The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya

The Holy Spirit Stirring

From the Bishop

Beloved in Christ,

This past weekend, between the diocesan confirmation service at St. Mark’s Cathedral and my Sunday visitation, I confirmed or received around eighty people from ten different faith communities. That’s a LOT of Holy Spirit in one weekend. 

The confirmands were diverse in just about every way, and while there is probably still some lingering family pressure nudging the youngest confirmands along, what I found was people who shared deep stories of conversion and renewal, teachers and sponsors who detailed evangelism by young adults, and about as much joy as one can pack into one place at one time. It was altogether holy all around. 

One person I encountered told me the story of his own confirmation which took place many years ago. He admitted that he was largely going through the motions at the insistence of family, but the experience of being prayed over was one of the deepest and richest spiritual experiences of his life, and one he still returns to all these years later. 

So my busy weekend offered me two critically important reminders. First, despite all of our challenges, the Holy Spirit continues to stir up our people and our communities to engage God’s mission in the world. There is new life and new hope bursting forth everywhere I travel and everywhere I look. And, I was reminded to never count the Holy Spirit out. God can take any person, and any situation, despite all appearances and all the odds, and use them to bear witness to love’s victory over hatred, embrace’s victory over exclusion, and Easter’s glorious triumph over the power of death. 

The ministry we share across the diocese is an astonishing privilege, and there are always, always moments—in the depths of our sorrows, the tired gasps of our bone-deep weariness, and even in the gray of a spring that just won’t spring—to behold God’s mighty power to save and heal. Keep your eyes open, dear ones, for God’s love being done everywhere you look. 

Grace and peace,

The Right Reverend Craig Loya
X Bishop
Episcopal Church in Minnesta