December 2019

Engaging All Disciples Day in Clinton. Photo: T. Petty

As their Engaging All Disciples Day hosted by Christ Church, Clinton, the congregations from the Clinton, Dubuque and Maquoketa revival cluster, focused on what it means to have a rule of life. Fr. Kevin Goodrich, a Dominican Friar himself and Rector of St. John’s Dubuque, offered various kinds of “rules”—from that of a religious order (and in particular its Third Order rule), to what his own congregation was working on as a congregational rule, to a more personal rule. The latter was more wholistic in its approach than I was expecting, seeking more to define the elements that make up the rhythm of one’s day, week, month and year. I was surprised to find that I am paying more attention than I thought to such things and can claim a positive rhythm to my inner life—which, nevertheless, is still better described as a “method to my madness.”

I was also surprised to hear from the gathered group that day that quite a number of the treasured saints attending acknowledged difficulty in personal prayer. It was one thing that made the idea of a congregational rule of life so significant. We suffer from inconsistency, and sometimes genuine blockage to spiritual practices, and thank God that we are not alone, but in community whose rhythm continues on—often made possible by the very ones having prayer difficulty at the personal level, and yet who consistently turn up to assist at the altar, to sing in the choir, or to furnish the altar. It is also a phenomenon that from time to time includes those who officiate and preach, and confirm and ordain. Many times God carries us through our willing participation, even when we feel that we are in the dark.

At no time in our calendar is this concept of being in the dark underscored more than during Advent. We often see Lent as the time for a spiritual Spring clean, and possibly that is a good way of seeing it—mending relationships, getting rid of unhelpful habits and lingering wastefulness—and Advent is about accepting how and where we sit in darkness and let the expectant light that begins to shine in the distance open up new things and have us attempt new practices. “Come, Lord Jesus” is not a bad prayer with which to start. Then I would direct you to the pages of the Book of Common Prayer that invite us to personal prayer—pages 137-140. Start there, and see how the light will grow. The key is the ten minutes in which you actually stop and let this sampling of our common devotional life take you forward.

One of the aids I use for the daily awakening of my being is The Celtic Prayer Book. It comes in two volumes and provides readings from spiritual writers and from Celtic spiritual lore, and is produced by the Northumbrian Community in Northern England. I admit that its reading comes after coffee, but it forms part of the morning awakening.

For today, George McDonald writes, “To believe in the wide-awake real, through all the stupefying, enervating, distorting dream; to will to wake, when the very being seems athirst for Godless repose: these are the broken steps up to the high fields where repose is but a form of strength, strength a form of joy, and joy but a form of love.”

As we enter a new Christian year, we have some significant actions before us – Lambeth, the Iowa leg of the Companions Young Adult pilgrimage, exploring what it means to walk our neighborhoods and see God’s Faithful Innovations, the Small Church Summit and, oh yes, the unfolding of the Bishop transition process, and the beginning of our own goodbyes as the visitations enter a final round. It is good to know that we have a community rhythm that carries us, and that it is our will to wake that carries us up the broken steps to the high fields where repose is strength, strength but joy and joy (that joy to the world) is love.  

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

Sermon, 167th Convention

Joel 2: 23-32; 2 Timothy 4: 6-8, 16-18; Luke 18: 9-14

Please be seated.  Well first of all welcome to all of you who are listening in on livestream this morning. I’m told there are forty of you gathering that way. That’s wonderful; and if it doesn’t quite kind of get through all the time, well, just have a good time anyway.

We have certainly had a good time here at convention. We have just been upstairs (on third floor), and were embroiled in a heated resolution debate.  It is amazing what live TV can do for your sense of hurrying up. We managed to get here on time. In fact, we haven’t yet finished convention. And so, to all of you out there, I ask the convention to give you seat and voice. And best of luck with your voice.

I am always amazed that we have this historically produced lectionary that somehow manages to come up with lessons that seem so appropriate to whatever is going on around us currently. It is as though there was a secret “knowing” of what we might need for a certain time.

“The time for my departure has come,” writes the Apostle Paul. And if I didn’t have that written into my being already—by Evensong last night we were being reminded that we are now in transition. And as I heard the officiant say that, I thought to myself, “I’m not dead yet!”

“The time of my departure has come,” says the Apostle Paul. And yes, twenty-four hours ago I said the very same thing. I hope, with Paul, I can also say “I have fought the good fight; I have finished the race; and kept the faith.”

And yet all of that is premature and somewhat presumptuous! For Paul, the reference to escaping the lion’s mouth was literal! Death was at his doorstep. It was his life’s ministry that was coming to its close; and he knew it. A resigning bishop in contemporary times merely resigns from a position within the Church using the canonical language for “reason of advanced age."  Yes, we write a letter to the Presiding Bishop and that is the reason we have to give: “for reason of advanced age!” But I hope that the life of ministry and the service of Christ goes on, and for some time yet.

But Paul was reaching his final days. He clearly had been tried and, it seems, sentenced, and found himself standing alone at his trial. All those with whom he had had fellowship down the years, even those he had come to Rome to be with, it seems that none of them were present as it came to the time of his trial. He now awaited his final act of faithful service. He probably knew that his Roman citizenship had rescued him from the lions in the Coliseum, quite literally, but it was not going to rescue him, not from the Roman sword.

For him, the race was run. For him, the fight was done. And for him, all that was left was to keep the faith until the last darkening of his eyes. Just one final act of courageous faith stood between him and the One whose face he had once seen on the Damascus Road. It was a face that he had always sought to keep before him, saying as he once did to the Corinthians, that as he looked upon that face he prayed that the likeness of the love of Christ might, from glory to glory, appear and shine within his own face. He would soon see that which he urged so many of us to press on to see—His Savior face to face as he readied himself to submit to the martyr’s witness.

For most of us—and I am not saying all of us—for most of us in this building, it’s hard to imagine such a time. And yet, some of you here, you know persecution and you know martyrdom.

We all know that our faith rests upon such acts of courage and trust. Ultimately it is because God carved out such an act of self-sacrifice and self-offering upon the Cross in His Son, that God then asked us as Church to follow suit. And so we are the beneficiaries of such courage. We stand upon the sacrifice and self-offering of so many others. And even as we sit here, others continue to make that offering.

No great change seems to come easily. No great shift of our culture or of our perspective on life, within and without the Church, seems to occur without some degree of self-offering, without lives poured out as libations. Because our preference is to have tingling ears; our preference is to follow things that just comfort us. And, as we have heard this weekend, it is not even our passions or our visions, not even the warm feeling Christ brings us that is essential, but what actions of Christ— bringing food to the hungry, making shelter to the homeless, bringing justice to those that are afflicted—at whatever level of society it needs to be done—that is what is important. This we have been reminded about at this convention.

