With the turning of the year towards autumn, I experience an annual time of reflection and stillness that can seem to be at odds with an accompanying desire to get outside and take long hikes on woodland trails. I feel simultaneously nostalgic and energized. I see beauty in the amber tones of turning leaves and hear beauty in the rustle of song birds seeking shelter in the thicket as the nights become colder. I believe that I am most at home in autumn, which is to say that I feel closest to Creation and most at peace with the cosmos during this season. Perhaps the dynamic of restfulness and restlessness has something to do with ancestral instincts that humans share with other animals – urged to move with the energy of migration to a secure place for settling in for winter (the time for long stories and sacred teachings in my Indigenous culture).

The competing desires to be both inside my home in a cozy space by a hearth and outside in nature exploring new trails on new adventures every autumn is perhaps when I identify most with Hobbits. One of my favorite poems since childhood is by J.R.R. Tolkien and is entitled “I Sit beside the Fire and Think”. In the first book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship of the Ring), Tolkien includes the poem as a song by hobbit Bilbo Baggins who sings it softly in the elf realm of Rivendell on the evening (of December 24th) before the fellowship sets out upon their quest to destroy the One Ring of enthralling power. The poem is a contemplative piece, sung by the aging hobbit recalling past events and ends in anticipation of hearing returning friends:

I sit beside the fire and think of all that I have seen,
of meadow-flowers and butterflies in summers that have been;
Of yellow leaves and gossamer in autumns that there were,
with morning mist and silver sun and wind upon my hair.

I sit beside the fire and think of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.
For still there are so many things that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring there is a different green.

I sit beside the fire and think of people long ago,
and people who will see a world that I shall never know.
But all the while I sit and think of times there were before,
I listen for returning feet and voices at the door.

In many ways, I believe that the Abrahamic faiths overall and the Episcopal Church specifically are experiencing a particular turning of time, a passing away of how things were and the emergence of how things need to become if we are willing to make the journey together. I recognize that there are Episcopalians who are grieving the loss of the type of church community that may have once been familiar to them. Yet, with every General Convention resolution that causes the church to expand our liturgies, our language, our music, our models of leadership, our ministries, and our ways of being the church – there are those who are feeling more welcomed, more able to find spiritual support and shelter from the cold of a wintery world.

The adventure we are invited to pursue requires the courage to challenge whatever keeps us from the experience of being loved, valued, and seen/heard. Jesus knew that making technical changes in how society and religion function is the easier part of the transformation he sought; he understood that the harder part is the turning of the human heart. He spent his ministry and his life changing his world one relationship at a time – no exceptions. While Christianity became a tool of empire beginning with Constantine I, Christ’s essential teachings to love God and to love one’s neighbor as one’s self remain our best and true heritage. Whatever ideas, theologies, and attitudes that would test Christ’s two commandments are also a test of leadership. The history of Western Civilization used Christianity like the One Ring in striving to bend all human will towards the purpose of fulfilling the commercial greed of European empires during the Age of Discovery and colonialism.

The last two generations of humanity have experienced a collective global turning in light of climate science illuminating our human impact on the Earth and in light of an increasing distrust in patriarchal authority structures that are supported by claims of faith or God’s will (the narrative of colonialism on every continent “discovered” by European venture capitalists). The past sixty years of American history are hallmarked by the environmental movement, the civil rights movement, the gay rights movement, the women’s rights movement, and space exploration – social experiences that enhanced our human understanding of the vulnerability of our planet and the deep desire of all people in our nation and around the world to live without the threat of violence and oppression.

Like Tolkien’s fellowship in the Lord of the Rings, confronting the forces that harm us all requires a mutual commitment among the diverse peoples who inhabit our world. The global interconnectedness of human communities overlays the environmental connectedness of the living systems upon which our species relies, from agriculture to rain forests and from song birds to whales. Our understanding of and commitment to reparative relationships needs to include the development of a theological understanding that comprehends creation as sacred, as having intrinsic value and deserving of our respect. The imperial and colonial worldview is turning its gaze towards the heavens in more ways than one as old ideologies that inform harmful ways of relating to other people and the environment continue to be challenged by the new physical and social realties in which we find ourselves.

