A Gift from Virginia

Since 2000 when the General Convention was hosted in Denver, the Diocese of Virginia has published Center Aisle. This daily commentary is available online at www.centeraisle.net. I commend it to you. Virginia bishop, Peter Lee, describes the purpose of this gift to the church family as follows: "Our emphasis on the center is not a political compromise between extremes but rather a focus on what draws us together in the mission of Jesus Christ. And the 'together' is not just the identity of the Episcopal Church, but our identity of as faithful Anglicans with an historic legacy and a worldwide community... We believe a focus on the theological center requires a degree of humility and restaint, not throwing our weight around, but rather looking for those actions which buiild up the Body of Christ worldwide and contribute to a climate where freedom and justice flourish, not just for ourselves but for the wold-wide community." I join with our sisters and brothers in Virginia and across the Convention deputations to work toward finding the center aisle that "draws us together in the mission of Jesus Christ."

Yesterday we completed our last day of pre-Convention preparations. Orientations have now been completed, and the legislative sessions begin today. Committees have been working late into the night, and the first set of calendered resolutions for consideration should be ready to be considered no later than this afternoon. And so it begins.

As part of our welcome by the presiding officers of both Houses (House of Deputies and House of Bishops), our Presiding Bishop mentioned that the "great American heresy" is to think that "we can be saved individually." This comment does not ring a familiar tone for many of us brought up with an understanding of salvation that is dependent on our coming to "accept Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior." And yet, within the context of the Presiding Bishop's comments, the truth of what she proclaims is consistent with our traditional Christian understanding that Jesus the Christ came to save the whole world, that we are called as part of that salvation community to speak this truth and invitation to the world, and that we are saved as part of God's greater project of salvation for all. We come to belief one at a time, but the belief we have as Christians is for the larger project of God's ultimate goal for all humankind and all creation. For now, this seems a helpful reminder that what we decide at General Convention is not just about getting what I want for myself as a Christian. It is about what I can contribute to making God's plan of salvation for all a promise fulfilled. As we say in West Tennessee, we are about the task of becoming a place where God's promise in Christ is good news for all people. Pray we live each day into that vision. +Don