Saturday I traveled to the March Against Gun Violence starting at St. John’s, Olympia.  The march was an interfaith event.  We only had three, very quiet protestors.  This is a picture of them.  They quietly walked around our rally held at the fountain at the state capitol.  I have to say that the sign was a very compelling call for “education.” 

And this is our group, after the March and Rally.   As you can see it was a beautiful day and an inspiring moment as well.   Here is a KOMO News link :

http://www.komonews.com/news/local/Olympia-rally-calls-for-stronger-gun-control-laws-203942191.html?tab=video&c=y

And the Facebook page with more photos!  http://www.facebook.com/MomsDemandActionWAOlympia/photos_stream

My prayers this day go out to those who have died and their families, and those who have been permanently injured.  As I write this not much is known of the “why”.  If we ever receive more knowledge of that, certainly it could never suffice.

I hope this does awaken us to how easily we dismiss the same or worse that happens across this globe each day, to people we do not know, who do not look like us, but in our faith are every bit our brothers and sisters.   May those stories feel as “close to home” as this does and as I said after Newtown, may we never get used to hearing, seeing, or living through such events as today.

I leave you with the prayer our Presiding Bishop sent out today after this tragedy.

Gracious God, you walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death.  We pray that the suffering and terrorized be surrounded by the incarnate presence of the crucified and risen one.  May every human being be reminded of the precious gift of life you entered to share with us.  May our hearts be pierced with compassion for those who suffer, and for those who have inflicted this violence, for your love is the only healing balm we know. May the dead be received into your enfolding arms, and may your friends show the grieving they are not alone as they walk this vale of tears.  All this we pray in the name of the one who walked the road to Calvary.

The Lord is Risen Indeed, Alleluia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EZCSxDCQig&feature=youtu.be

Easter is officially here.  Our Alleluia’s are back, our self imposed restrictions lifted! IF we truly followed that path, this day gives us back our “usual” life.  Of course, we can never truly go back.  Every experience, every bit of life, changes us.

Our journey through Lent is designed to help us change course a bit, maybe even jolt us into changing our routines, shifting our focus, helping us alter our course just enough to be, a bit off balance, in hopes that we might find more balance.   I hope, as Easter dawns, you feel that has happened for you.  Some of you joined this diocese in reading People of the Way:Renewing Episcopal Identity by Dwight Zscheile.  I hope it has provided enrichment and even more, ideas and creativity around how we might renew our collective community life as well as our individual lives.

In the course of our time in Lent, I was moved by the book to suggest that every one consider one small thing, one small change you might make, that you could be conscious of, that would move this church toward a new identity, perhaps a rediscovered one.  Many have shared how helpful that challenge was, and some of the “one things” they tried.  As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, may we celebrate renewal, change, and transformation which at the core of the message and story, is the point.

In the course of Lent we held two Congregational Leader’s Days.  I had quite a few requests for the prayer I read at the end of those days.   And so, it is my very small gift to you, reprinted here.  It comes from a book entitled, “Prayers for the Domestic Church: A Handbook for Worship in the Home” by Edward Hayes.   Blessed Easter to all of you!   +Greg

BLESSED ARE YOU, LORD OUR GOD,
WHO GIVES SPICE TO LIFE WITH CHANGE.

Lord and Source of All Gifts,
we rejoice in the fullness of Your holy generosity.
We thank You especially now
for the gift of change,
that gift of newness
that opens doors closed by habit and routine.
We bless You and thank You as well
for that which is stable and unchanging,
for the ancient and traditional
which give meaning to the new and different.

We thank You, O End of All Longing,
for the capacity for change in our lives,
for without change
there can be no real growth
and no true life.

We are grateful, in this prayer, for those persons
who, through their gifts of excitement and adventure,
have taught us not to fear change,
not to resist the new.
We are thankful for Your Son, Your Sacred Word,
who spoke to us of new wine for new wine skins
and who calls us daily
to a new kingdom
and to a new covenant.

May our hearts be ever-changing,
ever in growth,
as we journey to You, our Mysterious Source,
You who are forever fresh and new
yet forever the same.

Blessed are You, Lord our God,
who gives spice to life with change. Amen

(Composed by Edward Hays. Published in Prayers for the Domestic Church: A Handbook for Worship in the Home)

But, today I wanted to leave you with a question.   I have often experienced in my discussions, and I have to admit, even in myself, as I read this book, the inclination to wonder what has to change beyond my circle of influence or control.  It is always easiest to go there.  The statements usually begin with something like, “If they would just…” or “When this finally happens, then….”   It made me think, and ask, what is one thing I could do, right now, to move closer to the church and mission Zscheile is speaking of?

