2017 Diocesan Convention Address
2017 DIOCESAN CONVENTION ADDRESS
Early on in my time among you as bishop I laid out a vision of this diocese as a community living in and empowered by the resurrection. I have held that image up for you often and for myself daily in my prayer for us together as the Diocese of Montana. And some have asked what I have had in mind in speaking about a resurrection diocese. Here is what it means for me. It means we will have a deep and comprehensive love for Jesus. We will have energy and commitment about being the people who follow Jesus. Gentle care for each other. Generosity and gratitude. Being able to speak the truth in love with each other. Reaching out to the community with the Good News and with service. But above all, deep and comprehensive love for our Lord.
I am now in my fifteenth year as bishop, and I think I can truthfully say that we have made some progress on our way to being resurrectional people. We are clearly not in the same place we were in 2003. I suspect each of us has our own list of what we have been able to do together under Jesus’ guiding hand. And certainly not everything has been a success story. I would, for example, like to have had more growth in baptisms, attendance, and giving than has been the case. In the last four years or so, we have been, at least, holding our own. But lists of accomplishments are for another time.
When I made my first convention address, I had to tackle an issue that at that time was not politic. It has remained an issue and continues to be the major problem we face. I am speaking, of course, about money. In the culture of this part of the world talk about money is almost taboo. As far as we are able to get is this: we don’t have any, and we don’t talk about it. We do have some poor people among us, but we are as a diocese overwhelmingly middle class and above, and to say we have no money is form of self-deception.
Montana can no longer be listed as having among the lowest wages in the country, and by most of the material I read we have a relatively good economy with earnings increasing faster than most of the rest of the country. So let’s just drop the talk about lack of resources. We are, in fact, richly blessed people.
Jesus had a good deal to say about how we use our financial resources. Furthermore, we need to acknowledge that how we spend what we have is a spiritual issue. For people like us, the use of money is crucial. Let me put it another way. If we cannot be gracious, grateful and generous givers, that is a sign that we stand in need of conversion of heart and mind. As I say often, I have never met a serious Christian who was not generous with her or his resources.
I have to point to our Camp Marshall capital campaign. When the Episcopal Church Foundation arrived, their initial assessment was that a campaign would be successful and that two million dollars might be a good goal. I myself thought that we too high, and was thinking in terms of one million. After their careful analysis, they said seven hundred fifty thousand dollars would be appropriate. The idea was that every person in every congregation would have the chance to participate, and, in fact, that was what the convention approved. I have to say that not all churches have participated, and that, thus far, we have received six hundred and thirty five thousand dollars in individual pledges and gifts. I see no reason why we cannot reach our stated goal in terms of individual gifts, and I certainly hope we can get there before I leave office. The good news in this is that the Bishop Fox Foundation in Billings has pledged six hundred and fifty thousand to the campaign, and I rejoice at the generosity of that group. But I really, really, really want the individuals of this diocese to exercise their sense of generosity and have the blessing of reaching our goal. You will be hearing more about this soon.
So, in the years to come under the tenth bishop, part of the challenge will be to step giving, to teach good baptismal stewardship, and to increase significantly the corps of tithers in this diocese. As much as some would like to think otherwise, in this capitalist country money is what accomplishes any achievements and progress we may have. It is to our society what gasoline is to an auto engine. It follows that doing the work of Jesus will require money, generosity and gratitude. There is no way to escape that. And exactly because it is the work of Jesus we want to do our best and give our best. What our money goes for is nothing less than the gospel of Jesus Christ.
It is time to move on. We have much to be proud of in our life together as a diocese. And I want now to mention some of those. First and foremost, we have a good and faithful corps of lay leaders. Many of you here today can be numbered among that esteemed group. These are the people who serve faithfully in their congregations, in the work of the diocese, and often in their communities. They are gifts of God to us all.
Furthermore, we have as good a community of priests and deacons as can be found in the church. I would put that bunch of wonderful people up against any diocese in The Episcopal Church. They are dedicated to Jesus and to the people among whom they serve. They bring a many skills and gifts, and they work together even though separated often by great distances. I enjoy working with them, and I salute them, the clergy of the Diocese of Montana.
And how could I not mention our diocesan staff, the people who function as my representative in our life together. Canon Barb Hagen has worked for the diocese for over twenty years, and is the senior staff person in many respects. To know Barb is to love her. Canon Chris Roberts functions in a variety of ways a Canon to the Ordinary, and many of you have benefitted from his many gifts. There’s the ever faithful and every ready Jill Sallin, Barb’s Administrative Assistant. It would be hard to list all the things she does for all of us. Canon Wren Blessing directs the camp and works in the crucial area of Christian formation. You know her as a gentle presence who always brings insight and skill to what she does. Julie Sisler has worked for over ten years as site manager at the camp, and many of you rightly think of her as a gift from God. And I certainly want to thank my friend and colleague Bishop Gallagher for her presence and work. She is a great support to me, and the source of wise counsel to many of us. She is carrying out work that no one else in The Episcopal Church is doing or can do in the area of Native American ministry.
