Pastoral Letter from Bishop Rickel
Dear Friends in Christ;
This is a Pastoral Letter from Bishop Gregory Rickel.
Peace, Love, and Joy.
Fr. John Fergueson
A Pastoral Letter from the Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel to the People of the Diocese of Olympia in regards to the House of Bishops Meeting just adjourned in New Orleans, Louisiana.
September 26, 2007
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Dear Ones, I bring greetings to you from the inspiring city of New Orleans. The mantra seen on plywood signs, heard in conversations with natives of this city and read on the faces of the determined people here is, “We will rebuild!” This city is often revealed in the popular press as filled with despair, and indeed you can find much of that here. However, it is also a place filled with great hope, tremendous energy, a wonderful hospitality that is its trademark—speaking as a veteran visitor, this trademark may be better than ever—and most of all an inspiration to those who take the time to look long and hard enough. The collect above, which we have read every day this week and for which the church read this past Sunday is one that the people of this city know well. They have moved beyond their anxiety about earthly things and now cleave to things heavenly. As the earthly things begin to come back, you can tell this city appreciates those and treats those in an entirely new way. They are indeed rebuilding more than just the structures which they lost to Hurricane Katrina. This city is a fabulous metaphor for our church. So many have told you before, and will surely say after this House of Bishops meeting, that this place we call church is a place of despair; however, my experience in this House of Bishops, my first, is quite the contrary. I witnessed convicted and committed people working graciously together even in our differences. I think it is only honest to say that the few bishops who have already initiated a process of leaving the Episcopal Church made the decision to be present only for the Archbishop of Canterbury’s presentation and then to leave our company. I understand this has been quite usual over the past few years. This may well have been my greatest disappointment in my first meeting. One must wonder how a conversation can occur when removing oneself is the chosen path.
A contrast to this would be the very moving and quite honorable resignation of Bishop Jeffrey Steenson of the Diocese of Rio Grande. His remarks to us will most likely be found on the internet and I commend them to you. They are honest and a wonderful example of an honorable way to disagree, and to in fact leave, while holding fast to the polity of our church and the vows we make to it. An additional contrast would be the many from across the theological spectrum who did stay engaged and worked collegially at every turn. The House of Bishops’ final statement, a response to the Dar es Salaam Communiqué and additional questions posed to the Episcopal Church, follows this letter. It is born out of much work, much challenge to one another and with a deep general conviction within the House of Bishops to remain deeply part of the Anglican Communion while at the same time being authentically who we are as part of that body in our context. We also wanted to claim where we have come thus far, believing our voice and our experience is of utmost importance to the life of the Anglican Communion and the Christian witness in the world. The House of Bishops is clear that we are not of one mind on many of these issues but we desire to remain a model for how differing views can in fact remain in conversation and yet still gather around one table. There was an overwhelming feeling that this is the true expression of Anglicanism and one we want to continue to live into.
My opinion is that the statement is most directed at the hope that we will stay in conversation as a larger Anglican Communion and commit to listening to one another even through this time of disagreement. No statement from a group as diverse as we are will ever make everyone happy; however, I think this lives up to where we currently are and provides a way for us to continue on our journey. I do not see it as moving us forward, but also not backward.
I need to be clear here that I fully understand, along with a vast majority of the House of Bishops, that many among us have sacrificed, in many ways, for a long time and continue to do so. Our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters most assuredly feel this, and we heard that our very conservative brothers and sisters feel a sacrifice, too. It is my belief that there is a strong desire among the House of Bishops to continue in relationship with the Anglican Communion, but you cannot legislate relationships; we almost always get ourselves in trouble when we try. Instead we attempted to restate in clearer language where we are now, and what we see to be true about us now as a church. One of the huge difficulties I found in the making of this response was the continual lack of clarity as to who was our main audience. We were asked to respond to the greater Anglican Communion, but we needed to also speak to our church. This proved to be a difficult task at times. Our polity, the way we govern ourselves in the Episcopal Church, is much different than in many other parts of the Anglican Communion. This alone has been difficult to explain. Beyond the stated issues, this continues to be a major conversational chasm. We now await the reply by the Anglican Consultative Council and the Archbishop of Canterbury.
My hopes for the days ahead are that we, the Diocese of Olympia, will not be deterred from the very important work and mission of visioning our life together, and that we will move more and more toward becoming a radically welcoming community to all of God’s children. Our Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori led us well. She is traveling much around this church. She shared with us that, upon their invitation, she would be traveling from New Orleans to the Diocese of Rio Grande. She also has been invited by Bishop-elect Mark Lawrence and current Bishop Ed Salmon to come to the Diocese of South Carolina, in order that further listening can take place. You can be very proud of the Diocese of Olympia in this House of Bishops meeting as well. Our most able Bishop Suffragan Nedi Rivera serves as a member of the planning committee and Dent Davidson is the music coordinator and choir director. Both served you and the church so very well there. It is easy to focus on the more tenuous parts of our life, which in fact the press may do, but this is not, by a long shot, the full story of our life. You will most likely not hear about the hard work done by us in the Ninth Ward, the Mississippi Gulf Coast and many other neighborhoods in the Gulf Coast region. You will not hear about the great commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. You will most likely not hear about the nearly $1 million brought to New Orleans for its redevelopment from dioceses all over this church. You will also not hear in the press of the reports and discussion surrounding racism, the children trapped in the immigration concerns of our country and the great injustice and systemic breakdown in the redevelopment of the Gulf Coast region. These are things that also truly deserve our energy and attention.
While in New Orleans , we had the great honor of spending time with the Rev. Will Hood and the people of St. Paul’s. It is clear that our relationship with them has made a huge impact, not only in dollars but in the commitment, faith and prayers that come from us to them. Nedi preached and I presided on Sunday, Sept. 23. We were able to place $20,000 in their offering plate, thanks to your generous contributions. We brought greetings and blessings from you and they in turn wish to send them back. Their ministry and faith express in outward and visible ways the inward and spiritual grace which is our call. Like the people of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region, we have the resilience and the faith to rebuild and keep building, so that God’s reign might be more fully known around us, no matter who we are, wherever we may reside and wherever we might live out our ministry.
We are placed now among things that are passing way. Everything, including ourselves, is fleeting but we believe in a God, revealed to us through Jesus Christ, who shall endure and who gives us life through resurrection long after all of this we know is gone. The church will not die because the church is God’s, not ours, and we have been assured “that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Whatever happens, we will rebuild, for we have the greatest carpenter ever known working with us. To reflect the one we follow, all voices must be welcome at our table. I look forward to our days ahead as we do just that.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel Bishop of Olympia