One Church in Many Places

Beloved in Christ, 

On Tuesday, I received this public letter from Bishop Paula Clark of Chicago, expressing solidarity and support for all of us here in Minnesota. It is one example of the hundreds of notes, phone calls, text messages, and e-mails that I and a great many others in the diocese have received from around the Episcopal Church. 

Our primary identity as followers of Jesus is not local, but universal. It’s not individual, but communal. To be baptized means that it is categorically impossible to be alone; we are always held in a vast field of prayer, care, and love that spans both time and space. In a painful season like the one we are living through in Minnesota, that’s not just abstract theology, it is felt palpably. I have never before in my life or ministry experienced how important that is. The prayers and support from all around have not just been nice sentiments, they’ve been real spiritual food. 

In the catholic tradition of Christianity, of which the Episcopal Church is one branch, we are not many churches, but one church in many places. The reason we do things like diocesan convention, mission area gatherings, regional gatherings of clergy, retreats, etc., is not primarily to accomplish or achieve anything, but to incarnate for a moment our not aloneness, and to simply receive the gift of one another.

I hope that our own experience of being held during these days will foster a renewed commitment to holding others in all the seasons to come. In the meantime, the prophet Micah reminds us in the Old Testament lesson for Sunday of the simple, beautiful thing love requires of us, in the midst of these days and always - to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God. 

Grace and Peace, 

The Right Rev. Craig Loya