I suppose, for context, I should state that I was born and raised in Fresno, the see city of the Diocese of San Joaquin, though I was not an Episcopalian when living there. The events unfolding there do so in the land of my birth, the soil from which I come.
Kirstin has put up a nice post regarding the Diocese of San Joaquin, meeting today and tomorrow in convention. The central issue is the crucial second vote to make the diocese's affiliation with any province of the Anglican Communion definable in their canons, i.e., we're only part of TEC if we feel like it.
The people of the diocese need our prayers and a great outpouring of the Holy Spirit in grace, power, and redeeming grace. I can pray for that much, though I cannot be as gracious as Kirstin. As I wrote to her privately, I have no charity left in me over the damage some bishops, Schofield included, have done to the body of Christ. I would like for him to find healing somewhere else, and I am sure he would feel the same way about me. So there you have it.
Kirstin's words:
I’m well past praying for unity. The best I can pray for is a compassionate divorce. And I pray that everyone directly involved, and all of us on the outside watching, will listen, deeply, and can discern the true will of God. The vote is almost a given. The steps that people take afterward will make all the difference. I pray for openness, honesty, generosity, and love on all sides, even as we take leave of one another.
We are all, right now, every one of us, caught up in the forgiving, merciful, empowering, liberating, life-giving love of God. We all—John-David, you, and I—will be redeemed. We all will stumble into grace. Let us remember the One at the heart of our faith, who said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin, cast the first stone.”
--the BB
3 comments:
Thank you, so much, and the least because it's mine. They need all the prayer we can surround them with.
Bless you.
On behalf of the "Faithful Remnant" in Fresno and the Diocese of San Joaquin, thank you for your prayers, and even though I cannot agree with what our Bishop wants to do, I pray for him and for all our clergy and laity--may God keep us in his loving hand.
I go to bed holding you in my heart before God. I bitterly disagree with Schofield but I do pray for y'all and the manifestation of God's love in, through, and around you.
Shalom, deep shalom, aghaveagh.
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