It was great to follow the General Convention, and especially nice to see headlines like "Episcopalians make move to be more inclusive of gays" appear on CNN and MSNBC, etc. I wondered how the Episcopal Church could get out the news that it is an inclusive church, and you can't buy better advertising than that.
In her closing sermon, Presiding Bishop Katharine says:
"We've heard lots of words these last 11 days. We've used those words to make policy, to claim our missionary heartbeat, to bind ourselves in solidarity with the least, the lost and the left out. Some of us have even had to eat our words – unexpected things have happened, we've made mistakes, and we may even have misused our words. We have eaten Word, sacramental Word becoming flesh in us, that our words might come closer to that original Word."
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112704_ENG_HTM.htm
She also gave the attendees some "homework", or "marching orders", take your pick- on feeding the sheep:
"The food you have to offer has to be digestible and attractive – it needs to be good news, if you’re going to tend the sheep around you. Going home with a list of complaints, or full of anger about what you wanted that didn’t pass, is only going to generate indigestion. That is not an act of love. Sure, every flock finds a few noxious weeds in the pasture, but healthy sheep learn to how to avoid them. Tending the sheep means leading them to good pasture and caring that they might grow. What food will you take?"
May God bless Bishop Katharine and all of those who attended the Convention. Grant them all safe travel back home where hopefully they will start to make more shalom. +In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
In her closing sermon, Presiding Bishop Katharine says:
"We've heard lots of words these last 11 days. We've used those words to make policy, to claim our missionary heartbeat, to bind ourselves in solidarity with the least, the lost and the left out. Some of us have even had to eat our words – unexpected things have happened, we've made mistakes, and we may even have misused our words. We have eaten Word, sacramental Word becoming flesh in us, that our words might come closer to that original Word."
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112704_ENG_HTM.htm
She also gave the attendees some "homework", or "marching orders", take your pick- on feeding the sheep:
"The food you have to offer has to be digestible and attractive – it needs to be good news, if you’re going to tend the sheep around you. Going home with a list of complaints, or full of anger about what you wanted that didn’t pass, is only going to generate indigestion. That is not an act of love. Sure, every flock finds a few noxious weeds in the pasture, but healthy sheep learn to how to avoid them. Tending the sheep means leading them to good pasture and caring that they might grow. What food will you take?"
May God bless Bishop Katharine and all of those who attended the Convention. Grant them all safe travel back home where hopefully they will start to make more shalom. +In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.
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