For an Easter season, there sure has been a lot of talk about death. The nation has been obsessed with the impending death of Terry Schiavo in Florida. (Interesting, isn’t it, that those most active in trying to prevent her death are those who espouse the belief that death is not the to-be-avoided-at-all-costs end of things: evangelical Christians!) More recently, the death of John Paul II, Bishop of Rome, has been a focus of our attention. (Thankfully, the Pope was not rushed to the hospital for extreme measures to extend his life for a day or two, but rather, the Pope’s last days were spent, it appears, preparing for his transition into the new life he believed was promised him in Christ Jesus.)

Continued

Two years ago this month, by your election you called me to serve you and the Church as bishop.  It’s been just over a year that I was invested as the ninth Bishop of New Hampshire.  As the Standing Committee and I prepare for a Mutual Ministry Review this month, permit me to reflect briefly on the last couple of years.

            Within the diocese, may I say what an honor and privilege it has been to begin my episcopal ministry with you.  My visitations to the congregations of the diocese continue to be my greatest joy in this ministry, and so many of you have taken advantage of my desire to meet with your vestry/bishop’s committee, young people, confirmands and their families, and all manner of parishioners.  The life and vitality of our congregations, the beauty of the worship, and the commitment to outreach in the community are signs that we are a people whose life is rooted in Christ. 

Finances continue to be an issue in many congregations, dating back to before my election.  The inability of congregations to pay their full fair share asking continues to be a problem for me and my ministry as your bishop (we are down one position at the diocesan level from years past), and recent crises have strained our ability to respond to needs and requests.  On the other hand, I know that many of you are working faithfully to resume your full giving.

A good number of you have been in search processes during this past two years, and I am overwhelmed at the faithfulness of these processes and the extraordinary quality of the clergy called.  Since my election, the number of clergy wanting to come to New Hampshire for any given position has nearly tripled – and consequently, the pool of clergy from which to choose is both large and impressive.  The assistance a congregation receives from the diocese in a search process is something that happens only occasionally, but when the time arises, it is of utmost importance.  The calling of new clergy and their nurture in the Fresh Start program of support for new clergy continue to undergird our life together.

There’s lots of talk about reconciliation in the Church these days, at least among some folks.  At the recent House of Bishops meeting in Texas, the question was raised whether or not the various factions within the Episcopal Church could ever be reconciled to one another (the Presiding Bishop suggested that “irreconcilable differences” was a faith-less concept).  The Diocese of Western Massachusetts recently hosted representatives from four other dioceses, to work on a model for fostering reconciliation in the Church, respecting one another despite differences.  Indeed, scripture tells us that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, and that our mission as Christians is reconciliation with God and one another.

So what IS reconciliation?  What does it look like?  How is it achieved, and what are its limits?

It is all too easy to fall into a Hallmark greeting card notion of reconciliation – a Disney-esque land where the sun is always shining, the birds are always singing, and we are all holding hands with beatific smiles on our faces.  Such a notion belies the hard, hard work that reconciliation is.  In the supreme act of reconciliation – Christ’s death on the cross for our sins – there are no smiles and no singing, but a lot of pain, blood, and agony.  Why should we expect our reconciling work to be any different, or any easier?  Christ’s reconciling work came at a great cost, and so will ours.

Finding oneself estranged from another – whether a co-worker, friend, relative or spouse – and then moving to heal the rift, requires sacrifice, risk-taking, and anxiety.  We can never be assured that our attempts to reconcile will be met with an equal commitment to healing the relationship.  Sometimes, our efforts are rebuffed or thwarted; sometimes, we hear things about ourselves in which we hear the ring of truth, but which we don’t relish hearing; sometimes, a situation is made worse by our efforts, rather than bettered.  Nevertheless, reconciliation is what we are called to by the God who laid down his life for us on the cross – in order to make reconciliation between us possible.

What we are trying to figure out right now in the Episcopal Church and in the Anglican Communion is whether or not we can be reconciled to one another despite our different opinions about the issue of homosexuality, or whether different interpretations of scripture make “irreconcilable” our continued relationships across diocesan and national bounds.  I fiercely contend that we can hold on to one another while we have this debate, that we can love one another as brothers and sisters in Christ (and mission in His name) while disagreeing about this issue.

Continued

 Be Not Anxious for Tomorrow

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Oh, I wish you could have been there!  Berea College, Berea, Kentucky – a college that forged a new educational effort for blacks and whites, BEFORE the Civil War.  In July, 2005, some 150 years later, Berea welcomed 1,500 high schoolers and their adult advisors, of all races and nationalities, to an Episcopal Youth Event.  Kids came from all over the Episcopal Church – which, remember, includes much of Central and South America, the Caribbean, and even Guam, all of whom sent representatives.  I accompanied our nine New Hampshire young people, and their adult advisors, Pat Stelz and Lauren Zimmerman, to this event.  They represented us heartily and well.  I was SO proud to be there as their bishop.

