Connect, Step Up, and Take Action

Beloved in Christ,

As I begin my second full week as your Bishop, I find myself, finally and gratefully, a full-time resident of Minnesota. Thank you for all of your prayers and support as my family and I have managed this transition. We are so thankful to call this place our home.

We find ourselves in a very particular moment as a society. I am keenly aware of the invitation that this moment offers us as followers of Jesus to engage the disruption, to step into it, to learn from it, and to be changed by it. The Holy Spirit is inviting us into new ways of being and doing in response to the pandemic of racism and the pandemic of COVID-19. 

To that end, there are a few ways I invite you to partner with me as we move into this summer:

First, as some of you may have seen, I am inviting all of ECMN to read James Baldwin's incredible book The Fire Next Time. We will discuss this book at the Tuesday 2pm Leading Beyond the Blizzard gathering on June 30th. I’d like to make this a monthly practice as we move forward, and will be creating a reading list for the coming months.

Second, the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church has granted ECMN $150,000 to take some big strides in this racial justice work here in Minnesota. I will be gathering a task force of folks to help me think through and identify strategies for funding that will be focused both on rapid response funding to address the current work towards racial justice in our communities and in the state, as well the long-term work of addressing our own institutional racism.

I look forward to partnering with you in the months ahead as we seek and serve Christ together in this wilderness.

The Right Reverend Craig Loya
X Bishop
Episcopal Church in Minnesota