“To those in the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy, who are beloved by God and called to be God’s People, Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  (Romans 1:7)

I begin by giving thanks for your presence here today, and I am pleased that there are visitors and delegates representing all of our worshiping communities, and then some.  The Synod is a very important event in the life of our Episcopal and Christian community.  This particular Synod is noteworthy in that our Presiding Bishop and Primate, the Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori, has graced us with her presence.  Beginning with our Special Synod in 2009, this is the second visit that she has made to our diocese, and it is sign of the great affection she, and the Church that she leads, have for our diocese.  Bishop Katharine, as she is often called, leads an International Church, the bishops of which have just met in the Episcopal Diocese of Central Ecuador.  She was in Quito, Ecuador several days prior to the gathering of Bishops being the chief pastor to the small struggling diocese of Central Ecuador.  She was enthusiastically received by the Ecuadorians, but they will not out-do Quincyites.  We, too, are pleased that she is here and are grateful for her leadership.  Bishop Katharine is now meeting with some younger Episcopalians, even as we meet here.  She will join us for lunch, followed by a news conference.  And she will preach and celebrate here at the Cathedral tomorrow, before she flies out Sunday afternoon.

At our Special Synod in April 2009, in consultation with the Presiding Bishop, you elected me to serve as your Provisional Bishop.  We have been together now for 2½.  Please allow me to speak from my heart; it has been a joy for both Peggy and me to be among you.  Dean Dedmon, in his role as President of the Standing Committee will be making an announcement on that matter later in this Synod.  Of course, all of us have grieved the past events that caused the necessity for my serving among you, but as Bishop Katharine said in her sermon at the Cathedral in Ecuador, “Before there can be a resurrection there must be a death.”  I believe that we are now focused on the possibilities for our future.

William Temple became the 98^th Archbishop of Canterbury in 1942, serving during World War II.  Many are amazed that during days of darkest despair he could say these now oft quoted words, "A church that lives for itself dies by itself!"  I suspect that deep down all us agree with him.  Another Englishman, a near contemporary of Temple, by the name of G. K. Chesterton, who died in 1936, once said, “The Church is the only institution that exists for the benefit of its non-members.”  Beloved, if these two Christian giants are right, our worshipping communities in the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy are called by the Lord of the Church to serve the world in his name.  One of the ways that Quincyites have attempted corporately to serve the world is to participate in the Episcopal Church’s Haiti Appeal—the effort to rebuild the Church in Haiti.  The Church seeks to raise $10,000,000 for that purpose.  The people of Haiti and the Episcopal Church in Haiti have been devastated by a major earthquake, subsequent storms, and a cholera epidemic.  We in this diocese set a goal to raise $10,000 for Haiti relief.  That goal is the equivalent to every member of our diocese—every man, woman, and child—buying a $10 rebuilding brick.  I am pleased to report that to-date we have raised more than the goal—more than $10,000.  To have achieved that goal required the efforts of all of our churches and many Episcopalians, but we haven’t stopped.  Responding to our appeal in a recent diocesan e-news, gifts are still being made, and the offering at the Synodical Eucharist later today is dedicated for that purpose.  Beloved, this is a major accomplishment for our small diocese.  At a news conference at 2 p.m. today, we will present to the Presiding Bishop with a check in the amount of $10,000 plus.  I would be remiss to not mention the heroic efforts of Hugh Piper here at the Cathedral Church.  Hugh kept this appeal before this congregation.  Similarly, I must also mention the efforts of All Saints’ Church, Moline for their generous and early response to this appeal, going well beyond the goal of $10 for of every man, woman and child.

Episcopalians in this diocese do not want the Church that they love to die to itself.  We want give ourselves to the call of Jesus to serve the world in his name.