Diversity, creativity, and relationality are fundamental to the full nature of the universe and of the God in whose image we are made. The power of Christ’s resurrection was not a one-time moment relegated to history in days gone by. Rather, resurrection is the present and ongoing creative force of the God who has promised to make all things new. We ought not to be surprised, then, when our traditions adapt to reflect the beauty of diverse cultures, when our language needs to expand, when our liturgies need to grow beyond the covers of the hymnal and prayer book, when congregations and dioceses need to reimagine their identity and re-vision their ministry, when leadership needs to bring balance to people’s hearts and not only to financial accounts.

The journey of fellowship and challenge towards changing the world we live in and growing evermore authentically into faithful followers of Christ relies upon our willingness and ability to support one another in difficult moments as well as to celebrate together that we are on the journey at all. The turning of our faith tradition from operating as a force of domination into a force of liberation (as Christ intended) is the ongoing task of our time. One relationship at a time, hearts are turned by love like autumn leaves, in reflective acknowledgement of what has been and in faithful anticipation of the new life that is yet to be for all of us. In this turning time, may we reflect and take action, which is the very nature of prayer. How lovely then to ponder autumn as Creation at prayer.

This particular blog post addresses concerns about changes that have been proposed to the Rules of Order for the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. So, this is a heads up (warning label?) to those who follow my Greening Spirit blog that this particular post may induce you into a coma, unless you have real interest in Episcopal Church governance.

Both the Deputies of Color and The Consultation of the Episcopal Church have issued statements in response to the proposed changes, and as Vice-President of the House of Deputies, I was included among those whom the statements addressed. I appreciated both statements very much and the opportunity to respond to them. The Episcopal News Service article covers the dialog in an article published on August 15th: https://www.episcopalnewsservice.org/2023/08/15/house-of-deputies-considers-plan-to-finish-most-committee-work-online-ahead-of-general-convention/

Today, I have sent my response, with the awareness that there is much more discussion to be had and many more voices that need to be heard. You are welcome to add your thoughts in the comments to this post – please speak only for yourself and please be respectful to all, including those who’ve put in their time and effort serving on the appointed Special Committee.

My response to Deputies of Color and The Consultation is below:

To: Deputies of Color and The Consultation:

Dear Friends,

I am grateful to have been included among those addressed in the statements that you have provided regarding proposed changes to the Rules of Order of the House of Deputies reported by the Special Committee appointed for such purpose by the President of the House of Deputies, Julia Ayala-Harris. Madam President has characterized the Special Committee’s report as generating excitement. For my own part, what I am feeling is not so much excitement as perturbation. I share the concerns that you have collectively raised within your respective statements. I am grateful that the proposed changes have been presented for our consideration as a draft, since I cannot support or recommend the proposed changes in their current form.

The three-page preamble to the Special Committee report indicates that the proposed changes are informed by both feedback from deputies and the core values of the Episcopal Church and the House of Deputies. The document infers core values that are not specifically cited or referenced as core values of the organization. However, language within the document seems to highlight that the committee work is directed by goals of improved time management on the floor of convention and overall cost-savings for convention.

Values are like a compass that keep us headed in a desired direction and are distinct from goals. When an organization reflects on how it wants to operate, the community is focusing on values. Goals are the specific ways the community intends to execute its values. A goal is something that we aim for and check off once accomplished. Being responsible is a value. Changing rules of order is a goal. I do not believe that our organizational values are evinced within the proposed goals. As you have recognized, the proposed changes to pre-convention legislative committee work limits the role of elected deputies and the authority of legislative committees for what issues see the light of convention debate. The result has the effect of consolidating decision-making to an appointed few for greater control over the processes of General Convention, which seems to be the overarching goal throughout the proposed changes. For example, the proposed changes will be imposed as the rules of order for next year’s General Convention prior to any floor debate or voting consent by the House of Deputies.

I believe that the Special Committee anticipated push back to the proposed changes, which informs their preemptive framing of the changes as enhancing greater inclusivity and a broader democratic process, which I would argue that the changes do not in fact accomplish. Further, as your statements have noted, the challenges of months of legislative work prior to convention actually have an exclusive impact on lay deputies and the international diversity of our deputies, who struggle to meet across time zones (with challenged or no connectivity for online meetings) and who thrive best in the experience of in-person community development.