Just one thing?  I would encourage you, in these waning days of Lent, to think of that, and to try to keep it from getting grandiose.  We always head that way, but it is the one step, the one thing we can do today that will begin the shift.   So, the challenge is not to find the most unique, or grandest change, but instead the one thing you can do now to move us ever more toward being a “sent” people, the missional church which more fully reveals Christ to the world.

Blessings to you all,

+Greg

Today, I am full of gratitude for your generosity and for your vision. When our diocese joined the effort to help rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral in Haiti, I knew to expect great things.   Our diocese has a long history of responding to the needs of others, both abroad and at home.  Our dedicated parish lay leaders and clergy “walked the walk” in supporting recovery in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, fighting malaria in Africa through NetsforLife, and providing clean water through the Wine Into Water campaign.  I knew that despite the daily demands of your lives and the economic challenges of our time, you would share generously of all your gifts in answering the call of our brothers and sisters in Haiti.

Today, I am pleased to say that the people of the Diocese of Olympia have exceeded all our hopes and expectations! Working together, the members of more than 65 churches have contributed over $118,700 toward rebuilding the center of spiritual life and community in the largest and poorest diocese of the Episcopal Church.  As is typical for our diverse diocese, each church “did it their own way” — tailoring the campaign to fit their talents, capabilities and priorities.  We know that some gave directly, individually, and that was just as crucial and appreciated in our reaching this goal.  As a result, our diocese is one of the most generous in “grass-roots giving” in the Episcopal Church.  Thank you!  I give special thanks to all of the local organizers, and most especially to the person I entrusted with this campaign, and who “knocked it out of the park” Jennifer Daugherty.   She has proven herself a most amazing leader.

As the Bishop of Haiti has said, your generosity will do more than raise up bricks and cement. It will raise the hopes of a people who have lost so much of their earthly habitation. It will raise the spirit of a community made weary, and it will inspire the minds and hearts of the young men and women who knew Trinity as their intellectual and artistic home. On behalf of them all, I am deeply grateful and I bless you.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel
Bishop of Olympia

I will soon return from the Spring House of Bishops meeting just ended at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, North Carolina.  There were many good things, and issues discussed at this meeting, all in the context of the theme for the meeting, Episcopal Leadership in the Midst of Loss.  One of special import was the rise and proliferation of gun violence in our country.    The House of Bishops worked together on this “Word to the Church” and I commend it to you.   Further, we committed amongst ourselves to continue to study together this issue, to learn more about it in our local context, and to create opportunities for discussion.  This will be a topic at our next House of Bishops meeting, an ongoing reality, and an ongoing focus.  Let it be so for each of us.

I am convinced, as I look at the problem of gun violence, and the ravages it causes in our society, that we can do better.   I know through Christ, the one we follow, we can.

Faithfully,

The Rt. Rev. Gregory H. Rickel
Bishop of Olympia

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

[March 12, 2013] The Episcopal Church House of Bishops, meeting in retreat in Kanuga Conference Center, Hendersonville, NC, offers the following Word to the Church.

Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

Your House of Bishops has gathered in retreat from March 8-12 at Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville, NC.  The theme for our days together has been “Godly Leadership in the Midst of Loss.”  We have heard moving reflections on loss in the wake of: the shootings in Newtown, Hurricane Sandy, the ongoing struggles in Haiti, historical trauma experienced by Native Americans in South Dakota, and physical illness.  Being together in conversation, prayer and common worship, we have shared the reality of new life in the resurrected Jesus who has overcome death and redeems our losses.

Our time together has brought us to a new place of recognition with respect to how violence infects, and affects, our lives.  We have considered how the reality of violence in our world, our society, our churches, our homes, and ourselves alienate us from God and each other.  And we repent that we have too often neglected to challenge violence of every kind and pursue peace and reconciliation.  In this Lenten season we pray:  “Accept our repentance, Lord, for the wrongs we have done: for our blindness to human need and suffering, and our indifference to injustice and cruelty.”  (From the Litany of Penance for Ash Wednesday, BCP p. 268)

We particularly grieve those killed by senseless gun violence in the many contexts from which we come.  We lament and have cried over the widely reported mass shootings in this country, recalling tragedies like Aurora, Oak Creek and Newtown.  We are outraged by the too often unseen and unacknowledged daily massacre of our young people in cities such as Chicago, Newark, Baltimore, Port-au-Prince, and Tegucigalpa.  This carnage must stop.

