THE RECTOR'S REFLECTIONS, October, 2006

V. Let not the needy, O Lord, be forgotten
R. Nor the hope of the poor be taken away.
(Book of Common Prayer Page 98)

I have just finished reading Jeffrey Sachs', The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time, (Penguin Press 2005). I used the large amounts of quiet time that were put into the recent clergy conference near Las Cruces to spend time with Sachs and this great book which I highly recommend. It is not light reading. The author is an economist. But it is rewarding reading because he puts forth theories that have shaped the United Nation's Millennium Development Goals (MDG's) which lay out a roadmap for eradicating world wide poverty by 2015. I have discussed the Goals in a previous Beacon article. My purpose here is not to explain them in detail but to offer some thoughts on our mission and ministry at St. Bede's as we go into a capital campaign, feasibility study and hopefully a new church building over the next 3-5 years.

Sachs' book is best explained in a press release from the publisher in March of this year.

“Extreme poverty can be ended, not in the time of our grandchildren, but our time.” Thus forecasts Jeffrey D. Sachs, whose twenty-five years of experience observing the world from many vantage points has helped him shed light on the most vital issues facing our planet: the causes of poverty, the role of rich-country policies, and the very real possibilities for a poverty-free future. Deemed “the most important economist in the world” by The New York Times Magazine and “the world's best-known economist” by Time magazine, Sachs brings his considerable expertise to bear in this landmark book, his highly anticipated blueprint for world-wide economic success — a goal, he argues, we can reach in a mere twenty years.

What got me to read this book in the midst of clergy conference? The first 24 hours was set aside as a quiet time. The Canon to the Ordinary, Fr. Michael Perko, led us with meditations that focused on our lives as ordained clergy persons. Michael, a Jesuit priest for 30 years and now an Episcopal priest, brought his experience as a spiritual director to clergy into his reflections.

I couldn't help but feel during our time as a gathered community of clergy that I was sitting in the midst of tension and division. There wasn't much said, obviously, but the issues and discord that are facing our wider church over the role of women and gays were clearly in the air. It's the proverbial “Elephant in the room”.

As I thought about this and wondered how in heaven's name (heaven's name indeed) we will resolve all this, my mind wandered to another book I read in graduate school and was immensely popular in years gone by. It was Rollo May's, Love and Will , a work based on a field called existential psychiatry. What I have always remembered about the book has been the opening words which I paraphrase. Mays stated, “Our age is like a ship cut loose from its moorings and set adrift on storm tossed seas.” This is a very loose paraphrase but it influenced me greatly when I first read it and continues to be a part of my soul.

Our church (The Episcopal Church USA) has become like that ship. Our moorings have been cut and we are adrift in a storm-tossed sea of anger, fear, self righteousness and downright bigotry.

This is where, in my mind, The Book of Common Prayer, Jeffrey Sachs and our common mission converge. The End of Poverty became spiritual reading.

We are about to embark on a new venture at St. Bede's. We will be moving ahead in a capital campaign. Right now the Capital Campaign Planning Committee is working to formulate a feasibility study under the leadership of our consultant, Beth Johnson. Let me say at the outset that we are well served with Beth's leadership as well as all committee members.

The future St. Bede's will be shaped by two factors. First, and the most obvious, is determining just what and how much we can afford. That is what the feasibility study will open up for us. How much are we going to invest in the present and future of our parish will be the first point of reference for us.

Secondly, and equally important, is the shape of our mission. Our new building should rise and reflect how we understand ourselves as pilgrims building up the Reign of God in Santa Fe and beyond. We at St. Bede's will undertake this adventure with our Jewish brothers and sisters from HaMakom. This will not be a first as there are other Christian congregations around the country which have established a sharing of building, hearts and hands. But it will be a first for the Diocese of the Rio Grande .

Success Shaped by Steady Focus

The success of our venture must be shaped the by steady focus of our mission as brothers and sisters on God's patch of earth at the corner of St. Francis Dr. and San Mateo .

Both congregations have succeeded because, I feel, we have a strong sense of our core values namely the above versicle and response from the Book of Common Prayer. Our job, our vocation, our purpose is not to get caught up in the institutional in-fighting that is swirling around us. None of that is God's agenda. I have wondered at times if all the squabbling isn't the work of the Evil One keeping us from our mission to reach out to those on the edges, the voiceless, the powerless and to be a light of God's hope, healing and reconciliation in a broken world. The Evil One certainly worked hard to prevent Jesus from leaving the desert or being crucified in order to reconcile the world to himself. Who is to say that the Tempter isn't as loose in the world of organized religion today as in centuries gone by?

We have the ability to work together to be a part of the project to bring poverty to an end, calm the storm tossed ship we call the Body of Christ through our love and compassion. St. Bede's and HaMakom are beacons of health and hope in a world and institutions that at times resemble a dysfunctional family. We are the healthy children in the midst of a squabbling family.

“Feed My Sheep”

Our bounden duty is to do the work God calls us to.

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”  A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17)

We can build a mighty witness to God's presence in our lives. We can do it. The time has come. God is calling us to a profound focus of interfaith mission, ministry and service.

We in the Episcopal Church have as part of our core values the call to the Middle Way , the Via Media. This concept lies at the foundation of our Anglican faith and heritage. I have come to believe that we as a national and international faith community have gotten the meaning of Via Media distorted. This Anglican self understanding means that we are the place where other traditions can bring their piece of the truth to the table. It seems at times as if the notion of Via Media has been too inwardly directed and become a vehicle for self absorption. We run the sinful danger of excluding rather than including the Holy People of God regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation etc. We are all created in the image and imagination of God. We need to refocus ourselves and reach out to the world as servants and table setters. We are not called to invite the world to our table for conversion but rather for conversation, prayer and listening. By doing this we will repair the world, heal the world and in this process of reaching out and inviting beyond ourselves we will repair ourselves, heal ourselves.

St. Bede's and HaMakom stand ready to give witness to this understanding. What a marvelous opportunity has come our way! Do you think this has come about by accident or happenstance? I don't.

In Peace
Fr. Richard

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© 2006 St. Bede’s Episcopal Church, Santa Fe, New Mexico