It’s not just our passion; it’s not just our vision; or our vision statements, but the reality of what we do, or with whom we stand, or whom we give our time to be with, and in whose shoes we are going to walk—all of this makes the difference, and brings the change God seeks.

We have been told by our convention speaker, Shane Claiborne, how this can happen through small things—and how many wonderful small things you are engaged in as we saw on Mentimeter – and so through that smallness, the transformation of the Kingdom can come. We might thank God that not many of us are asked to make the final act of submission—to have our lives physically taken from us for Christ’s sake. But we thank even more those who have so responded—and we know that we live as we do because they have died for a much greater love than we could embrace or know. That is the peace that is given to us, and is offered to us, which surpasses human understanding, guaranteed upon the price of Calvary, and everyone who has so imitated Christ down the ages.

I may stand before you nearer the end of ministry together as people and Bishop, though I pray, as I say, that we are nowhere near to the end of our service in Christ’s Name and God’s Kingdom. And it is good. But the Gospel reading today reminds us at such a time, how we are to present ourselves always before our God and before one another.

Jesus had taught and was teaching his disciples to pray.  And as you may recall from last week’s lessons, how important it was to Him that they not grow weary in that act of prayer. The gospel last week reminded us that they were to persist in their praying and not lose heart. If an unjust judge without any respect for God or his fellow human beings, would nevertheless listen to a persistent widow, we know how much more eagerly God who loves us wants to answer our cries for justice, peace, and the welfare of human beings. He wanted His disciples to be persistent and not lose heart; and yet in the midst of that assurance, and being confident in offering prayer, they were to be reminded that God’s favor is never appropriated for our own ends.

Yes, we are to be persistent in prayer, but always aware of our station as sinners who are saved by grace through faith, and not of our own steam or worthiness. We barely lift up our eyes under heaven. Our first words are “O God, have mercy upon us as sinners”—even while we then go on to pray for peace in this world, for the justice of God to roll down upon this earth. As we pray for all of the good things God desires, we remember who it is that offers such prayer and is heard. It is the tax collector; not the Pharisee.

Also from our reading last week, when Jacob turned Israel by wrestling a blessing from God, he would always be remembered because of his limp. We also limp along, ever reminded of whose we are and for whom we live. There is a humility with which the blessed children of God walk. It is what enables us to come alongside people, and to be with them.

That is a message for any of us facing retirement, and who may be proud of our achievements. It is a message for us as we enjoy this experience of being this Iowa Episcopal branch of a much broader and greater Jesus movement.

Finding the simple way. Finding the simple way. I don’t know what we expect will happen with that theme as we move forward. I don’t think we really know. We borrowed it from Shane’s community, really.

Maybe it’s about “strategic review?” Maybe it’s about sharing our resources that way? Maybe it’s about dismantling the entire diocesan structure altogether? So that the time we have can be more among the poor? So that the energy we have can be more for justice? So that the money we have can be better distributed among the needy? What kind of constitutional amendment do we need to perform that? To say that we don’t come only to our churches as much, or any more? We come into our neighborhoods. And we support the churches in our neighborhoods with our neighbors, and join in what they are doing. And if there is no such place, then we will  provide our own. I don’t know I’m just talking off the top of my head. (Or maybe the bottom of my heart!)

What would it look like? How can we make these structures of ours pliable, more porous so that we can make decisions about what we do with the circumstances and events we are faced with, and given? And how can we do that and still stay grounded in place as Anglicans?

You know, I invited a man (in Shane Claiborne) to come among us who ended up in that kind of community. And I wanted his witness to percolate among us on how that might work for us. And so, bring it to your vestries, bring it to the Board meeting, bring it to your living rooms as you gather together. Think about these things. How can we really get alongside people and not just be institutionalized in everything, everything we do?

Finding the Simple Way is a call to “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord,” before the presence and desires of our Loving Creator God, and to follow where Jesus leads us to go. He needs us to go very small indeed. We have to squeeze into those places where He squeezes in. And there’s no place for self-righteousness there, just as there is no place for contempt of others there. And this includes all sides of our current political factions, and our cultural divides.

There is no place for self-righteousness on the one hand, and no place for contempt on the other. And that is a hard requirement in such an age as this. “God, have mercy upon us” is our daily prayer and with it comes the promise that it is such voices that God will lift up to do remarkable things in Christ’s Name, and the question is—can it be done through us?

So I invite you to embrace with abandon the promise of God that we receive through Joel; to let the Spirit be released upon us, within us, and through us; to act with boldness because our feet are invited to be set firmly on the ground, and all self-aggrandizement is pushed aside for the sake of God’s love. And having settled that score with ourselves and with God, we let the Spirit of God take us where She will.

Donna and I are terrible gardeners. And we invite you to our garden any time if you are in need of some good weeding. I thought Creeping Charlie was a friend, but now he’s a carpet. So, we are not good gardeners, but God seems to have used us as spiritual gardeners.

As I say, Donna and I have always been soil turners and planters in this spiritual thing somehow. We rarely see the fullness of the harvest. We see God’s reviving spirit among the people we have served as we drive away looking through the rear-view mirror. Time and again that has happened with us. Even in Eagle Rock, where we were for thirteen years, the church was closed last year. But now we see resurrection.  The Church was closed and the keys handed over to the Bishop. He in turn handed them to some young people and said “Here, I have a church for you.” And they have transformed the place and  become instruments of God's resurrecting spirit. And if I dare say it—they are fulfilling all the wishes and dreams that we may have had together when we were there with the people of God at St. Barnabas.

It is true that I have secretly tried to do a deal with God that we would see a harvest in our time here; but who knows? I do see it in the seventy percent of active clergy I have been blessed to ordain; and, certainly in the new group coming through to be ordained as transitional deacons this December. I see it in all those amazing ideas you have had for Engaging All Disciples; your ways of responding to the call for prayer during the Revival; the amazing ongoing march of new generations of young adults and youth into leadership; in the generosity towards our companions; and in the growing deep involvement of you all in your communities, bringing the values of the gospel into your spaces.

Yet, turning to our Old Testament text for a moment, nothing of that ranks with what God promises in Joel. We do not live necessarily in drought plagued places so that the concept of a full early and later rain does not mean as much to us as it did for the children of Israel. Maybe there are similarities to other agricultural situations you have experienced. But I remember what it meant in Swaziland when the rains broke upon us as we sang the Sanctus in a small mission church. The rains clattered the corrugated iron roof. And the people heard this joyful thundering after experiencing months and months of drought. It was like the heavens opened and the angels and archangels were cheering with the people for what had come upon them. God says that such refreshment of the rains will come. The floors of the threshing halls will be filled with grain, and the vats will overflow with oil and wine.

And those external blessings will be more than matched by an overflowing expression of the exuberance of the Spirit. Sons and daughters will proclaim God’s word on things. All generations including the elders will dream dreams, even if they might not all live to see them fulfilled.  And it will be the younger generations who will turn those dreams into vision and reality.

