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Pastoral Letter
Pastoral Letter
August 6, 2007
Pastoral Letter from the Bishop of San Diego
Dear People of God,
In the story of the Transfiguration of Jesus on the holy mountain, Peter, James and John longed to dwell in the splendid glory of the moment—seeing their Master with Moses and Elijah—a vision of completeness. From their perspective, nothing could possibly seem truer or more holy. And yet, Jesus guides them off the mountain and towards Jerusalem.
This pivotal scene captures something basic about both the journey of faith and our human nature. In the mix of our hopes and fears, we are all too eager to grasp for certainty. We would like to capture the law, the prophets and Jesus on a mountaintop so that all our dilemmas will be settled. The reality of our faith in Jesus is that it is a Way, not a destination. It is a life of discernment not of conclusions.
Our Anglican heritage resonates with this spirit of faithful discipleship as journey. To be Anglican is to be intrinsically open to the perspectives and opinions of others. The Anglican character is inquiring and invitational, operating from a posture of humility. We take seriously our baptismal theology which the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev. Rowan Williams, reminds us, binds us together in “solidarities not of our own choosing.” We are fed and formed by our Eucharistic fellowship, our principal discipline. In our communion, we become what we eat: the body of Christ—that “wonderful and sacred mystery” we call the Church. In this age, we are mindful of the Church’s struggles, imperfections and divisions. Karl Barth, the great Twentieth Century theologian, captured the paradox of the church as both holy and broken when he wrote: “The church may become beggar, it may act like a shopkeeper, it may make itself a harlot, as has happened and still does happen, yet it is always the bride of Jesus.”
As followers of Jesus in the Way and as stewards of the Episcopal Church—part of the mystery that is the Church catholic—we find ourselves in a time of turmoil. As your bishop, it is my sense that it is appropriate for me to provide you, the people of the Diocese of San Diego, my fullest possible perspective and evaluation of the state of the church and our future mission. The context of these reflections is an eventful year in which the Primates of the Anglican Communion have met and issued a communiqué. Our House of Bishops and the Executive Committee of the Episcopal Church have responded. After much speculation, the invitations to the Lambeth Conference of Bishops have been issued to all active bishops, excepting the Bishop of New Hampshire, the recently ordained Nigerian Missionary Bishop in the United States, and the Bishop of Harare, Zimbabwe.
Last month, I attended a consultation, entitled “Walking to Emmaus” sponsored by Trinity Church, Wall Street. For a week, twenty-three bishops from the Episcopal Church and twenty-nine bishops from Anglican provinces in Africa gathered in El Escorial, Spain. We spent our time in Bible Study, prayer and conversation about various missional opportunities. We came to know each other as fellow bishops and friends. I attended with Bishop Simon Oketch from the Diocese of Maseno North in Kenya. Through our conversations, Simon and I have committed to continue to build our partnership in mission which is anchored by Episcopal missionaries, Nan and Gerry Hardison, parishioners from All Souls’, Point Loma. In a time when much has been made of the divisions around the communion, I cannot emphasize what a different reality I experienced. Six of the eleven primates from the African continent were present. Bishops from all but two provinces were in attendance. The consensus of this community of bishops is that we are fully capable of maintaining communion and mission partnerships despite disagreements. As I left Spain, I found myself most optimistic about the future of our Anglican Communion.
What tempers my optimism about the Anglican Communion (and our Episcopal Church’s participation in it) is the active pessimism of others. As we are all aware, there have been some congregations that have split away from their diocese and the Episcopal Church because of real disagreements over theology and questions of sexuality. I think it a fair representation of their position to say that those who have left posit that they have been persecuted because of their theological position. Furthermore, they would say that they are “on the side” of the Anglican Communion. They have also suggested that property in the Episcopal Church is parish owned, “we paid for it, it is ours, and we can do with it whatever we want.” In our own Diocese, we have had nine congregations that had departures of various numbers of people. The leadership of three departing groups has made a claim of right to possess the parish property. This has necessitated our Diocese initiating legal action to recover that property so we can begin the process of rebuilding those congregations. In each and every case, it is my intention to rebuild vibrant, Christ-centered ministries in congregations that have been seriously affected.
While I am sorry that many of those who have left feel persecuted because of their theological positions, I can attest to my deep desire to give them a place in our community. I believe this is an essential mandate for those who operate out of a humble, uncertainty of one’s position. While I believe my theological position is valid, it must be challenged and refined by those who disagree. In our Diocese, I attempted to create an environment of safety and care where that could occur. The Rt. Rev. Jeffery Steenson, Bishop of the Rio Grande (arguably a more conservative bishop than me), and I have partnered together so that we can provide the care to congregations in our respective dioceses who feel they want a relationship with a bishop more theologically resonant with their congregation. Two congregations in our diocese have taken advantage of that ministration; none of those who departed did.
