Speakers’ speeches at opening convention offer hope for future of Episcopal Church – Episcopal News Service

(Episcopal News Service – Louisville, Kentucky) It wasn’t a real goodbye. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry does not officially end his nine-year term until October 31.

But as the 81st General Convention is set to convene June 23-28 for what will be the final church meeting of Curry’s momentous tenure as senior pastor and public face of the Episcopal Church, his remarks opening to a joint session of the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies was intended in part as an affectionate farewell address.

“I want to say to this whole body, to this church, that this has been a great privilege,” Curry said. “It was an honor. I thank God that I have been able to serve as the presiding bishop of this church.

The assembled crowd, made up of hundreds of bishops and deputies from more than 100 dioceses, rose to their feet to shower Curry with applause and cheers.

Curry’s remarks, along with those of House Speaker Julia Ayala Harris, also set the tone for a weeklong General Convention that will spend some of its time necessarily looking inward. In addition to the election and confirmation of Curry’s successor as presiding bishop and a church-wide budget for the 2025-2027 triennium, much of the conversation until present in Louisville focused on how the Episcopal Church will respond to declining membership and denominational contraction after overcoming pandemic disruptions. congregational life.

Get complete, up-to-date ENS coverage of the 81st General Convention here.

“As a Church, we have faced unprecedented challenges,” Ayala Harris said in her opening remarks. In addition to COVID-19, she cited the national and global consequences of systemic racism, ongoing struggles for LGBTQ+ rights, political polarization and economic uncertainty. The Church engaged in its own processes of revealing racial truth while researching its historical role in native boarding schools and considering reforms to the disciplinary canons of its clergy.

“I have seen for myself the depth of your faith, the strength of your commitment and the power of our unity in Jesus,” she said. “We find ourselves at a crossroads. The road behind us is long and winding. The road ahead is foggy and uncertain, but one thing is clear: we cannot return to where we were before. The world has changed and so have we. The only way to move forward is to continue walking together in love.

The General Convention, the principal governing body of the Episcopal Church, typically meets every three years in a different host city and diocese. It divides its authority between the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies, and according to initial estimates, at least 167 bishops, two bishops-elect, 829 deputies and 239 alternate deputies were registered to attend the 81st General Convention, hosted by the diocese from Kentucky. .

Although both chambers will hold six days of legislative sessions, pre-congress events and committee meetings will extend the duration by more than a week. Total attendance in Louisville could approach 10,000 people, including staff, exhibitors, church-affiliated groups and other visitors.

This will also be the last general convention for the Rev. Michael Barlowe, who is due to retire in August as general manager. As Curry noted in his remarks, Barlowe wears many other hats in Church leadership, including that of Secretary of the General Convention, and veteran lawmakers will fondly anticipate his way of methodically presenting each agenda in this house.

After uttering a “It’s show time!” » To kick off the June 22 joint session, Barlowe took a few moments to acknowledge his own impending farewell. “It has been a singular honor to serve you and the Episcopal Church, and I thank God and thank you.”

As executive director, Barlowe leads the General Convention Office, which is responsible for planning all aspects of the triennial gathering, which serves as a hub for fellowship, networking, church governance and discernment of the Church’s positions on a range of spiritual and public policy issues. The General Convention Office also facilitated the move to online committee meetings and hearings in response to the pandemic.

Committees were supposed to complete most of their work before meeting in person. Although most committees still met in person starting June 22 to pass some final resolutions, Ayala Harris highlighted what she saw as the benefits of moving most committee work online. The committees, she said, held 47 meetings and 55 hearings over Zoom – opening church governance to anyone with a computer and the internet in the United States and around the world. Those meetings attracted more than 2,500 participants, she said.

Of those participants, 519 registered to testify, while more than 2,000 registered as observers, according to the Episcopal Church’s Office of Public Affairs.

“These are the people of our church who are speaking directly to the governance of our church in a way that has never been possible before,” she said.

Ayala Harris also touted what she called a “voluntary House community compact,” which 574 House members have signed so far, “committing us to the values ​​of respect, trust and mutual assistance that must guide our work together.”

“As we gather for this 81st General Convention, may we come to it with open hearts and full of expectation,” she said. “May we draw strength from the living waters of our faith, trusting that the same God who has brought us this far will surely lead us into our future church. »

Curry is scheduled to deliver the sermon June 22 at the church’s revival party to a crowd of 8,000 at the KFC Yum! Center, a nearby arena overlooking the banks of the Ohio River. During his afternoon address to the joint session of the General Convention, Curry said he would save the preaching for later — while joking to his audience of bishops and lawmakers that he had an applicable Bible lesson or two to share with them.

He mainly invoked the Gospel of John and the final teachings of Jesus to his disciples. “You will have tribulation, but take courage,” he said, quoting John 16:33. For the Episcopal Church, the tribulation might be due to parish reports showing a decline in membership or church attendance, Curry said, but Episcopalians should not lose hope. Follow in the footsteps of Jesus, he said, and “we will overcome.”

“I’m not worried about the future of the Episcopal Church. …This is not going to be easy. It’s never been easy,” Curry said, his voice rising. “This Episcopal Church is stronger, more enduring, and has a future that God has ordained. And I’m here to tell you, don’t worry about this church. Don’t cry or moan. Just roll up your sleeves and let’s get to work.

His final line was delivered with his beloved oratorical fire, and the bishops and deputies, rising again, roared their approval and appreciation.

– David Paulsen is a senior reporter and editor for Episcopal News Service based in Wisconsin. He can be reached at [email protected].