wfn.org | Presiding bishop urges Sewanee to be 'site of wisdom"

[ENS@ecunet.org]

2001-18

Presiding bishop urges Sewanee to be 'site of wisdom"

by Sarah T. Moore

     (ENS) On January 23, under sunny, blue skies and crisp temperatures, the 
25th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, walked among the 150 faculty of 
the University of the South and about a dozen scarlet-robed bishops into All 
Saints' Chapel to receive an honorary degree from the Episcopal Church-owned 
university.

     The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold also was the speaker at the opening 
convocation of the Easter term. He watched as new members of the Order of the 
Gownsmen received their academic gowns.

     Griswold challenged the 1,330 undergraduate students and their faculty to 
continue to be a site that provides an "incarnational dimension of learning" 
where mutual education occurs between student and teacher, and which provides a 
framework for ethical decision-making in today's world.

Precious gift

     "One of Sewanee's core values--indeed one of its joys--is the warm 
relationship between students and faculty," Griswold said. "It is a very precious 
gift, so guard it well."

     A dynamic of mutual education, grounded in mutual respect, he said, is 
deeply rooted in the religious tradition upon which Sewanee was founded. 
"Continue to be a site where wisdom may always be found not just as a body of 
information we can possess, but also lived in relationship with the One who is 
wisdom."

     For generations, Sewanee, the only university in the country owned by a 
consortium of 28 Episcopal dioceses, has bestowed an honorary Doctor of Divinity 
degree upon the head of the Episcopal Church in the United States. In fact, 
Griswold is the only one of the past four presiding bishops who is not a graduate 
of the University of the South --from either the College of Arts and Sciences or 
the School of Theology. Griswold is an alumnus of Harvard College, General 
Theological Seminary, and Oxford University in England. He said he was honored to 
now be numbered among honorary alumni.

     He shared the distinction this day with U.S. Democratic Congressman John 
Lewis of Atlanta, educational technology guru Brian Hawkins, and three fellow 
Episcopal bishops with ties to the University of the South: Barry Howe of West 
Missouri, Creighton Robertson of South Dakota, and William Skilton of South 
Carolina.

Test the system

     During his three-day visit to Sewanee, the presiding bishop met with the nearly 
200 seminarians, spouses, faculty, and staff at the School of Theology in the recently 
dedicated Chapel of the Apostles to discuss formation for the priesthood. 

     In a small gathering in All Saints' Chapel he fielded questions from undergraduates 
ranging from the church's dealing with issues of human sexuality, how to make 
congregations more welcoming and appealing to young people in worship styles, 
and how to act on a feeling of call to the priesthood as a college student.

     Griswold, noting he was ordained at age 23, said the church needs young people 
who "test the system" and bring to it an "iconoclastic passion." Responding to one 
young woman's question about going to seminary directly out of college, Griswold 
said, "I would say move ahead and knock on the door firmly."

     This was Griswold's third visit to Sewanee, but his first since being elected 
presiding bishop in 1997.

--Sarah T. Moore is director of church communications at University of the South.