Michelle's Musings - Outward Signs
Across the country, Episcopal parishes - including St. Paul's - are gathering information, publishing reports, and questioning candidates, all culminating in their individual parish meetings. For many people, this attracts no notice. At worst, people dismiss this essential part of our life as a faith community, assuming it reflects nothing more than common business and governance in an American institution. Yet, I would argue that parish meetings reflect a crucial element of our theology as Episcopalians.
As Episcopalians, we believe that each person receives the Holy Spirit at baptism. In other words, inside each person is the spark of God, which guides and influences that person throughout life. This is why we encourage children to participate in the Eucharist (to literally feed that spirit of God). It is also a big part of why we talk about the "priesthood of all believers," and "the ministry of the baptized." We believe that each person, through the Holy Spirit, has the power to do God's work in the world, and moreover, that doing that work (as opposed to doing something else), leads to satisfaction and fulfillment.
On the other hand, Episcopalians also believe that only God is perfect. As mortals, we inevitably fall short. Sometimes we can't see God's desire for us; sometimes we can see what God wants, but we just don't want to do it. After all, some of the things of this world can be pretty seductive.
These two things are in tension. I may think that I have a great idea, inspired by the Holy Spirit, when in fact, it is something that is not from God. One of the great things about being in a community of Christians - whether its a Bible study group, or a prayer circle, or just a group of friends who go out for coffee - is that people can reflect on ideas, and try to figure out whether they are holy or not.
To aid us in this process, Episcopalians use what is sometimes called "the three-legged stool of Anglican [Church of England] thought:scripture, tradition, and reason. In other words, our actions as a Church derive from those three things. First and foremost, of course, we look to Scripture. It describes God's call to us and contains everything we need to know to inherit eternal life. However, scripture can be confusing, and words written over two thousand years ago may be difficult to apply to modern life. After all, Jesus did not have much to say about how much time to spend on Facebook, or whether to buy a new car this year. Thus, we rely on tradition, the understandings of scripture and worship that we have gathered over millennia. And, we rely on reason, inspired by the Holy Spirit, to understand where God might be calling us now. Thus, while Jesus remained silent on Facebook and cars, we might look to traditions like that of the Benedictines, who proscribed times for work, times for prayer, and times for other things, as a way of setting limits on our online time. We might also use reason and the Holy Spirit to guide us as we look at budgets to decide when to buy a new car, and how much to spend, in light of the other needs of the world.
So, what does all this have to do with the Annual Meeting, you ask? The Annual Meeting is Episcopal theology at its best. At the Annual Meeting, we balance tradition - as represented by the clergy, who are trained in the history and ways of the Church - with reason - as each parishioner over the age of 18 exercises his or her right to ask questions and vote. We recognize that human beings may be fallible, which is why we present our reports for all to see. We try to strike a balance between being rooted in ancient understandings and being responsive to the current needs of the world. In short, we try to avoid putting too much weight on any one individual - clergy or lay - because we recognize that each of us is imperfect while we are in this world. As it says in I Corinthians, "for now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we shall see face to face."
The annual meeting reflects our commitment to empower each parishioner to do the work God is calling them to do. I hope to see you there.
Michelle
Tags: Messenger January 2016