As far as our relationship with the Anglican Communion, I believe it is increasingly clear that our relationship will remain intact. Those who have advocated for the replacement of the Episcopal Church as a province of the Anglican Communion have become increasingly critical of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Lambeth Conference. In particular, the moderator of the Anglican Communion Network, the Rt. Rev. Robert Duncan recently said, “The fact is that the Archbishop of Canterbury has not led in a way that might have saved his office and might have saved Lambeth.” In addition, the president of the American Anglican Council, David Anderson, has managed to create quite a conflict with the Archbishop of York and his staff. Without parsing or opining on these recent developments, it is important to note that those who have left and are encouraging others to do the same have shifted their position. No longer is their case “come with us and you will remain with Canterbury and the Communion.” Now it is “because we have lost Canterbury, we must divide the Communion.”
Historically, to be Anglican means to be in communion with the See of Canterbury. This operative definition is now being challenged. In my judgment, this late redefinition is a dangerous strategy that risks splitting the Anglican Communion over internal disagreements within the Episcopal Church. From my experiences in Spain, and other conversations across the Communion, I think that this new strategy will be damaging, but fail in its presumed objective: an Anglican Province in the United States in place of the Episcopal Church. Instead, the result may very well be that most provinces, including the Episcopal Church, will remain in communion with the Archbishop of Canterbury and thus fully a part of the Anglican Communion, while a few provinces may place themselves in a posture of diminished or impaired communion.
As far as the property disputes are concerned, I see this as a critical issue of the faith and order of the church. While clearly we hope every parish will be financially self-sustaining through the stewardship of parishioners, it is far from precise to assume that all assets of a parish are the result of parishioner giving. In many cases, the Diocese invested significantly at the front end when the parishes were missions. More importantly, these congregations were begun as Episcopal communities. Every gift given would rightly be assumed to have been given to an Episcopal congregation. As far as our canons are concerned, they do indeed assume a trust relationship—that is, that the property is held in trust for the ministry of the Episcopal Church. That is why the Diocese deeds the property to a newly established parish, because it can rightly assume a perpetual relationship of trust.
Those who are attempting to leave and take church property with them are being a bit careless with their reading of the canons and our customs. Furthermore, their complaint that it is inappropriate for the Episcopal Church and a diocese such as ours to engage in lawsuits ignores the fact that these lawsuits are necessary if we desire a peaceable, orderly remedy for their violation of the canons of our church to which they, as lay and clergy leaders, agreed to conform. Most importantly, these disputes over property are the presenting issue where we defend our ordered church with Episcopal authority, preventing an unintended slide towards congregationalism. Our history and Anglican heritage has, at its center, the oversight and authority of bishops. For congregations to presume to vote themselves out of the authority and oversight of their bishop is to destroy the very essence of our church’s tradition, structure, and order. If I do not confront this innovation, I will fail to follow the canons and, by my inaction, make the Episcopal Church non-Episcopal and thus congregational. In joining the Episcopal Church, we accept and rejoice in this historic tradition and Episcopate. It cannot be altered by a congregational vote.
In the end, I believe the Anglican Communion will recover. I have accepted my invitation to Lambeth. If that meeting is like what I just experienced in Spain, then my optimism will only soar. I am aware that some may stay away out of protest. Rather than encouraging this, I hope that all will attend and see this as an opportunity for rapprochement. Similarly, I believe that the future is bright for our Diocese and the Episcopal Church. At the behest of the Diocesan Corporation, I have been raising funds to rebuild congregations hard hit by departures. To date we have raised $500,000 from generous donors. While a recent Court of Appeals decision gives some reason for us to be optimistic that our litigation will end favorably within a year, some of these funds will regrettably have to be used to pay our legal fees. As I imagine us in five years, I see all our congregations stronger—including those we are rebuilding. I see a new church building for St. Thomas, Temecula, and our new start, The Church of the Apostles, in Coachella Valley growing and vibrant. I see us as a diocese that places Christian formation, worship and servant ministry at our center. I see us interconnected both locally and globally—particularly as we expand our mission work in El Salvador, Western Mexico and Maseno North.
The one part of the future I cannot see is what will happen to our friends who have left our fellowship. If we remain separated, we will be less the church that Jesus would have us be. I believe that the Holy Spirit is always calling us to a place of unity in the midst of disunity. The Holy Spirit is always repairing what is broken. So, I hope that those who have left will return. I offer them my heart, my apologies for my failings, my forgiveness for theirs. Our reconciliation will be costly and painful, but reconciliation is always our goal. It is also our calling.
Like Jesus descending the Mount of the Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, we move to an uncertain future. We know that there will be crosses to bear and places where we will show our failings as Peter so spectacularly demonstrated. But we also know that our greatest hope and treasure is ahead and is found on this Way. And so, we follow Jesus.
Faithfully,
The Rt. Rev. James R. Mathes
Bishop of San Diego
Bishop's Town Hall Meetings
Town Hall Meetings facilitate communication between congregations and Bishop Mathes. Each session begins at 7 pm and lasts two hours. This series of meetings will focus on the report from the House of Bishops, the letter of Paul to the Philippians, as well as any concerns people want to address. Following are the dates and locations for upcoming meetings:
October 25 St. Margaret’s, Palm Desert
October 30 Church of the Good Shepherd, Bonita
November 1 All Saints’, Brawley
November 6 St. Thomas, Temecula
November 8 St. Bartholomew’s, Poway