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February, 2012

 

Simplicity and Authenticity

 

We ARE slowly getting there!

 

We are beginning to be become more sustainable and life-giving as a Diocesan community.

And that is partially because we are focusing on the virtues of Simplicity and Authenticity.

Two of our four Vision imperatives that you discerned last year were Inspiring Unity (that’s about simplicity) and Focusing on Mission (that’s about authenticity).

 

Let me tell you where I am beginning to see this transformation taking place.

 

1.       Our canons and constitution committee has just shown me their first draft to simplify and authenticate the guidelines by which we govern ourselves. Much which no longer makes sense has been jettisoned.  An effort to prioritize “the law of love” over the “love of law” Is evident. There will be more room for creativity and flexibility as we move into becoming a more relevant Diocesan community. The final version to be proposed by our Standing Committee will be offered to the Diocese at our November Convention – the same convention at which we elect our new bishop.

 

2.       Ken Howard, a nationally known Episcopal priest, author and conference leader will lead our first Diocesan Vision Conference at Christ Church Cathedral on Saturday, May 19^th. Ken’s passion is to authenticate and simplify the ministry and mission of the Church.  He will cheerlead and inspire us to continue the course we have set to become more sustainable and life-giving. Your participation in and enthusiasm for this Vision gathering will be yet another influence on living into our new Diocesan Vision and its goals. Ken’s book, Paradoxy would make a great study focus for this coming Lenten season.

 

3.       On Friday and Saturday, February 24^th and 25^th all of our clergy and one lay leader from each of our congregations will gather at the Lutheran Conference and Camp Center in Chetek for a Lenten retreat that will focus on moving into a simpler and more authentic  emergent spirituality to meet the demands of our present age.

 

4.       You have just completed (January 28^th) or are in the process of completing (February 4^th) three Convocation VIVA 3 gatherings to come to consensus on goals that will drive the four Vision Imperatives* that you discerned last year. These goals will be the foundation for writing a position description of the kind of bishop we want to lead our Diocese in the years ahead. As I begin to see the results (soon to be published) there is clear evidence of a desire to move towards greater simplicity and authenticity. A first (unofficial) look shows a longing:  to build on the ways we connect with one another; to simplify and streamline our structures and accountabilities; and to validate the use of our gifts in serving others.

 

2012 is going to be a productive and energizing year for us. It is such a privilege and joy to be with you in this adventure of reinventing our Diocese. We are discovering together that transformation happens when we dare to live what we believe. Authenticity is about the integrity of having our deeds match our words. That takes a great deal of courage and faith. May the adventure continue on, and may we always be open to the amazing Grace that surrounds every step along the way.

 

With deep and continuing appreciation for you all,

⁺Ed

 

 

* Living in Joy, Inspiring Unity, Focusing on Mission and Energizing God’s People.

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January, 2012

Embracing Mystery

 

It is getting harder and harder these days to communicate or even connect with anyone who has different values or even just different tastes; such is the data-backed judgment of Jim Bishop in his book, The Big Sort.

 

In an age when so much seems uncertain, there is a growing tendency to embrace certainty by narrowing your contacts to just those that think and believe just as you think and believe. There is strong evidence that when people move they seek out neighborhoods that have either liberal or conservative leanings, depending on their own political preference. Most political precincts can now predict with more than 75% accuracy which way their precinct will vote. Fifty years ago most precincts were up for grabs.

 

This polarization is not restricted to politics. One can see it in religion (Muslim vs. Jew/Christian), race, class, etc.

 

All of this flies in the face of a basic Christian value that teaches that unity in diversity is to be espoused. St. Paul calls us to be one body with many divergent parts. The foundation Judaic-Christian doctrine of atonement (at-one-ment) calls us to unity in God. In Christian initiation we proclaim the biblical principle that there is “One Lord, One faith, One baptism.”

 

Our American constitution echoes this value in its desire to give everyone an equal claim to religious and civil liberties. We call ourselves a “melting-pot” of cultural diversity; though in fact we more (and desirably so) a mixed salad with different flavors and textures - an orchestrated rainbow of diversities held together in salad-ness.

 

In sameness we diminish, as we are closed off to newness, variation and discovery. In diversity we grow and evolve, as we embrace the mystery of differentness and the adventure of exploration.

 

Fear is the enemy diversity, differentness and certainty; just as it is the enemy of love and friendship.

 

The antidote to an over-indulgence to certainty is mystery. As it is impossible to keep God nailed to a cross, or encapsulate God in an icon or a doctrine; it is also impossible to reduce our humanity to a class, culture, race, politic or gender.

 

Anglicans used to embrace diversity. We used to call ourselves a “bridge” denomination. We have been known to be a doctrinally “open” community – a safe place to dialogue and grow in faith.

 

I take solace and delight in the awareness that there is a growing community of Christians who are again claiming and living the virtues of mystery and diversity. These growing communities of faith contain liberals and conservatives, protestants and catholics, black and white, young and old, straight and gay. The name usually associated with these communities is “emergent.” Some say that these communities will be to the 21^st century what the Reformation was to the 15^th century. Emergent tendencies seem especially present in Lutheran, Episcopal and United Church of Christ circles.

 

We are blessed to live in this challenging “springtime” of emergent realities. In the midst of our experiences of economic and political unrest, we - along with our children and grandchildren - have the opportunity to lay the groundwork that will shape a more just, diverse and hope-filled future. By the way, this year’s Lenten retreat for clergy and wardens (February 24-25) will focus on emergent spirituality – a spiritualty that is open to mystery and otherness.

