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Diocesan Council: Some Reflections

February 02, 2010

Bishop's InvestiturePosted by Wallace+

Joy. Strength. Hope.
Eyes Wide Open. Prayers Uplifted.

That's how I'd sum up my experience of Diocesan Council this weekend. 

The service of investiture on Friday was simply magnificent.  

Liturgies like that happen only once in a long while. The church was suffused with light and brimming with people, over a thousand.  The music, led by Ellen Johnston, the Bishop's wife, was exquisite, as was the Presiding Bishop's sermon.  The PB was warm, accessible, disarming, and commanding, all at once, preaching a compelling call to mission and to reliance upon the grace of God.  And Bishop Shannon was as gracious and as joyfully empassioned as ever.  His  kind and welcoming words to and about his predecessor, the Twelfth Bishop of Virginia, the Right Reverend Peter James Lee, were particularly affecting.  And then we adjourned to the parish house for a celebratory feast.  It was a great day for St. Paul's, for the Diocese, for the Church at large, and for the world to whom the Church ministers.

The Council, abbreviated due to the coming snow, was defined primarily by, naturally, the powerful and uplifting liturgy from which we had all just come, as well as by the Bishop's pastoral address.  The address is well worth a read.  While you wouldn't know it from the snide review it received in the Washington Times, the Bishop's address was infused with hope and confidence, as well as being characterized by an open-eyed, authentic appraisal of where things stand.  The sense in the room confirmed the sense I have had since coming to the Diocese, that Bishop Lee has a worthy successor in Bishop Shannon Johnston, and that we have a bright future ahead of us.

Joy. Strength. Hope.
Eyes Wide Open. Prayers Uplifted.

Thanks be to God.

VIDEO

Bishop Shannon's Pastoral Address

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A WORD FROM GRACE STREET

A Word From Grace Street, Wallace's weekly theological reflection, is sent by email to all who are interested. Sign-up above or read them below.

SERMONS

To Bethlehem; to Bethlehem, we have come.

And, of course, this Christmas, tonight, and tomorrow, new memories are being made; a Carol sung, pure and exquisite; an old friend; warm, endearing words exchanged; a first Christmas for a new grandbaby; a candle lit, a face aglow, eyes agleam.

The Pointer’s Point

More than fifty times, in his published writings, Barth refers to the Grunewald image; and, indeed, usually, it is precisely in reference to John,  and John’s relation to the figure of Christ; as he points.
Barth (and Grunewald before him) understood John’s sole purpose to be to serve as a pointer to Christ, a reference to Christ, a witness to Christ.

Keep Alert, Awake, and Watchful

On any given day, there are those things that would get our attention; those things that would bring fresh perspective; those things would remind us of what is most important, what is most true. If, that is, if we but notice. We never know when those things, those experiences, those people might come. And so it has always been, so it has always been.

The Rule of 72

The Rule of 72, they call it.  It’s a rule of thumb to figure how long it’ll take to double your money. If you know you can get 5%, on your investment, then you divide 5 into 72 and that tells you: it’ll take roughly 14 and ½ years to double your money. That’s the Rule of 72. Now, sometimes an investor doesn’t want to wait 14 and a ½ years, or however long the Rule of 72 tells you that you have to wait and so increased risks are taken. And sometimes you win, and sometimes you loose.

Walk the Way of a Servant

We all want, in the words of St. Paul, to “lead a life worthy of God.” A life worthy of God. Un-like the lives of the false prophets, of Micah’s day, or the false teachers of Jesus’ day, the scribes and the Pharisees, teachers of the law. Their lives are un-worthy of God, we are told, in no uncertain terms. In their hypocrisy, they serve, not God, not God’s people, but themselves.

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