Who We Are

Diocesan Council: Some Reflections

Posted 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