Loading...Bishop White's Diocesan Convention 2023 Address presented by Rev. Debbie Dehler
The Archdeacon’s formal title is The Venerable.
A regional Dean’s formal title is The Very Reverend.
A Cathedral Dean’s formal title is the Very Reverend.
When begs the question, when a Cathedral Dean is also a regional Dean… Is Matthew Bradley now The Very Very Reverend Reverend? The answer is yes.
Perhaps informally it could be shortened to Dean Dean or my preference VR squared.
[I am grateful. I am thankful. I am hopeful.]
The Presiding Bishop has asked that I convey his greetings and the assurance of his prayers for our convention.
Bishop Curry is healing following his surgery at the end of September, he is grateful for our prayers, and asks that we continue to pray for him and his wife Sharon and their family. He is beginning to return to a reasonable schedule.
Our Presiding Bishop is a remarkable servant of the servants of God. He has begun his 9th and final year as our Primate and Chief Pastor which concludes on All Saints’ Day next year.
The next Presiding Bishop will be invested with the Primate’s Staff and seated in the throne of the Presiding Bishop at the National Cathedral, the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. That means I will join the bishops of the Church for that event in Washington DC and I expect a peaceful transfer of authority.
Though continuing under his doctor’s care, I know that Bishop Curry will continue to inspire, serve and lead the Church. And I say again, Bishop Curry reports that his health is improving and for that we are immensely grateful, are we not?
The House of Bishops had planned to meet in person in September, but instead met on zoom following the scheduling of Bishop Curry’s surgery. We heard a summary of last year’s parochial reports. Among the data points shared:
membership continues to decline,
financial giving continues to increase,
more new worshipping communities are being formed which often spring from outreach and community service ministries, such shelters, food pantries, mental health services, laundry love, holding services where houseless people encamp, to name but a few ministries. [I would add Animal Care Ministry!]
For every new priest being ordained, 2 and half priests are retiring.
The impact of online/streaming of liturgies, Bible studies and other formation opportunities while hard to quantify without more data, is certainly reshaping congregations of every size.
I am grateful for the vision and creativity exhibited in our congregations in this regard. I am filled with hope given the life and commitment that abounds in our congregations as we listen to the Holy Spirit.
General Convention
We are very much looking forward to the 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church convening in Louisville June 22-28. It will be a blast! During that time, with a tip of the cowboy hat to Bill Monroe, the Diocese of Kentucky will keep on shining! A huge thank you to Amy Spicer, a member at Grace Church, Hopkinsville, for serving in the important role of Volunteer Coordinator, and to those in each congregation who have agreed to work with Amy Spicer in sharing information about and encouraging volunteer opportunities.
So that we can have some fun, a friendly competition will be launched concerning volunteers. There will be a parish prize for the most volunteers, and another for the most volunteers per membership reported on the parochial, and we will eve use a distance to travel to Louisville factor as a multiplier!
I am excited that many in our diocese will experience the breadth and depth of the Episcopal Church in so many ways. The Presiding Bishop will preach at a revival at the KFC YUM Center. As host bishop, I will celebrate the Opening Eucharist of General Convention at which the President of the House of Deputies will preach.
The next Presiding Bishop will be elected in Christ Church Cathedral mid-convention, and at the closing Eucharist of the General Convention the Presiding Bishop will celebrate, and the Presiding Bishop-elect will preach. Very exciting stuff!
And I am just excited that the wider Church gets to see something of our mission and ministry in this diocese. I take some holy pride in local and diocesan ministries as something for which I am full of thanksgiving, which also fills me with hope.
The mission and ministry in each congregation, campus ministry, medical facility, correctional institution, at the Episcopal Church Home, and through All Saints Center, and on the streets, encampments, and under over-passes in our cities and towns, all centers on bridging the gap between faith and life.
Tornados and being bound together
The Diocese of Virginia had as their convention theme Closing the Gap between Religion and Life. That theme reminded me of a class I took as a college freshman. The head of the department of religion and philosophy at my United Methodist affiliated college, The Rev. Dr George LaMore, Jr, taught the required Basic Beliefs class. One of his pillars was to teach that the word “religion” came from the latin root religere, meaning to bind or tie together.
Crucial to closing that gap are relationships, that bind together faith and life. I mentioned in last year’s address that the greatest sign of the vitality of life in our diocese was the response to the killer tornadoes in December 2021. The destruction to life, property, and landscape, was massive, and even greater was the outpouring of love incarnate. Financial support provided basic human needs, shelter, and assistance in a great many forms. The work continues, and as we promised, The Episcopal Church and the Diocese of Kentucky continue to support recovery.
Since last convention, I have been privileged to meet people touched by your care for your neighbors. I have baptized several who encountered God’s love as they were being served by you. Some casual conversations led to moments of sharing faith, prayer, and hope. And I have confirmed and received candidates who were either recipients of support, or who ended up joining a parish after first participating in projects, like distributing Christmas gifts to children a week after the disaster, or making meals, providing transportation, handing our gas cards, and meeting other needs. In you the love and light of Christ was seen.