 

As we leave the Christmas season of new-birth and enter the Epiphany season of miraculous manifestations, I ask your prayer that we all may be open to new signs of hope in our personal lives and in our Diocese.

 

O God, by the leading of a star you manifested your only Son

to the peoples of the earth: Lead us, who know you now by

faith, to your presence, where we may see your glory face to

face; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns

with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

 

⁺Ed

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December, 2011

 

Living Advent as New Adventure

 

“When God created us, God gave Adam a secret - and that secret was not how to begin, but how to begin again. In other words, it is not given to us to begin, that privilege is God’s alone. But it is given to us to begin again – and we do every time we choose to defy death and side with the living.” [i]

- Elie Wiesel

 

Every Advent gives us access to a new beginning, a second chance to cycle through the Church seasons, connecting our story with Jesus’ story. The new Church year is yet another opportunity for transformation; another opportunity to grow up into Christ; an opportunity to become more of “the best that we can be.”

 

Ad-vent literally means “new-venture”: a new adventure!

 

This has special significance to us in the (becoming new) Diocese of Eau Claire. This will be the year that we begin to put flesh on our vision and name the goals that we will be challenged to live into. This is the year that we will describe the kind of bishop we will need to lead us into becoming a new “Small and Alive” kind of Diocese. And finally, this will be the year that we elect and call our new bishop.

 

A couple of years ago author and publisher Phyllis Tickle made a strong case that every 500 years the Church has a “giant rummage sale” in which a new, more vital form of Christianity emerges. The last Great emergence issued in the Reformation in the 16^th century. It gave us Protestantism, a vital and necessary corrective to a 15^th century Church was becoming decadent and self-serving.  Richard Hooker and Queen Elizabeth 1st gave shape to that new emergence with what we call the Anglican “middle way” and the Elizabeth Settlement.

 

Tickle and a host of others are now attempting to give shape to yet another more vital expression of our Christian Church. It is a time as Jesus described in his own day of taking out of our treasury the best of the past and adding to it the things that God is now requiring (Mt 13:52).

 

Emergent Christianity looks to break through all the old divides (Catholic vs. Protestant, liberal vs. conservative, high church vs. low church) to find a more fruitful, life-giving way to “love mercy, do justice and walk humbly with their God.” The Episcopal Church’s middle way is ripe territory for emergent community development and practice. We are and always have been a people on a journey.

 

The Holy Spirit is moving in our Diocese in a unique and wonderful way. I look forward to journeying with you in this Advent (new adventure) time. To help encourage the journey, we are offering two significant opportunities for spiritual nurture:

·         On Friday -Saturday, February 24-25 I am offering a Lenten Retreat on Emergent Spirituality at a place yet to be designated. This will be for all clergy (expected to attend) and the senior wardens, or if unable to attend another lay leader of each congregation.

·         On Saturday, May 19 we will hold our Diocese’s first annual Vision Conference. We are in conversation with a nationally known Episcopal leader in emergent development to come and lead the conference. We hope to hold the conference in the Great (upstairs) Hall of our Cathedral. More details will be forthcoming as planning for this event evolves with our Convocation Deans.

 

May your Advent and new year in Christ be filled with amazing Grace and much joy.

 

⁺Ed

 

[i] Elie Wiesel, Messages of God: Biblical Portraits and Legends (New York: Random House, 1976) p. 32.

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November 2, 2011

Pastoral Letter Click (Here)

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November 1, 2011

Becoming Salt; Becoming One

 

"You are the salt of the earth..." - Matthew 5:13

"Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another." - Mark 9:50

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt..." - Colossians 4:6

 

It is an amazing thing!

 

Sodium and Chlorine are significantly different elements. Sodium is a caustic metal and chlorine is a poisonous gas. And yet when you put them in a sealed crucible, turn up the heat and pressure, there is a magical moment of chemical conversion when the two elements become a compound that is amazingly transformed into a substance that in New Testament times was an essential preservative and food seasoner.

 

Perhaps you've heard the folk song that speaks of this sodium and chlorine connecting as a love affair where the sodium and chlorine are ions in the ocean, one positive and the other negative. They seek each other out and the male sodium says to the female chlorine, "I'll change your name from chlorine to chloride." The song ends with these words:

 

"Now the sea evaporates to make the clouds for rain and snow,

Leaving her chemical compounds in the absence of H2O

But the crystals that wash upon the shore are happy ones, so if you never thought before,

Think of the love that you eat ... when you salt your meat!"

 

I have often used this Na+Cl=NaCl metaphor when speaking of the sacrament of Christian Marriage - suggesting that when one male connects with one female in the binding covenant of marriage, the two become "one flesh," and that new reality is something much more than the sum of its parts. Synergy happens!

 

Jesus speaks of the mystery of this relational synergy in other ways. He teaches that when "two or three are gathered in my Name there I will be in your midst." The gathered community becomes more than the sum of its members.

 

Again in the fifteenth chapter of Acts, at the conclusion of the Church's very first Convention in Jerusalem, the leaders spill out and proclaim that the "we and the Holy Spirit have wed and now have become a new reality (paraphrase)."

 

There is much wonderment and mystery in covenantal relationships.

