The Very Heart of God

Beloved in Christ,

This past Saturday, around thirty leaders from our multi-cultural and culturally specific faith communities gathered for an afternoon of prayer, conversation, dreaming, and discernment about how we can best support one another in the ministries we've been called to. It was a powerful time of sharing stories about how many of our faith communities are discovering new vitality, overcoming challenges, and connecting with their neighbors and others. As the dreams for the future flowed freely, the energy in the room was positively electric. 

As I reflected on that experience over the weekend, the thing I kept coming back to is this is what it feels like when a gathering of disciples is so obviously led by the Holy Spirit. The new life and energy being discovered and rediscovered grows out of a nearly singular focus on the person of Jesus, and the way in which God's Spirit is a palpable and real part of life together. The challenges that lie in front of us as a church and a diocese are formidable to be sure, but Saturday's gathering was yet another reminder that the way we will find our way forward is remarkably simple: staying rooted, day by day, in the person of Jesus, and relying moment by moment on the power of the Holy Spirit. Our West African, Hmong, Karen, African American, Indigenous, Latinx, and immigrant siblings are really leading the way as we discover what God is inviting us into in the years to come, and I'm grateful for that leadership and the loving fellowship this past weekend. 

While we did not intentionally plan for this to happen on the eve of Pentecost, it turned out to be the perfect day for such a gathering. Pentecost is an event that reminds us of God's power to form bonds of affection and connection across all of our difference. The coming of the Holy Spirit testifies to the fact that the very heart of God is diversity without division and unity without uniformity. The diversity of humanity, and all of creation, is a large part of how we reflect the image of God. 

As we enter into the long season after Pentecost, I hope you will find ways to regularly know and feel the Spirit's presence in your life and ministry. I hope that you will keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, whatever challenges are coming your way, and I hope that you will give yourself over to God's mighty power to form you more perfectly and fully in God's image through the great gift of encountering one another in love and faith across all our beautiful difference. 

Grace and peace,

The Right Reverend Craig Loya
X Bishop
Episcopal Church in Minnesota