Disciple: Deeply Rooted in Jesus Christ
Scandal and grace in the family tree
By The Rt. Rev. Anne E. Hodges-Copple
When I was 18, I found out that my beloved and revered law professor grandfather was not who I thought he was.
This revelation came to light when my father’s biological father reached out to his son for the first time in 41 years. Dramatic chapters of family history, previously undisclosed, came to light. It included exotic tidbits like the fact my biological grandfather had been a card-carrying Communist and a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune in the 1920s and 30s. I learned that, as an infant in New York City, my father was suspected of being the kidnapped son of Charles and Anne Morrow Lindberg. Up to that point I had thought my father was born in Austin, Texas! While my understanding of my genetic DNA had to be significantly revised, my understanding of family roots was vastly expanded and enriched in ways that ultimately strengthened and deepened our family ties.
Learning that my family roots had some quite deliberately hidden dimensions was both alarming and tantalizing. Learning I did not share my grandfather’s DNA initially distressed me. But this discovery did nothing to change the fact that we, his grandchildren, worshipped the ground on which he walked. We never had to question his love even as we eagerly sought his smiling attention and reveled in his praise. As I thought about it more deeply, I could see how my father and grandfather had an incredibly strong father-son relationship, deeply rooted in a love and commitment for each other, and it was stronger and more substantive because it was so deliberately, carefully cultivated. Thus, we could still claim Gus Hodges as our “real” grandfather and appreciate that there was more to know, understand and forgive in our family tree.
ROOTS AND BRANCHES
When we draw a family tree, we often think about branches of our family lineage – branches reaching back to distant shores with noticeable open spaces where names and dates can’t be filled in. We could also draw our family tree with our ancestors as our root system. Our family roots are buried in the past. Depending upon all kinds of circumstances, the roots of a family tree might go deep into the ground on a particular side of the tree and spread out and across great territory in another. This ancestral root system continues to impact our present-day lives in ways known and unknown. Usually for better, but sometimes for worse. Roots have the capacity to nourish, stabilize, protect and influence the quality and direction of our growth.
In St. Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he urges these beloved friends to be diligent in cultivating their rootedness in Jesus Christ:
For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your morale and the firmness of your faith in Christ. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossian 2: 5-6)
St. Paul wisely recognized that as the church grew, as it branched out to host the nests of many kinds and conditions of people, it could become dangerously easy for Jesus’ followers to become distracted and divided among various factions. Paul saw how communities could be shaken and splintered by urges to break away from one another during times of disagreement.
DEEPLY ROOTED
Historically speaking, The Episcopal Church (TEC) is a branch of the Anglican Communion. Along with the Church of Scotland, TEC could be said to be a founding partner of the Anglican Communion; it was also the first province outside of the British Isles. We are deeply rooted in our Anglican identity, yet our branch also draws in significant ways upon material grafted from the roots of the American Revolution. Thus, we are not an established church. We have no monarch other than Jesus Christ. The voice and ministry of laity have particular prominence in our polity.
Today there are 38 provinces of the Anglican Communion whose canopy spans across the globe. Ultimately, the Anglican Communion is but a branch of the larger family tree: the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. It is a vast expanse that can be only as strong as the root system that nourishes the tree. We flourish as members of the household of God to the extent we continue to be deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, nourished by His Body and Blood, grounded in the Word of God and fortified by prayerful practices of thanksgiving, justice and mercy.
The recent gathering of the primates of the Anglican Communion in Canterbury generated a lot of news and some misleading headlines. There is no schism, though there is significant tension and division. We can celebrate that all but one of the primates joined in a communiqué that condemns violence and oppression of LGBT individuals. It will take a lot of work to extend that statement into a reality, but staying in communion furthers that work.
The Anglican primates still came together at the Lord’s one Table, but now there will be some limits at some other tables. I love the joke that only Anglicans would think it a punishment to have limits on participation at committee meetings. But think about it: Doesn’t a good host think carefully and strategically about where to place people at the Thanksgiving table? It is a sign of hospitality to give some guests a little more elbow room. It’s fair to say that our Anglican partnerships are impaired in ways we should not gloss over, but let’s remember that such troubled relationships are as old as Peter harboring suspicion and maybe animosity against another disciple after the resurrection. “What about him, Lord?” Peter asks in the last chapter of the Gospel of John. “Just leave that to me, Peter,” the Risen Lord replies.
So, meanwhile, back here in the Diocese of North Carolina, we continue to be deeply rooted in Jesus Christ by reaching out to refugees and immigrants all over the Diocese, such as the work being done by Galilee Ministries of East Charlotte, Puerta Abierta in Greensboro and the Episcopal Farmworkers Ministry in the east. We nourish our roots when we boldly proclaim the love of Jesus to our friends and neighbors who are shocked by example after example of religious intolerance. We trust our rootedness in the reconciling love of God when we tell the truth about the historical roots of racism and economic inequity in our various counties, towns and cities.
At this year’s Bishops’ Ball, more than 160 youth and 40 advisors gathered at Camp Walter Johnson to cultivate their spiritual roots in Jesus and discern how best to keep them healthy and strong. I witnessed the fruits of years of dedicated youth ministry in the young leaders themselves – a team of 20 or so young people who guided these 6th through 12th graders through an absolutely exhilarating weekend of faith and fun. Sam Hensley, our extraordinary conference music leader, reminded us this was the 27th Bishops’ Ball. He knows because he was a youth at the first one. Such roots. Such fruits.
The newly appointed Nominating Committee will prayerfully and wisely guide the search process that will undoubtedly yield the fruit of outstanding and inspiring nominees for the XII Bishop Diocesan. A little further behind the scenes, the Standing Committee, the Diocesan Council, the Commissions on Ministry, the Trustees and a host of other Chartered Committees and Bishop’s Committees are making sure that our part of God’s vineyard is being well tended. All of this would be impossible if not for the dedication of our diocesan staff and the particular wisdom, experience and leadership of our assisting bishop, the Rt. Rev. Peter Lee.
The marriage rites approved by General Convention this past summer give all couples who meet the canonical requirements - regardless of gender - access to the blessing and celebrating of a marriage. Marriage has long been a topic for deep theological discussion and discernment. These holy conversations are based upon scripture, tradition and reason. It would be disingenuous to deny this has caused difficulty and, at times, division. We will continue to be a diocese where all are welcome and the convictions of those who disagree with the actions of General Convention on marriage will be respected and honored. As it happened with my father and his two fathers, over time and with careful effort, relationships can be repaired and made stronger.
Never forget that though the various branches of our family tree are quite far apart – geographically, culturally, ideologically - we are still undeniably and indivisibly united by baptism in one Lord, one Faith and one hope in God’s call to us. There is plenty of scandalous behavior and even some bad actors in our roots and branches. Sometimes this comes as a shock and surprise, though it really shouldn’t.
There is, however only one Table – the Lord’s Table. That altar at your church? It’s not yours. It is a gateway, a portal to the Lamb’s high feast. We are adopted brothers and sisters and marked as Christ’s own forever. We are humble and unworthy guests, invited by the grace of God, the love of Jesus and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit. The mystery of our unity is in God’s hands. Right where it belongs.
The Rt. Rev. Anne E. Hodges-Copple is the Bishop Diocesan Pro Tempore of the Diocese of North Carolina.
Tags: North Carolina Disciple / Our Bishops