The followers of Jesus experienced this happen to them. They made the connection at Pentecost with Joel’s words.

And so, my prayer is, will you? I pray that there be a time when the life of the Spirit is so pulsating through your veins and your hearts, that somewhere in the midst of it all, you look back and you say to one another - remember when we held those Revivals? Remember when we were trying to share, or learning to share God’s love? Remember when we walked those neighborhoods? Remember when we gathered to learn how to welcome, invite, connect; and when we sought how to connect with this new generation now entering the digital age?  Remember those creative ways to renew our liturgy, and to create new worship spaces?  Maybe we didn’t think then that we knew what we were doing. Somehow, we found ourselves doing “silly things sometimes” in our enthusiasm to bring change in Jesus' Name? Remember all that? All of it, in all of it are the expressions of the real Pentecost that can happen among the people of God.

America loves awakenings. Somehow as a people, you have to have an awakening every now and then. You’re a sensational people; you love sensation; and God knows that. So you have a history of sensational awakenings of the Spirit. What we have been messing around with over these past few years (since the Revival 2017) is precisely “messing around.” We’ve been dipping our toes in the water and not yet plunged in. Joel’s image is of something far more amazing.

Joel, we will say, was right. The Spirit has come upon us; and we have humbly submitted to Her. And we hear God calling everyone through us to find their way back to God, just as we have.  Wouldn’t that be great? Can’t you imagine? Can’t you feel it? Can’t you just reach out and grab it? And, let the Spirit into yourselves as the people of God?

You know once we are all a bubble with the Spirit of God at work in us, God will still bring alive all of our traditions, all of our liturgies, all of our beautiful renderings of worship and being together. But that won’t be the primary conversation. We will be taken up with something else. We will notice what we’ve not noticed much before; and we will notice with love, people we’ve not noticed before. And we will ask questions about their situation we’ve never raised before. All these things will be about how God’s love can be made known here and there and everywhere.

You know, once again this February, we are going to be reminded that we in Iowa are positioned to test our nation’s political realities. And I want to ask: is it possible that this is a particular charism or calling of the Iowa people? I don’t know the background of the creation of the caucus and how you became the first voting group in the country, but I know that you take great pride in it. And you do well in sorting through the first candidates in the election process. So I think it is why we are also called to try out and test things of the Spirit. It is in such fertile souls as yours that God can now reap the great harvest.

So, my prayer is that God so works within us and among us this year, as we go and walk and take the bold steps into our neighborhoods; and that we will see what God is already doing, and what is not being done, and that for which God waits for us to partner with God to do. We are being called to see our neighbors how God sees them. To let them know, whether they know it or not, that they are Beloved. There is absolutely no limit to how all that can be expressed, experienced and enjoyed.

Let us pray,
Lord, I am no longer my own, but Yours. Put me to what You will. Rank me with whom You will. Let me be employed by You, or laid aside for You, exalted for You or brought low by You. Let me have all things. Let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to Your pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, You are mine and I am Yours. So be it.
Amen

October

Fridays might never be the same. On Friday, September 20, millions of young people filled city streets across the world demanding with one voice that those in power and influence act on global warming. This past Friday there were millions more. One, now famous, sixteen year old girl—began taking Fridays off of school to sit at a prominent place in her hometown, with placards warning against climate change and demanding grown-ups with power act. These young people are convinced that their future is in serious jeopardy. If you didn’t catch her address to the United Nations, please do yourself a favor, and look it up on YouTube. And I invite you to take some time to learn about other youth climate activists that are working to save the planet.

Where all this is going, I don’t know. There are a number of you who have heard the cry much earlier than I, and seek to call us to attention and action. I do know that a disastrous “tipping point” to which scientists are urgently attesting, does not come “in the final hour” during the last 5 or 10% of the time we have. When you fill a jar of water with sand, the point of no return or “spilling point” comes at 50%!

Insects, birds, and now the oceanic life, and in the UK the tree population are under watch. On the road to the Manchester Airport, as I returned from caring for my mother in convalescence, there was a chalked message across the highway bridge, inviting us to join the “Extinction revolution.” In a different time, we might say that’s something from a dystopian novel. 

We are the rich man in the mansion. And Lazarus lies at our gate, first to be afflicted by drought, floods, hurricanes, imperiled waters and food insecurity. And this is not politics, though we must look to those invested with our trust to use the power of our common resources to act, or move over and let others of more courageous will do so. It is more a matter of asking the question—how then shall we live? 

Listen to the prayer we uttered on Sunday, “You declare your Almighty power chiefly in showing mercy and pity…Grant us the fulness of your grace.”

Listen to the Scriptures we recited on Sunday, “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” It entraps us in senseless and harmful desires. On the other hand, true gain is found in godliness, combined with contentment. And if we are blessed with riches through inheritance, or our creative spirit and skilled industriousness—then carry your wealth with humility; be rich in the good works your wealth affords you to do, and be ready to share, recognizing the real perspective of faith is the treasuring of God’s abiding presence and love.

Hypocrisy goes with the territory when handling this subject, but our lectionary has brought us to this consideration. We are the rich man in Jesus’ story in Luke last Sunday. Who is Lazarus? And how do we learn to see him?

At diocesan convention in a few weeks, we are aspiring to a theme of “The Simple Way.” We have invited a speaker, Shane Claiborne, who asks these types of questions. His aim in life is to follow Jesus and especially as His relationships and teaching connected with the poor and least in His society. I am assuming he will inspire some of us, and yet also challenge us. 

It’s good to recall that, at the point our lectionary has brought us thus far, Jesus was just revving up His confrontation with the religious establishment of his day, and challenging the behavior of those around Him. Lives of faith impact our relationship to the resources around us, and our stewardship of them and how we treat both people and material things. He moves onto dangerous ground and ultimately suffered the loss of His life because of it. We know that wasn’t the end of the story but we cannot let knowing of the resurrection lessen the significance of what irked the authorities to remove His menace. In fact there is a gift of hope that says we can be bold to shift from possession to sharing and releasing—precisely because loss and death is not the end of God’s story ever.

Some have wondered about the timing of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr; how did it become time to have him removed? What nerve was he hitting? It just happened to be at a moment in which he had begun to deeply engage economic inequality, had announced the Poor People’s Campaign 5 months before, and was bringing profound questioning to the military spending of the nation and about the effectiveness of the Vietnam War. 

Jesus had no doubt about where his meddling would take him. This has got to be part of the story of our salvation. Jesus died because He called us to share, and to do that we have to be willing to let God turn us inside out. He called us to share a common life (which His disciples attempted early on). He included orphans and widows, tax collectors and prostitutes in this shared life. He also died because He called us to share God and access to God with those very same people whose poor and tragic circumstances seemed to us to reflect an absence of the blessing and the Divine favor. He died because He saw no bounds to the sharing of God’s love for all whom God made; and He saw them as God’s children. 

