The 213th Annual Council - Diocese of Virginia

Proceedings
Closing Reflections from the Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews
The president called on the Rt. Rev. Victoria Matthews for closing reflections.
Bishop Matthews addressed Council:
My closing reflections will be very brief. I want to begin by thanking you for your
extraordinary hospitality. I have felt warmly welcomed, and it has been wonderful to be
in your midst and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I want to say a special thanks
not only to but for your three bishops. Obviously, superb leadership is being given here,
which can only strengthen the whole Communion, and I give thanks for that.
I want to say something about the depth of commitment to mission that is felt
everywhere I go: the displays, the stories I hear, the wonderful story of the bishops giving
that $200 voucher to every teenager who is confirmed so they can go on a mission trip
before they reach the age of 19 or graduate from high school. That’s fabulous. I really love
it, and I’m going to tell that story, of course.
But having said all that, I want to talk a little bit about a conversation that’s happening in
Canada slowly, and I think it would be helpful for you to have the same conversation. The
slogan for the conversation is “From Scarcity to Abundance.” What it’s about is that you
and I live in a world of extraordinary wealth and prosperity. Until very recently, I lived in
Alberta, which is the wealthiest province in Canada, in the capital city, and everywhere
you looked, there was unbelievable prosperity. But, in that situation, whenever I went to
a vestry meeting, I would hear a story of, “We don’t have quite enough money.” I would
always hear that, “You have to understand, Bishop, we’re an aging congregation.” To the
best of my knowledge, there’s only one type: we’re all getting older, and the good news is,
it’s at the same rate. I haven’t heard anyone’s figured out how to reverse it.
The second is, “Well you have to understand, Bishop, we’re all on fixed incomes.” Well
again, aren’t we all So the idea is to say, “Let’s stop nickel-and-dime-ing the kingdom
of God.” Let’s stop pretending we’re hard done by. We are so blessed. We live in such an
embarrassment of riches in every possible respect of the word that we should be falling
over each other to give it away. We should realize that if we went to Africa, or Haiti—
which comes under the Episcopal Church, and I have some more experience there—we
would be greeted with incredible hospitality and generosity, and we would hear very,
very little about not having enough, because they would be anxious to give it to us. It’s a
mindset. It’s a mindset that we need to learn, and I’m not pointing a finger because I need
to learn it as well. It’s a mindset that says, “If God has given me what God has given me,
and I don’t pretend to understand why I’m the recipient of the gift of living in Canada,
can’t I give what he has given me, and share it with the rest of the world” You’re doing
unbelievable things here. I take my hat off to you—my miter off to you. Now when was
the last time you heard that line Fabulous. But just think what you could do.
Quick story about a little parish in the Diocese of Edmonton: they very, very much
wanted to put on an addition, and it was going to be good work, mission work if they did
it, to help other people. And they knew there wasn’t a hope in the world of them raising
the money. We looked—and it wasn’t well-to-do, it was the edge of the inner city—we
looked at the average income according to Stats Canada. We said, “What would a tithe of
the average income be” And they put up the addition. Because the money’s there, folks.
It only needs to be given away. Thank you.
The president thanked Bishop Matthews for gracing Council with her wisdom and presence.
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The Diocese of Virginia t Journal of the the 213 th Annual Council