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Some Thoughts on Our VisionIn a culture that over the past few years has expressedfear of focusing too much on identity we Episcopaliansin the Diocese of Rochester have the audacity to speakof ourselves as those who prize passionate spirituality,radical hospitality, and thoughtful engagement!So let me say briefly how I understand this callof Council to speak of our identity—or, as some wouldsay, our brand.I do not have to tell you how nervous we are of the wordpassion. We have seen too many passionate people divideus and overwhelm us with their dogmatic dictums.They are people whose convictions as to the rightness oftheir cause suspends all rational dialogue and force usto submit to a “my way alone” as the answer to all of ourproblems. This is not the Episcopal way.Instinctively we know that such views are dangerousfor the intolerance that they breed. The larger part ofour society has come to value a kind of tolerance of themultiple identities each of us brings to the public square.So long as a person is not doing any harm to themselvesor to others we can live with multiple differences aboutfundamental beliefs and engage one another in our questfor the common good.So what do we mean that we now embrace a passionatespirituality? Originally the word “passion” had to dowith suffering, hence “the passion of Christ” referring toChrist’s willing suffering on the cross. By the 18th centurythe word conveyed the idea of deep and substantivefeelings that one held, either on a particular subject ortoward another person. In modern parlance the wordconveys the idea of deeply felt commitment. So what weare saying is that we Episcopalians have a deeply feltcommitment to our way of spirituality. In a world of shallowcommitments we want to affirm the place of deeplyfelt commitment; we want to say that we should not beembarrassed to let in be known that we enjoy and delightin our common life as members of the Episcopal Church.But we do so in a manner that is qualified by radical hospitalityand thoughtful engagement. These two qualifierson our passion are essential hallmarks of how we planto participate in the mission of God, the misseo dei. It isthis sending of God that gives to each of us the marchingorders for our various ministries. But we are not beingsent out as zealots whose sole purpose is to do somethingto the other; we come to the other as a gift.First we will practice radical hospitality and this meansthat we will welcome the stranger, the other, withouthaving any plan to do anything to that person but to providefor him/her the experience of being accepted in thebeloved community. It means we do not view the otherprimarily as a potential church member, but as a personwith whom God is inviting us to extend the arms of awelcome embrace. The focus is always on the other, noton our own needs.Second, when we do engage the other we are ready to doso with a thoughtful engagement. By this we mean thatwe will not resort to thoughtless sound byte exchanges,but engage one another in serious discourse as we seekto discern the will of God for our place in time. We willnot be afraid of the tough questions, nor will we be afraidof the effort we have to make to build good and trustworthytruth telling among ourselves and to the worldaround us. But nor will we speak as if we have a corneron truth, but as those who believe that truth is more of aprocess of discovery than the enunciation of declaratorypropositions.So then Rochester Episcopalians let us be even morepassionate about the ground upon which we stand—thatGod has declared God’s love for us in Christ, a love we reenactat each and every Eucharist; let us engage in radicalhospitality to each other and especially toward thestrangers in our midst, whether they live at the edges ofour society or in mansions; and let us practice thoughtfulengagement by speaking truthfully to one another in thehope that we will all catch a glimpse of the truth thatGod is seeking to disclose to us.14
CommunicationsUpdateThese two quotations came to mind as I thoughtabout the future of communications in the Dioceseof Rochester. We are in a period of transition in theDiocese which includes Diocesan communications. Weare moving ahead at great speed with careful precisionand concentrated thought. There have been andwill be speed bumps along this road but we grow andimprove with every experience. You are now holdingin your hands the second issue of “Tidings”. In addition,we have published three editions of the DiocesanE-Newsletter, our local news coverage has increased inthe past year, and we are continually moving forwardin the process of developing a new Diocesan website,which meets the needs of the Diocese.If you take a look at France’s quote, we can see what heis saying is happening in our Diocese. We are continuingto act and move forward, but at the same time weare always dreaming of what we can achieve aroundthat next bend. We are also planning many new initiativesand programs in the Diocese, the whole timebelieving in their success. We are accomplishing greatthings, and we will continue to accomplish them.We have been in the process of doing a needs analysison our Diocesan web presence, and we have moved on tothe next stage. We have put together a focus group thatconsists of Lay and Clergy members from all over theDiocese, which will meet to discuss their thoughts andneeds of a Diocesan site. Then we will pick one of theweb designers who we have met with to begin productionon our new site. We are taking all of these lengthy“To accomplish great things,we must not only act, but alsodream, not only plan,but also believe.”— Anatole France (French Writer, 1900)“There are no failures –just experiences and yourreactions to them.—Tom Krause (Motivational Speaker, 1934)steps to make sure that this new site meets the needsof our communications initiatives but also is useful andhelpful to our community. We are hoping to have thesite launched by the middle of the year. Even thoughwe are switching off of the Digital Faith platform forour Diocesan site, we are going to continue to provideeach parish with the opportunity to host a free site onDigital Faith.We are now sending out our E-mail communicationsthrough Constant Contact, which gives us reports thatlet us know when e-mails bounce or can’t be delivereddue to your inbox being full. This way we can make surethat you don’t miss out on an important e-mail due totechnical difficulties. Later this year, we will be launchinga monthly webinar series, an on-line version of“Tidings” which will be updated in between the printedissues, as well as improving our presence on our Blogsand social media sites.If you have not received any of these communicationsor are interested in receiving ones that you don’t currentlyreceive, please visit our homepage and fill outthe form located under the “Connect with Us” tab entitled“Update your Information.”15
Page 1 and 2: A PUBLICATION OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOC
Page 3 and 4: From our bishopThe Rt. Rev. Bishop
Page 5 and 6: Worship Services forFamilies with S
Page 7: Highlightsa complete survey of the
Page 11: N ORTH EASTSeeds of Rural Ministry
Page 16 and 17: 90 Years of Ordained Ministryby Chr
Page 18 and 19: Tales out ofSchool # 9by Patti Blai
Page 20: The Episcopal Diocese of Rochester9

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