I believe that some of the values we hold as a faith tradition include values of community, compassion, equality, generosity, fairness, justice, and welcome. Pre-Convention listening sessions (not legislative sessions) offered for differing time zones and language needs are in keeping with the desire to hear from many voices, and the offering of scholarships supports in-person attendance for a more meaningful relationship across the Church.

I believe that we are called to value people as our most precious asset and that the cost of doing business ought not outweigh the value of community. Thank you for your statements.

Sincerely,

The Rev. Rachel Taber-Hamilton, Vice-President of the House of Deputies

The General Convention of the Episcopal Church

Diocese of Olympia Clergy Deputy (C1) for GC81 (2024)

The Kingston Trio released a song in 1959 by the name of The Merry Little Minuet. A reflection of both the concerns of the atomic age generation and global strife occurring at the time, the song injects humor into a fraught social reality in a manner that speaks to the truth of a summation of fears that people were experiencing. Two decades later, friends of mine and I would sing this song as part of a Girl Scout sketch at camp. We understood the humor and the serious social statements behind it. You can listen to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVUh5OaiADc

Throughout our elementary school years in Ohio, my friends and I participated in regular school drills intended to respond to the threats of nuclear bomb strikes, earthquakes, building fires, and tornados. Depending on the drill, the three basic responses were: 1) crouch under one’s classroom desk and interlace one’s hands behind head/neck, 2) go out into the hallways and assume a fetal position against a wall, and 3) exit down the stairwells to the outside and walk away from the building.

Though teachers and school administrators never asked for our thoughts or feedback on these drills, after every single one, my friends and I would discuss among ourselves how effective these responses would be in the event of an actual emergency. We concluded that in reality we would probably be turned into radioactive dust, be crushed under tons of bricks and concrete, become burnt toast, or be shredded into debris. We harbored no illusions about potential death and destruction in light of potential catastrophic events, but it seemed to us that the adults certainly did. Perhaps they believed that they were protecting us from anxiety or that we were too young to contemplate the possibility of our death. They didn’t want to scare us or themselves, which is why these various disaster drills were always conducted in silence and with no opportunity for discussion or reflection. The idea of trying to simulate bomb blasts, earthquakes, fires, or tornados would not have occurred to any of those planning the drills.

Two more decades into the future Columbine High School would be among the first schools to experience the violent phenomenon of attempted bombing and active shooters. The shooting inspired dozens of copycat killings, dubbed the Columbine effect, including many deadlier shootings across the world. The Washington Post, which keeps an updated count of school shootings, reports that to date of this blog post there have been 373 school mass shooting in the United States. Across all such incidents, The Post has found that at least 192 children, educators and others have been killed, with an additional 421 victims who have been injured.  https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/interactive/school-shootings-database/

The response in school safety drills in most schools today include Lock-Down drills and Active Shooter Simulations. The organization of Sandy Hook Promise has raised a serious concern about the impact of active shooter drills, in that many of these drills have morphed into active shooter simulations.

The Sandy Hook Promise website states:

Without a doubt, many of us might think active shooter drills are like fire drills. They should help educate and train students on how to take a crisis seriously. Certainly without putting them in harm’s way. Instead, many of these drills have become live-action simulations of fatal shootings. Rather than empowering students, these simulations can include shooting pellet guns at teachers and spreading fake blood to mimic the scene of a shooting. Sometimes, students aren’t even aware the exercise is just a drill. Moreover, these tactics hurt students and do not help prevent school shootings. Without the right guidance, state legislatures may pass laws that add simulations to the list of approved active shooter exercises. Simulations are not the same as active shooter drills and they must be kept separate. Students should never have to participate in anything that mimics a real-life shooting.