 

In the struggle to become one: in the give and take; in the patience of listening and speaking; in acts of loving and forgiving - a new transformed presence comes into being. In Christian marriage we say that this new presence is "a sign of Christ's love to this sinful and broken world - a sign that unity may overcome estrangement, forgiveness heal guilt, and joy conquer despair." In like fashion in the Nicene Creed we proclaim a belief in a "holy, catholic and apostolic Church that is ONE" and that oneness is a sign of what our broken world and lives can become.

 

I love this sacramental imagery. It is an imagery that invites us into new partnerships in which when we remain faithful, we actually can and do change the world.

 

I'd like to think of the next thirteen months as an engagement time in which we do lots of "giving and taking, listening and speaking, loving and forgiving" with our brothers and sisters in the Diocese of Fond du Lac - all leading up to the consummation of our relationship on January 1, 2013 when we become a truly new Diocese with a new name and new identity.

 

May the "marriage" of our two Dioceses become a sign of hope and transformation to the Episcopal Church and to the world.

 

⁺Ed

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October , 2011

 

New Hope for the Future

 

As our Diocese begins to live into a new and hopeful future after our "win/win" vote at our Special Convention on October 22, there is now even more hopeful evidence that the next generation of American history is going to bring creative change and imaginative innovation to the divisive weariness that we are now experiencing in American politics.

 

Morley Winograd and Michael Hais have written a new book (Millennial Momentum) which forecasts a better future based on the past four, 80 year cycles of American History. Utilizing the popular and widely accepted generational typing of Strauss and Howe's Generations: The History of America's Future (Generation X, Baby Boomers, Millennials, etc.),  Millennial Momentum breaths welcome fresh air into predictions about the next thirty years of American life.

 

Historically, every 80 years, American has gone through four different 20 year generational cycles that move our country from times of doom and gloom to new and creative prosperity. It has always been the third of the four generation groupings that move our country from despair to hope and new life. The last three turning points in American history were:

 

·         the American Revolution turning point (1773 - 1789)

·         the Civil War turning point (1860 - 1877)

·         the New Deal turning point (1929 - 1941)

·         the NEXT turning point - yet to be named (2008 - 2030?):  the era when the Millennials become our nation's leaders

 

Each turning point has been preceded by a time of "FUD" (fear, uncertainty and doubt). The last turning point was during the era of FDR's New Deal (after WW II) and featured as its leaders, the GI Generation which is described most aptly in broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw's 1998 book The Greatest Generation.

 

Our next "greatest generation" are our grandchildren, born between 1982 and 2003. They will be the largest 20 year generation in American history, making up one-third of the voting population. They will also be the most diverse generation with 40% of the Millennials being non-Anglo. What especially sets this generation off as new and unique is its valuing of community, unity and tolerance. This is the generation of social networking - the same group that is spearheading the "Arab Spring" overseas. America's past, fierce valuing of a polarizing "cowboy" independence is shifting to a kinder and gentler valuing of inter-dependence.

 

Millennial Momentum describes this generation as one that will produce:

 

"... a more tolerant, inclusive society, that sees government as a force for good and economic inequality as a problem to be solved. With their unique combination of pragmatism and idealism, Millennials will force the country to address the long simmering challenges it has steadfastly avoided dealing with the last several decades."[1]

 

To add another ingredient of hopefulness to this scenario, our House of Bishops (getting younger and more "millennial") is proposing a resolution at our July 2012 General Convention to streamline and make our Episcopal governing process more simple, functional, fruit-bearing and missional. Those are the same goals that have driven the continuing renewal and new life in our own Diocese.

 

My friends we have much to look forward to in the exciting years ahead. It is a joy and a delight to be on this ride with you.

 

⁺Ed

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[1] Winograd and Hais, Millennial Momentum (2011), page 42.

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September 2011

 

It’s good to back in with you in Eau Claire (as of September 5)!

 

Fact is I have not really been away. Here in my “Milwaukee Office, Diocese of Eau Claire East” I receive emails and phone calls almost daily, and I have been at number of meetings with many of you. And… all of you are in my prayers and thoughts always.

 

Our hugely important Convention gatherings (October 22 in Eau Claire, and November 4-5 in Hudson) will soon be here. The question on all of our hearts and minds is “How will we decide?” Healthy discernment requires 1) paying attention, 2) asking questions, 3) reading over all of the materials being made available, 4) engaging others in conversation, and above all prayer.

 

During my last two plus months with you we engaged in holy conversations regarding what kind of future we wanted at our Convocational and leadership gatherings. Your Living into the Future Task Force integrated and summarized your deliberations in the acronym LIFE: Living in joy, Inspiring unity, Focusing on mission, Energizing God’s people. A good question to ask is, “Which of our two options for our future will best live into this future vision?”

For more on this see, dioec.com/Documents/VISION%20Narrative%20-%20final.pdf.

 

Another good question to ask in discerning our best possible future is, “What kind of Church (Diocese) is God calling us to be?” I recently received a two minute video from an Anglican colleague in Canada which asked this question: “What kind of Church do you want to be a part of?” It uses the metaphor of ships and asks, “Do you want to be Cruise ship or a Battleship?” You can see the video at ignitermedia.com. I encourage you to watch this on your computer, or perhaps show it a Church gathering. I have purchased a copy of this in various formats and would happily email it you.

