Episcopal Sunday
DEAR FRIENDS, a recent Sunday morning, I was walking to an Episcopal church in Greensboro, North Carolina, when Carrie Newcomer’s song, “Like Molly Brown,” came up on my phone.
Pull and rest, pull and rest
Do your best not more or less
Rest and pull, pull and try
Keep asking why
‘Til we all meet on the other side
Women who changed things were on my mind, including Episcopal Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde. She had offered a moving sermon at the National Cathedral on Inauguration Day with the new president in the pews. You can read the full text of her January 21 message here, and I truly apologize for the editorial headline and inflammatory post-message commentary, but I couldn’t find the text by itself anywhere without someone having added an explanation for why they are outraged…which is, all by itself, evidence of something fairly distressing.
The local Episcopal church in Greensboro has no connection to Bishop Budde except that they are all Episcopalians. Nevertheless, they received sufficient online harassment that week (I don’t know all the details) that they had to shut down their social media channels. From Bishop Budde:
“O God…look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on Earth…”
Together
So I went to worship with them. I want to be really clear that if someone were harassing and threatening the local evangelical right-wing megachurch, I would worship with them, too. That’s not to say I would never speak critically of or to a particular faith community. I can think of many circumstances in which I would. But you don’t threaten a body of worshipers even if they’ve done or said things you don’t like, and in this case, the body of worshipers at this particular Episcopal church had not done or said anything at all.
“We have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a nation – not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.”
I’m not sure how many of the members of the Episcopal church knew what had happened online in the previous week. It was not mentioned out loud at any point, so I also did not mention it. But the service began, after the opening processional and a sweet young acolyte’s very long struggle with candles that were too tall, with a reading from 1 Corinthians 12. It might be obvious to folks who’ve been reading my writing for a long time, but I’m pretty sure this is my favorite Scriptural passage.
“Unity…is the threshold requirement for people to live together in a free society. It is not conformity. It is not a victory of one over another. It is not weary politeness nor passivity born of exhaustion. Unity is not partisan…those across our country who…help others in times of natural disaster, often at great risk to themselves, never ask those they are helping for whom they voted in the past election or what positions they hold on a particular issue. We are at our best when we follow their example.”
Weaknesses and Limitations
The people at the church were a regular level of friendly. It was a big enough congregation that I wasn’t obvious as a visitor. The standing and sitting and standing and kneeling kept me busy trying to keep up with everything. The elderly woman to my right was clearly known to the ushers and was simultaneously cranky, demanding, and beloved. The priest is a mom of two kids, one of whom was sick at home.
“There isn’t much to be gained by our prayers if we act in ways that further deepen and exploit the divisions among us. Our Scriptures are quite clear that God is never impressed with prayers when actions are not informed by them. Nor does God spare us from the consequences of our deeds, which, in the end, matter more than the words we pray.”
This makes me think of the Friends United Meeting East Africa Faith and Practice. Read the whole quote, but focus on the last sentences: “Friends believe in the reality of sin and the reality of salvation. With our weaknesses and limitations, we humans often disobey God; We disobey the Commandments which God gave us through Moses for our own good; we insult each other despite the plain warnings of Scripture; we allow false idols to divert us from God; we separate ourselves from God by pursuing power, money, pleasure or vengeance. Sin can infect whole societies, resulting in spiritual, social and economic oppression.”
Communal, societal sin results in oppression.
“I am a person of faith, and with God’s help I believe that unity in this country is possible – not perfectly, for we are imperfect people and an imperfect union – but sufficient enough to keep us believing in and working to realize the ideals of the United States of America – ideals expressed in the Declaration of Independence, with its assertion of innate human equality and dignity.”
Sufficient Unity
I don’t remember all the details of the sermon given by that mom-of-two-kids priest, although I do remember she told a story of a time that a dozen Afghan refugees arrived in Greensboro the day before Thanksgiving with nothing but T-shirts, shorts, and sandals. She sent a message to the members of the church, who responded by delivering armloads of clothing and blankets within an hour. A family donated money for each of the twelve refugees to have a pair of boots, and two members braved the grocery store…at 8pm the night before Thanksgiving.
“In public discourse, honoring each other’s dignity means refusing to mock, discount, or demonize those with whom we differ, choosing instead to respectfully debate across our differences, and whenever possible, to seek common ground. If common ground is not possible, dignity demands that we remain true to our convictions without contempt for those who hold convictions of their own.”
The woman to my left shook my hand at the end of worship and introduced herself. I explained that I am a Quaker and, choosing my words carefully so as not to cause alarm if people didn’t know about the online harassment, I said, “You Episcopalians have been getting clobbered this week. So this seemed like the place to be today.”
She followed me out, and we stopped to talk for a few minutes in a semi-private place on the front porch. She told me that she knew exactly what had been happening online because she is a retired police officer. “And there are hate groups in the area. We were seriously concerned. Thank you for being here.”
“We are perhaps the most dangerous to ourselves and others when we are persuaded, without a doubt, that we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong. Because then we are just a few steps away from labeling ourselves as the good people, versus the bad people. The truth is that we are all people, capable of both good and bad.”
Mercy in Context
Most of what’s been quoted from Bishop Budde’s sermon is the ending section, the plea for mercy that she directed at President Trump. That was an important part of what she said, but it was also the part that made a good media sound bite. It was the part that some folks could claim was an attack on Trump while others praised it as rallying cry for progressives. It was the part that could provoke a fight. So that was the part that’s been quoted and quoted.
It doesn’t seem to have been the majority of her point. Or rather, the request for mercy seems to have been contextualized by repeated affirmation of the human dignity of all people, which I would point out includes all people…immigrants, progressives, and conservatives.
“The culture of contempt that has become normalized in our country threatens to destroy us. We are all bombarded daily with messages from what sociologists now call the outrage industrial complex…in public discourse, honoring each other’s dignity means refusing to mock, discount, or demonize those with whom we differ, choosing instead to respectfully debate across our differences, and whenever possible, to seek common ground. If common ground is not possible, dignity demands that we remain true to our convictions without contempt for those who hold convictions of their own.”
With love,
Emily
