Bishop Beckwith

I was once asked a trick question in a Bible course I took years ago: what is the first event in the Hebrew Scriptures? The creation story, I thought. Nope, said the instructor. It was the Exodus -- because the dramatic story of the journey from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land was the first event that was remembered by the Jewish people. Were it not for God's deliverance, everything that happened beforehand would have been forgotten or lost.

Quid pro quo. Translated from Latin, it means ‘something for something’. Over the centuries, quid pro quo has become our cultural way. It is the foundation of a market economy. Payment given should equal value received – and vice versa.

The Episcopal Address for the 135th Annual Convention
of the Episcopal Diocese of Newark
Saturday, January 31, 2009
The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith

Portents and promises.  Both are in vivid display in the scriptural texts for Advent, creating a kind of spiritual whiplash as we move from Isaiah’s forbidding image in Advent 1 (“O that you would tear open the heavens and come down so that the mountains would quake…” Isaiah 64) to the prophet’s words of hope in Advent 2 (“Comfort, O comfort my people”… Isaiah 40).  More troubling, and perhaps more spiritually wrenching – are the contemporary portents that seem to emerge everywhere we look.  We have an economy in a fierce tailspin; which is a unique form of violence, in that

“Just pray and have faith.”

That was the response of a Catholic priest to his congregation after their church burned down, as reported in a newspaper article years ago. I knew the priest and I knew the church – and I thought his congregation would want to hear something more than a theological bromide in a time of crisis. I know I did. I wanted to hear – and I imagined his parishioners wanted to hear, words related to an action plan -- and strategies for finding interim worship space, securing insurance payments and raising money.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

This morning, we finished a two-and-a-half day retreat, led by Archbishop Rowan Williams.  The Canterbury Cathedral was completely closed off to the public so 700 plus bishops could be together in communion and prayer together.  It was an enormous honor to have this ancient holy space all to ourselves.
 

Diocesan Convention Address
134th Annual Convention - January 25, 2008

I am writing this as I wait – on an airport runway. My equanimity held up pretty well as I waited an hour and a half to board a plane that was late getting in; but when we got out on the tarmac and were told that we needed to wait another ninety minutes, the persona of patience among the passengers began to unravel.

As we get ready to participate in America's annual Sabbath of offering thanks, I invite you to ponder my thoughts about vision and values for the Diocese of Newark.  I have not invented them; I have simply named what has been very easy to see in my relatively short time here.  I am grateful that the passion to seek Christ and serve others is so palpable and vital in this unique corner of God's vineyard.

Vision and Values for the Diocese of Newark
and an invitation to live into them

There were a remarkable series of dynamics in play at the just concluded House of Bishops meeting in New Orleans. For starters, there was the dynamic between the Episcopal Church (increasingly identified as TEC by the rest of the Anglican Communion)– represented by the House of Bishops; and the rest of the Anglican Communion – represented by the Archbishop of Canterbury and several leaders of the Anglican Consultative Council (the ACC).