 

The choice of a boat metaphor for the Church is an intriguing one. After all, the ship is an ancient symbol of the church, and the central part of a church building’s interior is still called a “nave” (from the Latin “navis”, meaning ship). Here is my Canadian colleague’s helpful refection on the video:

 

 

Perhaps, like me, you have wondered what sort of ship or boat the church might be. We are not alone in this wondering. The artists at ignitermedia.com, in one of their mini movies titled Cruise Ship vs. Battleship, play with this idea. They ask if, when we are “church shopping”, our criteria center on a ship that exists to meet our needs or on one that equips members for service. Do our questions about a potential church home sound like this: Is the service good? Am I well fed? Are my needs met promptly? Do I like the captain and crew? Do I like the music they play in the ballroom? Or, do our questions point beyond ourselves: Is the ship on a clear and noble mission? Are the crew members equipped and encouraged to contribute in significant ways?

 

Another type of boat is prominent in Scripture. Rather than stories of luxury liners, cruise ships, or battleships there are stories of fishing boats. Simple, sturdy boats designed to sail the waters and gather fish to feed others but often enlisted by Jesus as a place for teaching or as a way to cross Lake Gennesaret and further his ministry. These are working boats with a crew of people working together on a common mission. The more experienced crew members mentor newer members and show them the ropes. Sometimes Jesus provides a counterintuitive fishing tip, as recorded in Luke 5 when, after a night’s fishing results in no catch he suggests that the experienced, commercial fishers put out into the deep water and let their nets down again; the results are astonishing! And the work is not without risk; the boats and the crew encounter potentially fatal storms on perilous water.

 

Has your congregation had conversations about your purpose, considering, metaphorically speaking, the kind of boat you are and might be? Is your focus on trying to keep afloat in perilous waters? Are you working to provide a great cruise experience? Or are you centering your activities on the noble mission to which God is calling you and Holy Spirit is strengthening you to carry out faithfully? Are you equipping the members of your crew, sitting in your nave, to live out their baptismal promises in practical ways and risk working together to serve God and others in unpredictable waters? Congregational coaches can assist you to have these conversations. Once clear priorities for ministry are identified, coaches can further assist your congregation to map out tangible plans for taking action and mobilizing your resources to sail in some uncharted waters, all the while remembering that the boat, its mission, crew, and gear belong, not to us, but to our gracious God.

 

      -      Marilyn Malton, Lay Canon, Congregational Development, Diocese of Huron and Director of  the   Renison  Institute of Ministry, Waterloo

 

⁺Ed

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August 2011

They’re Connected!

 

Bacon & eggs; scotch & soda; peanut butter & jelly; pencil & paper; ham & eggs; chips & dip, breathing in & breathing out, husband and wife, etc., etc. They belong together. It’s hard to think of one without thinking of the other.

 

Now try this pair on for size: Liturgy & Mission. Two sides of the same coin? Well, maybe at first they don’t seem all that connected; but in truth they are; or better put, they should be connected.

 

As our besieged Church begins to find its way back into the center of people’s lives we are beginning to rediscover the vital connection between our Liturgy and our Mission. Churches that are reinvigorated get this connection.

 

Liturgy exists to inspire and energize us to be Christ’s Body given for service to others. Liturgy connects our lives with Christ’s life. Good liturgy reminds us who we are and why we exist. In liturgy we literally feed on God’s Love and on God’s Word. We are accepted, forgiven and encouraged. In liturgy we are equipped to be sent out to be the very heart and hands of Jesus for others. At the end of our Eucharistic liturgy we are sent out with these words: “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.”

 

Mission is how we live out our lives during the week. It is the ministry we do in our various callings and settings. Mission is the fruit our being; it is what we do with our lives. Proper mission is centered in God who is alive and actively engaged in the world. Mission is partnering with God’s ongoing acts of healing, restoration and reconciliation. Mission is the bottom line of what it means to be the Church. A Church without mission has lost it soul; just as the Church without good liturgy has lost its identity. The Church is like an arrow where its feathers/guidance system is its liturgy, and its point/impact system is its mission.

 

Liturgy focuses and energizes our mission. As we become weary in mission we return to our liturgy for refreshment, encouragement and insight. Liturgy and Mission: they truly are the two sides of the coin that we call Church.

 

Vital and effective mission requires good liturgy. But what is good liturgy? It should be no surprise to learn that good liturgy is liturgy that evokes vital and effective mission. The word “liturgy” is a Greek word which means, “community service.” Liturgy is “the mission of the people.” Liturgy is not meant just for our personal or private regeneration. Good liturgy equips our Christian community for mission.

 

Music is a particularly important part of our liturgy. It ignites something primal inside of us. Scholars now believe that our ancient forbearers SANG sounds before they formed words and language. Tunes, melodies, and lyrics linger on in our memories outlasting other forms of memory. While I was in Canada, I witnessed the singing of the Lord’s Prayer transform small and large congregations alike. You don’t have to have an orchestra and choir for your music to do its transforming and motivating magic (though they are incredibly wonderful assets when available).

 

If you are on or near a computer, plug into this You Tube clip of Cliff Richards singing the Lord’s Prayer http://youtu.be/cA5QJS3paAo. I successfully used this clip projected onto the sanctuary wall of small Church sanctuaries. Folks joined in and got what Jesus intended in this prayer; they understood that this prayer was meant to equip us for mission. Here is another Cliff Richard’s clip doing the Lord’s Prayer amidst thousands http://youtu.be/bz70bUIaNSw. Notice the faces of the people: they’re alive, invigorated and connected. African American worship music has a similar ability to connect and invigorate. Lift Every Voice and Sing II and Wonder, Love and Praise have lots of simple spirituals and chants that help create Liturgy for mission.

