Two weeks ago I spent 3 days in North Carolina at Kanuga Conference Center, representing the Diocese of Mississippi at the Province IV Synod. This gathering brought together Episcopalians from all over the south east for fellowship, networking, and education about our upcoming General Convention(GC). While the travel to get to Kanuga is always a bit of a beast, I really do enjoy these gatherings. Getting to know other Episcopalians and participating in the work of the larger Episcopal body always gets me excited. And there has been much to be excited about as we get closer to the work of GC. At our last GC there was a great deal of energy around changing the structure and functioning of the Episcopal Church so that it could become more nimble and better able to meet the needs of the church today. This was an exciting time, filled with a great deal of hope and energy. As a younger clergy person, I was incredibly enthused about how changing our functioning might better equip all members of our church to better serve Christ in the world.
Three years have passed since that energy was first kindled and now we are about to engage in the first real challenge of backing up our enthusiasm with some real change through the legislative process at GC in Salt Lake City. Everything feels a bit uncertain. And yet, we continue to gather and continue to go through the motions of what we have known.
One of the central elements of Synod is worship. So, on Wednesday night on the cusp of beginning our work together, we Episcopalians gathered together to do what we know so well. Around the shared table we offered up our prayers for our work, heard the Presiding Bishop speak about martyrdom, and were fed with the life giving food that binds us into one body. It was a wonderful celebration and an important opportunity for me to simply worship.
Yet it was in that worship that I saw and heard a very telling sign of the challenge that lays before us in changing our very structure. As familiar hymns were played throughout the service, the musician, himself an Episcopal Priest, tried to keep the tempo of the music upbeat and forward moving. But every time he started a hymn with a moving tempo, the congregation revolted. That faithful gathering of leaders from all over Province IV refused to sing our words of faith at anything other than a slow, plodding pace. It didn't matter what speed the pianist picked, the congregation set the tempo and they were fine with taking their time to finish a hymn.
I think this is so telling of where we are in the church. We want to make changes that will not only ensure our survival but will help us to thrive in bringing the Gospel to the world. And yet, we are so comfortable with where we are that we cannot fathom there is any way forward but at the pace that we have always known. It was discouraging...and yet, the faithful people of Province IV had showed up to sing the hymns of their faith. They had made the effort to be there, made the commitment to do the work that is before us. I find hope in that. I find hope that even as we struggle to embrace anything other than what we have always known, we are still gathering for worship; still gathering to unite our voices in praise and celebration of God. It might take much longer for us to make the changes that our church needs to thrive in the future, but I am confident we will get there. We will get there because we are a people strengthened for service through the common table, a people who, although fearful of what change might me, trust that God is working in our lives and in our church. God has patience with the pace we set and God will teach us how to move to a new tempo.
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