God shows power chiefly through mercy and pity. Chiefly! Sometimes God also simply lets people like the rich man abide with the consequences of their behavior and attitudes. They say that we are at the tipping point with the consequences of our actions towards the planet. Maybe we are at a tipping point with God’s readiness to show continued mercy and pity. God let Lazarus die; so did the rich man. And then, in the perspective of eternity, the real gap between them appeared. 

Jesus told the story with the hope that hearts of his listeners may be pulled into God’s love. It is never too late to have ears that hear; or hearts that respond with openness; or voices that offer prayers that God might grant us the fulness of grace in how we live. That fulness sees Lazarus; and finds strength to take him in. What will we be doing next Friday?   

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

September 2019

Over Labor Day weekend a group of young people from the diocese met in Council Bluffs to create Happening # 47. Happening is peer led. It is an invitation to take time away from the normal routine (including cell phones), and to delve in a deep and focused way into our relationship with God, with one another and with one’s own blossoming sense of identity. Key to the experience are the testimonies or presentations of the Happening team young people on different aspects of living the Christian life. The few adults present are there for support—in providing meals, offering spiritual counsel and sacramental worship (my role this weekend), helping with tech support, schedule coordination, and what might be called “gopher” (go for this or that) work. Two young people serve as Co-Rectors and are in charge of all proceedings. The days are long and the outcomes always rewarding.

The participants form small groups to reflect together on the various topics of faith development that are presented. And they make up a name for themselves. One group, this weekend, got stuck on finding a specific name that appealed to them all, and so they called themselves by the initials of their first names—MGCSK! And since none of them were Polish, they worked out an acronym – My God Can Save Kindness. Now, I may have been susceptible to sleep deprivation and jetlag, having just flown back from England, but the name, and the prophetic statement behind it, intentional or not, blew me away!

My God can save kindness—a commodity in increasing short supply, it would seem, these days. And please note that we were cocooned during the weekend, and not fully aware of the hurricane hanging over the Bahamas or of the shooting sprees in Odessa, Texas.

We were inviting these young people to shape their identity and commit their life’s meaning and purpose on the person of Jesus Christ, and to explore what it is to follow Him at this time in history and in their lives. We presented words as seeds, which we pray will bear fruit in their time. But the endeavor shifted something in me—though probably not for the first time, but certainly as if for the first time, to use a phrase from Marcus Borg.

While the second most ferocious storm was hanging off the coast of Florida, a different one was coming together within me. On Sunday morning I took time away from the group downstairs at St. Paul’s, Council Bluffs and presided over their weekly Eucharist. The Hebrew Scripture from Jeremiah proclaimed that the people of God had forsaken God, “the fountain of living water, and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water” (Jer 2:13). The spiritual revolutionary self of my teen years had seized on this sentence of Scripture more than fifty years ago and let it drive me, all the way back then, in calling for institutional reform, especially in the Church. Suddenly it had burst into flame once more, only this time it seized  me through the eyes of this generation’s teens.

How do young people shape identity in the world we are creating? To whom do they turn for role models? We have built a system of cisterns that are cracked, including in the Church—created for power, control, self-preservation, and self-aggrandizement, and tailored to make sure we remain ahead of the game while the devil can take those lagging behind. In such a world kindness is a strong impulse, and a rare one. It gives itself away; it exposes itself to be vulnerable; it walks with the prisoners and tortured as if in prison (and tortured) ourselves ( as the writer to the Hebrews reminded us this very same weekend). The Way of Love cannot be a sentimental, feel-good hashtag for our life and faith. It has to have sacrifice—self-offering—behind it, because it comes to us proclaimed in the hard form of the Cross. Jesus died in love with us all, not just as Love. And such love’s source flows from a fountain of living water. It is not stored in broken cisterns. If we are not giving ourselves away, we are drying up. And one powerful sign of our bankruptcy is when kindness strikes us as the thing my God can save.

Our convention theme this year is “Finding the Simple Way.” It’s a call to imagine our faith as if for the first time, to forsake broken cisterns that do not fulfil God’s life-giving purpose, and to recover the fountain of living water, the Spirit to whom we are connected in Christ at baptism. It’s what the war-torn and poverty stricken migrant culture of our world is demanding. It’s what the incessant pounding of destructive hurricanes and other as yet unseen impacts of our breaking, fragile home of a planet is demanding. It’s what the tragic consequences of our idolatrous loyalties to ourselves apart from others is demanding. It’s what the endless stream of new generations seeking nurture, direction and their becoming is demanding. And it is what my God (who) can save kindness is demanding.

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

More news of mass shootings

No one wanted to wake up this morning to the news of more mass shootings, this time in Dayton and El Paso. And certainly not after a joyous wedding celebration the night before of our friend Mel Schlachter and his new bride Ellie Butz.

I can assume that we are directing our prayers into our worship this Sunday. But do we call our senators back to do their duty in passing legislation sitting on their desks for universal background checks? Do we seek the resuming of bans of military-style weapons?

“Guns don’t kill people; people do” and if so, then let’s detach people from the guns and do the reputation of the guns a favor. Other nations do it well while also honoring the recreational use of guns.

There are deeper issues as well that relate to our addiction to violence and the cultural conditions that stoke racial hatred and create mental imbalance and alienation.

Even as a news show was focusing on the shootings this morning, we switched from a serious interview to a commercial in which a personified “Mayhem” vandalized a person's property and car! While Mayhem laughed as he drove away, the hapless victim was encouraged to buy insurance. It’s time for All State to ban Mr. Mayhem and for us to insist that violence is neither trivialized nor normalized in the media.

And it is time to prioritize the emergency that our own version of terrorist cells of white nationalism pose in our midst. Of course, we could begin to profile young white men but that would only continue to stoke the racial divide that the terrorists seek to promote until a race war breaks out. For a member of an inter-racial family as I am, that’s the worst of all worlds.

And I realize I haven’t mentioned Jesus as yet. Maybe that’s because I think he weeps. Because he knows the resolution to all of this is in our own hands. May we deploy the Spirit of our baptism that is “not of fear but of resolve (or power), love, and sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7).

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa


For resources on addressing gun violence visit https://www.iowashare.org/gun-violence-prevention

Gun Violence Archive lists 252 mass shootings in 2019 (defined as any incident in which four or more people were injured or killed by a gun, without including the shooter).

August 2019

In my former years of engaging the government, media, and the public on behalf of religious freedom in Romania and other countries, I learned that journalists called August the “silly season.” A favorite story of what could happen in August was of a British reporter assigned to Czechoslovakia who was at a loss for news-worthy content that month. He made up a story that an entire “lost” brigade of Napoleon’s army had been found at the bottom of a frozen lake! Everything had been preserved by the ice. He made up a detailed accounting of the lost brigade that had wandered off-route heading to or returning from Russia! To his shock, he received a wire from head office indicating “Photographer being dispatched immediately.” To which he as quickly replied, “Lake in forbidden military zone!”

