Dear St. James’ Parish Family,
In May Blix Winston, St. James’ Delegate, and I attended 232nd Annual Convention of The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland. It was a full two days of worship, elections, workshops, conversation, and voting on resolutions. Here are our reflections.
Kristin+
The two things that stood out for me at Convention this year were the keynote speech by The Very Rev. Mike Kinman, and Bishop Sutton’s address. Mike was, until last Sunday, the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, MO. (He’s now the Rector-elect of All Saints’, Pasadena, CA.) Mike and his community were deeply affected by the turmoil in Ferguson, and he was asked to come and speak in part because of the similar uprising in Baltimore last year. He began by saying three things that grabbed my attention: First, the nature of creation, and also the Church, is change. Second, for those of us who are used to being comfortable, change is uncomfortable. Third, discomfort is a sacrament – and outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace (change). Whew, that both hit home with me and made me – yes – uncomfortable. He then spoke about how our story begins in Genesis with the promise that we are good, and we are loved. The Fall, he offered, didn’t change that; The Fall was about forgetting that we are good and we are loved. And when we do that, sin enters in and we forget that others are good and loved – the greatest heresy is US and THEM. That is, of course, so much of what is at play in our nation – whether we use the lens of race, gender, sexual orientation, nation of origin, age, or whatever. But using the lens of race specifically, what can we do to heal? Mike discussed the hallmarks of addictive/dysfunctional family systems: don’t feel, don’t talk, don’t trust. These three things greatly affect the dialogue around race in our nation. The antidote to these, then, are talking, feeling, and trusting. These happen when we sit down in our own discomfort and listen. They happen when we believe in our own belovedness and the belovedness of others. They happen when we build fictive relationships of kindship and become the Body of Christ. Blix has included the link to Mike’s entire talk below; I invite you to listen as my brief reflection barely scratches the surface and it was a very passionate address.
Bishop Sutton was on sabbatical from January through March. The time away seemed to have done him good as he appeared refreshed. The highlight of his Address was the unveiling of a new Vision and Mission for the Diocese of Maryland. The Vision is: The Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is a community of love. Flowing from that, the Mission is: The Mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland is to encounter Christ everywhere and engage in God’s mission of reconciliation in the world. Encounter Christ (deeper spirituality) – Engage the World (deeper connection and
service). He also emphasized that our Vision and Mission are not about bringing people into the Church, but about us going out and encountering and engaging people where they are in the world.
This exact framework has been a part of our conversation over the last 10 months, as I heard clearly during the search process that St. James’ felt called to this sense of inward and outward
deepening. The Spirit is on the move and I find this very exciting. Expect more about this as our conversation about future directions for St. James’ continues.
Blix
So, what goes on at the Diocesan Annual Convention? Well, all the priests and deacons in the Diocese are there along with people like me who represent each parish; we’re clergy and lay
delegates. A very useful and helpful contingent of the youth of the Diocese helps us get things done. Besides socializing and eating meals together, we discuss the spiritual and financial health of
the Diocese, generally take time to discuss a specific topic of current interest, and go through the administrative steps necessary to make sure we are conforming to the Diocesan Canons, or agreedupon rules that govern us. All business is recorded and conducted according to Robert’s Rules of Order. At nearly every convention someone who doesn’t understand the rules “rises to speak” to a particular question and says something in the wrong order. For example, when a resolution is being discussed, if you don’t state whether you support or oppose the amendment first and begin to discuss it right off, you are ruled ‘out of order’ and have to sit down.
At each convention we usually have several “resolutions” that have been presented which need to be discussed and voted on. In addition, there are elections to the various committees, or the National Convention, and we vote on these nominations. Eight resolutions were presented to the convention some with the recurring themes like providing a living wage for church staff or taking up special things of interest such as recognizing one of the neglected church fathers from the 4th Century as a saint. It was the last of them however that engendered the longest debate and discussion. The eight resolutions presented and discussed were voted on as follows:
R 2016-01 – Clergy and Lay Compensation – passed
R 2016-02 – Adoption of Updated Alcohol Use Guidelines – passed
R 2016-03 – Companion Relationship with Diocese of Puerto Rico – passed
R 2016-04 – Recommendation of Origen of Alexandria to be included in the calendar of people commemorated in the Episcopal Church – passed
R 2016-05 – Amendment of Diocesan Canons – passed after being amended
R 2016-06 – Amendment of Cathedral Chapter By-laws – passed
R 2016-07 – Compliance with Diocesan Anti-Racism Training – a substitute resolution passed
R 2106-08 – Reparations Investment – commended and committed to Diocesan Council for further conversation and reflection.
