The design is the same for each of the five “walkabout” sessions. The evening begins at 6 o’clock in the host church’s sanctuary or parish hall. After an opening prayer, the format for the evening will be explained. Each candidate will offer two minutes of introductory remarks.

Attendees will be assigned to one of six rooms. A facilitator will be present with each group. The candidates will visit each room individually, stay for 25 minutes to answer questions, and then move to another room — a process that gives the walkabout its name. A five-minute break will separate each session.

The program ends at 9:30 p.m. Plan for a very informative, interesting — and lengthy — evening. Join us in welcoming our bishop candidates and their spouses!

Here are the five locations:

• Monday, May 14 – Grace Church, Gainesville (422 Brenau Avenue)
• Tuesday, May 15 – St. Luke’s Church, Atlanta (435 Peachtree Street)
• Wednesday, May 16 – Christ Church, Macon (582 Walnut Street)
• Thursday, May 17 – St. David’s Church, Roswell (1015 Old Roswell Road)
• Friday, May 18 – St. Peter’s Church, Rome (101 E. Fourth Avenue)

For assistance, contact Amanda Vaughn or Nan Ross.

Reservations

18:1 After Jesus had spoken these words, he went out with his disciples across the Kidron valley to a place where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered.

18:2 Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, because Jesus often met there with his disciples.

18:3 So Judas brought a detachment of soldiers together with police from the chief priests and the Pharisees, and they came there with lanterns and torches and weapons.

18:4 Then Jesus, knowing all that was to happen to him, came forward and asked them, “Whom are you looking for?”

18:5 They answered, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus replied, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.

18:6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they stepped back and fell to the ground.

18:7 Again he asked them, “Whom are you looking for?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

18:8 Jesus answered, “I told you that I am he. So if you are looking for me, let these men go.”

18:9 This was to fulfill the word that he had spoken, “I did not lose a single one of those whom you gave me.”

18:10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it, struck the high priest’s slave, and cut off his right ear. The slave’s name was Malchus.

18:11 Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword back into its sheath. Am I not to drink the cup that the Father has given me?”

18:12 So the soldiers, their officer, and the Jewish police arrested Jesus and bound him.

18:13 First they took him to Annas, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest that year.

18:14 Caiaphas was the one who had advised the Jews that it was better to have one person die for the people.

18:15 Simon Peter and another disciple followed Jesus. Since that disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the courtyard of the high priest,

18:16 but Peter was standing outside at the gate. So the other disciple, who was known to the high priest, went out, spoke to the woman who guarded the gate, and brought Peter in.

18:17 The woman said to Peter, “You are not also one of this man’s disciples, are you?” He said, “I am not.”

18:18 Now the slaves and the police had made a charcoal fire because it was cold, and they were standing around it and warming themselves. Peter also was standing with them and warming himself.

18:19 Then the high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

18:20 Jesus answered, “I have spoken openly to the world; I have always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where all the Jews come together. I have said nothing in secret.

18:21 Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said to them; they know what I said.”

18:22 When he had said this, one of the police standing nearby struck Jesus on the face, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?”

18:23 Jesus answered, “If I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?”

18:24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.

18:25 Now Simon Peter was standing and warming himself. They asked him, “You are not also one of his disciples, are you?” He denied it and said, “I am not.”

18:26 One of the slaves of the high priest, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, asked, “Did I not see you in the garden with him?”

18:27 Again Peter denied it, and at that moment the cock crowed.

18:28 Then they took Jesus from Caiaphas to Pilate’s headquarters. It was early in the morning. They themselves did not enter the headquarters, so as to avoid ritual defilement and to be able to eat the Passover.

18:29 So Pilate went out to them and said, “What accusation do you bring against this man?”

18:30 They answered, “If this man were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you.”

18:31 Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and judge him according to your law.” The Jews replied, “We are not permitted to put anyone to death.”

18:32 (This was to fulfill what Jesus had said when he indicated the kind of death he was to die.)

18:33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”

18:34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”

18:35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”

18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”

18:37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

18:38 Pilate asked him, “What is truth?” After he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, “I find no case against him.

18:39 But you have a custom that I release someone for you at the Passover. Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?”