Of course, we don’t need a silly season any more. It seems that our newsfeed is in constant motion,
throwing up “the precious and the vile” as Jeremiah would say it. Discernment between the two is
becoming a daily spiritual practice. Our prayer for people who impact public opinion is helpful in setting
out our values as people of faith: “Almighty God, you proclaim your truth in every age by many voices: Direct, in our time, we pray, those who speak where many listen and write what many read; that they may do their part in making the heart of this people wise, its mind sound, and its will righteous; to the honor of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen” (BCP, page 827).

In a time when we all have access to impact public opinion, this prayer assumes a personal significance
for each of us. And it is often in the silence of God’s Spirit accessible in our own hearts that we better discern that direction—more than in the clamor of the whirlwind, or the shaking of the earthquake. We are all capable of indulging in silly seasons, but for those who work for the Church, it is not in August.

In August, our congregations are often preparing for formation classes and program offerings for the year. The month of August is always taken seriously in diocesan affairs as well. It’s a turning point, as we as a staff along with Convention Committee Chairs, turn to preparations for Diocesan Convention, and making sure everything is lined up so that we can take our various vacations and be set for the two-month run-up to Convention after we all re-gather after Labor Day.

Our theme for Convention and for the year ahead is “Finding the Simple Way.” It seeks to build on what we anticipate to be the inspiration from our keynote speaker, Shane Claiborne, who lives in a community which is called “The Simple Way.” I have been encouraging us to prepare for his presence with us by entering into a Summer read of his book, The Irresistible Revolution. We also hope to welcome the new Bishop of Nzara, Richard Aquilla, whose people certainly know how to be a vibrant Church on so many fronts in the simplest and most gracious of ways. Bishop-elect Richard will be consecrated on August 10th, as the whole House of Bishops of the Church of South Sudan converges on the Cathedral compound of All Saints, Nzara. The Diocese of Iowa will be represented by Elizabeth Popplewell, President of the Standing Committee, together with her husband Dennis, and also Bob North. We look forward to their joyous report as well as greeting Bishop Richard in person in Iowa.

For this Convention I am also inviting each church to report on our diocesan vitality at the congregational level. We have celebrated so many wonderful ministries this year through Engaging All Disciples, and I would like us to capture it in one document. Please look at the vitality survey, and find the appropriate person or persons to submit your report. It is our hope that the report will help us celebrate together, share our challenges, and inspire us by catching a glimpse of the Spirit at work across our diocese.

I give thanks to God for each of you for all you bring to the life of the Church, and wish you rich blessings as you move more deeply into the late summer days of August.

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan
The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

The Plumb Line

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

A plumb line hangs in St. Peter's Episcopal Church
 in Bettendorf, IA

“This is what he showed me: the Lord was standing beside a wall built with a plumb line, with a plumb line in his hand. And the Lord said, ‘Amos, what do you see?’ And I said ‘A plumb line.’ Then the Lord said ‘See I am setting a plumb line in the midst of my people Israel; I will never again pass them by…’” (Amos 7:7-8).

You may recall these words from Sunday’s Hebrew Scripture reading. The phrase “never again pass them by” was the link with the Gospel passage for the day—the story of the Good Samaritan. That is probably one of two parables of Jesus most of us can tell ourselves; and, if we are honest, tell on ourselves. The question, who is our neighbor, was dropped over the plate in every pulpit across the Church, on a weekend when the entire nation was asking that very same question. The image of the plumb line and of God standing, interestingly “beside a wall,” begs another question: how upright is this society we are building? Against the backdrop of the demands of justice, the upholding of the dignity of every human being, the seeing Christ in each other, the insistence of the Way of Love, against this plumb line of baptismal promise—how does what we are building fare?

We all face moments, situations and people which we pass by at our peril. One such moment was created this very same weekend, with the President’s outrageous and race-baiting calls for four elected Congresswomen of color to go back to where they came from, and the very public, fear-mongering declaration of increased deportation activity, specifically in ten American cities. Of course, the Congresswomen are citizens of the United States and this is their home. And the fear-mongering was precisely that, fanning the divisions among us as we try and work out a just approach to the inevitable movement of people in a world ravaged by war, crime and climate displacement. 

Last Friday evening, I stood with more than three hundred others outside the Polk County Jail, participating in a vigil for those who have died in detention centers as they sought asylum in the United States. We heard written testimony of those who were experiencing life separated as families, or vulnerable in under-resourced and overcrowded centers. High School students cited their own poetry about the inner and outer conflict faced as Mexican Americans in a country that “loves tacos but hates the people who make them or serve them.” Standing next to me was a clergy person from the Diocese whose placard read “Prophet not Profit.” And this is the Good Samaritan challenge for us as Christians—dare we hold God’s plumb line in our hands and ask the question it begs of our representatives, institutions and of one another?

We as a Diocese are not untouched by the stuff that is swirling around us. At one Convention, I had guests at the banquet table including the Bishop of Nzara, the retired and current bishops of Swaziland, our guest speaker, an African American Bishop of the United Methodist Church, and my wife and daughter. “Looks like you have to be black to be at the bishop’s table,” someone was overheard quipping. If I had heard, my response would have been, “And you have to be black to be a member of my immediate family.” Being told to go back home can come from any direction—I have received such invitations from the liberal side for not following their form of correctness, and I have received them from conservatives for my “liberal ways” and especially my approach to gun safety. 

So, where and how do we hold the plumb line? How do we find the courage not to pass by the suffering on the road? Love is an act of will not emotion. And one simple act of love for the human condition is not to let this moment pass us by. 

There are people who can help us. One of the most impactful diocesan institutions to be established in recent years is the Beloved Community Initiative located in Old Brick, Iowa City. Its founders, Meg Wagner and Susanne Watson-Epting, have gathered a broad range of advisors from the diocese and the community to create a multi-faceted community initiative that embraces our racial past, asks the questions of reconciliation and reparation to native and former enslaved peoples, and seeks to educate the Diocese on how we might work at dismantling racism. Visit their web-site and see their great work. Sign up for the dismantling racism workshops when they come to your Chapter. Others, like young people at the Cathedral in Des Moines, have joined hands with partners like the American Friends Service Committeewho were the chief organizers of the vigil last Friday. Or look out for the next “We are Church Confessing” gathering. These young people from the Cathedral simply offer to accompany members of the community on their appointments to the immigration office. Visit IowaShare.org for resources to support you and church in action.

Some of you joined me in 2016 as we gathered in chapters around my visitation schedule to look at how totalitarian states on the right and left, in the Twentieth Century, coopted the mainstream Churches and national traditions and pride for their own end. We studied the thinking and evolving response of men like Dietrich Bonhoeffer who were setting up a plumb line for their time. The teaching may have seemed alarmist, and its implication to be a lack of trust and understanding of the power of democracy. But it was and remains a plumb line; and one which marks the current state of affairs to be tilting dangerously. 

Jesus responded to every question of the lawyer who wanted to know how to live the perfect life with his own question. He asked the lawyer to delve into what he already knew—what does the law say? “Love God with all of your heart. And with all of your soul, and with all your strength, and with all you mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” This was what the lawyer’s own understanding already told him. These were his values; but they were limited through partisanship. Hence when Jesus affirmed his initial response, he gave his bias away by asking, “Who is my neighbor?” We are all each other’s neighbor across the planet, not just across our backyard fence or in the PTA or at Church. Those are the places we may nurture our capacity to neighborliness, but the range of the invitation is much vaster. 

The early Church knew what they were doing when they called Jesus “Lord.” They lived in a time when only one person was entitled to that name—and that was the Roman Emperor. He was a man who ruled by fear, kept politicians in his back pocket, loved triumphal processions, and distracted the people by encouraging them to enjoy as sport seeing their enemies and their despised denigrated and destroyed in the amphitheater. To say “Jesus is Lord” was to hold up another standard by which even the Emperor was to be judged. It also got you into that amphitheater.

God did not pass by, neither did God’s people; nor does God today nor, can we. In the end Jesus made the lawyer a simple request. Having clarified who was his neighbor, and having identified him, through story, to be the anyone, regardless of where he came from and his personal identity who acted in compassion and mercy to the anyone, regardless of where he or she came from, found beaten and discarded at the side of the road, Jesus said “Go, do likewise!” And so He says to us—you know what is written, to what you have promised, now go do likewise! 

In the peace and love of Christ, 

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

July 2019

“Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. There shall no more be anything accursed…” (Revelations 22: 1-3a)

This was John’s invitation to walk the heavenly streets in the midst of bloody times at the turn of the first century. The shameful and angry images that cover our air waves and social media pages today remind us that behaviors which we would wish to think are things of the past can very quickly rise again to the surface and bring their hatred, violence and disruption.

On the eve of the celebration of this people’s independence from monarchical rule, we are invited to our own walk in the heavenly streets, through the gift of the expression of the values we embrace in our prayers for this nation, each of which is in itself a call for vigilant and constant action.

“Lord God Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace; Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength of forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.” (BCP 258)

Even for our enemies, we pray, “O God the Father of all, whose Son commanded us to love our enemies: Lead them and us from prejudice to truth; deliver them and us from hatred, cruelty and revenge; and in your good time enable us to stand reconciled before you; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen”(BCP 816)

For those serving in places of incarceration or detention, we pray these values: “When any are held unjustly, bring them release; forgive us and teach us to improve our justice. Remember those who work in these institutions; keep them humane and compassionate; and save them from becoming brutal or callous.”(BCP 826) 

And finally, in our thanksgiving litany for this national life of ours, we conclude, “Help us, O Lord, to finish the good work here begun. Strengthen our efforts to blot out ignorance and prejudice, and to abolish poverty and crime. And hasten the day when all our people, with many voices in one united chorus, will glorify your holy Name. Amen.” (BCP 839)

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

Humanitarian Needs at the Border

My sisters and brothers in Christ, It seems as if more information is being made public each day about the inhumane conditions that exist in seriously overcrowded ICE detention facilities. We know that children and families who are coming to our country looking for safety and protection are becoming sick and dying while in detention. We know that governmental lawyers are arguing that children do not need to be provided toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, or bedding in order to be called “safe and secure” in a government detention center. And we know that politicians in Washington are currently debating over how to release resources to address the urgent humanitarian needs of the people who are being detained.  Our Presiding Bishop has joined with a diverse group of faith leaders in a statement to express our collective outrage and pain over the treatment of those seeking asylum at our borders, and urging the Administration “to maintain its commitment to international law and defend human rights by implementing safeguards to ensure the safety and health of all of those seeking protection in our land, especially those children who fall under our care.” How best can we respond from Iowa, as followers of Jesus who says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of the sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19)? As I did a year ago, when news broke about families being separated at the border, I commend the list of resources at IowaShare.org to you and your congregation as you look for ways to take action. In 2016, a Pew Research Center report indicated that there are 50,000 undocumented immigrants here in Iowa (accounting for about 2.2% of our workforce). On IowaShare you will find resources to help your church to welcome, support, engage, and serve those families in your midst. Included in this email are other resources to assist you and your congregation in advocating for people currently in detention.  The photo of the young father and his daughter from El Salvador who drowned arm in arm at the edge of the Rio Grande heartbreakingly illustrates the desperation of families seeking asylum in the United States and the danger they face. As hard as it is to look at that photograph, we must, reminding ourselves of Jesus' words, that what we do to the least among us, we do to our Lord. May God give us the courage to follow the Way of Love, speak out against injustice, and find ways to welcome and serve those seeking to be our neighbors. In the peace of Christ,  +Alan The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. —1 John 3:18-19 (CEB)

RESOURCES FOR ACTION

FOR INDIVIDUALS 10 actions you can take to accompany undocumented immigrants. Contact Iowa representatives and senators to thank them for taking up an aid bill and urge them to reach an agreement to provide humanitarian aid for those being detained and immediately address the unsafe conditions at detention facilities. Learn more about border ministry and advocacy and how The Episcopal Church is responding to humanitarian needs at the border by registering for this webinar. Become a member of Partners in Welcome: a network and learning community dedicated to welcoming newcomers, empowering advocates, and supporting local ministries. Donate to funds like Iowa Justice for Our Neighbors or the Eastern Iowa Community Bond Project that assist community members in need of legal bond, representation, or legal counsel. Bonding out our neighbors detained by immigration and connecting them with lawyers gives them the best chance at remaining members of our community and helps keep families together.  FOR CHURCHES Share with your congregations the wide variety of resources available from the Office of Government Relations. Use the resources from Episcopal Migration Ministries in adult forums. Check out the resources for church leaders on IowaShare.org. Explore the small group curriculum, Discovering and Living God’s Heart for Immigrants: A Guide to Welcoming the Stranger, available from World Relief. Share this list of resources for immigrant families in your midst. Examine the toolkit from Detention Watch Network and the Immigration Detention Transparency and Human Rights Project to help groups organize and advocate for an end to abusive detention practices.

Do you have a resource to share that you or your congregation have found useful? Let us know at communications@iowaepiscopal.org

May 2019

John the Evangelist concluded his Gospel by writing “This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them down, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (Jn 21: 24-25).

If we were to write down our epilogue on the good news of Jesus Christ expressed among us, I wonder if we would have to make the same observation. The Parochial Reports doesn’t quite get it done, but it is trying to learn. There is now space to pay attention to those who come to us or with whom we interact beyond worship—for food, clothing, healing prayer, the fellowship of a visit to them in the hospital or in prison, counseling or friendship. It is a shame that we are not asked; “What signs and wonders has the Risen Christ done among you this past year? What have you and the Holy Spirit witnessed together?"

What if the baptismal covenant questions framed the annual report—how have you walked in the Apostles’ teaching, breaking of bread (there’s an ASA question, I suppose), and the prayers, or resisted evil, confessed the Good News in word and deed? And how have you upheld everyone’s dignity, and served Christ in others as you worked for justice and peace? It’s a way of life, this following Jesus, and how do we organize ourselves to that end?

The Christian Way is a spiritual and philosophical process. Our thoughts matter, our spiritual struggles matter. And we need to be allowed and allow ourselves to own up to it. Thomas did in the Easter story; and Jesus did not tell him that he only had one shot at a resurrection appearance. In fact Jesus made a repeat appearance just for Thomas. Now, Thomas was in community on the second occasion, and that seems significant. Eventually getting back to the group is an important thing, no matter how hurt, disillusioned, confused, disappointed they may have been with how things turned out on that horrific Thursday night through Friday.

The early church was a community; they were witnesses of God’s living presence among all people; and they came to understand that all of this placed an accountability upon them—even in recognizing the authority of God over that of human authorities, as they encountered governmental resistance.

It’s an equally incredible challenge on us to follow Jesus in our day and make that pursuit a way of life. We face attachments and resistance of a different nature—chiefly our interconnected economic system based on the consumer model. We are attached to the accidental nature of our births that set us up in nations and tribal groupings that equally make demands upon our allegiance and representation. It’s hard to engage as disciples when at times we don’t know where to begin, as followers of One who we say is Beginning (Alpha) and the End (Omega).

The answer may be to notice where Jesus began again. He appeared to His disciples. And then appeared again for the one who was not there! In Jesus’s kindness to Thomas, He placed each and everyone of us in that room. “Blessed are you who have seen and believed, but even more blessed are those who have never seen, and yet believe” In other words, He was speaking about us, about you and me!

So given this choice as a Body, how do you want to engage yourselves, and one another, as disciples? How can you, where you are, organize in a way that creates a community that focuses primarily on the mission of God? Don’t let parochial reports drive you. What must we grow out of to sharpen our engagement as disciples? Let us, each and all, organize so that the work of witnessing to the Risen Christ is our focus. After all, He makes us reconcilers or a “kingdom of priests” (go-betweeners, people-God connectors), a community that knows and shares forgiveness, a people whom God loves and who express that sense of being loved in our own attitudes and actions of loving. And who in the world could contain such testimony—not even perhaps the internet Cloud itself?

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

April 2019

On Tuesday March 19th I met with members from the congregational cluster of St Paul’s, Council Bluffs and St John’s Glenwood. The people from St. John’s had had to come a circuitous route because of the closed roads in the region due to flooding. They were also tired from becoming a distribution center for blankets, clothes, tarps, water and food. They were themselves cut off from fresh water supplies. The other cluster congregation is St. John’s, Shenandoah, and they were unable to make the journey at all. The senior warden was busy mopping out flood water from her business office, and the priest, Holly Scherff, was occupied with being our diocesan point person for the SW region flood disaster relief. Holly had been mulling over God’s impeccable timing, as she returned to a flooded area from a Disaster Relief Training Conference in Chicago. In fact, her hour long drive home took twice as long as she navigated flood detours to get home in the dark.

These are still early days for our response. As Holly wrote for the clergy listserve:

“As many of you know, SW Iowa has several communities under water. The water has started to recede and clean up has begun and yet there is still much Spring to endure. Iowa has shown its true colors by providing these communities with all they need and more. Much more, in fact, to the point that we no longer know what to do with it all.  Currently if you feel compelled to help in some way, please consider a donation to the Bishop’s Crisis Fund [payable to Episcopal Diocese of Iowa, 225 37th St., Des Moines, 50312], which is an internal diocesan fund for emergencies like this, or to Episcopal Relief and Development. As the mucking out progresses, needs will arise, and I will do my best to keep you informed. Prayers for endurance and wisdom are appreciated.”

Holly has been attempting to contact the twenty Episcopal congregations which she has identified within the fifty-two counties that the Governor has proclaimed as disaster areas. Many of our congregations are small and do not have office staff during the day, and so communication has been difficult. I encourage you, if you are a congregation in one of those counties to reach out to her at 515-227-6940, or at scherffh@gmail.com. Also, The Episcopal Church has been building an asset map of all its congregations (that the “find a church” button on the website links to) which could be utilized more easily for such a challenging occasion like this, and it is sadly underutilized and under-informed when it comes to our Iowa congregations. It is a site which invites each congregation to fill out information about locations, and so this would be a good time to be reminded of its potential importance to us all and to invite you to find someone who might be willing to put you on the map.

Unfortunately, the worst is not behind us, and the flooding is spread up the western part of the state, and into South Dakota and Nebraska Native lands. As we are planning a visit by partners from the Episcopal Relief and Development US Disaster Program in the second week of April, we hope to bear those areas in mind as well. So, please be in touch; do not be hesitant in reaching out for assistance for yourselves and for your neighbors or community. In the meantime, Holly reminds us that

“it is helpful to remember that one of the guiding principles of the Episcopal Church in responding to such disasters is to ask the question ‘who is it in the community that are the most vulnerable, most hidden from the public eye, and under-served?’”

To this end Jesus calls us “o’er the tumult.”

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

Click to learn how to update the Asset Map for your congregation!

March 2019

The apostle Paul in writing to the Corinthians would speak of the contrasting experiences that were part of his ministry, all seemingly happening at the same time. He never let the difficult times get the upper hand, and could always seem to rally around the reality of God's grace and overcoming through the Risen Christ. His message is that we always have the care of the Churches and the evangelistic mission of the Gospel before us, no matter what our circumstances. That is important to remember for those of us hurting badly with the United Methodist Church members on their Special General Conference's decision to prohibit same gender marriages, and to penalize clergy who permit them. At the Cathedral on Sunday, I invited us to carry them in our prayers. I also voiced my deep disappointment at the Archbishop of Canterbury's decision not to invite the spouses of gay and lesbian bishops to Lambeth, though the bishops are invited. On this I refer you to the letter to the Diocese of New York by their bishops, which includes one of the affected parties, Mary Glaspool and her spouse Becky. These were a couple of the topics being gently and lovingly discussed as bishops met with the Presiding Bishop before the joyous and wonderful consecration of our own Cathleen Bascom as Bishop of Kansas.

These are the ongoing conditions in which we are always invited to minister, and to keep our eyes on the prize that is knowing, loving, suffering and rejoicing with the Lord Jesus. With that in mind, I want our attention to turn to the engagement of all followers of Jesus—all disciples—in the work of extending love. Love for the Gospel, love for neighbor, love for this planet of the Lord’s, love for growing in the Way of Love, love for worship in a lively manner and space, love for justice, and love for bridging the gap with the new upcoming generation.