In light of the separation of types of drill (helpful v. harmful), the website provides a link to a petition to sign for to support the organization in putting a stop to traumatizing active shooter simulations. https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/blog/advocacy/active-shooter-drills-harmful-or-helpful/

The distinction between types of drills is an important difference to note, especially as more and more faith communities (Jewish, Muslim, and Christian) are turning towards creating active shooter drills in response to rising domestic terrorism concerns related to white supremacist groups and racism. Our faith communities probably need helpful instruction and guidance related to active shooter drills, and the Department of Homeland Security has developed safety resources for Faith-Based Events and Houses of Worship: https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/17_0531_NSI_SAR-Faith-Based-Events-Houses-Worship.pdf

Churches are considered “soft targets” for active shooters.  The Episcopal Church has a Safety and Insurance Handbook available online that includes a section (Chapter 3) on insurance coverage for Malicious Attack and encourages the development of Violence Preparedness Plans. If you were not previously aware of the availability of such coverage through Church Insurance, now you are: https://www.cpg.org/globalassets/documents/publications/safety–insurance-handbook-for-churches.pdf

However, the process of developing an effective violence preparedness plan requires consultation with a local commercial security company, the local FBI office, or other professional resources that can provide training. Additionally consulting with local law enforcement is highly encouraged. In January of 2022, Rabbi Charlie Cytron-Walker said security training at his suburban Fort Worth congregation over the years is what allowed him and the other three hostages to make it through the 10-hour ordeal, which he described as traumatic:

“In the last hour of our hostage crisis, the gunman became increasingly belligerent and threatening,” Cytron-Walker said in a statement. “Without the instruction we received, we would not have been prepared to act and flee when the situation presented itself.” https://spectrumlocalnews.com/tx/south-texas-el-paso/news/2022/01/17/texas-rabbi–security-training-paid-off-in-hostage-standoff

As a rector of a congregation, I have attempted to balance the values of our faith with the recognized need to be prepared in the event of a variety of disasters, including malicious attack/active shooter training/drills. The value of being a welcoming community for all people bumps up against the practical need for safety of those gathered and for preparedness. The words of advice that Jesus gives to his disciples often runs through my thoughts, “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” {Matthew 10:16).

Among products available through Church Publishing are sets of Weapon-Free Zone stickers: https://dev.churchpublishing.org/products/w/weapon-free-zone-episcopal-church-sticker

The publishing company also has available an important resource for proclaiming the Gospel of peace in the face of the epidemic of gun violence: https://www.churchpublishing.org/reclaimingthegospelofpeace

Leaders who are tasked with preparedness plans cannot be silent about the culture of violence that we currently inhabit in the United States. Escalating gun violence and the reality of mass shootings, the uptick in white supremacy group activities, domestic violence in the home, and suicide by gun – all of these topics require our attention. Our response as faith communities must include actions that both protect our faith communities and engage in social justice actions that make a difference. Whatever form of active shooter training or drills we create must additionally not traumatize those who participate in them but rather educate, listen to, and empower our members and leadership.

The organization of Bishops Against Gun Violence is a network of nearly 100 Episcopal Church bishops, urges our cities, states and nation to adopt policies and pass legislation that will reduce the number of people in the United States killed and wounded by gunfire. Their website includes educational and liturgical resources for use in congregations to help provide opportunities for discussion and planning, for lament and for action. https://bishopsagainstgunviolence.org/about-us/

Additionally, the Episcopal Peace Fellowship is a network dedicated to non-violence and meaningful action to create peace, even with those with whom we may disagree. The organization has several action groups with which to become involved, including the Gun Violence Prevention action group. There are multiple resources available through their webpage and the opportunity to join in membership. Their site includes education materials, liturgies, and sermons, as well as peace building online: https://epfnational.org/

As my congregation launches our Safety Team and develops drills for various potential disasters, we will need to evaluate everything from our current church insurance coverage to what local professional agencies should be a part of our training and planning processes. At every step, we will need to provide intentional consultation and listening sessions with our members – bearing in mind that we have educators and students, gun owners, military personnel and security professionals among our own ranks.

The reign of God, as Jesus presents it, is a journey away from living within an empire built on violence towards a community of peace. The ends may not always justify the means in the face of a messiah who practiced and taught non-violence and who was crucified by violence, whose apostles suffered terrible deaths, and whose followers were martyred in Roman arenas until Constantine I enrobed the faith in the trappings of empire – establishing core beliefs that would later justify the Crusades and the Doctrine of Discovery.

Perhaps, then, our first step as Christians is to examine the tenets of culture that inform the violence in our faith tradition, tenets alive and well in today’s Christian Nationalism and in the ways we continue to grapple with diversity (racism, sexism, LGBTQIA discrimination) in the church today. Decolonizing our faith probably needs to be included in whatever safety plans we develop to protect our communities from the harm we ourselves may be perpetuating and justifying in society and in the world.

