wfn.org | [ENS] From the House of Bishops: 'A Word to the Church'

["Matthew Davies" <mdavies@episcopalchurch.org>]

Wednesday, March 16, 2005

ENS 031605-2

Note: The following "Word to the Church" was issued as the House of
Bishops
adjourned its six-day Spring meeting in Navasota, Texas. The Covenant
Statement, adopted by the House of Bishops on March 15, is posted online
at:
http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_60016_ENG_HTM.htm.

A Word to the Church

The House of Bishops
Camp Allen, Texas
March 16, 2005

Beloved in Christ,

We are gathered at Camp Allen in Texas for our annual spring meeting,
this
year on the eve of Holy Week.  The work we have accomplished is in
service
to that act through which God reconciled the whole world to himself
through
Christ.

"We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again;
death no longer has dominion over him" (Romans 6:9).  As we prepare to
celebrate Christ's victory over sin and death, we rejoice to place our
whole
trust in the freedom Christ has won for us and to submit ourselves to
the
service of his mission.

During these days we prayed the common prayer of our church, and our
daily
celebration of the Eucharist brought us closer together in the presence
of
the paschal mystery. Tears were shed to see lives taken and displaced by
the
tsunami, as we heard from one of our community who traveled to that
region
on behalf of Episcopal Relief and Development and of us all. In hearing
of
the threats to the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we were challenged
to be
good stewards of the creation. In considering Christian formation, we
pondered how the Gospel is heard in diverse cultures: we were encouraged
to
listen to all voices, and to respect the dignity of every human being.
Our
hope and intention is to use the time ahead to initiate ways to speak
with
and learn from our brothers and sisters across the Communion about our
common commitment to Christ and the different ways we seek to
articulate,
not only with our lips but in our lives, the gospel we share.

At our meeting in Salt Lake City in January 2005 we said that we would
"commit ourselves to a more thorough consideration of the range of
concrete
actions identified in the [Windsor] Report at our House of Bishops
meeting
in March 2005." We also said we believe it is extremely important to
take
the time to allow the Holy Spirit to show us the way to deepen our
communion
together.

We believe that the Covenant Statement we have made has been achieved
under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Our Covenant expresses remarkable
convergences among us during these days and emerged from our mutual
desire
to speak as one House embracing widely divergent points of view. We
sensed a
profound solidarity and willingness to bear one another's burdens and so
fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2).

We pray that this Covenant Statement will be seen by brother and sister
Anglicans as responding to some of their concerns.  We pray that our
overwhelming support for the Covenant may be a sign to them of our
unwavering commitment to life in communion.

We pray as well that our Covenant will be useful for us all in healing
relationships and opening the way for renewed solidarity in the service
of
Christ's work of reconciliation. We believe our Covenant Statement is a
reflection of a fresh spirit of mutual forbearance and reconciliation
among
us.  We faced into our deep divisions with an openness that has not
characterized our recent past.	We believe this marks the beginning of a
new
day in our life together as bishops and as the Episcopal Church.

We move now toward Holy Week with a renewed sense of community and of
the
work already accomplished for us through the death and resurrection of
Jesus
Christ. Very soon we and our sisters and brothers across the globe will
be
walking the way of the Cross together. Following the footsteps of Jesus,
we
cannot help but be opened to the needs of others as we move forward as
fellow members of Christ's crucified and risen body, the Church. As the
Apostle Paul tells us: "We have been buried with him by baptism into
death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the
Father,
so we too might walk in newness of life" (Romans 6:4).

___________________________
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