That We All May Be One

On February 26, as part of a Governing Board meeting of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the USA, the NCC celebrated at “re-launch” in publication of the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. Often more known (and sometimes reviled) as the premier ecumenical council in the United States, emphasizing social justice as well as faith and order concerns, the NCC is also the owner of both the Revised Standard and New Revised Standard Versions of the Bible.

The NRSV is widely recognized as the world’s most trusted, most accepted, and most accurate translation of the Scriptures available in English. Both the RSV and NRSV have incorporated much new scholarship derived since the 20th century discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and other archeological finds. The RSV was the first serious, scholarly effort to translate the Bible from the original texts since the 1611 Authorized Version, also known as the King James Bible.

Under a new publishing agreement with HarperCollins, attractive new editions will soon be available at outlets like Borders, Barnes and Noble, and even Walmart in addition to the more academic religious book stores.  I share this, not as a commercial, but to witness to the fact that the NCC, and its partner Church World Service, make many ecumenical contributions quietly and faithfully which most people never hear about.

And “all scripture is inspired by God and us useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

When I left the “pre meeting” of the Anglican Primates in Tanzania, I was encouraged because the Joint Standing Committee had deemed the Episcopal Church’s General Convention response to the Windsor Report adequate — the one exception being a lack of clarity on the status of the blessing of same-sex unions. General Convention has not authorized such blessings, but they are being done in some dioceses.

I also felt that the four of us from the Episcopal Church — Bishops MacPherson, Duncan, Jefferts Schori and I — had done a reasonable job of laying out before the Primates the breadth of opinion in the Episcopal Church on the matter of homosexuality and whether it should, or should not, be a church-dividing issue among us. When I learned that the Primates’ meeting had moved on to talk about theological education in the Communion, the Millenium Development Goals, and a “hermeneutics project” (studying the various methods of interpreting Scripture), I was encouraged that we might finally be getting on with the mission of the Church, for a change!

However, it now seems clear to me that the Global South Primates (and this is a recognizable and self-identified group, not some generic term to include everyone who lives south of the equator!) had come with their own bottom-line and were simply waiting until the formulation of the final Communique to hold the rest of the Primates hostage to their agenda.

So we now have a proposal for a “Pastoral Council” (the majority of which would be appointed by Primates outside the Episcopal Church) to work with disaffected congregations and dioceses in cooperation with the Presiding Bishop and the Episcopal Church.   And we have a request for the House of Bishops to “make an unequivocal common covenant that the bishops will not authorize any Rite of Blessing for same-sex unions in their dioceses or through General Convention” and “confirm that Resolution B033 of the 75th General Convention means that a candidate for episcopal orders living in a same-sex union shall not receive the necessary consents.”

We will now take those requests under advisement, at least initially, I assume, at our Executive Council meeting next week and at the House of Bishops meeting in March. I hope we will take the requests seriously and find a way forward, but I have to say they are hugely problemmatic! To give such authority to a Pastoral Council which is a totally extra-canonical body made up of those not subject to the Doctrine, Discipline and Worship of the Episcopal Church seems very dangerous to me.

And, while I would hope the House of Bishops could agree to a covenant not to authorize the blessing of same-sex unions until a broader consensus emerges (while preserving the right of pastoral provisions to minister to gay and lesbian people as the Windsor Report itself allows), I would guess there will be bishops and dioceses who will not agree to this. Therefore, we are set up for some kind of vote which will divide and not unite us. Once again.

I also believe it is unnecessary, and unhelpful,  for the House of Bishops to begin “confirming” or re-affirming actions of General Convention. We have passed B033. All that remains is for us to live up to its provisions. So far, we have.

It seems to me that the development of an Anglican Covenant is still the best way for us to define the Communion for the future and stay together. We are committed to that process, but it will take time to develop and to get the necessary buy-in across the Communion. In my view, the Primates are trying to function as though that Covenant was already in place and its provisions agreed to. 

Join me in this Lenten season of “prayer, fasting, and self-denial” for the gifts of wisdom and discernment across our Church in the days and months ahead.

I’ll take two posts to share some reflections on the recently completed meeting of Anglican Primates in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, a “pre meeting” of which I attended and described briefly in an earlier post. The first document Bishops MacPherson, Duncan and I received was the report of the Joint Standing Committee of the Anglican Consultative Council and the Primates. Its topic was an analysis of just how the Episcopal Church’s General Convention had done in responding to the requests in the Windsor Report. Much to Bishop Duncan’s chagrin, it was largely positive!

They said we had made an adequate response to the request for a ‘moratorium’ on the consecration of openly gay bishops. Since our canonical polity does not permit such a moratorium, the General Convention’s request for bishops and Standing Committees to withhold consent to the election of any bishop whose manner of life would cause additional strains within the Anglican Communion seemed to the Joint Standing Committee to be appropriate and adequate.

Since General Convention has never authorized liturgical rites for the blessing of same sex unions, there was no need for Convention to speak on that request from Windsor. However, there is confusion in the Communion because we have acknowedged that such blessings occur in some places “within the bounds of our common life” and therefore they request greater clarification here.