18:40 They shouted in reply, “Not this man, but Barabbas!” Now Barabbas was a bandit.

19:1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged.

19:2 And the soldiers wove a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and they dressed him in a purple robe.

19:3 They kept coming up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and striking him on the face.

19:4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no case against him.”

19:5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”

19:6 When the chief priests and the police saw him, they shouted, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” Pilate said to them, “Take him yourselves and crucify him; I find no case against him.”

19:7 The Jews answered him, “We have a law, and according to that law he ought to die because he has claimed to be the Son of God.”

19:8 Now when Pilate heard this, he was more afraid than ever.

19:9 He entered his headquarters again and asked Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer.

19:10 Pilate therefore said to him, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?”

19:11 Jesus answered him, “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above; therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”

19:12 From then on Pilate tried to release him, but the Jews cried out, “If you release this man, you are no friend of the emperor. Everyone who claims to be a king sets himself against the emperor.”

19:13 When Pilate heard these words, he brought Jesus outside and sat on the judge’s bench at a place called The Stone Pavement, or in Hebrew Gabbatha.

19:14 Now it was the day of Preparation for the Passover; and it was about noon. He said to the Jews, “Here is your King!”

19:15 They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.”

19:16 Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus;

19:17 and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

19:18 There they crucified him, and with him two others, one on either side, with Jesus between them.

19:19 Pilate also had an inscription written and put on the cross. It read, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.”

19:20 Many of the Jews read this inscription, because the place where Jesus was crucified was near the city; and it was written in Hebrew, in Latin, and in Greek.

19:21 Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate, “Do not write, ‘The King of the Jews,’ but, ‘This man said, I am King of the Jews.’”

19:22 Pilate answered, “What I have written I have written.”

19:23 When the soldiers had crucified Jesus, they took his clothes and divided them into four parts, one for each soldier. They also took his tunic; now the tunic was seamless, woven in one piece from the top.

19:24

So they said to one another, “Let us not tear it, but cast lots for it to see who will get it.” This was to fulfill what the scripture says, “They divided my clothes among themselves, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

19:25 And that is what the soldiers did. Meanwhile, standing near the cross of Jesus were his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

19:26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

19:27 Then he said to the disciple, “Here is your mother.” And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

19:28 After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), “I am thirsty.”

19:29 A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth.

19:30 When Jesus had received the wine, he said, “It is finished.” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

19:31 Since it was the day of Preparation, the Jews did not want the bodies left on the cross during the sabbath, especially because that sabbath was a day of great solemnity. So they asked Pilate to have the legs of the crucified men broken and the bodies removed.

19:32 Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who had been crucified with him.

19:33 But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.

19:34 Instead, one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once blood and water came out.

19:35 (He who saw this has testified so that you also may believe. His testimony is true, and he knows that he tells the truth.)

19:36 These things occurred so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “None of his bones shall be broken.”

19:37 And again another passage of scripture says, “They will look on the one whom they have pierced.”

19:38 After these things, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a disciple of Jesus, though a secret one because of his fear of the Jews, asked Pilate to let him take away the body of Jesus. Pilate gave him permission; so he came and removed his body.

19:39 Nicodemus, who had at first come to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, weighing about a hundred pounds.

19:40 They took the body of Jesus and wrapped it with the spices in linen cloths, according to the burial custom of the Jews.

19:41 Now there was a garden in the place where he was crucified, and in the garden there was a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid.

19:42 And so, because it was the Jewish day of Preparation, and the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.

We don’t know how Good Friday came to be called ‘good’, but we do know that the name only appears in the West and in English. Whatever the origins of the name, most Christian commentators call it ‘good’ because it is in some sense a particular day of God’s work being done as something of God’s character is revealed in the face of death.

For most of Jewish tradition, there was not only no affirmation of any continuing life after death, but rather an active denial of such a possibility in the face of Canaanite practices to the contrary. Those tribes often saw the dead as spirits or ‘divine ones’. They participated in family rituals and family meals. Since the dead were powerful, they had to be placated with offerings. So says the scholar Bernard Brandon Scott in his book The Trouble with Resurrection (Polebridge Press, 2010). He goes on to make clear that the dead, along with their association with soothsayers, sorcerers and diviners who consult spirits of the dead threaten and compromise the unique standing of Yahweh for Israel. Belief in continuing life for the dead thus becomes idolatry, and is foresworn explicitly in Deuteronomy 18:9-14.

