The Rt. Rev. Mark Beckwith, 10th Bishop of Newark (2007-2018), attended the 150th Diocesan Convention as a guest. At the Friday dinner he spoke briefly reminding us that while the country is in a challenging place, we have the “via media,” or middle way, in our DNA. (time: 2:46.)
Video Transcript
Thank you, Carlye, and thank you all for your welcome of me, and congratulate all of us on 150 years. I served this diocese as 11 years as a priest, 12 years as a bishop, and now six years canonically resident, but living in New Hampshire. So that’s 30 years, and it’s about 20% of the diocese’s life. And I’m grateful for my time that I’ve been here as a priest and as a bishop, because my time here formed me as a person, as a priest and as a bishop. And the conversations that we had, the learnings that we engaged in, the projects that we embarked upon – all of those things helped shape me, and I’m so grateful for that. And one of the great moments for me was turning the crozier over, not so much that I was giving it over, but to whom I was giving it over, to Carlye, and very grateful that she assumed the role of being bishop in this extraordinary diocese.
And to echo what she was referring to earlier, we’re at a very difficult time, I think, in our country, and I call upon us to draw upon our history and the DNA of our tradition. If we think polarization is difficult to deal with now, go back almost 500 years when we were created, and the tension, the religious tension between Catholic and Protestant was so acute then. And one of the greatest leaders in the Western tradition, Queen Elizabeth I, said, “We are the via media.” We are the way in between. So in tension, something new can emerge. We emerged 500 years ago, as the Anglican Communion and then from that the Episcopal Church. That is in our DNA to walk into the middle of tension and to draw upon the gift of grace and hope and insight that comes out from that. So I challenge and charge you all to continue to do the work that you have done as Episcopalians, and to live into this next phase of life. The country is in a challenging place, but we have some history and some tools and some faith that the world needs. Let’s use it. Thank you.
