Dear friends in Christ,
I write this from Louisville, KY, where I am serving as a deputy to the 81st General Convention of the Episcopal Church. About 1,000 bishops and deputies gather every three years to worship together, enjoy fellowship with one another, and deliberate on matters that affect our common life as a church.
Sometimes it looks messy. Debate gets heated. Mistakes are made. Coffee queues are lengthy. Results may go differently than we hoped.
But, despite all these things, the Holy Spirit shows up.
My hope always is that when any group gathers to make decisions, we pray for guidance and listen attentively for the still, small voice of God. It’s never easy, but sometimes— despite ourselves—it happens.
At our service of Holy Eucharist this morning, the Rev’d Yejide Peters-Pietersen preached a brilliant sermon about how we can trust God to be present. Yejide is Associate Dean and Director of Formation at Berkeley Divinity School, and she’s a former Forward Movement board member. She reminded us all that the world does not depend on our striving but on God’s providence and action.
Please pray for the General Convention and our work. Pray today, especially, for the bishops who are voting to select our next Presiding Bishop as I write this. Pray for the laypeople and clergy in the House of Deputies who will discern whether to confirm the the bishops’ vote.
The Spirit does amazing things when we make room, whether at the local, diocesan, or churchwide levels. And this is true for our daily lives, too. Come, Holy Spirit, come.
Yours faithfully,
Scott Gunn
Executive Director
P.S. I’m posting some photos from the floor of the House of Deputies throughout the convention. Have a look if you want to see what our governance looks like.
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