Dear saints,
This Sunday, a lively group of youth and adults will make a public affirmation of faith not merely to the Episcopal Church in general, but in the particular heart of our life as a parish. Bishops are the common currency of the church—at least our version of it. They are intended to be symbols and practitioners of unity. Our bishop, the Bishop of Atlanta, Rob Wright, will no doubt bring us greetings from his 120 worshiping congregations spread across 75 counties in middle and north Georgia comprising of 50,000 children, youth, adults, and "feisty seniors." That is his calling card. If he fails to mention any of it on Sunday, I will jump in the lake at Kanuga before breakfast during our parish weekend this fall.
In being so consistent in his greeting across the diocese, Bishop Wright is trying to remind us of something essential: that we belong to something bigger than ourselves. When the youth and adults of our parish step forward this Sunday to invite the bishop to lay his hands upon their heads and pray over them, those brave souls are saying to us that we are the ones they are choosing to throw their lot in with. They are saying that the church is not, and never could be, a collection of individuals but is instead a body: a community of persons who find their personhood as beings in communion. They are opting for our particularity—with all of our failings and foibles—while at the same time entrusting themselves to the church catholic's universality. None of it is about getting what we want. All of it is about becoming who we are called to be.
Truth is, you don't need to be a bishop to be able to affirm that choice. In fact, when the congregation that gathers on Sunday is asked whether they will support these folks in their life in Christ, the answer is a resounding, "We will." That's the church: a resounding "yes" to God's "yes" proclaimed to us. As we get to that part of the service, I wonder if you might ask how you plan on living out that promise of support and affirmation. What does your particular "yes" sound like? How are you going to get up from your pew and be enriched by those who have said, "My lot is in with you"? These are great questions for Pentecost. The Spirit will blow where she wills. May she lead us forward, to one another.
Peace,
