From the Presiding Bishop: On Healing and Wholeness

Healing is the primary work of people of faith and the communities of which they are a part.  Christians, as disciples of One who came to save (rescue, heal, make whole) the world and its inhabitants, seek to heal their relationships with one another and with all that is.

Episcopalians believe this is God's mission and we are its ministers or servants.  We are meant to seek to repair what is breached and broken, to stitch up what is torn, to heal what is sick, to release what is imprisoned and oppressed, to comfort the dying, to encourage the ignored, forlorn, and grieving.  Our life finds meaning in responding to the cries around us and within us, as individuals in community.  We follow One who was himself vilified, tortured, and finally executed for proclaiming the possibility of reconciled relationships in communities divided by poverty, violence, and religion.

The tragic death of Thomas Palermo challenges us all to attend to the work of healing.  We cannot restore what is past, but we can seek reconciliation and wholeness for all who have been affected - the Palermo family, Heather Cook, the biking community and others in Baltimore, the Diocese of Maryland, bystanders and onlookers who have witnessed any of these traumatic events.  

We begin in prayer - lament and wailing at loss and at human frailty.  We continue in prayer - for succor and comfort, for compassion, for transformation and healing.  Episcopalians worship a God who came among us in fragile human flesh and suffered pain and death at the hands of other human beings.  We understand his resurrection to mean that death does not have the final word - and that healing and wholeness transcend the grave.  That healing is never quick or easy, it does not "fix" what has already happened, but it does begin to let hope grow again.

Our task is that hard work of healing.  It requires vulnerability to the pain of all involved - victims, transgressors, onlookers, friends and families and coworkers and emergency responders and community members.  A violent death often divides communities, yet ultimately healing requires us all to lower our defenses enough to let others minister to us, to hear another's pain and grief, to share our own devastation, and indeed to look for the possibility of a new and different future.  Healing also comes through a sense of restored order, which is the role of processes of accountability.

Healing requires hope for a redeemed future for the Palermo family as well as Heather Cook.  Many have been changed by this death, yet their lives are not ended.  They can be healed and transformed, even though the path be long and hard.  Our work is to walk that path in solidarity with all who grieve and mourn.  May we pray with the psalmist, "Yea, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you are with me."  May we also be that companioning presence, the image of God in the flesh, for those who walk through that valley.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church

Snow day is the perfect day to register for camp!

The snow blankets Chanco grounds and covers the stunning cross at the bluff.  But while white blankets Chanco's grounds, we are still thinking of sunshine and summer camp!  Home from work and school today?  It's a great day to get on line and get that camp registration done!  With specialty sessions such as Ropes Camp and Mariner's Camp filling fast, and First Session historically filling to capacity, now is the perfect time to ensure the Camp Chanco session of your choice!  Visit www.chanco.org for more information on all sessions and easy on line registration.  Chanco offices are closed today due to road conditions but once open, you can reach us at 888-7CHANCO (888-724-2626) or director@chanco.org with any questions.  Enjoy the snow, stay warm and safe, and relish the thoughts of warmer weather as you register for Camp Chanco today! 

Praying for the churches of Southern Virginia

As part of our liturgy at Annual Council 2015, each delegation wrote a prayer for their parish. We are sharing these prayers each week in the eNews so that we all can support one another in the upcoming year.

Hickory Neck, Toano

Gracious and loving God, we thank you for all of the blessings that you have bestowed upon this congregation. We, your humble servants, seek your guidance and direction; Instill in us your grace, and grant us the ability to hear your words with our ears and in our hearts, so that we may find a new rector who will enable your church to grow in faith and service. Help us to welcome new disciples, of all ages, so that together, through changing and uncertain times, we may continue to praise your glory and keep our light on this Holy Hill shining brightly; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

St. Michael's, Colonial Heights

O God, who knows our need before we can think to ask, we at St. Michael's sense our calling to care for the multiple needs of our own, as well as strategically  reaching out to our community.  We pray for your Holy Spirit's guidance in this service.  We also pray for those beset by violence beyond their control, and for those whose view of life is so pained and angry that violence seems their only recourse. We offer these hopes through you, our Creator, Savior, and Ever-present Guide.  Amen.

Love a timely topic for ECW Time for Reflection

By Nancy Smith, St. Aidan's, Virginia Beach

Aptly, love was the topic at the ECW's Time for Reflection held Valentine's Day. Through interactive workshops, reflection and worship, women from across the diocese explored God's greatest gift to us- love. Cynthia Gossman (front row, 3rd from the right) author, trainer, motivational speaker and Joy Restoration Coach, led the annual prayer and worship conference held in Williamsburg. Sharing the love, attendees donated 54 scarves and 19 hats to the Cancer Care Foundation of Tidewater. Many thanks to Ronda Toll, ECW Prayer and Worship Chair for planning a wonderful day. 

