An Extraordinary Witness

See, the former things have come to pass,
   and new things I now declare;
before they spring forth,
   I tell you of them.

-Isaiah 42:9

Beloved in Christ, 

The heart of Christian hope is God’s promise to recreate the heavens and the earth, redeeming finally and fully all that is painful, broken, and upside-down in the world as we currently know it. The Christian life, therefore, is about how our life together gives witness to the new creation that God longs to bring forth. 

The Reverend Absalom Jones, whom the church commemorates on February 13, is one whose life offers a powerful witness to that hope. He was born into slavery, and as a young adult, was forced to move to Philadelphia while his mother and six siblings were sold away from him. He became a leader in a Methodist congregation where he and other Black members were one day, without notice, forced to sit in the balcony of the church. He later led that group into the Episcopal Church, where he became the first African American to be ordained as a priest in 1802. 

As pastor of St. Thomas, he was beloved for his deep commitment to pastoral visits and his faithful preaching. To hold onto such hope in the face of the mountains of oppression and injustice he faced throughout his life is, indeed, an extraordinary witness of hope in God’s mighty power to save, and a sign of God’s new creation taking root.  

Our beloved siblings from Holy Trinity in Saint Paul and St. Mark’s Cathedral in Minneapolis have planned a diocesan celebration of his feast, which will take place this coming Saturday afternoon. I’m so grateful for their efforts and am delighted to have this as an annual celebration in our diocese. I’m especially excited that the Reverend Dorothy White, chaplain at Breck School, will be the preacher. Dorothy is a new Minnesotan, and a preacher whose gifts are justly lauded far and wide around our church. 

I so hope you will join us, either in person or online, as we celebrate this amazing disciple of Jesus, whose life of holiness draws us closer to the Holy One, and as we together give thanks for this important part of our history in the church, and in this diocese, pointing to, longing for, and joining God in working for the day when God’s perfect reign of love is fully and gloriously done, on earth as it is in heaven.

Grace and peace,

The Right Reverend Craig Loya
X Bishop