. Three of the four bishops-elect are women

 

Sunday links for July 10, 2022 – Pentecost 5

July 10, 11:00am – Eucharist

The Good Samaritan

July 13, 4:30-6pm – Village Dinner

Take out or eat in. Call Susan Linne von Berg to make your reservation. 804-742-5233. July’s menu is : Barbecue ribs, bake beans, potato salad, corn on the cob and dessert.

We had 18 in the church on Sunday and another 6 on Zoom. We were able to to provide birthday greetings on Zoom for Laura Carey whose birthday is on July 13

School believe it or not is another month way. To that end, we have been asked by Caroline’s Promise to collect 250 boxes of markers. We have a ways to go with 35 boxes collected through I know several are ordering this week.

Helmut and Brad teamed up on violin and piano for both the prelude and offertory. They are recorded under video’s.

Tom provided the sermon on the Good Samaritan. The Samaritan had build a solid base for his life. To live a solid life, it needs to based on something with meaning and purpose, such as Christ who is the rock. He cited Deuteronomy as the basis – “For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, just as he delighted in prospering your ancestors, when you obey the Lord your God by observing his commandments and decrees that are written in this book of the law, because you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Compassion without Boundaries -Background of the “Good Samaritan” in Luke from author Alexander Shaia

Some background of the Gospel of Luke provides insight of why this story appears in this gospel and no others. Luke wrote in the 80’s AD after both Matthew and Mark (and before John). Jesus resurrection was 50 years earlier. He wrote it in Antioch in Turkey at a time when Christianity was expanding to the Gentiles all throughout the Mediterranean. How was Christianity to unite these peoples ?

The issues are taken up in The Hidden Power of the Gospels: Four Questions, Four Paths, One Journey by Alexander Shaia.

“Nero had executed the Jewish Christus followers of Rome twenty years earlier, although persecution had not extended to Christus believers throughout the rest of the empire at that time. Then in 70 CE, Vespasian leveled the Great Temple of Jerusalem and massacred all its priests, throwing Judaism into total disarray. In the steps that religion took to survive, a process began that still resonates in the lives of Christians and Jews.

“The slaughter resulted in a complete lack of religious authority. The Pharisees, educated teachers of Jewish religious law but not officially con­nected to the Temple, stepped into the vacuum. By the mid-80s CE, the time of Luke’s gospel, their role had significantly increased. In many Jewish communities, their voices rose to roles of clear leadership. In others, they represented merely one of many voices struggling to advise how best to move forward in the face of great loss. Eventually, the Pharisees became the primary voice of the Jewish community, reunifying the people in the ab­sence of the Temple and its priests—but not before Luke began to write.”

And as part of their ascension “The Pharisees advocated for the removal from Judaism of all variant sects who believed that the Messiah had already come. Chief among these were the “Followers of the Way”’ (the Christus sect), who maintained that the Messiah had arrived for the salvation of all people, not just Jew

“They carried pain, and some of them likely had a touch of ar­rogance attached to their lingering resentments. They had also migrated all over the Mediterranean basin, which presented them with persecution from another quarter. The Roman government was more than nervous about the Christus followers—it was terror-stricken. “The fear of this message led to its oppression of the Christus communities—and the persecution increased steadily.

“The fear of this message led to its oppression of the Christus communities—and the persecution increased steadily.

“Although some scholars believe that the Gospel of Luke was written to a high Roman official in defense of Christianity, others think it was a teach­ing written in Antioch designed to be distributed among these burgeoning communities across the Mediterranean world.

“In Hebrew teachings, “heart” implies a unitive aspect of one’s hu­manity that is greater than mere emotion—encompassing body, feelings, will, intuition, and thought—everything but soul.

“How were the nascent “Followers of the Way” to move forward in the face of being cursed by the Pharisees, abandoned by most of their Jewish friends, and oppressed by the Roman Empire? How could they deal with the hurt and resentments that threatened to poison their lives and divide their families? Should they verbally dispute and defend themselves against each hurt? Should they take up arms and fight? Should they hold to tra­ditional practices?

“Luke draws a stark spiritual line, using his gospel to focus on spiritual maturation. He instructs the Followers of the Way to stringently challenge themselves, speak their truth boldly, yet maintain- inner equanimity and avoid self-righteousness. Faced with opposition on all sides, the course Jesus taught in Luke’s gospel was for the Christus believers to “be” at peace, rather than taking up arms or trying to effect change through anger. This gospel is filled with instruc­tions about growing into the capacity for mature relationships and compas­sion and generosity without boundaries.”

“The Gospel thus became a “how to” manual designed to be distributed among these burgeoning communities across the Mediterranean world.”

The Good Samaritan – ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’

This is one of the most practical Bible lessons.

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? This is a basic, universal question that is asked by almost all human beings, even today. In Mark and Matthew, the question is more of a Jewish question. That is, “What is the greatest/first commandment of the law?” Mark and Matthew were asking a fundamental Jewish question; Luke was asking a fundamental universal question.

Luke was written to a larger world which he knew as a follower of Paul. This was the first time the idea of Dt 6:5 (“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”) being combined with Leviticus 19:18 (“Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself.”)