All of these folks are as good as they come. All are experts at what they do. All are committed and prayerful people. All are a joy to work with.
As I travel around the diocese, I can say that most of our churches and facilities are in good shape. Over the years, we have been busy investing money and energy into keeping physical structures in attractive and useful shape. Let me say that one of the tools of analysis I use when I visit is to look at our buildings; that is a sign of spiritual vitality and commitment. Church buildings are not an end in themselves, but are means of supporting the ministry of Christ, but they are, nevertheless, important to the life of the church in Montana.
And, of course, there is Camp Marshall, the crown jewel of the diocese. This is the holy place where the lives of young people are transformed by being encountered there by the Risen Lord. We have as good a program there as any in the country, our staff and counselors are superior, and we see increasing numbers of campers, including more and more unchurched kids. We can be very proud of our camp, especially in a day when many dioceses have sold or are selling their camps.
At this convention we begin the intentional process of looking to the future. For many of us, the election of the tenth bishop is a major focus, as it rightly should be. The Standing Committee has been hard at work in their responsibility to oversee the election process. The word of caution I offer is that this is a discernment process more than an election. In the coming year all of you will have a say about who the next bishop should be, and the clergy and laity of this diocese will elect that person. Also, the candidates will be in discernment about Jesus’ plans for their future. Please let this be a prayerful, calm process. Do not allow yourself to get involved in politics, game-playing, and the like. If you together do your work and go about that work as an act of prayerful discernment the Lord of the Church will lead you to a right person. I should add that I will continue to be the diocesan until the moment I hand the crozier on to someone else; I do not intend to be a lame duck. I also assure you that I will not in any way interfere with the upcoming election; I will not advocate for any candidate, I will not attempt to influence any vote, and I will support the new bishop, whoever she or he may be.
Beyond the election, the diocese needs to focus on several areas in order to make its love of Jesus more comprehensive and in order to live more fully into the baptismal covenant. We need to work intentionally on inviting and welcoming friends and family into our churches. The old days when you could open the doors of your church and have new people show up are over, and have been since the 1970’s. Let me assure you that there are no secrets or programs that will fill churches. It’s simple, really. You need to love Jesus so that you want others to share in the peace and joy of being a Christian. You have to be enthused about your church as a place where people can meet Jesus. And you have to speak a good word about Jesus, your church, your priest, and, yes, even about your bishop. If you want more members to help pay the bills, you will not grow. It has to be about Jesus.
And in an increasingly secular world, we will need to be intentional about catechesis and Christian formation. In the world I grew up in, everyone went to church, and you were likely to lean the Lord’s Prayer and the Ten Commandments in school. Not now. We need to see our churches as communities of commitment where we all are involved in shaping our minds, our wills, and our lives according to the Gospel. This is slow work, but absolutely necessary.
And I have already said a good deal about our need to develop a good sense of stewardship of time, talent, and treasure. But here I add one more item. We are also the stewards of creation, the world which God created and in which our Lord was incarnate. This past summer of fire and smoke is surely a call to seriousness about this.
Finally, I need to make a personal witness. Many of you have been able to get to know me well, and some less so. I have worked hard, and I have done my best to do that with transparency, integrity, and kindness. I can point to some accomplishments, but I can also point to some things that make me sad. I am certainly aware that not everyone agrees with me; I know that because some of you tell me that with regularity. I have told you often of my love for and commitment to you as bishop, and I have sensed that many have returned those to me. I have been most focused on congregational development, and I now see many healthy congregations. My sense is that our diocese could be poised to make a great leap forward, but that will depend on the generosity and commitment of both laity and clergy. In my mind it is quite clear that the Head of the Church, the Risen One, promises to bless us and be with us, but that he also wants---and deserves---the very best of ourselves given to him as a sacrifice of praise, thanksgiving, and love.
But here is what is most important, most dear to my heart. Our life together as the community of the resurrection has to be centered in Jesus. We need to be clear with ourselves about that, and clear that we love Jesus. That is always a pertinent question: do you love Jesus. I do, and the older I get the more I realize that he has saved me and made my life worth living. Let’s leave it there. It is always and forever all about Jesus.
Bishop C. Franklin Brookhart
Bishop of The Episcopal Diocese of Montana