 

Other aspects of our liturgy that can be enhanced to foster mission might include: our use of space, banners, liturgical kites, reading in parts, dramatization of the gospel, projection of images, procession, liturgical dance, etc. Let me encourage you to experiment. Form a worship/mission committee. Let your Liturgy become “the work of the people.”

⁺Ed

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June, 2011

 

In Recovery and Listening

 

As you may know, I had total knee replacement surgery last week.

 

Don’t you hate it: that long drawn out time of endless waiting – waiting from waking up after surgery to the time of getting “back to normal?” Waiting to stop shivering and warm up and then waiting to cool down.  You become absolutely dependent on others and on circumstances. It’s regression to early childhood. “Do this! Do that!” And the doing really hurts. Yet in the midst of all of this deprivation good things happen; for me two good things eventuated last week.

 

1. I never watch TV during the day. But out of the sheer boredom of waiting I watched Oprah Winfrey’s last show.  What a delight and a surprise! She was summing up 25 years of the best of what she’d learned and wanted to pass on. As you may know, Oprah has done much to help us overcome the imprisonments of shame and fear in our culture – leading with stories of transformation in her own life. Her seamless transparency and genuine caring has made her into our big sister – or our big-hearted mama. Her final, summing up message to us all was:

   “Be yourself… you are validated because you have a special and unique life… listen to your life – it is speaking to you… everyone has a calling… start embracing the life that is calling you and use it to serve the world.”

   That really caught my attention. That could have been Desmond Tutu preaching. I thought of our baptismal covenant and of the words I say to those whom I am laying hands on as I confirm them.    

  Oprah ended by saying her secret to success was that she was always “listening to God’s voice, listening to Jesus and to my team.”

   And then I thought, isn’t that we are doing here in Eau Claire? We have been listening to what is good about our life; listening for God’s voice; listening for God’s voice in one another; discerning our call – our special calling as a small diocese to serve the world.

 

2.

I also became best friends with my CPM (continuous passive motion) device. You put your leg into this monster machine and it slowly moves your knee joint from full extension (straight out) to varying degrees of flexion (up to 120 degrees). This device becomes a part of you for eight hours (on and off) every day for your first three weeks or so. It hurts as you get pushed from one extreme to the other. The idea is that a healthy knee can be both rigid and flexible; rigid and strong at its extension, and relaxed and flexible in its bending. After surgery your knee is in a kind of stuck purgatory where you feel your knee is encased in cement.

   So there I am in this waiting/boring state of forced manipulation hour after hour, my mind begins to wander and I begin to do my “priestly – meaning finding” thing. I ponder; isn’t life like this? We get stuck in life – stiff to life’s demands and changing circumstances. We need something to get back into motion; back into standing strong and firm, and then reaching out – flexing forth in faith to a new place. There’s a rhythm here: a going back and forth from being strong and confident, to being flexible and open. And so (in the boredom of my waiting) I began to say a mantra to myself. As my leg goes into painful extension, I say “long and strong;” and as it goes to a new, painful flex position, I say, “bent and spent.” Long and strong, bent and spent. Long and strong, bent and spent.

   I don’t think that lyric has sufficient dignity to be turned into a hymn. But, hey, it’s working for me – getting me through the pain to gain.

   And if dare I reflect again: this rhythmic mantra of going from pain to gain, from an old place to a new place, is kind of what we have been doing here in our diocesan effort to establish a new identity and vision.

 

So there you have it. Even in my time away from the diocese, I can’t really be away from the diocese. You are in my thoughts and prayers – you fill up my empty spaces during those long times of waiting for healing. And thank you for your prayers to help me along the way.

 

⁺Ed

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May, 2011

A Pastoral Letter to the People of the Diocese of Eau Claire

-         The Final Stretch -

        May 1, 2011

“I look to the future because that’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.” – George Burns

“When we change the way we look at things, the things we look at change.” – new learning of  neuroscience

 

Dear friends with whom I share ministry in this Diocese,

 

Seven months ago you called me to work with you to find alternate ways for our Diocese to live into a viable and sustainable future. We are now beginning the final stretch of that work as we look forward to a one-day, Special Convention at our Cathedral on Saturday, October 22. Two weeks later we will gather for our regular, annual Convention in Hudson to begin to work into the new structure that you will have determined for our future on October 22.

 

As we began our work together last year, we initially considered three models for our future structure:

1. Remain as the Diocese of Eau Claire with a new viable infrastructure and a part time bishop. My time with you has been a living experiment of the potential effectiveness of such an approach.

2. Create a brand new diocese in “Northern Wisconsin” in partnership with the Diocese of Fond du Lac. This structure would allow for the creation of a brand new, viable infrastructure and identity, with the combined financial and human resources of both dioceses. The timing would be right as we seek a new future, and as the Diocese of Fond du Lac either continues on with election of a new Bishop, or joins with us in the birthing of a new Diocese.

3. Secede our congregations and resources to the Diocese of Milwaukee, and live into and with that Diocese’s current identity and vision.

 

Early on I approached the leadership of the Diocese of Milwaukee about option three. Bishop Miller quickly and decisively responded that for Milwaukee, option three would not be a workable way forward for the following two reasons:

1. The cultures of our two dioceses are considerable different.

2. The Diocese of Milwaukee’s current configuration is working fine as is. There appeared to be no value for Milwaukee in absorbing Eau Claire’s congregations and resources.

 

Since then, our Living Into the Future Together (LIFT) task force along with our Standing Committee and Executive Council have been looking at the potentialities of options one and two. To assist in this venture we have:

1. Had seven “town meetings” (five convocation, and two leadership gatherings) utilizing a visioning, goal setting process called VIVA.
2. Successfully worked at shoring up our present financial stability.

3. Simplified and unified various aspects of our diocesan infrastructure (called regional Deans to share in the Bishop’s pastoral oversight, combined the operations of the Standing Committee and Executive Council, initiated successful regional confirmations, enhanced our communication resources, etc.)

4. Bishops Leidel and Jacobus have spent time visiting with the leadership of each other’s dioceses to discern the level of commitment for creating a new diocese. They have both discovered a clear similarity in diocesan cultures and a genuine albeit cautious interest in creating a new diocese.

5. Initiated a joint task force of eight leaders from our diocese and the Diocese of Fond du Lac to examine the financial, canonical and structural ramifications and benefits of creating a new diocese from the resources of our present two dioceses. A report of this task force’s findings will be shared at our pre-convention meetings in late October and early November of this year.

6. The standing Committee will prepare a report for our pre-convention meetings describing the financial do-ability of continuing on with a part time bishop.

 

To help in clarifying both the opportunities and challenges of the two options for future diocesan structure, I am enclosing/attaching a number of resources for your study and edification;

1. A flow chart comparing the two options’ action plans for moving forward.

2. A chart showing some of the pros and cons of each of the two options.

3. A list of our Living Into the Future Together task force members and their email addresses.

4. A list of our eight diocesan leaders who are members of the joint Eau Claire/Fond du Lac task force.

5. A list of the members of our Diocesan Standing Committee and Executive Council members and their email addresses.

 

To assist in open and ongoing dialogue about the decision that lies before us, we have set up the following opportunities for continuing conversation:

1. Beginning next week a bulletin insert will be made available every other Sunday for your congregation’s Sunday worship bulletin. Each insert will address questions that are being raised about our future options. The inserts are being authored by members of our LIFT task force and coordinated by Deacon Jo Glasser.

2. During the Wednesdays and Sundays of September, our Convocation Deans, Deacon Glasser and Bishop Ed will personally visit every congregation to further explain our future options and be available for questions and answers.

3. There will be three Convocation pre-convention meetings to share any final information and to address any final questions regarding the decision to be made regarding our future structure on October 22. The three dates are:

1. Central Convocation: Saturday, October 1, 2011

2. Northern Convocation: Saturday, October 8, 2011

3. Southern Convocation: Saturday, October 15, 2011

Your servant in Christ,

⁺ Ed

Attachment ONE (Flow chart for the two options)

Attachment TWO (Pros and Cons of the twp options)

Attachment THREE (Prayer to be said at all Sunday Services until October 22)

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April, 2011

Living Together in our Global Community

 

At last month’s House of Bishop’s meeting at the Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina two of our five days were dedicated to urgent issues each of which related to discerning how we as Bishops could lead our dioceses in working towards bringing peace and unity to our global community.

 

The first of these two discussions was around Islam-Christian Relations. My notes on this information-laid discussion are attached (Here). We had two distinguished guests: Dr. Ahmed (retired ambassador and now professor at Harvard), and Eliza Griswold (journalist and author and daughter of former Presiding Bishop, Frank Griswold). Each of guests has just published a book on Islam-Christian relations: Journey into America, by Dr. Ahmed, and The Tenth Parallel by Eliza Griswold. I highly recommend each of these books.

 

The recent burning of a copy of the Quran by an American Fundamentalist clergyman which resulted in the killing of a significant number of Christians in Pakistan and in Afghanistan points to the reality of the tenuous and fragile relationship between our two great Abrahamic faiths. Islam and Christianity make up 60% of the world’s population; and Islam and Christianity each make up 30% of that population.

 

In a recent survey it was shown that (1) 43% of US citizens are prejudiced against Islam, (2) two-thirds of US pastors are prejudiced against Islam, and (3) one-half of all US pastors think Islam is evil. In reality the vast majority of Islamic people are peace-loving people, just as are the vast number of the world’s Christians. Each faith shared the scriptures of the Old Testament, and the Quran names Jesus as history’s only true miracle worker, and as one who is essentially the Spirit of the one true God. A Great sign of hope: In Omaha Nebraska, The Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska has entered into a tri-faith initiative with the Islamic and Jewish community which is aiming to build an immense tri faith worship center with three separate worship areas and a common center for learning and dialogue.

 

Imagine the good that could eventuate once we engage in open and transparent dialogue. Imagine how different our world could become. Perhaps this I could become a primary focus for our newly formulated Diocesan Peace Commission.