Jesus is challenged by a lawyer. The lawyer’s presence and public questioning of Jesus shows the degree of importance his detractors are placing on finding a flaw they can use. The lawyer is trying to see if there was a distinction between friends and enemies. Luke in the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6:20 “But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”) had eliminated the distinction and the lawyer was trying to introduce it again. As Jesus’ influence with the crowds continues to grow, the alarm of the religious establishment grows as well.

His first question is “what must I do to inherit eternal life.” Jesus answers, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” The lawyer follows up with a second question, also a very good one. If doing this, i.e., loving God and loving neighbor as oneself, is a matter of eternal life, then defining “neighbor” is important in this context. The lawyer, however, in reality, is self-centered, concerned only for himself.

Jesus shifts the question from the one the lawyer asks — who is my neighbor?–to ask what a righteous neighbor does. The neighbor is the one we least expect to be a neighbor. The neighbor is the “other,” the one most despised or feared or not like us. It is much broader than the person who lives next to you. A first century audience, Jesus’ or Luke’s, would have known the Samaritan represented a despised “other.”

Read more: The Good Samaritan – ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’

Read more…

Of the four characters in this story (besides the robbers and the victim) – the lawyer, levite, priest and Samaritan – the first three were known in Jewish society. The Samaritan is the outsider.

The idea of being a “Good Samaritan” would have been an oxymoron to a first century Jew. During an ancient Israeli war, most of the Jews living up north in Samaria were killed or taken into exile. How can the Samaritans be anything but “bad”? Jews would do anything to avoid these people. However, a few Jews, who were so unimportant that nobody wanted them, were left in Samaria. Since that time, these Jews had intermarried with other races. They were considered half-breeds by the “true” Jews. They had perverted the race. They had also perverted the religion.

Note also that the Samaritan acts not to receive anything for himself (like self-justification). He responds to the needs of the man in the ditch and his actions cost him — time and money. The others can’t go beyond their limited role in society. The levite can’t touch the injured because of laws against uncleanness. The priests (Pharisees) are more concerned with rules and structures. We must look beyond the mores of society.

The verbs used with the Samaritan are worth emulating: to have compassion others; to come (near) to others; to care for others; to do mercy to others. It is not enough just to know what the Law says, one must also do it. To put it another way, it is not enough just to talk about “what one believes,” but “what difference does it make in my life that I believe.”

The man in the ditch may represent us. Brian Stoffregen quotes Bernard Scott in Jesus, Symbol-Maker for the Kingdom. “Grace comes to those who cannot resist, who have no other alternative than to accept it. To enter the parable’s World, to get into the ditch, is to be so low that grace is the only alternative. The point may be so simple as this: only he who needs grace can receive grace.. all who are truly victims, truly disinherited, have no choice but to give themselves up to mercy.” And we are victims in our own way.

He goes on to say “the parable of the Good Samaritan may be reduced to two propositions: In the Kingdom of God mercy comes only to those who have no right to expect it and who cannot resist it when it comes. Mercy always comes from the quarter from which one does not and cannot expect.”

Stoffregen says “I have usually taken the second interpretive approach to this text. We are the ones in the ditch and the Samaritan represent God — God who is both enemy and helper. Our sin makes God our enemy. Yet, in the parable, the “enemy” gives new life to the man in the ditch. The “enemy” expends his resources (apparently unlimited) for the care of the half-dead man.

“The problems with the lawyer is that he couldn’t see God as his enemy. He hadn’t recognized the depth of his own sinfulness. (He wants to justify himself and probably had a bit of pride that comes along with that.) He was too strong and healthy. He assumes that he has the ability to do something to inherit eternal life. He assumes that he can do something to justify himself. He is not helpless in the ditch. He thinks he doesn’t need God’s grace.

“God also gets into the ditch of the dead. On the cross, God died. There is the resurrection “donkey” who transports us to the heavenly “inn” where there is complete recovery from all pain and suffering.”

“I also noted in this sermon that at times we might identify with the innkeeper. In the parable, the Samaritan used the innkeeper to continue the healing process the he had started. The Samaritan promised to provide everything that the innkeeper would need to care for this man. Sometimes God helps us out of the ditch directly. Sometimes God uses other people.”

In the end our neighbor is everyone.

Jesus said to him, “You have answered rightly. Do this and you will live. We don’t repeat the words – we need live them as they had at the time. It is part of living a transformed life in the Kingdom away from structure of society that inhibit us and put blinders on us.”

General Convention – 2022, introduction

General Convention will be held for 4 days (Fri July 8 through Monday , July 11, 2022) in Baltimore MD.

General Convention is the governing body of The Episcopal Church. It typically meets every three years as a bicameral legislature that includes the House of Deputies and the House of Bishops composed of deputies and bishops from each diocese. It is also the largest churchwide gathering, drawing together upwards of 5,000 attendees.

The General Convention addresses a lot of internal issues of the institutional church. Who are we as Episcopalians? What do we care about? What should we be doing, and how, when, and with whom?

It is a grueling pace for those participating. Most days Deputies and Bishops will start around 7 or 7:30 am and stay on the go through at least 10 pm each night. The typical deputy day involves Worship, legislative sessions, workshops, and meetings. Evening legislative sessions happen toward the end of General Convention as resolutions and canons come out of committees.