To save space I won’t describe each one; you can either go to the Diocesan website to view them or contact me and I’ll share the copy I have and we can discuss them. The website has a good write-up at: http://episcopalmaryland.org/diocesan-governance/diocesan-convention/
At each convention a guest speaker is asked to give a presentation and this year it was the The Very Rev. Michael Kinman, dean, Christ Church Cathedral, St. Louis, MO. He has been closely
involved in the unrest in Ferguson. His talk, which is on the diocesan website, was unique and compelling; unique because of the way he approached racial disparities, and compelling in its clarity
and force. Find it at: (http://episcopalmaryland.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/250/2016/03/2016-kinman-plenary.pdf)
I don’t have to tell you that racial disparity is a subject fraught with tension, misunderstanding,fear and words that seem inflammatory. We don’t live in Baltimore, or Ferguson, so we’re somewhat
removed from the murders and subsequent unrest. But I believe Michael has made a good case forpaying attention to these things, first as human beings and secondly as those identified with the
name of Christ. For example, he said “…one of the things I am learning from the past 21 months isthat discomfort is a sacrament. Discomfort is a sacrament because it is an outward and visible signof the grace of God’s presence.” That is a bold statement. Do you feel the discomfort I feel when talking about racism and racial disparities?
The 8th resolution contains several “resolves”. The first one stipulated that the Diocese give 10% of its unrestricted funds (about $700,000) to the Diocese’s Union of Black Episcopalians as an act
of reparation for slavery with no strings attached, to be spent as they see fit. This resolution, presented by a group of white clergy, created discomfort in the meeting hall, just like the 2004 resolutionon “Reparations for Slavery” did. I think the word “reparation”, and the ideas behind it, mean different things to different people. It is not a neutral idea or word. Naturally there was lots of discussion at my table about it and what it means which tells me that loaded words / ideas like “reparations for slavery” need to be defined and fleshed out.
Hearing Michael Kinman say “…discomfort is a sacrament” opened a door for me to discuss racism. Just after saying that he said:
“That’s because a God who is raising up that which is cast down, who is making new that which
has grown old, who is bringing all things to their perfection through becoming human and dying
nailed to a cross is not a God of comfort. Not a God of the status quo. Not a God of we’ve always
done it this way. And yet our God is not a God who brings us to the cross and leaves us there. Our
God is a God of promise of life before the cross, on the cross and beyond the cross. A God of promise
of God’s presence. Promise of God’s goodness. Promise of God’s love. And so before we dive into
the discomfort, we need to ground ourselves in the eternal comfort that is the promises of God for
each of us and for all of us.”
So, yes, it helps me to tolerate the discomfort, knowing that “All things work together for good to those who love the Lord, who are called according to His purposes.” Michael provided a context for the tension that accompanies talking about these subjects of racism and race relations and this context added some clarity.
Another helpful thing he spoke about is a family system that is ruled by fear, and shame, and guilt. You can call this a “dysfunctional” family system (he calls it an addictive family system) but the net result is that you find three hallmarks of such a family system. Those in it:
Don’t talk. – the rule is: don’t speak the truth of the addictive (dysfunctional) system; we don’t air our family’s dirty laundry.
Don’t trust – you can’t believe anything the people in power in s dysfunctional system say; everyone is covering their backs.
Don’t feel – it is unsafe to express feelings so feelings are either repressed or bottled up until they explode.
How we wade into discussing these topics without the assurance of God’s grace, and without the revelation that we are all one in Christ, is beyond me. At the start of our church service we say,
“Most merciful God, unto you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.” Those words sound quite the opposite to the three characteristics of a dysfunctional family.
In other words, because this is true, because we’re known by God and redeemed, we can talk openly about our social taboos, we can trust each other, and we can let our feelings out. That process may unleash great personal discomfort when discussing loaded topics like racism, but that is precisely the kind of situation where God’s grace can abound most powerfully. Christ’s body is the ground of our being, our spiritual sustenance in which we partake each Sunday, and our refuge and strength. Surely He can be relied upon when we engage in the impossible task of loving others as we love ourselves.
I’d like to invite you to read Michael’s message, study the resolutions we voted upon, and engage with me in the adventure of experiencing discomfort as a sacrament by discussing these topics.
Doesn’t that sound like fun?? I can no longer ignore people who feel they have to clench their teeth because the message they need to tell can’t be borne by the very people who can do something
about it. How shall we engage in this adventure?
Yours in God’s peace,
Kristin+
Postscript: Kristin+ will be away on vacation July 3-16. For pastoral emergencies please call Blix & Lucy Winston. For clergy pastoral care The Rev. Sharon Watts is on call – contact Blix or Lucy to
be connected with her.