The Episcopal Church’s expression of “regret” for the pain, consternation, and general disruption of the Anglican Communion’s life in the wake of General Convention 2003’s decisions was also deemed satisfactory by the Joint Standing Committee. Obviously, all this is predicated on the Episcopal Church honoring what it has said it will do — withhold consents and not authorize same sex blessings (acknowledging that in the US, as in a number of other parts of the Communion, “pastoral provisions” are made for such unions — something recognized in the Windsor Report itself).  

We were also given a look at a Draft Covenant for the Anglican Communion and proposals from both the Global South Bishops and the “Camp Allen Bishops” (Archbishop Rowan Williams is clearly not happy with the designation “Windsor Bishops” for this group!) concerning alternative episcopal oversight. In my opinion, the draft covenant is a vast improvement over the one contained in the Windsor Report itself. It will undoubtedly go through a number of iterations before reaching a final form — a votable document — but it is a fair attempt and a reasonable place to start.

The Camp Allen Bishops seem to propose that they function as a kind of “panel” of bishops to operate with the Presiding Bishop and with the approval of the appropriate diocesan bishop to provide Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight to congregations out of sympathy with their bishops on these matters. The Global South Bishops obviously intend to continue their extra-canonical interventions until they are assured that such congregations and dioceses receive the kind of “protection” they feel they need within the Episcopal Church.

Again, in my opinion, the Camp Allen Bishops’ proposal — seen in the light of the already-used Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight and Bishop Jefferts Schori’s offer of a “Primatial Vicar” in some cases — may well be something we can work with. Continual intervention by overseas bishops is completely unhelpful and complicates our ability as the Episcopal Church to resolve these issues domestically.

So, I left Dar Es Salaam somewhat encouraged. That was before the Primates’ actual meeting…and certainly before “the Communique.” More on that anon! 

Ash Wednesday 2007. One of the hallmarks of the Episcopal Church – and Anglicanism in general – is the emphasis we place on the public reading of Scripture in the context of corporate and liturgical prayer. Some traditions have put more emphasis on the personal reading of Scripture. Others stress Bible study done in small groups. And we’re certainly not opposed to such use of the Bible! In fact, we could probably use a lot more of those things. And in fact one of things we’re invited to do in Lent is to engage in “reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.”

But our strong suit has been on the daily public reading of Scripture in community. So this (chapel/parish) and in many other congregations and cathedrals and seminaries and monastic communities we schedule Daily Morning and Evening Prayer to be prayed in church, in community, day in and day out. By our observance of the church seasons and the major and minor feast days, we read yet more Scripture in the context of the Holy Eucharist. And it’s in this rich interplay between prayer and the Bible that we believe we most effectively can “hear what the Spirit is saying to God’s people.”

The Liturgy for Ash Wednesday gives us an excellent example of this interplay between prayer and the Bible, between the liturgy and the Scriptures. The Lenten Invitation, which I will extend to you in a few minutes, tells us “what to do” to observe this Holy Season. Today’s Gospel tells us “how to do it.”

After a brief summary of the history of Lent, the invitation is extended: “I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of a holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.

So, our first Lenten discipline is “self examination and repentance.” This is a season to spend some time looking into our own hearts and souls and minds. And, when we discover things there which may wound the heart of God, to repent – to turn around and go in a new direction, to start over again. But Jesus, in the Gospel according to St. Matthew, cautions us, “Beware of practicing your piety before others, in order to be seen by them; for then you have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

In other words, our self examination and repentance is to be done privately, in the silence of our own hearts – not publicly, to impress others. The Church encourages us – especially in Lent — to take advantage of the sacrament of reconciliation or confession, but even there we unburden our souls to God in the presence of a priest…but quietly and anonymously, not in order to impress someone else.

Secondly, we’re to observe the season of Lent by giving renewed attention to prayer. But Jesus says, “…whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

That doesn’t mean we should never come to church or engage in liturgical prayer, but it does mean that our deepest and most intense periods of communion with God in prayer may well come in the silence and solitude of our own “monastic cells” wherever they may be… our own prayer corners or places of solitude. And again the caution is never to make a show of our worship or our prayers to impress others.

Next, fasting. That means simplifying our lives by giving up something in solidarity perhaps with the poor of this world who have so very much less than we do. But “…whenever you fast,” Jesus reminds us, “do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces so as to show others that they are fasting. Truly I tell you they have received their reward. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that your fasting may be seen not by others but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

This has little or nothing to do with our custom of marking our foreheads with a cross of ashes on this day, but the self-serving, prideful posture of the pharisees among us who want everyone to know just how strict they are…and how hard they are trying to please God! I’ve often said that, if you think you will wear the cross of ashes with a sense of pride, you should wash your face before you ever leave the church. If you are just a bit embarrassed to be marked with the sign of Christ’s cross in this way, you should most certainly wear them all day long – and maybe even to bed, as a spiritual discipline!

Finally, the Church invites us to self-denial. This is not some masochistic, self flagellation but a discipline of knowing how to say “No” to yourself in some little things so that you will have the strength to say “No” to yourself when it really matters! A way to link fasting and self-denial is to estimate the amount of money you save by your fast and give the money to the poor.

And again, Jesus says, “…whenever you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do…so that they maybe praised by others. Truly I tell you they have received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be done in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

So, these are our marching orders for Lent, dear friends – “what we are to do.”   Let’s just be sure that we pay equal attention to “how” we carry them out. In the final analysis…that’s all Jesus really cares about anyway!