We Are Never Alone

The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya

We Are Never Alone

Beloved in Christ, 

I am writing this as I travel back to Minnesota from Baltimore after the 80th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. COVID precautions reduced the length from eight days to four, and attendance was limited to only bishops, deputies, and essential support persons.

We made major commitments to the work of racial justice and healing, which include funding reparations work at $2 million per year out of the church’s invested wealth and conducting a formal and full account with the Episcopal Church’s role in supporting boarding schools for Indigenous children in this country. We also set up a framework for the much-needed work of liturgical renewal, and took action on numerous other smaller and larger items impacting nearly every aspect of the church’s life. I encourage you to follow the full coverage here, and I look forward to a formal report from our deputation at diocesan convention this fall. 

It should also be noted that our own Sally Johnson, who has served in the House of Deputies for thirty years, and as chancellor to its current and previous president, was honored with a richly deserved resolution celebrating and expressing gratitude for her extraordinary ministry. She received a standing ovation from the roughly eight hundred members of the House of Deputies, and I join them in thanking Sally for her truly remarkable ministry in our church. Read the resolution, and watch a video of its passage, here.

While the work we do at convention is significant, what always moves me most is seeing the church in the full breadth of its diversity. While we come from every corner of the U.S. and at least fourteen other nations, speak many different languages, and minister in vastly different contexts, we all proclaim the same gospel, witness to the same Lord and savior, and share a common mission of waging love in the world. General Convention is always a powerful reminder that, as followers of Jesus, we are never alone. We share the amazing work God is doing in Minnesota with countless other disciples across space and time. 

I am grateful for your prayers as we gathered, and for the commitment and hard work of all our deputies. I’m also prouder than I can say to sit in the House of Bishops representing this diocese and all of you, whom I’ve come to love so much. I look forward to being back in Minnesota when we land in about an hour. 

Grace and peace,

The Right Reverend Craig Loya
X Bishop
Episcopal Church in Minnesota