I’ve been at the Kanuga Retreat and Conference Center for a week now, and I must say that I’m eager to return home. The time has been well spent, but I’ve received so much information that I’m looking forward to some time to process it all. In addition, it’s been cold and wet here, much as it has been in Maine. So any thoughts of enjoying an earlier spring have not be realized.
The first two days here were spent learning about the new Title IV canons – the clergy disciplinary canons – which will take effect on July 1. Canon Vicki Wiederkehr joined me for the conference. The new approach is based on our faith values of truth, healing, restitution and reconciliation, and the new procedures require efforts to mediate disputes and reconcile the parties. Only if this is not possible do we move toward an ecclesiastical trial. As with any new process, there are lots of questions that will only be answered as we use Title IV. And while it’s clear that there are some procedures that will be amended at upcoming General Conventions, we are now focused on recruiting and training people for the several responsibilities required by Title IV. Vicki and I learned a great deal that will help the Diocese of Maine as July 1 approaches.
After the Title IV conference, I spent one day taking part in a short course for coaches of new bishops. I am currently serving as a coach for a new bishop, and it was good to share experiences and learn new skills with other coaches.
The Spring House of Bishops meeting is styled, in part, as a Lenten retreat, and we have had some quiet time over the last five days. However, the rest of our time has been so packed that many of us are feeling overfed.
The theme of this meeting is Proclaiming the Gospel in the 21st Century, and we have looked in particular at ministry with young adults and at interfaith dialogue with adherents of Islam. On both these subject we have been addressed by several different presenters, some with national and international reputations.
On the matter of ministry of young adults, it’s clear to me that we in Maine are on the right track. But we have a long way to go in turning our conversation into real ministry. One of the major issues is getting us out of our churches into the places where we may encounter young adults who either know little about Christian faith and the church or who are suspicious about what the church believes and does. As long as we wait for folks to come us, we’re likely to wait by ourselves.
The conversation with Islam is clearly a critical conversation for our larger world. More than 60% of the world’s population is either Christian or Muslim. The conversation may seem pretty distant from Maine, but, in fact, we have a number of Islamic political refugees with whom it might be possible for us to begin conversations. I’ll be returning with a number of ideas for those conversations.
Today we began discussion about the Anglican Covenant. We benefited from a presentation by Bishop Neil Alexander (Atlanta) on the interface between ecclesiology and polity. Ecclesiology is the theology of what we believe about the church. Polity are canons, and practical policies and procedures which grow out of our ecclesiology. Ecclesiology and polity exist together and influence one another. If we change either, the other also changes. The Anglican Covenant will clearly impact both, and while that may be good or bad, we should not think there will be no change.
Bishop Alexander’s presentation was followed by short statements by the Primates of Canada, the Congo and Korea. Each explained the state of the discussion about the Anglican Covenant in their Province and their concerns and critiques. I think it is fair to say that each of these churches has significant concerns about the Covenant. All are committed to staying in the conversation.
As always, worship has been a significant part of the House of Bishops. The music has been quite wonderful – I have some great new music to bring home – and we greatly enjoyed the presence of a new chaplain, the Rev. Stephanie Spellers of The Crossing in Boston.
I’ll write some further reflections when I return home.
Bishop Steve
Young Adults:
Long way to go . . . to real ministry.
Get us out of our churches . . . [with] . . . young adults.
We wait for folks to come us . . .
. . . we’re likely to wait by ourselves.
Thanks be to God.
Thank you, Bishop Lane, for sharing your thoughts with the wider church. We are very interested in what transpires when our bishops gather.
Steve: Many thanks for the time and effort in keeping us up to date with what is happening for you and Vicki. When you mentioned the need for the church to go where the youth are in the world, it resonanted with my conversation with Regina Knox last Sunday. Ed Greene will be away this coming Sunday, so Regina will lead the service at St. Andrew’s, with me leading the The Great Thanksgiving. I encouraged her to speak about the new mission work she will be starting from the Cathedral. Exciting.
Thank you for y0ur comments and your thoughts. I agree that we’re in an exciting time for the church. It’s also a time that requires much more thought and effort than we’re used to. The question is: Where can we go to meet and engage people who hunger for an encounter of God, but don’t know about the church. Where’s our mission field?