As the Gospel of Luke (6:41-46) reminds us,

Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye? Or how can you say to your neighbor, “Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye”, when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

May God preserve us, instruct us, and inspire us all as we strive to become people who live in peace with God and with one another.

In Christ’s Peace,

Rachel+

A Note from the Vice-President of the House of Deputies of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church (i.e. me):

Decision making processes matter within any organizational and community relationship. Hierarchical decision making may be expedient to meeting the operational needs of an institution and that institution’s top-tier leadership. Hierarchical decision making is always a legitimate option within an organization so composed. In contrast, decision making within a representative/democratic process is a viable model within institutions so composed for such a model of governance. The Episcopal Church uses both hierarchical decision making processes AND representative/democratic decision making processes, while making a distinction between what bodies are responsible for management and what bodies are responsible for oversight.

In the governance and operations of the church, decision making models bump up against management and oversight roles, with the Executive Council as a quasi board entity responsible for oversight while the executive officers/staff are responsible for management of the corporation. Unlike other corporations, however, the church states a commitment to Beloved Community – which includes everyone in any given room where decisions are being made.

The values upon which the model of Beloved Community is based are antithetical to both decision making models operant in the church, in that Beloved Community is not cultivated through either hierarchical or representative/democratic decision making but rather in the nurturing and empowerment of every voice and every person. The only currency of any authority that has value within the Beloved Community is healthy relationship as characterized by emotional safety, spiritual authenticity, and equally-weighted voices that eschew personal power in favor of decisions made for the greatest benefit of relationships. Healthy ways of relating/communicating are the greatest treasure of organizational life. I believe that much organizational/relational treasure was spent in the collision of a pre-determined hierarchical decision made by executive officers seeking justification through the democratic decision making process of Executive Council.

Additionally, I believe that the final vote reflects the harm done to relationships between the executive officers and members of council. I am concerned that much community/relational currency was expended by leadership to achieve this result, Beloved Community currency that will take some intentional time to replenish in our organizational life. That said, if the Presiding Bishop had made the determination to use his executive function and simply appoint a COO (well within his authority to do), that would have caused far greater relational damage within a context of growing partnership with the Executive Council. The way forward will call everyone to the deeper authenticity of Beloved Community.

As Vice-President of the House of Deputies, I have no vote within the Executive Council democracy, and I have no authority within the hierarchy. I am committed to supporting people, and will support the COO in whatever ways are open to me , as I am equally committed in my support of the Presiding Bishop, the President of the House of Deputies, and members of Executive Council. The new COO does not trouble me. However, the compromised decision-making process does trouble me. I need a Beloved Community in which all members are committed to healthy ways of relating and communicating – without manipulation of powers, people, and circumstance. We must not seek to sit at the tables that Jesus overturned. Our treasure is one another.

From the Living Church article covering the vote:

“In one sense, it wasn’t a close call. The resolution was approved 26 to 13, meaning 67 percent voted in favor — a lopsided landslide in a secular election. But virtually all Executive Council resolutions are passed unanimously, or nearly so. No other resolution in years has been opposed by anything close to a third of the council.”

It’s been about six months since I have had the opportunity to contribute to my own blog, but I’ve been doing some important writing in other forums recently. As I turn again to more regular contributions to Greening Spirit, I thought it might be helpful to gather in one place the articles I’ve written elsewhere over the past year. It’s a little easier for me to refer those who ask about what I’ve been working on to this space as a single point of reference.

Over the last year, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection on themes that are really very tightly braided together. These include: Indigenous environmental spirituality, leadership formation in the Episcopal Church, the historical forces of Christian neocolonialism, environmental justice, and the critical need for racial reconciliation within the Church and between the Church and Indigenous communities. Taken altogether, these themes constitute a common trajectory of the influence of dominant culture and the vital need to make a global cultural course correction. The Anthropocene era of species extinction and climate change on Earth and decline of the Church have a common foundation in the worldview and impact of colonialism that continues to drive dominant societies to justify war, oppression, and nationalism today.

