I am deeply grateful that the fruit of the primates work together this week was a Pastoral Letter and Call to Prayer, and an action plan for work together as a Communion. They speak of a common commitment to our unity in Christ. It is my sense that, just as we in the Episcopal Church are learning to live on a much deeper and increasingly costly level the mystery of communion, that same deepening has occurred here in the course of the Primates meeting.
We have engaged in honest conversation, and prayerful reflection together. We have spoken of what it means to become a communion, recognizing that we are on the way. We are in the process of growing up in Christ, and in our communion with one another. This meeting has been one step in an ongoing journey. And this journey – and indeed this week – has been a time of deep joy and discovery. We are being led to the foot of the cross, and through the cross into the transforming life of the resurrection.
In some sense this has been a humbling experience. As stories were shared from around the Communion, I became deeply aware of how we are purified through suffering. We have seen the utter transparency of faith and commitment manifested by so many who minister in the poorest and most beleaguered parts of our world.
Our Bible studies again and again stressed the generosity of God’s mercy, and the fact that God’s mercy embraces us all in the midst of our limitations and unfaithfulness. In the study of Luke 6:20-38, Professor David Ford pointed out that we can either live out of an economy of self-interest and calculation, or an economy of generosity and forgiveness. Though we continue to be mindful of different understandings of sexuality, we can give thanks that the week proved to be a time of growth in generosity and understanding for our community.
We as a church in this wealthy nation are challenged to look carefully at our patterns of consumption, our attitudes of self-interest, and at some of the values we accept uncritically as part of our society. With the phenomenon of globalization a reality, all that we do and say in our own country impinges directly and immediately on our global neighbors. I note that the House of Bishops at our meeting this September will look at issues of globalization and the influence of cultural context in an effort to deepen our understanding of these complex issues.
I am also very grateful that our church was able to host this gathering and to offer our hospitality to our brothers and sisters in Christ. I have rejoiced in their presence and bid them well on their journeys home.
The Most Reverend Frank T. Griswold
XXV Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church, USA