Episcopal Church Housekeeping

(From the June 2012 Newsletter of St. James Episcopal Church, Knoxville, TN)



Despite my best intentions I often allow clutter to overtake my car and study. After a short time a stack of mail, books to read, and assorted cups and soda cans crowd any available space. Social scientists have actually studied the impact of clutter on our lives and suggest that a messy space affects our physical and emotional health. The health of institutions can also suffer from the clutter of their systems and ways of relating. The Episcopal Church has been challenged to look our clutter and to do something about it.



The General Convention of the Episcopal Church will gather July 5-12 for its triennial meeting. Many of you are aware that human sexuality will once again be a big topic at convention, and will be the one that the press is most likely to cover. The convention will consider a resolution to approve a rite for the blessing of same-gender relationships. This rite will be for ‘trial use,’ meaning that bishops will direct the usage of such rites in each diocese and there will be some mechanism of reporting on how the rite is used. All indications are that this resolution will pass the convention. This will also call on the community of St. James to consider how this will influence our life together. In a way, it is a kind of housekeeping. For some time St. James has been a community that welcomes and affirms gay and lesbian members. Some of those in committed relationships have asked for a blessing of their relationship. I am allowed to pray with those folks but we are not performing blessings in the church itself. As I have met with these couples I have been frustrated that we can’t name those relationships within the context of the larger community. To allow for a rite of blessing is a matter of housekeeping. We would be putting the naming and blessing of God present in relationship in its proper place rather than keeping it in the clutter off to the side.



Many dioceses have sent resolutions to General Convention which call for a reorganization of the Episcopal Church structures. These resolutions are in response to the realization that a great deal of our expense at the national level has gone to administrative costs rather than mission. Our structures have become cluttered with commissions that could stand to spend time and money better in order to pursue mission. This reorganization is not a new thing. We have been in a process of understanding how our national structure can help support mission at other levels. I am sure that this discussion will dominate the conversation at convention, and continue to be part of discussions around the Episcopal Church.



What does that have to do with us? Well, we are the Episcopal Church and we have some housekeeping to do. As a parish we are literally attending to some needs of our physical plant so that we can fix some problems and prevent bigger issues. As a community we tend to our own ministries, and we do need to look at how practice those ministries. Is the ministry serving a real need? Is it easy for people to join in the work of the ministry? We do have new folks joining us and our attendance is on the rise. At the same time our budget is smaller. We have cut expenses, and our giving is lower than in previous years. There are many great ideas for ministry in word and deed, but there is a low commitment to leading those things (“I can help, but I don’t want to be in charge.” is a statement heard in many organizations in our culture.) While such things might be sobering, it is also an opportunity to consider different ways of doing things. Much like on the national level, we have an opportunity to creatively shape programs that are nimble, and varied. I am reminded of the early disciples who moved from place to place spreading the Good News whatever way they could.



I also believe that we have an opportunity to take inventory on an individual level. How are we living our lives? Are we shaping our lives so that we are witnesses to the Good News of Jesus Christ? What is distracting us from connecting with others? What clutters up our lives and keeps us from trusting that the Spirit will give us what we need to be faithful witnesses? In the financial uncertainly that is sweeping the globe we also must ask how we live with money. Do we truly need all this stuff? Are we living with our money in a way that glorifies God? (I am preaching to myself here, and it hurts!)



I hope that this call to housekeeping can stir up some conversation. May our discussions be holy and faithful. May our actions be fruitful. I truly hope that no one issue will distract us from the call to serve others in God’s name. We do need to speak of and wrestle with important issues, but those must be addressed in the context of our life in Christ. Join in the tending of the house (literal, spiritual, and otherwise) that God has given us. God saw fit to set up house in human skin and wants to live in yours.



Peace,




John Mark