But our service to a hurting world should not end with the Haiti project and at the risk of being repetitious; let me again commend to you the example of All Saints’ Church, Moline.  You will recall that All Saints’ Church was formed by Episcopalians who did not want to leave the Episcopal Church.  An application for their admission as a mission in union with the Synod will be considered later this morning.  Service in the name of Jesus to a hurting local and international world is a high priority for the members of All Saints.  Here is a summary of their outreach ministry.  Contributions to the Allemeier Angel (Discretionary) Fund over $600, to the annual Theological Education Offering for Nashotah House Seminary $1,000, to the local Food Pantry $2,500 (in addition to food collections), to the Dominican Republic Medical Mission $500, to the Heifer Project (Quarter Tube Collections) $520 and growing Sunday by Sunday, to the shelter for men $1200 and to the shelter for women & children food and toiletries collections, the All Saints ECW’s Bazaar in the past has supported the Jericho Road Project for the New Orleans Hurricane, and the ECW there still promotes the blue boxes—the UTO, the United Thank Offering, and the parish Men’s Club has assembled care packages for the men and women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

St. Paul’s Cathedral also has an outstanding outreach ministry.  They are involved in Dress for Success, Thanksgiving baskets for military families, Christmas Gift Wrapping for Senior citizens, Adopt-A-School Program, the soup Kitchen, Recycle for Sight, and the St. Paul’s Food Pantry.

I fully expect someone from that congregation to say to me, “But Bishop you did not mention such and such project,” and for that I apologize in advance, but there you have the examples of a Church which does not live for itself and is not dying itself.  I commend all of our congregations for being Church institutions that exists for the benefit of its non-members.  Beloved there is not time to mention service projects of all our other congregations, but believe me they are there and there are many, but know this: I commend every giving heart, and I give thanks for every generous congregation, as it looks beyond itself and is keeping the Baptismal Covenant to “[S]eek and serve all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself.”

Speaking of that vow to love the neighbor, and running the risk of being overly optimistic, I am hopeful that we may be near the end in the legal proceedings which have been a part of our life for more than two years.  If we are not successful; so be it, but there will be life after death.  There will be a resurrection.

On the other hand, should we be successful, we will be given a huge challenge to be faithful Christians and authentic Episcopalians.  I remind all of us that The Book of Common Prayer teaches that “[T]he mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.”  That teaching has scriptural warrant.  It is what the Apostle Paul taught.  It is what Jesus instilled the minds and hearts of his disciples.  “You are to be one,” he said,” as the Father and I are one.”  Reconciliation is the name of the game.  That being the case let the word go out that no person in any of the groups that repudiated and purported to leave The Episcopal Church or the Episcopal Diocese of Quincy will be asked to leave his or her Church.  The roadside signs are true—All are Welcome.   We know for a fact that there are persons in some of those congregations who did not want to leave The Episcopal Church.  Some of them are present today and even though their parish purported to leave, it did not and could not do so.  So let me say again, no one will be asked to leave.  All are welcome to worship Jesus along with other Episcopal dioceses and regional areas in 16 nations of the world that comprise The Episcopal Church, and along with side our Anglican Communion partners in 38 autonomous provinces near and far, and across the seas.

Beloved in Christ, I see evidence of new life in our diocese.  For example, I see a small group of women who want to see the Episcopal Church Women have a stronger presence in this diocese.  These are women who want to have a vehicle for supporting women’s issues here at home and around the world.  In our diocese some of them have published a cookbook.  It is for sale @ $15. The money earned from it will fund one or more delegates to the Triennial Meeting of Episcopal Church Women in Indianapolis in 2012.

I see new life when a fledging congregation forms and makes application be in union with the Synod of the Diocese of Quincy, which takes responsibility for providing a place where folks like us can find spiritual support and encouragement that feeds their souls and helps them find their way toward a future with God.

I see new life when I discover your striving to keep the vows of the Baptismal Covenant, particularly our need to strive for justice and peace and to respect the dignity of every human being.  The Bible says that when the ancestors of the Jews—the Hebrews—were in slavery in Egypt that God heard their groaning under Egyptian oppression.  I believe that God may be available to everyone, but I am certain that he cares and provides extra measure of grace for the poor, the oppressed and the powerless.  I believe that he desires his people—you and me—to imitate the divine example.  Let me share this from one of our former Presiding Bishops.  He wrote,ear the words of ooneLet share this from one of  “When I was bishop of Okinawa, I had a congregation of people who were . . . lepers, some 800 Episcopalians. At my first confirmation as bishop, I asked that they not use the white linen cloths to cover the tops of their heads as they had done in the past . . . so that I might touch the heads of those [leprous] confirmands. I did so because Jesus taught me to touch the lepers. It is Jesus, not me, who said -- there will be no outcasts.” 

Beloved, new life comes when we determine that there will be no outcasts in our congregations, in our diocese, or in our Episcopal Church.  New life comes we strive for justice, giving to all the dignity they deserve as a child of God.