Absalom Jones Celebration Feb. 22

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians will hold its annual Absalom Jones Day Celebration on Sunday, February 22 at Tabernacle Christian Church (2500 East Washington Street, Suffolk), hosted by St. Mark's, Suffolk. The celebration starts at 4 p.m. and will be followed by light refreshments. The Very Rev. Phoebe Roaf, rector of St. Philip's, Richmond, will preach.

Absalom Jones was an African-American abolitionist and clergyman. He was the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States in 1804. He was born into slavery in 1746 and achieved his own freedom in 1784. Absalom taught himself to read out of the New Testament, among other books.

The Very Rev. Phoebe Roaf, the rector of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Richmond, will preach. Roaf is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and is the first African-American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Louisiana. She is the first woman to serve as rector of St. Philip's in its 150 year history.  

Please join us in the Festival Eucharist and Celebration.

Annual Council: A First Timer’s Impressions

By Joyce H. Williams, Epiphany, Norfolk

In early February, I join my fellow Episcopalians at the 123 Annual Council of the Southern Diocese in Williamsburg, Virginia.  For me, it was my first time.  Not so for my fellow traveling companions; all three had been several times before.  What an advantage this was, they were able to guide me in navigating my way through the conference. 

But for me, everything was new.  The setting was certainly inviting and conducive to warm and friendly networking; it was at the Williamsburg Lodge.  It was fun and educational to browse the exhibits—everything from jewelry to religious tracts.   However, when I entered the general room, I felt a special sense of belonging to this community; maybe it was the friendly round table setting; maybe it was the opening prayers; maybe it was singing hymns; whatever it was, there was a peace and comfort that passed over me.  Of course there where the traditional business agenda items to be dealt with:  the election of officers, committee reports, the discussion and passing of the budget, and the informative presentations on stewardship. The talk, talk, talk was occasionally interrupted by brief and lively videos that highlighted outreach work done in some of the parishes in the diocese. 

But the highlight of the Council was the keynote speaker, Diana Butler Bass.  The noted Christian scholar talked about the new spirituality in Christianity.  Since 1960 and what she calls the Great Awakening, there has become a new sense of harmony between God and nature.  A God that is less authoritarian.  A relationship between God and nature that is more supportive, more nurturing, and more empathetic. These ideas are elaborated more thoroughly in her published works, the most familiar of which is Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (Harper One, 2012). This transformation means that traditional Christian churches must grapple with these changes.  A not so easy accommodation that she spoke to at length.  In conclusion she said that there is a shift from a vertical understanding of God to one as now part of us—not from above us.  A connection that she sees in the importance of the neighborhood and the human priesthood. 

I thought the speaker and her thoughts were just the right tone for a Christian conference—something to bring us together and give us food for thought  as we muster our courage and faith for the challenges that await us in our home parishes.  I am thankful that I got the opportunity to attend; and on a lighter note, I would heartily recommend the squash bisque served at lunch--it was appropriately “heavenly."

Presiding Bishop's message for Lent 2015

Click here for video of this message.

Lent is about to begin. That word in English comes from an Old English word that means "to lengthen," and it's a reminder of the days getting longer as we move toward summer out of the dark of winter. But in a number of other languages, particularly Spanish and French, the word for "Lent" reflects "forty days," "cuaresma." Forty days of wandering in the desert, forty days of Jesus out in the desert. It's also about a journey.  And it's a journey that is about enlightenment if we're willing to think about it that way.  

Lent is an ancient tradition of solidarity and preparation for those who look forward to Baptism at the Easter Vigil.  It has always been a time for prayer and study, fasting, self-denial, and alms-giving, sharing what we have with those who do not have.  Prayer is an opportunity to reflect on who walks with us in the desert, who brings light into the world. Study is an opportunity to do the same kinds of things looking at the history of our tradition, where have human beings found light and direction in their journey through this world.  Fasting and self-denial are an inward-reflection on what it is that keeps us in the dark, or what it is that keeps us directionless, or that keeps us overly self-focused.  And it becomes an invitation to turn outward and share what we have with those who have not.  To build solidarity among God's people and the rest of the earth.  

One of the most memorable Ash Wednesdays I ever spent was in San Jose, Costa Rica, in a school for children. I was asked to place ashes on the foreheads of toddlers.  It was a provocative experience in the deepest sense, reminding very small children that they are mortal.  

That cross that comes on our foreheads on Ash Wednesday is a reminder of the cross that's put there at Baptism.  You are sealed by the Holy Spirit in Baptism and marked as Christ's own forever.  The cross that comes at Ash Wednesday is a reminder that you are dust and to dust we shall return, that we share that dust with every other human being who has ever walked this planet, that we share that dust with the stars and the planets, that we share that dust with all that has been created.  We are made for relationship with creator and creation.  

Lent and cuaresma is a journey to walk toward that light.  May it be a blessed one this year.  

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church