July 2024 e:News: From Bishop Monnot

One of the things I deeply appreciate about Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s leadership is his unapologetic use of Jesus language. Presiding Bishop Curry has written and spoken about the Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving Jesus Movement, which is not the way that Episcopalians used to talk. In many ways, that Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving Jesus Movement was present and active at the 81st General Convention of The Episcopal Church last month, where bishops and deputies as well as many others from all over the church gathered together in Louisville, KY, for eight days of discussion, debate, worship, legislation, reunion, and delight.

This was my second General Convention as bishop, and very different from the last one in 2022, which was significantly shortened and held under a number of Covid restrictions. This time the visitor galleries in both the House of Bishops and the House of Deputies were populated with observers, the exhibit hall was full and active, and the worship, with several thousand people in attendance, was glorious.

The Loving, Liberating, and Life-Giving Jesus Movement came through in some of the legislation that was passed at the General Convention as well. We celebrated as we passed the resolution that merged the Dioceses of Eastern and Western Michigan to become the Diocese of the Great Lakes. We celebrated again when we passed the resolution to merge the three dioceses of Eau Claire, Fond du Lac, and Milwaukee into a single Diocese of Wisconsin. And we celebrated yet again when we passed the resolution to make the Navajoland Area Mission into a Missionary Diocese so that they will be able to elect their own bishop. Each of these was a culmination of years of prayer and discernment, relationship building, and deep desire to come together to share in the work that we are called to do as Christians. Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving, the Jesus Movement.

These three changes in diocesan structure and status were part of the church’s response to changes in our culture. As our culture changes, our church changes, which has been true throughout the history of the church. God gives us new ways to understand God’s love and God’s creation, and when the institutional church is at its best, we discern how to respond and remain faithful to God’s vision, to the Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving Jesus Movement as it is continually revealed to us.

Another way the church joined in with the Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving Jesus Movement at this General Convention was to vote to include an additional liturgy for marriage in the Book of Common Prayer that is appropriate for two people of any gender identity, and to update the Catechism in the Book of Common Prayer to reflect the church’s understanding of Holy Matrimony. The revised statement in the Catechism will read: “Holy Matrimony is Christian marriage, in which two people enter into a life-long union, make their vows before God and the Church, and receive the grace and blessing of God to help them fulfill their vows.” God has shown us as a church how to be more loving to all of God’s creation and more true to our baptismal promises, and, as a church, we have responded.

In the middle of the convention, the bishops gathered in Christ Church Episcopal Cathedral to elect the next presiding bishop. It was a time of discernment and prayer, of deep listening and careful thinking about The Episcopal Church and the qualities we need in our next presiding bishop. When the Rt. Rev. Sean Rowe was elected, and on the first ballot, the joy in the room was absolutely palpable. The entire gathering stood and applauded as Bishop Rowe first greeted each of the other candidates for presiding bishop and then made his way to the front of the cathedral. It was clear to everyone that the Holy Spirit had moved and that the church had responded. Bishop Rowe is absolutely the right person to lead us as presiding bishop, and I am overjoyed at his election. Furthermore, as he demonstrated in his sermon at the closing Eucharist at Convention, Bishop Rowe is as unapologetic with his use of Jesus language as Presiding Bishop Curry!

At the same time that we were meeting in the General Convention, the Iowa State Supreme Court handed down a ruling upholding a ban on abortions in Iowa so strict that it will be almost impossible to access this important aspect of reproductive healthcare in our state. As I have written before, The Episcopal Church recognizes that abortion is healthcare and that the decision to have an abortion should rest with the pregnant person and their medical team. I believe that allowing people to make their own healthcare decisions with the advice of medical professionals is part of the way that we respect the dignity of every human being, as we promise to do in our baptismal covenant. I am grieved that our state has joined the national trend of rolling back the right to choose. Passing laws to control other people’s choices about their own bodies was not something that Jesus ever modeled, and I see it as yet another way that our culture turns away from the Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving Jesus Movement, even as those who celebrate the new draconian law in Iowa see this law as a victory for what they claim are Christian values.

Our secular American culture, and much of what is considered to be Christianity in this country, continues to separate itself further and further from the Way of Love, from the Loving, Liberating, Life-Giving Jesus Movement that our Savior, Jesus, lived for and died for. As followers of Jesus, we are called to continue on the path that he walked before us, continuing to be faithful in prayer and worship, to do our best to resist evil and repent when we fail, to witness to God in Christ in any way we can, to love our neighbor as ourselves, and to work for justice, peace, and dignity for every person. As both individuals and as the corporate body of the church, this is our call, and it is an honor for me to be following that call with you in the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa as your bishop. Please pray for me, and I will pray for you, as we move forward together into the future, always striving to remain faithful to the way that Jesus leads us.

Yours in the abundant life of Christ,
+Betsey

The Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa