Yes, we've been in Indianapolis for 9 days and the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church is now a wrap. The pictures above are the sunrise from my hotel room this morning and the empty House of Deputies after everybody had cleared out. More on the details of what we did and why I think it matters to come. Right now I need to just put my weary self to bed and be grateful to be able to sleep in a little in the morning before I head back to L.A. (Those 7:30-every-morning committee meetings take their toll -- seriously!)
But first I want to share a comment on this blog from an earlier post about General Convention -- because it illustrates in such a clear and compelling way just exactly WHY it's worth it to take two weeks out of your life for all the angst and anxiety of yet-another-general-convention and why I'm more convinced than ever that we -- the Episcopal Church -- is on the cusp of a truly great new chapter in its history of being a vehicle for God's love, justice and compassion. A reader wrote:
You make me want to believe in God. I think you have interpreted with love, kindness, and thoughtfulness the true doctrine of Christ. As a non-Christian and previous graduated religion minor (history major), I have looked at the life and teachings of Jesus as a great philosopher, similar to Buddha.I rest my case. And now I'm going to bed.
For what it's worth, you make me wish I believed, so I could belong to a group with you as such a member. I think the Episcopal Church just may save the soul of Christianity with it's open and affirming love, which is truly Christ-like in my opinion.
Blessings be to you and yours,
Melissa
2 comments:
I share Melissa's position as a non-believer who nevertheless has great respect for true Christian values, and how you Episcopalians live them.
And I would also introduce her to the frequently spoken motto, "wherever you are on the journey of faith, you are welcome here."
There are many levels of belonging. After all, I'm a church-going non-believer who has been welcomed by the Episcopal Church and cheerfully co-opted into various activities. Okay, I'm married to an Episcopalian, but even if I weren't, I know I'd still be welcome to perform Episcopal calisthenics with y'all every Sunday. I share many, many values with the church community, even if I don't share faith per se.
(And don't go all CWOB on me, conservative readers, because (a) I don't take Communion since I don't believe though (b) I'm technically legal to do so because I was baptised and confirmed Roman Catholic. So there!)
Travel safely, Susan. You all did some great work in Indy.
What Melissa and IT express are the tangible signs that when a church says it believes in Christ, and hangs out signs that say, "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You"... and then we actually follow through in real ways... that is the church which will continue and survive and give hope.
Thanks for all your hard work and witness. There is still more to do, especially for those of us living in places where there is not as much rejoicing about the actions of GC77.
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