The stories I have heard also often included new Episcopalians sharing past experiences of being told that they were not worthy of God’s love. Thus in meeting the needs created by the tornadic destruction, you ended up binding and healing deeper wounds, some that had festered for decades. That is the power of being truly present to another child of God.
Statistics from various large studies consistently report out that when people are asked why they first attended the congregation they now belong to, the number one answer is, “Because someone invited me”, which is given 82% to 90% of the time. Up to a 90% return on an investment is something to seriously consider.
And for many, such an invitation ends up being life changing.
One-on-one relationships build the Reign of Christ and close the gap between faith and life. I am thankful for the many ways you invite and build relationships one child of God at a time.
At this time, there is another horrific disaster in our Commonwealth that we must respond to.
Hate has no place in Kentucky.
There is an alarming rise in hate speech including speech threatening violence. At this time, I especially name anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. In communities of every size, on college campuses, and in a number of other settings, people are being terrorized because of their faith and because of who they are.
Some have called out leaders of corporations, college and university administrations, the media, and the entertainment industry, to speak out and clearly condemn terrorism, hate speech, threats and acts of violence.
As I heard this list repeated many times, I wondered why faith leaders and religious groups were not mentioned on that list of influential voices in our society. In our Commonwealth, the Church does still have influence, but when know it is also a mixed bag when religion is invoked. I am grateful for your voices that clearly articulate the Lord Jesus’ love for all people, which is often not the message others proclaim.
Our baptismal covenant calls us to seek and serve Christ in all people, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to work for justice and peace, and respect the dignity of every human being.
To love neighbor means to name hate, repudiate hate, and disarm hate. Statements are important, but here again we are called to a personal response that often in one on one. My words must be followed by action.
The hard work of reckoning with racism and responding in ways that promote healing is as important as ever. The ongoing work of the Racial Healing Commission is dynamic and vital. So is the hard work required by participants in Sacred Ground. Both offer significant opportunities for growth with committed fellow travelers.
We have a resolution before us today beginning another chapter in our baptismal commitment and our diocesan commitment to racial healing. I am full of hope, gratitude, and thanksgiving for this diocesan-wide continuing journey who’s intentional first steps we took in 2016.
Story
Recently the Vice Chancellor and President of the University of the South Rob Pearigen shared a story told by an undergraduate who graduated from Sewanee in 1973. The student received a full scholarship and quickly became immersed in the life of the university. He was invited to join a fraternity. Shortly after joining, the fraternity went on an outing to nearby cave that was a popular tourist site. Now it so happened that the young man was claustrophobic, and still is today. Even telling the story is difficult for him 50 years later. The cave featured a large chamber that was reportedly a magnificent site to behold. Thing was, in order to get into the chamber, one had to navigate a very narrow passage way. Very narrow. Not simply walk single file. Not simply stoop down. One had to crawl on one’s belly a short ways to reach the chamber. The young man was panicking on the inside, but with his fraternity brothers he was intent on persevering. Part way through the very narrow passage his phobia blossomed full on. He could see light ahead. Was it the end of the tunnel, or th vision people have who die and then are revived. It was a tossup as to which he hoped it was. The young man finally made it, and indeed, what a sight the chamber was. The artificial illumination highlighted magnificent rock formations, stalagmites and stalactites and a gentle pool of water.
Now the story would stop here as a testimony to perseverance, facing and overcoming a fear. But that wasn’t the end, for as the man sys, “Now I had to get out.” The journey in had left him exhausted, and he not merely doubted but was certain he could not go through the narrow passage again.
That’s when a fraternity brother put his hand on his shoulder and said, we will go through the passage together. But there was no way that could happen. One person could barely get through. As they approached the beginning of the passage, they were the last two. The brother turned to face the young man who was breathing heavily. He got down on his knees, then on his belly. The two locked eyes, and the brother began to back through the passage. The frightened young man followed his brother It still wasn’t easy, but they moved through. The brother backed all the way through the passage and then stayed on the ground until the young claustrophobic man also crawled all the way out. This story that I am a paraphrasing was told by Bishop Gene Robinson, who last month received an honorary DD from Sewanee.
This story preaches. Perhaps there is no greater calling we have as disciples of Jesus that journey with another person through fear and limitations of all sorts, journeying in such an appropriately intimate way that we look into another’s eyes and they look into ours. Through situations as restricted and crushing as the passage in that cave. And here’s the thing, that fraternity brother was also worried about not only get himself through but assisting Gene. He wasn’t without his own fears and concerns, but nevertheless offered himself to one in real need. And while we prefer to walk forward, there are many times we are most effective proverbially moving backward, even crawling, in order to keep our focus on another child of God.
I am grateful for all the servants in this room today, for the many and wondrous ways that you serve and offer yourselves to others who bear God’s divine image, offering yourselves not only from your strengths but from your weaknesses and through the fears as well. It is in such times when God’s power is perfected in us.
Beloved of God, let us continue to live into our Baptismal Covenant respecting and being in relationship one person at a time. May God continue to grant us wisdom, courage, and compassion as we close the gap between faith and life, and live full of gratitude, thanks, and hope! And let us remember there is always the option to care for another and share great hope, by backing forward! Thank you.
