Eastern Shore Episcopalian - Pre-Convention 2020

a radical follower, an embodied symbol, and a
committed agent or representative. It all depends
on the nature of the leader, and direction of the
movement.
with it an option, “if any want to become my
followers...” (Matthew 16: 24). By making that
choice we must accept the call to pursue this
walk.
Convention’s Guest Presenters
Jesus of Nazareth raised the level of discipleship
to a very high level. He was obviously very careful
in choosing his followers; and this distinguished
him from the scenario of John the Baptist and
his disciples. The main distinction was that
whereas John’s disciples chose to follow him of
their own volition, Jesus specifically chose his
own, and invited them to follow him.
What made life even more interesting was that
the disciples who first joined the Jesus movement
at the invitation of Jesus, then went after other
recruits. So there emerged a dedicated band
of followers over time; Matthew, Nathaniel,
Phillip, James, John, Martha, Mary, Andrew,
and so forth.
In the Acts of the Apostles there is abundant
evidence of the diverse range of discipleship in
the Apostolic community, and especially with
respect to the way in which they were led by the
Holy Spirit in bearing witness to the meaning
and message of the Jesus Story, particularly
after the Pentecost event. There is heightened
evidence in the Acts of the Apostles that they
understood discipleship to be inextricably
linked with the sacred obligation to exercise
their missionary zeal. Those who followed Jesus
were known to be members of the Way, much
more so than members of the Church as such.
My beloved, discipleship has an option, “if any
want to become my followers, let them deny
themselves and take up their cross…” (Matthew
16: 24-26). We need to be prepared to give up
something as a disciple of Christ Jesus.
It is the vocation of our diocese to continue to
explore, and through opportunity effect, the
fundamental tenets of discipleship within the
family. One of those fundamentals is to ‘love
one another.’ This is embedded in our diocesan
theme developed and approved by the 149th
and 150th Diocesan Conventions:
WELCOME ALL* SHARE JESUS’ LOVE *
SERVE THE WORLD.
And it is by this tenet that we enter into
Convention with a commitment toward
“Becoming Better Disciples of Jesus”
The Rev. John Lewis, DPhil, is Director of the
Iona Center and Lecturer in New Testament
and Spirituality. He oversees many of the
seminary’s non-degree programs, including
the Iona Collaborative, which trains and forms
clergy and licensed lay leaders in their local
diocesan settings. John joined the seminary
faculty and staff in 2016 after serving as an adjunct
instructor since 2003. His primary interest is
helping Christians and their communities use
scripture to practice vocational discernment
and discipleship in daily life. John also serves
as co-director of St. Benedict’s Workshop, a
non-profit ministry for Christian formation
he founded in 2001 with St. Mark’s Episcopal
Church, San Antonio, where he continues to
teach, preach, and worship. He also serves the
Diocese of West Texas as Dean of Examining
Chaplains. Lewis is the author of Looking for
Life: The Role of “Theo-Ethical” Reasoning in
Paul’s Religion, T&T Clark (JSNTS) 2005.
Born and raised in the deep South, Mary
Parmer is a congregational development
consultant/coach, speaker, and retreat leader
living in Sewanee, Tennessee. She serves as
Director of INVITE WELCOME CONNECT,
a transformational ministry of evangelism,
hospitality and belonging now housed at the
Beecken Center, School of Theology, University
of the South. Mary is the past Director of the
Gathering of Leaders, a national leadership
gathering of young Episcopal clergy. Mary
has served as a Lay Deputy to the the past four
General Conventions of The Episcopal Church,
and she currently serves on the Task Force on
Clergy Leadership Formation in Small Churches
(GC 2015-A045). Mary holds a degree in
Religious Studies from St. Edwards University
in Austin and formerly served as Director of
Adult Ministries & Evangelism, St. Stephen’s,
Beaumont. She has two grown children and six
young grandchildren, builds stone labyrinths,
and spends her time away from the office hiking
and reading memoirs.
Also, a disciple walks the way of perfection,
Jesus refers to it as ‘going the extra mile or
“turning the other cheek” (Matthew 5: 38-42).
Again, discipleship is a commitment that carries
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