Loading...Beloved,
Thank you for your incredibly warm welcome to the Diocese of Kentucky! Linda Sue, Tim, Becky, and I are grateful for the many ways you have expressed care and concern for us. It was a joy to meet hundreds of you during the weekend of the Ordination and Consecration at the Galt House, and the Welcome and Seating at Christ Church Cathedral. I look forward to the parish Visitations and other gatherings that will provide opportunities for us to get to know one another as fellow servants.
As the day of my ordination drew closer, Fathe
r Jim Wilkinson, our diocesan historiographer, pointed out that September 25 was also the date of the consecration of the Rt. Rev. David Jackson Kemper, one of our Church’s greatest missionary bishops, in 1835. Bishop Kemper was the very embodiment of missionary zeal, and was consecrated to evangelize and be a pastor to those engaged in our nation’s westward expansion, and to minister to Native Americans. Bishop Kemper’s “diocese” included modern day Indiana, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the Dakotas, Montana, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington. At his funeral it was said no bishop had such a vast commission since the Apostles were sent into the world by Christ! He baptized and confirmed, consecrated churches, recruited priests, and established colleges and a seminary. He saw the largely unsettled wilderness as a field ripe and ready for the Gospel, and both his heart and experience told him that the Episcopal/Anglican tradition had something powerful and unique to offer people hungry for the Gospel of grace, the Scriptures, and the holy Sacraments.
In a sermon from 1851 he said: How remarkably peculiar, how vastly important is the position Of our Church! Possessing as we fully believe all those characteristics which distinguished the primitive fold:--A scriptural Liturgy--evangelical doctrines--and the apostolic succession--having the form of godliness and the power thereof--free from the false and worldly scruples and the time-serving policy of civil governments--independent-- respected and influential--in the midst of an intelligent, enterprising and commercial people--Brethren! may it not be Our duty to convert the world--may not this high, this inestimable privilege be offered to Us! And are we prepared--are we doing at the present moment Even One Tenth part of what we are capable? Our means and our power are extensive--and under the blessing of Him, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy, our aim--our constant, undeviating, untiring aim should be great and lofty.
Bishop Kemper called on all the baptized to exercise their calling, their responsibility, to share the Gospel: Not a brother here would I accuse of indifference or cowardice. But I would stir up, with God's permission, the pure mind of each one, by way of remembrance. It is the spirit of missions I earnestly and most affectionately advocate.
Bishop Kemper’s spirit may well be an excellent model for us as we embark on our new journey together. Might the creation of a modern day missionary diocese be a worthy goal for us? The western half of the Commonwealth is not the vast and stark wilderness Bishop Kemper was called to serve, but at the same time, each of us knows there are souls hungry for the Gospel and the riches of our unique Anglican tradition. What I look forward to exploring with all of you is what missionary work at the end of 2010 and beyond can look like in our local contexts and throughout our diocese.
Our Baptismal Covenant calls each of us to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to love our neighbors as ourselves. In his day, as missionary bishop, Kemper heralded the Church’s work in “far away lands” such as Africa and Texas! But he also saw the local community as a missionary field, and he called his priests to embrace this vision: Let us go where duty calls--where Providence points the way--and let us rejoice in the privilege. . . . Cultivate, dear brethren of the clergy, cultivate with the utmost assiduity your own vineyard--love with the strongest affections your own spiritual children,--but close not your hearts to the sufferings and wants of your neighbors.
Missionary zeal. Opening our hearts to the needs of neighbors. Loving with the strongest affections our sisters and brothers made in the image of God. These priorities deliver us from looking inward and becoming so preoccupied with various distractions that we starve missionary zeal. Each congregation is a missionary outpost of our diocesan community, and every act of service in Christ’s name strengthens and expands the mission of the entire diocese. The collect for Bishop Kemper’s feast day prays: Grant that the Church may always be faithful to its mission, and have the vision, courage, and perseverance to make known to all peoples the Good News of Jesus Christ.
It is now my joy to work with you as a fellow missionary, chief evangelist and pastor. I ask that the diocesan budget for 2011, and every parish budget for the coming year, be seen for what it truly is: an intentional, well-constructed plan for how financial resources can be allocated for the most effective mission possible locally, in our diocese, and beyond. The prayers, energy, time and money of every Episcopalian will be needed.
May Almighty God bless each missionary, each baptized person, in the Diocese of Kentucky with vision, courage, and perseverance. Thank you again for inviting me to share with you in the work of Gospel in this portion of the Lord’s vineyard. Together, may we support one another and boldly love God with all our being, and our neighbors, for the sake of Him who came not to be served, but to serve.
With affection,
+Terry