 

The second House of Bishops discussion centered on the values and potential disvalues of the impending Anglican Covenant which will be a major topic at our upcoming 2012 General Convention in Indianapolis. We had three Anglican primates as our guests: the primates of Korea, the Congo and Canada. Each spoke of their jurisdictions hopes and concerns of the aims and consequences of having the Covenant govern and “police” how we relate to each other as interdependent Anglican provinces. All three said they liked the first three sections of the Covenant but had very serious concerns about the goals and ultimate effects of the fourth section; which in effect gives power and influence to a few to determine how provinces who have minority views about such issues such as human sexuality might be delegated to a lesser, non-voting status within the communion. The concern from the Congo was that once again there would be an “imperial overlord” in there culture that would take away their right to local governance. Another concern raised was that the Covenant would return the Anglican Communion into structure akin to that of Roman Catholicism – a structure that we sought to be free of in the 16^th century time of Reformation.

 

A hope was expressed that the fourth section of the Covenant might yet be changed to give it a less hierarchical tone; a tone that would retain the genius of the local-global tension that has always been a part of our Anglican history.

 

For more information about the Anglican Covenant check out the following web sites:

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/commission/covenant/final/text.cfm

http://blog.noanglicancovenant.org/2011/02/perfect-fear-casts-out-love.html

http://ecubishop.wordpress.com/2009/12/19/an-improved-anglican-covenant/

http://www.thinkinganglicans.org.uk/archives/004132.html

Check on your Google search engine for many more sites to give an overview to this ongoing conversation.

 

Together in Christ,

⁺Ed

March, 2011
The Power of Vision
Everything changes. The choice we always have is whether or not to be in charge of the change. Or, another way to put it: Do we want to happen to life, or just let life happen to us. Yet another well-known version of this wisdom is in Proverbs 29:18, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

 

Opportunities for significant positive transformation come along just so many times in a life time. People living in many of Arab Near Eastern countries are in the process of seizing the moment. Many of our state legislators and groups of middle class folk are seizing the day to reign in what they perceive to be a better future. These are exciting days of new possibility.

 

Last October/November we rediscovered a positive “YES” diocesan identity that has given us the confidence and energy to begin to vision a new kind of sustainable, emerging and life giving community within the Episcopal Church. When I return to the diocese on March 15, we will begin to gather again in our convocations to work the VIVA process. Our workshops now will focus on discerning a fresh vision for our diocese. This will be the most critical and creative leg of our journey into the future.

 

This past February, by invitation from Bishop Jacobus, I traveled from our new Milwaukee home into the Diocese of Fond du Lac four times to engage the leadership and people in a conversation about whether or not the time was right for us to work together as we envision a new future and way of being diocese. I met with the clergy and their Diocesan Council on two different occasions; and the grassroots of the diocese at two different regional gatherings to which any and all were invited. I received an enthusiastic welcome and quickly discovered the northern culture of our two dioceses is very much alike. As in Eau Claire there clearly exists in Fond du Lac a growing sense that “things cannot keep on as they are.”

 

I shared with them our VIVA process and our new YES identity slogan. Folks in Fond du Lac are interested in talking about junctioning, but are not at a place (as we are) to move ahead into a new place. I heard folks say they needed time to catch up to be in the same place we are before they could begin to decide and commit. Fond du Lac was ready to seriously venture towards junctioning a couple of years ago. But then Eau Claire wasn’t ready, and consequently you called a bishop provisional to help you figure out your best future option. Timing was an issue then for Eau Claire; and now timing is an issue for Fond du Lac.

 

I Have invited Bishop Jacobus to visit with us at our Leadership Gathering on April 2, and with our clergy at our April 8-9 Clergy Retreat. What will come of all of this - is at this time unclear. What is hopeful is that whether we decide to junction together or not, there is now a desire for our two dioceses to work together in new ways to share resources and to maximize our potential for mission.

 

And so the time has come for us to seize the moment. We have a time line that is driving us to complete our VIVA process by this year’s November Convention. At that time my time with you will be drawing to a close, and you will be launching your action plan and goals to live into your new way of being diocese.

 

For this to happen effectively we need you to bring your visioning gifts to one of the three planned Convocation Visioning Gatherings: (1) Northern Convocation at Grace, Rice Lake, Saturday, March 19 from 9 to 11 AM, (2) Central Convocation at Grace, Menominee, Saturday March 19 from 1 to 3 PM, and (3) Southern Convocation at Christ Church, La Cross, March 26 from 9:30 to Noon.

 

I look forward to seeing you there.

Together in Christ, +Ed

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February, 2011

 

Regionalization, Imagination and Willpower

 

What do these three words have in common? Richard Longworth - a writer for the Chicago Tribune and a fellow at the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, in his book Caught in the Middle suggests that they are the necessary ingredients for restoring life to a failing Midwest America.

 

Longworth describes how the Midwest, once the very heart and value consciousness of America is dying at the expense of globalization. Globalization being the driving force of a dramatic change affecting all of our lives. As Midwestern values are grounded in a sense of permanence, we aren’t handling this transformation well. Longworth describes how our once prosperous small town farming communities are becoming the “slums” of a new world order as we displace our youthful idealism and our jobs to the global big city centers of technology in America, China and India.

 

But it’s not downhill in all of our Midwest’s small towns. Growth is occurring in many bedroom communities and in communities where a corn based agriculture is benefiting from biotech and methane manufacturing, and by manufacturing based on a Hispanic Immigrant work force. These growth anomalies unfortunately are exceptions and not the rule. Longworth says we small town Midwesterners need an “attitude transplant.” He suggests we need to stop being the self-sufficient loners portrayed in the iconic image of the Midwesterner in the “American Gothic” painting by Grant Wood. We have to change. We need to start to work together in new ways (regionalization). Instead of fighting the flow, we need to go with it and imagine/create our own regional centers that can compete in a global market. We need regionalization, imagination and willpower.

