Episcopal Bishops Issue

A Word to the Church for the World

September 20, 2016

[September 20, 2016] The House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church has issued the following A Word to the Church for the World.

A video of this statement, read by the Bishops of the Episcopal Church is available to view in English and Spanish HERE.

The text is as follows:

Greetings from Detroit, a city determined to be revived. Greetings also from the city of Flint, where we are reminded that the gift of water has for many of our brothers and sisters become contaminated.

Here we have been exhorted to set our sights beyond ourselves and to minister to the several nations where we serve and the wider world.

We lament the stark joylessness that marks our present time. We decry angry political rhetoric which rages while fissures widen within society along racial, economic, educational, religious, cultural and generational lines. We refuse to look away as poverty, cruelty and war force families to become migrants enduring statelessness and demonization. We renounce the gun violence and drug addiction that steal lives and crush souls while others succumb to fear and cynicism, abandoning any sense of neighborliness.

Yet, in all this, "we do not despair" (2 Cor. 4:8.). We remember that God in Christ entered our earthly neighborhood during a time of political volatility and economic inequality. To this current crisis we bring our faith in Jesus. By God's grace, we choose to see in this moment an urgent opportunity to follow Jesus into our fractured neighborhoods, the nation and the world.

Every member of the church has been "called for a time such as this." (Esther 4:14) Let prophets tell the truth in love. Let reconcilers move boldly into places of division and disagreement. Let evangelists inspire us to tell the story of Jesus in new and compelling ways. Let leaders lead with courage and joy.

In the hope of the Resurrection let us all pray for God to work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish God's purposes on earth.

Writing Committee

Bishop Tom Breidenthal of Southern Ohio

Bishop Mariann Budde of Washington

Bishop Diane Jardine Bruce of Los Angeles

Bishop Victor Scantlebury of Ecuador Central

Bishop Mary Gray-Reeves of El Camino Real

Bishop Alan Gates of Massachusetts

Bishop Wendell Gibbs Jr. of Michigan

Dr. Scott Bader-Saye

Bishop Prince Singh of Rochester

Bishop Robert Wright of Atlanta