Deputy Blog for July 10, 2022, by The Reverend Andrew O’Connor
Just like Kansas Episcopalians who were making their way to churches across our beloved diocese today, this morning the deputies and bishops assembled for the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church gathered for Sunday worship. Due to the enhanced public health precautions in place to keep the most vulnerable members of General Convention—as well as the people working in hospitality here in Baltimore—safe from COVID, we once again worshiped separately in our different Houses. What would normally be a rich and vibrant joint Sunday Holy Eucharist in a dedicated sacred space with well over a 1,500 people was simpler, smaller. While we had instrumental musical accompaniment we were unable to sing any hymns or songs. If you were running a bit late you might stroll in thinking you’d made it by the sequence hymn only to find out the sermon was starting. (For the record, all the lay deputies from Kansas were *on time* for worship this morning while all the clergy deputies were…less so!)
Despite the lack of music, the inability to have all the members of General Convention together, and having a pre-recorded sermon so that the House of Deputies and the House of Bishop could hear the same message, I found this morning’s service quite beautiful and deeply moving. As Episcopalians we share a rich tradition of common prayer which shapes and inspires our discipleship. We know the prayers, we hear the same Scripture readings, we partake of the holy meal of Jesus’ Body & Blood. When we gather for worship we are all on the same page…well, at least in the same book (mostly…more about that in a bit!).
Today’s Sunday worship, though fragmented for many of the same reasons that have affected worship in Kansas Episcopal churches over the last two years, was still an act that manifested our unity in the faith and following of Jesus. I am thankful that each day at General Convention starts in this way, not only reminding us of our essential unity but actually making it real. And we need this unity to be real, to be experienced and felt deep within us, because some of the work of General Convention is quite difficult and even can be experienced as divisive. Somehow, dispersed and asynchronous services of worship celebrated by imperfect but faithful people who are starting to despair about parliamentary procedure and elections to various church bodies and the looming budget debate, brought us together in the power of Spirit.
We deputies and bishops (and General Convention staff and volunteers) very much needed to be brought together because what we were facing today had the potential to tear us apart. In the House of Deputies the major items for our consideration were related to the budget process of the Episcopal Church, the actual church-wide budget for the next two years, matters relating to which exemplary Christian witnesses (i.e. saints) should be on our church calendar, the constitutional footing for how we authorize various liturgies, and how we might begin a process to revise the Book of Common Prayer.
It is also this tension between our desire for unity and the reality of our fragmentation, that was powerfully explored in a sermon by the Bishop of Maryland, the Right Reverend Eugene Taylor Sutton. Bishop Sutton is the first Person of Color to become the Bishop of Maryland. He is a Black man serving as leader of a diocese that materially benefited from the enslavement of human beings. And he had a powerful message for us this morning.
Reflecting on a reading from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, Bishop Sutton examined the particular estrangement experienced between Black and White people in this country. He asked us to consider the case for reparations for the brokenness caused by racism and white supremacy. Moreover he asked us to take up the work of repairing the brokenness in real ways and concrete actions. Bishop Sutton detailed the work being done in this area in his diocese, especially in uncovering the truth about the value of labor and the very lives stolen by slavery and ongoing racial injustice. He underlined that this hard and painful work was possible only because the Diocese of Maryland has become really good at practicing the love of Jesus in community with and for one another. He challenged us to do this work in our own dioceses and churches and lives. These sobering but ultimately uplifting words, and Bishop Sutton’s grace in sharing them with us, are a clarion call to dedicate ourselves to the truth, come whence it may and cost what it will.
As Christians we acclaim that it is Truth which sets us free. Actually, as Christians we acclaim that it is Truth who sets us free. If we move in the direction of Truth, we will be able to endure uncovering the hard and shameful parts of our collective denominational story. With that story rightly and fully told, we can make amends and our reconciliation to one another can begin. We can tear down walls, build necessary bridges, bind up wounds, and all be healed. I am thankful to see the signs of this happening at this most unusual General Convention as well in our beloved Diocese of Kansas!
For Bishop Sutton’s full sermon, click here.
The Reverend Andrew T. O’Connor ✠ Rector
Good Shepherd Episcopal Church
835 SW Polk St.