Episcopal Press and News
Address from the Chair, The Most Rev. Edmond L. Browning, Executive Council November 6, 1997
Episcopal News Service. November 13, 1997 [97-2012]
Dear friends, given that this is the first meeting of this new council and my last meeting, it feels a little strange to preside here once more. I have talked with the Presiding Bishop-elect, and I think, from our different perspectives, we agree that this transition is too long. I hope the church will re-think future transitions and move to have the new Presiding Bishop in place by this meeting, so that Executive Council and Presiding Bishop begin the journey together. However, since I remain in office for another 55 days, 14 hours and 30 minutes, give or take a few minutes, I'll take this opportunity to share some final thoughts.
Let me begin by saying a word about Frank Griswold, and how blessed the church is to have his leadership. Bishop Griswold is a faithful pastor, and a wise and articulate leader. Frank and I are different in many ways, and I believe this is healthy for the church. At the same time, our whole beings are rooted in the common ground of our Lord. He and Pam Chinnis have already begun to forge a partnership for the new triennium, and their strengths combined will be a great gift for the whole church. My love, and my prayers, are with you both.
Several experiences leave me with a full heart this morning, and they have a common thread, which gives me my parting word for you. That word is reconciliation. Last month I visited Coventry and preached in that great cathedral, which has been rebuilt amidst the rubble of World War II bombing. The rebuilding of Coventry, after the suffering of that war, is dedicated to reconciliation. Seeing the new cathedral, which rose up out of the ruins, was a powerful reminder to me, and for all of us, of the call to healing in the midst of division and pain.
The visit to Coventry took me back to my first visit to Hiroshima and the war memorial there. Forever etched in my memory is the face of an old woman, who was a child when the atomic bomb exploded. She spoke of that day, and walking among the ruins of that city, with grotesque death all around her. And then, after sharing the horror of that experience, she looked at us, a group of Americans, and said simply, "Forgive us, for what we have done to your country." I was undone. The sculpture at Hiroshima of two figures, kneeling, facing one another, is at Coventry as well. They bear witness to the reconciliation that can come out of division, and tragedy.
This past weekend at Jamestown, Virginia, the Indian leadership of our church gathered with other leaders of our church, including Dr. Chinnis and myself, in another powerful witness of reconciliation. We agreed to enter into a new covenant, based on mutual respect and a commitment to justice. The original Jamestown Covenant in 1606 referred to the Native Americans as infidels and savages. The colonists saw them as less than human, and we look at this today and are rightfully ashamed. And over the years since then, our church has been complicit in the long string of broken promises and oppression that has befallen our native peoples. Yet out of all that brokenness, these faithful members of this church have called on us to enter into a new covenant. I would say to you that this kind of reaching out across a great divide of pain for past sins and seeking a new beginning is a model for the whole church, not only with our Native Americans, but wherever in the church there is a need for reconciliation and healing.
Experiences such as my recent one in Coventry, and the earlier one at Hiroshima, and then at Jamestown, have helped shape who I am today, and what my ministry has been all about. I have learned that enormous redemption takes place when one who has been hurt, and the one who has caused the hurt are reconciled. The ministry of Jesus was a ministry of reconciliation. We also are called to that ministry, and we do not want for opportunities to express it.
The General Convention in Philadelphia is the best I remember, and one of the high points of my time as presiding bishop. There was a great spirit of openness to one another, and a reaching out into the world. Of course, as is to be expected, some of our community left Philadelphia dissatisfied. What is not to be expected, and what is not right for a community of faith, is that some of the dissatisfied persons are sowing seeds of disunity in the church. So, how does reconciliation take place? It cannot and will not with threats. You are called to a higher ground, and to the ministry of reconciliation among those within our household of faith who are disaffected, alienated, or angry. Though their number is not great, and their concerns must be kept in perspective, their voices should be heard.
At the same time, the mission of the church must not be held hostage by the discontented. The idea that some members of the body can say, "I have no need of you," or "you have no need of me," is decidedly unscriptural. Withholding funds from our common mission is not the best way for anyone to make their views heard. To let those voices dominate your agenda is to lose sight of the mission. Don't let that happen.
Let me mention an another example of discontent, and what I hope will be a reconciling response. The Episcopal Synod of America has written to senior wardens in some dioceses and suggested a mechanism for visitations by bishops other than the diocesan. I have sent a letter to all members of the House of Bishops asking them to respond pastorally to such requests. I said in my letter that the approval by the diocesan for an episcopal visit, as provided in the canons, may be a gracious and pastoral act. It does not mean that the diocesan has ceded authority. It might mean that authority has been exercised wisely. Nor should such a visit signal a break in the relationship between the congregation visited and the diocesan bishop.
God is working God's purpose out, in and through our divisions, and we don't always know what and how that might unfold. A story might be instructive. At the Lambeth meeting in 1988 any discussion of AIDS, any recognition that it was a problem, was out of the question for some of the provinces, particularly some of the African provinces. Today, in some respects African churches are leading the way in AIDS education and prevention. This says to me that we each need to honor where we are, that we are not all at the same place, and allow the time, the time for God to work out God's holy purpose.
My dear friends, my prayer for you is that you will carry out your great responsibilities remaining faithful to the values of the gospel, the rich traditions of our church, and reason together under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is enormous good will for you out there, an immense amount of great ministry being lived out every day, and a great deal of love. And, in the end, love is our highest calling. The church is built on a foundation of love. I believe in that love and call on you to exercise it generously with one another. Jesus commanded it and Paul identified it as the greatest gift. May you abound in it.
Thank you for your love, generously given to both Patti and me. Mine is with you always. God bless, and farewell.