The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Proceedings
world, but along the way it’s all too easy to decide that what we’d really rather do is hang
out with people just like ourselves. And that’s when the Church becomes a club, and we
need to have the courage to stand up and say, “No. We won’t allow that to happen.”
The present pulling apart of a family—our family, the Anglican Communion—and deciding
that some are okay and some are not is destructive. How can we be participants in God’s
mission of reconciliation if we refuse to be reconciled, one with another. The mission of
Christ in the world must be outward looking, but those undertaking the mission must also
be inwardly transformed. Again, a few verses from Philippians: “Not that I have already
obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because
Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own;
but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly hall of God in Christ Jesus. Let those
of us then who are mature be of the same mind; and if you think differently about anything,
this too God will reveal to you. Only let us hold fast to what we have obtained.”
The abundance of God’s love is such that God wants for us, every one of us, more than we
want for ourselves. He wants for us more than we can ask or imagine. As we go forward
into the afternoon, let’s think about that.
Announcements
The president called on the secretary to make announcements before the recess.
Day Two
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Timothy and Titus
The Rt. Rev. Peter James Lee, president of the Annual Council, called the 213 th Annual
Council to order at 9:02 a.m.
Announcements
The president called on the secretary to make announcements.
The president made additional announcements regarding memorial services for Mr. Mike
Kolba, Mr. Frank Levy, Ms. Betty Williams and Ms. Martha Glennan.
Hymn
The Council joined in singing hymn 657, “Love Divine All Loves Excelling.”
Meditation Number 3
The president offered a prayer and recognized the Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews.
Bishop Matthews addressed Council:
I’d like to begin, really, where we left off yesterday afternoon. I don’t really expect you
to remember where we were, but it’s really talking about making sure we enter into
the ministry of Christ, that it isn’t our ministry. And so the question I really pose this
morning is, “What does holiness look like” Can you recognize it Can you recognize it
in your self Can others recognize it in you And I read from Ephesians 3: “I pray that
you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and
length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge,
The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council 99