Societies are subject to forces of cultural transformation through the processes of intellectual and spiritual development that are important hallmarks of the evolution of the human species. We change. Our societies change. Our understandings of the cosmos and the nature of the Earth and environmental dynamics have advanced exponentially over the last 50 years alone. Christianity (and the other Abrahamic faith traditions) must catch up or be left by the wayside of the greater human journey as maladaptive belief systems that have contributed to the deterioration of human relationship with Creation and between human communities. That said, I would observe that progressive expressions of the Abrahamic faiths absolutely exist, though the visionary voices of each are frequently drowned out by the minority, toxic versions that plague them. Unfortunately, the toxic versions are motivated by a common vision: totalitarianism. Such a worldview is in every way counter to the reality of diversity and counter to the values of any faith that believes in a God who created and loves that diversity. Human identity is discovered, revealed, and realized over a lifetime; our potential does not find culmination in imposed conformity but in cultivated authenticity.

The work that I have been doing has found voice at the generous invitation of several forums, and I am deeply grateful for their support. Through their friendship and allyship, I am able to share the links below. These materials are only a small and current part of the far larger history and contributions of Indigenous peoples in the Episcopal Church and in the world. My sincere hope is that these offerings will serve to support the ongoing dialog, growing awareness, and much needed transformation for greater mutual understanding and the vital, healing work of racial reconciliation.

Videos & Written Resources

Reflecting on the Guiding Principles of the Beloved Community (The Importance of Episcopal Church Global Partnerships) – Video Resource [29:39 minutes]: https://www.episcopalchurch.org/ministries/global-partnerships/digital-toolkit/?wchannelid=rinmnfx4ka&wmediaid=591mve3mgk

Native Voices: Speaking to the Church and the World – TEC Office of Indigenous Ministries – Video Resource [36:39 minutes]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEvcyMvlv0I

Becoming Beloved Community from an Indigenous Perspective – United Thank Offering Panel Discussion – Video Resource [1:30:00] Becoming Beloved Community from an Indigenous Perspective

When Creation Is Sacred: restoring the Indigenous Jesus (Anglican Theological Review, Special issue on “All Things Hold Together: Intersections in Creation Care”, Volume 103 Issue 2, May 2021): https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00033286211007421

The Cultural Conundrum of the Indigenous Christian (Racial Reconciliation Series, Episcopal Church column of September 30, 2021): https://www.episcopalchurch.org/racialreconciliation/the-cultural-conundrum-of-the-indigenous-christian/

Let Earth Be Heaven (Episcopal Church Foundation, Vital Practices; Caretakers of God’s Creation Series, March 2022): https://www.ecfvp.org/vestry-papers/article/994/let-earth-be-heaven

The Great Burning (The Living Church, Covenant weblog; Commentary, May 4, 2022): https://covenant.livingchurch.org/2022/05/04/the-great-burning/?fbclid=IwAR2QrrrpovFeVn4po6AeKNLtJV4htBCNfwNSEY9-h6Wg-rMOUObKZdfSOPA

P.S. – This is an older article I wrote for the Anglican Theological Review for their Fall 2010 Volume 92 • Number 4 issue; The Necessity of Native American Autonomy for Successful Partnerships: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/http://www.anglicantheologicalreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/taber-hamilton_92.4.pdf

A number of years ago, the Episcopal Ad Project put out a poster, a classic picture of Jesus that said, “He died to take away your sins, not your mind.”  Over the past several months, I have recalled the sentiment of this poster multiple times as I have strived the navigate the social waters of the Covid-19 pandemic, the availability of vaccines that are proven to be effective, and the emergence of new virus variants that have had the opportunity to mutate within populations with a low vaccination rate.

My friends in the medical field across the country include nurses, hospice staff, respiratory therapists, first responders, laboratory technicians, clinicians, and physicians. To a person, they are tired and frustrated. I try to support them in the ways that I can by providing a non-judgmental and supportive listening ear for as long as they need it. Many of them are suffering from acute compassion fatigue and are finding it increasingly difficult to feel empathy for those who have chosen not to take steps in preventing the spread of Covid-19 and who have consequently contracted the virus. Patience is a limited natural resource even in the most stalwart of human beings. The impatience and frustration of professional healthcare workers who are enduring these times is understandable. In spite of their physical and emotional fatigue, society’s healers are continuing to do what they can – ifthey can – to save the lives of people from the devastation of a global pandemic. 