As bishops of The Episcopal Church we embody a wide variety of experiences and perspectives with respect to firearms.  Many among us are hunters and sport-shooters, former members of the military and law-enforcement officers.  We respect and honor that we are not of one mind regarding matters related to gun legislation.  Yet we are convinced that there needs to be a new conversation in the United States that challenges gun violence.  Because of the wide variety of contexts in which we live and our commitment to reasoned and respectful discourse that holds together significant differences in creative tension, we believe that The Episcopal Church can and must lead in this effort.  In fact many in this Church are already doing so, for which we thank God.

At our ordinations as bishops we pledged to “boldly proclaim and interpret the Gospel of Christ, enlightening the minds and stirring up the conscience” of those we are called to serve. (BCP p. 518)  We call all Episcopalians to pray and work for the end of gun violence.  We commit ourselves to lead a new conversation in our nations as to the appropriate use and legislation of firearms.  And we further commit ourselves to specific actions to this end.

Praying and working together we can be instruments of God’s restoring and reconciling love for the whole world.  Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)

TO:    Congregation Leaders

FROM:    The Diocesan Steering Team

RE:    “Church” Survey

What comes to mind when you think of the word “Church”? Can you put your thoughts in 6 words or less? We really hope you will.

Perhaps more challenging, what do our neighbors think when they hear the word “Church”? We’d like to get them to put their thoughts in six words as well.

As we look toward the vibrant future God is calling us into, we need to know what we don’t know. This simple survey is a way to begin exploring what the church means to people, those in it and those not. We’re excited about this opportunity to learn, and intend to share the information broadly with you.

We’re asking our people across the diocese to help us distribute this survey. Please print and share the attached postcards with your congregations, encouraging them to offer postcards to people they encounter in their daily lives: friends and strangers, their grocery clerks and insurance agents, people who attend church and people who would never consider it. It’s impossible to distribute this too widely or get too much input.

(Our survey is also available online, so please distribute the link to your congregations and on your social media: http://bit.ly/15AaGXT

We’re grateful for your participation, and look forward to the results of this survey.

Kelly Nolen                Sarah Monroe
MaryAnn Seward            Brad Howard
Selene Nesland                Robert Ogden
Chuck Miller                Eliacin Rosario-Cruz
Doyt Conn                RC Laird
Greg Rickel                George Boyle
Jim Campbell                Greg Rhodes

Today is Ash Wednesday.  And actually, at this hour, it is mostly a memory.  All over the Diocese of Olympia ashes were offered to those in our “Ashes to Go” event.  Of course, Ashes were also offered in our churches, in many places, two or even three times in this one day.  This sign appeared earlier this week at Church of the Ascension in Magnolia, the one below, St. Paul’s, Bremerton. 

Ashes in church, and ashes out.   It was interesting that the Facebook “chatter” this afternoon was a bit of an argument of whether it was more efficacious to receive them in the walls of the church, within the blessed confines of the proper words of the prayer book liturgy, or received in a public place, a ferry terminal, a city street, a college campus.  Strange the arguments we have, what worries us, what deems judgement by us.

It seems to me we need both.  The stories I heard this year, and every year, from those who are on the streets, from those so thankful for the gift of this reminder of our mortality are truly inspiring.  The ultimate crucial moment in the liturgy of this day is the line, “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”  That same line is offered to all those on the street.

If there is any truth that connects each and every human on this earth, those words, and the reality of them, must get very near the core truth of our lives,  inside and outside the walls of the church.

By now I hope you have heard of the Lenten Book Selection for 2013 which begins this Wednesday.   Our selection is People of the Way: Renewing Episcopal Identity by Dwight J. Zscheile.  Below are two links to videos where he introduces and talks a bit about why he wrote the book, and his hopes for the church in doing so.  I commend these to you.  Both links are the same interview, the first being about 4 minutes, and the second the full interview at about 8 minutes.  I found this very helpful.

Dwight J. Zscheile: People of the Way  4 minutes

Dwight J. Zscheile: People of the Way  8 minutes

If you would like to join the conversation beyond your groups or your individual reading please see my blog at www.bishoprickel.com

As the season after Epiphany comes to an end, and Lent begins, blessings to each and every one of you.

+Greg