 

So what does all of this have to do with us Episcopalians in the Midwestern Diocese of Eau Claire? Clearly we too have and are experiencing a diminishing sustainability. Are regionalization, imagination and willpower avenues for us to consider on the road that leads to a more prosperous future? I think so.

 

Regionalization: Five of our northernmost congregations have begun to meet together (three clergy and five laity) to begin to imagine how they might support one another, share resources and together offer a ministry that would not be possible if done individually. The two Lutheran (ELCA) bishops that overlap our diocesan territory have indicated to me a strong desire to share resources and work together in mission to create a more significant ministry to the growing needs of our small town communities. These past two weeks and during this present month of February (in my “free time”) I am connecting with the clergy, leadership and grassroots of the Diocese of Fond du Lac to explore what we might begin to do together to further the health and vigor of our Episcopal mission to northern Wisconsin. As you know, one of the outcomes of our new vision as a diocese is to “junction” with Fond du Lac.

 

Imagination: Imagination is deeply linked to education, hope and risking. These past three months have begun to give way to a new hope in our future based on a new confidence in our present identity. Our new identity slogan claims that we are a YES people ready to engage (risk) a new future. From what I am experiencing I believe our growing edge is in education and formation. I have asked our clergy to offer new “inquirers” classes this Epiphany and Lenten seasons for any and all who want to deepen their understanding and commitment of what it means to be a life giving Episcopal Christian at this challenging time of history. I hope that when I come to our three regional confirmation gatherings in May that many of you will present yourselves for the Sacrament of Reaffirmation.

 

Willpower: A transformed diocese will not happen by itself. It will require many decisive acts of courageous commitment. I have long thought and taught the most needed and most potent leadership characteristic for an emerging new Christendom is perseverance. I am not speaking of stubbornness. I mean the ability to hang in there against all odds. Years ago Karl Menninger wrote that the greatest sin of our age was “acedia” or giving up. How often do we cry out, “I give up,” “what’s the use,” or “who cares?” One of our “old fashioned” Midwesterner values was willpower. I believe it’s still there. Our children need to see us modeling this kind of heroic behavior.

 

Truly, this is a great time to be alive. I am so blessed to be your bishop. We are blessed to have before us the possibility of creating a new diocese. It won’t be easy. We will need all of the willpower, imagination and connecting that we can muster. May God bless our endeavors.

 

+Ed

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January, 2010

Seeing: The Gift of Epiphany

 

Years ago while my granddaughters were visiting, we spent time together writing and producing a homemade DVD movie which the girls named, “The Adventures of Furby and I-Dog.” As I entered the creatively rich world of a ten and eight year old, I was deeply impressed and energized by their ability to see and to imagine. Would that we could keep those gifts of perception as we “grow up” in what we adults call the “real world.”

 

In the Service of Baptism we pray that the newly baptized will exercise the “gift of joy and wonder in all God’s works.”

 

The season of epiphany is about seeing; really seeing; seeing deeply; seeing beyond the common place. The shepherds saw the glory of the heavenly hosts. Moses saw a flaming bush. What are you seeing these days?

 

Too often we get so locked into the concerns and challenges of the day that we miss seeing the incredible future that God is offering to enfold all around us.

 

It’s not easy to get from seeing things in an old way to a new and deeper way. For example:

 

Ken Olsen, founder and of Digital Equipment Corp. said in 1977: “There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home.”

Decca Recording Co. rejected the Beatles in 1962 saying: “We don’t like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out.”

H.M. Warner of Warner Brothers said in 1927: “Who the hell wants to hear actors talk.”

 

One hundred years ago, Einstein saw a vision of waves that gave birth to the truth that time is not an absolute and that matter and energy are interchangeable. Seventy five years ago Max Born envisioned a universe that has the potential of existing in multiple forms. Relativity, Quantum, Chaos, Complexity and String theories are new windows to see through to experience the wonderful and mysterious strangeness of God’s creation. Almost all of the great intuitive jumps towards new and deeper truth are made by open-eyed scientists who were also either artists or musicians.

 

Playfulness, art, drama, stories, dreams, music are all vehicles that help unblock and transform old ways of seeing that no longer fit a newer awareness of reality.

 

We are hearing more and more about paradigm shifts these days. How able and flexible are you in seeing God’s world in a new and deeper way? The following list may test your awareness and adaptability.

 

 

Old Paradigm	New paradigm
Life happens to me.	I happen to life.
I am the product of circumstances.	I can intentionally recreate circumstances.
We are passive observers of a static and basically changeless reality.	We are interactive participants in an unfolding and dynamic reality.
We can observe something without changing it.	We cannot observe anything without changing it.
The Universe is mechanistic, simple and predictable.	The Universe is organic, complex and unpredictable.
There is an ultimate explanation (model, formula, doctrine) for all things.	Ultimately, Life is Mystery - forever unfolding and unpredictable.
I can never be like the historical Jesus.	We have been baptized into the Body of Christ. We are an evolving work in progress. We will do even greater works then Jesus has done. (John 14:6-14)

 

 

For more about the “new” paradigm which is grounded firmly in Scripture, read Brian McLaren’s, A New Kind of Christianity: Ten Questions that are Transforming the Faith. This would make an excellent study book for Lent.

 

+Ed