Faith and science are two ways of encountering the environment in which we live. In the historical development of the Episcopal Church, the Episcopal tradition has never seen faith as being at odds with science. In fact, even going as far back as the sixteenth century Church of England, theologian Richard Hooker defended of the role of reason as one of three legs of the three-legged stool supporting the emerging Anglican faith – scripture, reason, and tradition remain foundational to the Anglican/Episcopal worldview and subsequently to the practice of our faith.

Recently, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, told an international gathering of faith leaders that collaborative steps to meet the challenges of the world’s current climate crisis would benefit from the relationship between science and faith. He made his comments in the first of a series of online meetings being held in advance of the UN’s COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow later this year. Archbishop Justin said that “the relationship between science and faith presents us with a very real and a powerful route to lasting, major change. Our global reach, our commitment to local communities and our hope combined with the knowledge and expertise of science can forge a powerful alliance.”

In an expression linking faith and science, The Most Rev. Michael Curry who is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, created a video of receiving his first Covid-19 vaccination earlier this year. “I thank God for all of the people who have made the COVID vaccines possible and available,” he says in the video, “I’m thankful to have received my first shot – one more to go!” Bishop Curry has since been fully vaccinated and has encouraged all Episcopalians to do the same. The Office of Government Relations of the Episcopal Church created a Covid-19 Tool Kit with ideas of how to encourage people to be vaccinated.

The Covid-19 Toolkit shares that In 2019 (before the pandemic), the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church passed a resolution stating, “That The Episcopal Church has long maintained that we are guided by faith and reason, and that scientific evidence helps us to better understand God’s creation, our place in it, and ways to alleviate suffering and pain.” 

Additional language from that resolution offers excellent guidance for taking vaccines, including this statement, “The proper and responsible use of vaccines is a duty not only to our own selves and families but to our communities. Choosing to not vaccinate, when it is medically safe, threatens the lives of others.” A further statement in the resolution gives no wiggle room for non-compliance based on religious objections, “The Executive Council recognizes no claim of theological or religious exemption from vaccination for our members and reiterates the spirit of General Convention policies that Episcopalians should seek the counsel of experienced medical professionals, scientific research, and epidemiological evidence.”

Washington Governor Jay Inslee updated and extended two emergency proclamations last week that expand the vaccine requirement and the statewide face covering requirement.  As of August 16, 2021 in our state, at least 69.3 percent of people 12 years of age and older and 59.1 percent of the total population have initiated vaccination. However, only 53.8 percent of the total state population are fully vaccinated.

The “Delta” variant of Covid-19 is at least twice as transmissible as the virus that emerged in late 2019. This fact coupled with the continued significant numbers of unvaccinated people, has caused Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations to rise sharply among unvaccinated populations. As a result, at least 85 percent of U.S. counties and all counties in Washington state meet the CDC criteria for high or substantial transmission.

This is not a time to eschew science but rather to embrace God’s gifts to humanity of intellect (of reason) and the skills with which we are equipped by our Creator and that are modeled by Christ in order to bring healing to the sick. Through the application of our God-given talents and divinely inspired common sense, we are commanded to live from a sacred commitment to care for our neighbor. Our common commitment to one another’s wellbeing is how we are to incarnate our love of God and God’s love for us. Truly, in light of God’s gift of community – in light of the way we have been made to live within relationships of mutual dependence upon one another – caring for the health of others in both a faithful and reasonable thing to do. We must all of us model Christ, we must all of us be healers.  The burden of responsibility for the health of our communities must be shared.

I feel so deeply grateful for all the ways that members of Trinity Episcopal Church in Everett, WA who attend and shepherd our in-person services have adhered to the Covid-19 protocols that we have in place. Without this mutual commitment, we would not be able to gather for worship and visit for fellowship. I have felt blessed to see some of my parishioners again and to visit with them in person. If we can continue to model a faithful and reasonable commitment to one another, then the opportunities for gathering in person can continue – with every person making the choices they feel are most reasonable for their continued safety. As we turn to September, the traditional time of fall program startups, I encourage Episcopalians and all people of good will to celebrate this autumn as a Season of Reason. My hope is that this fall season may be a time of gratitude for all that God has given to us that informs our faith and that we bring as gifts to our relationship with God and to our Church, most especially our minds.