Good Friday is all about the finality of death. In spite of Paul’s later use of the analogies of the dead ‘falling asleep’ or ‘being like a seed that falls into the ground’, there is nothing natural about continuing life after death. There is no sense in the various stories of this day that Jesus went to his execution assured that, like a final exam, it would all be over in a few hours and he would be able to get on with whatever came next. No, the stories of this day go to great lengths to prove that Jesus really and truly died. It was over. His body was not released to Joseph until Pilate was assured of that. The story of the empty tomb appears for the first time in Mark, but the point of Jesus being entombed in the first place, with guards around no less, was to make clear that he was well and truly dead.

Jesus went to his execution at the hands of the state like a ‘righteous one’ or martyr, one whose death itself cries out for justice to be done in the face of such manifest injustice. Jesus’ death brought about by and through the craven behavior of so many including both the authorities and his friends, unveils the mechanisms by which we do violence to one another, creating scapegoats, and believing that we are somehow justified in our actions. Jesus’ death also makes possible a new way of being for us in this life as we live toward justice and refuse to participate in such injustice wherever possible in this broken and sinful world. So Jesus’ death also cries out for a new creation and the hope that whatever happens after our deaths will be brought about by and through the creative power of God that brings universes into being and is, itself, fundamentally unnatural.

Perhaps it is also our hope and trust in God for life, even in the face of the finality of death, that makes us call this day ‘good’.

The Rev’d Geoffrey M. St.J. Hoare

13:1 Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

13:2 The devil had already put it into the heart of Judas son of Simon Iscariot to betray him. And during supper

13:3 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going to God,

13:4 got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself.

13:5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him.

13:6 He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

13:7 Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

13:8 Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.”

13:9 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!”

13:10 Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.”

13:11 For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

13:12 After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had returned to the table, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?

13:13 You call me Teacher and Lord–and you are right, for that is what I am.

13:14 So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.

13:15 For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.

13:16 Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them.

13:17 If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

13:31b When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

13:32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

13:33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’

13:34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

13:35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Maundy Thursday is a day full of meaning and remembrance. In the evening we gather around the Lord’s Table to remember and to celebrate the institution of the Holy Eucharist, the spiritual meal in which we join every Sunday morning as we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection. This evening service is a very important part of the journey of Holy Week and Easter, and I’ll leave its meaning and importance to the preacher at tonight’s service.

Instead, let’s look again at the Gospel lesson appointed for this day. It is focused on something that is important too. It is the story of the washing of the disciple’s feet, something that no Rabbi would have done, except for the teacher named Jesus. The washing of feet, dirty from the dusty roads, would have been delegated to a servant. It was a belittling responsibility at best. But here is Jesus, on his hands and knees, washing the feet of his disciples on the night he is handed over to suffering and death. And Peter wants nothing to do with it until Jesus says, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Peter hears, “This is important enough that you will be separated from me if you do not allow it.”

Foot washing is a very intimate thing. I have participated in the ceremony in previous parishes and on various retreats. It is not practiced everywhere, and some even find the suggestion offensive in some way. O.K., I understand that it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. But what is important for us not to miss is what Jesus is trying to teach, trying to show, trying one last time to get his disciples, and us, to understand. “Do you know what I have done for you?” Jesus asks. “So if I, your Lord and Teacher have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Jesus has yet again turned the tables on the established norms of society. The Savior has become a servant. The Rabbi has bowed down to the disciple. The Master has served the slave.

Jesus asks us too, “Do you know what I have done for you?” I hope we can answer yes. I hope that we know the importance of the whole story into which we are again living as the cross draws closer and closer. I hope that we can acknowledge and embrace God’s immeasurable love for us. I hope that we stand there with the disciples and understand the message of love in Jesus’ simple act of humility. I hope we can hear the forgiveness and redemption and salvation that will be proclaimed on the cross tomorrow, so that we can more fully experience the promise of our resurrection that will pour forth from the empty tomb on Sunday.