It was hot in lots of ways.  The temperatures and the humidity topped the 90s, but the music, liturgy and sheer energy topped that by a mile!  You have never seen such exuberance for the Lord and such affirmation of the Episcopal Church as these young people’s  expression of that faith. 

Kids today don’t look like the kids many of us were and grew up with.  These kids wear earrings – girls AND boys.  They have piercings and tattoos in places you don’t even want to know about!  They wear numerous plastic bracelets – from Lance Armstrong’s “LIVESTRONG” yellow bracelets, to any number of colored bracelets, espousing any number of laudable causes.  They ask straightforward questions in workshops that would have never been asked a few years ago.

Continued

March 7, 2006

 Dearly beloved Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

As I return to work this morning, having returned from the Caron Foundation treatment center in Wernersville, Pennsylvania, last Thursday, I am so very grateful: for your love and prayers and notes and kind wishes over this past month, for a supportive family, for the gift of a meaningful life and ministry, and mostly, for a loving, forgiving and sustaining God whose presence I've felt every step of the way.

I return to you in a very good place indeed -- refreshed, focused, clear-headed and happy. The education, personal insights and tools for the journey ahead which I received in treatment empower me for the future. The unimaginable grace given to me by God fuels my passion for bringing that Good News to all who are desperate to hear it. And my learnings about what makes for REAL community -- which I experienced as part of my treatment -- will inform my ministry for years to come. How could I not be grateful?

A common reminder during treatment was taken from the instructions given by flight attendants on every plane, describing what to do in case of a loss of pressure in the cabin: put your own mask on first before attempting to help others. Not a bad reminder for clergy. I will be taking steps to continue my own recovery over the next weeks, months and years. In addition to attending 12-Step meetings (perhaps in some of your congregations), I will be working with an "addiction coach," daily for a month, then regularly for a year. These commitments will obviously take time in my schedule, whether at home or when I'm traveling -- but they are essential to my continuing recovery, health and well-being. In the end, the new life they promise will allow me to be present with you and to serve you MORE fully.

Continued...

Bishop Robinson issues a challenge to all

By the time this message reaches you, we’ll be in the middle of the Easter season. As Christians, we believe that Easter trumps Good Friday, life triumphs over death, love dispels fear, and hope replaces anxiety. If we don’t believe that – and act it out in our lives and ministries, we might as well close up the pretty red doors of our churches and go home to a faithless world.

As I travel around the diocese, I hear two expressions of regret, time and time again, from large congregations and small. I want to challenge YOU to join me in doing something about that.

First, I hear many people lamenting the fact that financial realities forced us to eliminate from the diocesan budget the half-time youth and young adult ministries position dreamed of in our Reimagining the Diocese project. Why, many of you have asked, have we named youth and young adults as one of our three mission priorities, and then undercut it before it even gets out of the starting gate? Why say we value our young people and worry about keeping them in the Body, then put little funding towards this priority in our parish and diocesan budgets? Isn’t it time we put our money where our mouths are, some have asked? Indeed.

Second, vestries and bishop’s committees have lamented the fact they have to spend so much time worrying about local finances, that there is little time to lead the congregations in ministry – to one another and to the world. What if we had the resources we need, and could spend our time and energy reaching out to one another and to the world?  As far as I can tell, this is not a spending problem; expenses have been cut to barebone necessities in almost every congregation. No, this seems to be an income problem.

So I’ve been thinking. What if the Bishop “found” some money, and challenged the diocese to match that money, dollar for dollar, in order to fund a half-time Youth and Young Adult Ministries Missioner and a half-time Stewardship Missioner, for a period of three years. These missioners would not be at Diocesan House much, but rather in local congregations helping local leadership respond to these two needs.

I have been impressed, even moved, by your efforts to fund your ministries. Some of you have gone into reserves and endowment in order to continue your mission. The Bishop ought to be willing to do the same. And I am. I am going to invest in our future by going into funds given to the Bishop (not the diocese) over the years. I now pledge $50,000 per year for three years, to fund half the cost of these two part-time missioners, provided that it is matched by the diocese.

Now for the challenge: I need FIFTY of YOU to pledge $1,000 per year for three years toward these ministries. There are many individuals in the diocese who could make such a pledge. Groups could, too: a youth group, a vestry, an ECW or other women’s group, an EFM group, or a local men’s group might make such a commitment. A small congregation might want to do it as a whole.