But for now, just ponder on this, “Do we really know what Jesus has done for us?

The Rev’d Charles M. Girardeau

13:21 After saying this Jesus was troubled in spirit, and declared, “Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me.”

13:22 The disciples looked at one another, uncertain of whom he was speaking.

13:23 One of his disciples—the one whom Jesus loved—was reclining next to him;

13:24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask Jesus of whom he was speaking.

13:25 So while reclining next to Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?”

13:26 Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” So when he had dipped the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas son of Simon Iscariot.

13:27 After he received the piece of bread, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “Do quickly what you are going to do.”

13:28 Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him.

13:29 Some thought that, because Judas had the common purse, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival”; or, that he should give something to the poor.

13:30 So, after receiving the piece of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

13:31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him.

13:32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

At this point in time Jesus is not an unknown. He has wandered around the country side in what seems to be an aimless pattern. What he is saying and teaching now is more purposeful. And he is heading toward Jerusalem.

Jesus and his disciples are gathered and Jesus becomes troubled. He is troubled in knowing that the intentions of Judas are leading to betrayal.

Approaching Jerusalem is paramount in purpose because to be effective he must approach this location as the seat of political power. Much like modern history. To make your mark effectively a movement goes to the capital. Rome, Paris, London, Washington, Cairo, Moscow each are centers of power when a “revolution of events” need change to be noticed and taken seriously. Jesus is facing a trial to come. He will be facing Pontius Pilate as he enters Jerusalem humbly riding on a donkey.

Earlier healings, teaching and parables have laid the groundwork for recognition among a large number of people. Times of prayer, meals and miracles of feeding and the return from death to life again with Lazarus have positioned Jesus as the messiah.

Judas is making arrangements designed to upset all of the efforts that Jesus has made for us to know the Son of Man is present among us. Some say Judas is doing what he is doing for money only.

John’s Gospel writing from the beginning was convinced Jesus to be the Son of God.

“Now the Son of Man has been glorified and God has been glorified in him.”

Judas hurriedly left the gathered disciples and Jesus.

Jesus was troubled that Judas would be the one to betray him. The others, particularly Simon Peter, asked who it was he was referencing. Now he knows as well.

Look now at these definitions:

Glorify: Bestowing honor, praise or admiration, to rejoice, elevate to worshipful praise. a state of radiance.

Betray: To lead to an enemy by treachery, a violation of confidence, to desert in the time of need, to abandon an oath of promise by denial.

Where am I in this reading? Is there something that resembles my self. Have you experienced being betrayed?

And, in what ways do you know God as you walk your path of faith and His presence with you each step along the way?

The Rev’d Walter Smith

12:20 Now among those who went up to worship at the festival were some Greeks.

12:21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”

12:22 Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus.

12:23 Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.

12:24 Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.

12:25 Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

12:26 Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

12:27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what should I say–’ Father, save me from this hour’? No, it is for this reason that I have come to this hour.

12:28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”

12:29 The crowd standing there heard it and said that it was thunder. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.”

12:30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.

12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out.

12:32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

12:33 He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die.

12:34 The crowd answered him, “We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?”

12:35 Jesus said to them, “The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going.

12:36 While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light.” After Jesus had said this, he departed and hid from them.

Sometimes, Jesus frustrates me.

I’m probably not supposed to say that, considering my profession as a public champion of the faith, but he does. So much he says sounds coded, hidden, confusing. In today’s reading, the visitors just wanted to see and talk to him and, instead of some hospitable words, he gives yet another symbolically-charged esoteric lesson that we are still unpacking today, two thousand years later. Frustrating.

It is hard to remember that this is not how God functions. God is not here to do our bidding. God is not sitting, waiting for instruction from us. It is not God’s job to make everything plain and easy.

This does not mean that God does not love us or that God is trying to make life difficult, but we are required to work for our faith. If it were handed over on a silver platter, it wouldn’t be faith, it’d be dinner. Frustrating.

There are times in our lives when the message is obscured. There are times when it is clear as day. There are times when our purpose is strong and our faith secure and there are times when everything is muddled and grey. God is with us throughout, whether we know it or not.

The Rev’d Noelle York-Simmons