These are the topics most requested during last year’s Growing Iowa Leaders days. And in 2019 through to 2020, starting at the Summer Ministry School and Retreat in Grinnell, I am inviting you to find your ministry and passion and commit twelve months to intentional growth and training in it.

We have asked presenters from last year to return and be coaches for a year in seven areas of ministry. The coaching program will begin with a face to face gathering (in most cases in Grinnell in June) and then continue with monthly zoom sessions as you put your learnings into action at the local level. The seven cohorts, or learning groups, being offered are:

• ENGAGING Our Stories as Disciples: Evangelism & Discipleship
• ENGAGING New Generations of Faith
• ENGAGING Creative Expressions of Worship
• ENGAGING the Way of Love and Discipleship
• ENGAGING Our Neighbors and Neighborhoods: Mission
• ENGAGING Justice through Public Policy
• ENGAGING Our Resources

I am inviting you to sign up for the cohort of your passion in ministry. If possible, it would be great to have pairs of people from any given congregation for an Engagement topic, but if God is beginning with you alone then that is exciting. We have never done anything like this before; and yet it is what we can offer thanks to the ongoing blessing of the gift we received last year that keeps on giving.

You have heard me talk of my pastor from my youth days and his fundamental and prayerful question—what is God going to do with this one? I look towards these growing cohorts and ask about you the very same thing. This is a Lenten call, and an Eastertide call; an Advent call and a back to Epiphany call.

If you are called towards one of those learning cohorts, you can register for Summer Ministry School and Retreat here. Or, if you would like to discern with me about any of the offerings, I welcome you to contact me. God continues to equip the hands of Christ’s Church.

In the peace and love of Christ,

+Alan

The Rt. Rev. Alan Scarfe, Bishop of Iowa

From Nzara: “Living in a good place far, far away”

The Zande term for heaven is literally the good place far, far away. It may hint of pre-“Honest to God” theology, in which Bishop John Robinson sought to dismantle the up and down dimension of heaven and hell; but that would be to underestimate the Christians of the Diocese of Nzara. Yet when you think of this phrase as it impacts us psychologically and spiritually, and consider that this is a place where faith teaches us to live, then you find meaning in the words “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.”

The Zande people have other interesting phrases. If they can’t quite grasp your name, they may say that “they haven’t found room for it in their head as yet.” A literal translation of the question—how did you sleep last night? – comes across with the much livelier inquiry – “what is the news of your sleeping?” And so heaven is a compound word that translates “the good place far, far away.” It is linked of course in the Lord’s Prayer with earth—or this extensive surface of land on which we stand.

Living in a good place far, far away is not escapism. Therapy in our culture might invite someone to “find their good place.” We want youth groups to bond over highs and lows. And maybe we should just concentrate on the highs as I am told by my Improv coach and player daughter that playing out of one’s negative side is always the cheaper laugh. Learning spontaneity and creative reactivity from what is positive is much more difficult and requires more discipline. “Rejoice in the Lord, always,” says the Apostle Paul, “and again I say rejoice.” He writes that after he has called us to the discipline of thinking on those things that are good, true, honorable and worthy of praise.

In other words—think and live into that good place far, far away. Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come  on this surface on which we stand as it is already experienced in that good place far, far away. Jesus adds that the Kingdom of heaven is come near, and the response of entry is to turn around your life, its direction and presumably its frames of reference. This good place far, far away is among you. We are invited to head there; and are reminded that faith is that certainty of things yet unseen.

I realize that I am experiencing life in the Cathedral compound of All Saints in Nzara, South Sudan, during a rather special week when the Diocese comes together, to live, counsel and worship together. At any moment you see people sitting around enjoying each other, cooking and then gathering for their Synod meetings. Clergy Conference has been going for two days during the week, and we have just concluded the week with a five hour ordination service, at which I came on to preach in the fourth hour! And they wanted a sermon no shorter than twenty minutes.

“They feel safe here,” said Aida Peni, the Bishop’s wife. Not everyone can live in the compound, but those who do, including the Diocesan and Cathedral staff, have a growing community around them. The reality on this earth is that the peace that opened up a crack in the war clouds afflicting the country is fragile, even as talks go on. Opposing forces remain in their camps and are far from ready to dismantle. Our gathering was a three hour walk away from such a camp. The strife has created untold suffering and misery, deprivation and frustrated plans to harness creative and imaginary capable minds with material possibility and progress in daily life.

Yet the Diocese of Nzara celebrated—ten years of war and conflict-interrupted development as a parish, and yet still achieving most of its goals for five years in two. People’s health, children’s education and the spiritual goals of the Gospel are their foci, and the Diocese of Iowa has walked alongside the entire time. It was right to use this window of peace to share in their ten year celebration.

“We are oppressed,” said the Apostle Paul, “but never crushed.” Paul set his citizenship in heaven—that good place far, far away—not to pursue pie in the sky, but because he had access to heaven on earth through his profound faith in Jesus Christ. When he declared to the Romans that nothing could separate us from the love of God, it was because “such is the Kingdom of heaven.” The fruits of the Spirit of joy, peace, hope, patience, love etc. are heavenly fruits; as is the potential for justice, peace and reconciliation. It’s how we live in heaven; and it finds its expression through living committed faith on earth. Paul set his citizenship in that good place far, far away, and he was able to bring it very close to the lives of the men and women he met. And he so committed to such a life that he would tell the Corinthians that if Christ is not risen he was the most pitiable of humans. No one wants that reputation. Yet who is the fool when you can connect and live now in that good place far, far away? Death or that moment when “your visa expires”—another new contemporary Zande phrase—then becomes the “coming home” of which we so often speak.

Christian faith is bound up in the rhythm of death and resurrection. As Lent approaches we are reminded that it is the way of Jesus. Baptism also starts us down such a path of understanding. Are children simply made a deeper part of the family of faith, or are they brought to that good place far, far away which begins with those first steps of faith? Living as in heaven is our Lord’s Prayer.
It's an incredibly hard life in South Sudan, and in Nzara, our companion diocese. Faith however creates exuberant joy in worship, fervor in prayer, and a commitment to live each day for the health and education and transformation of others and society. It’s what they claim God expects in God’s loving way.

As guests here I know that we are skillfully and lovingly kept away from their deepest and even common pains. For after all, we might not have found the room yet in our minds to access that good place far, far away that Jesus opens to us for this very life we live, and to which our orientation as people of faith following Jesus seeks to direct us. We may still be thinking how the will and kingdom of God starts on earth, and heaven is something we build. It’s a wonderful eye opener to contemplate that the good place far, far away is what we by faith now live, and our mission is to bring it on earth as we do so.

The inauguration of 6 classrooms and two offices for St. Timothy Nursery and Primary School in the Diocese of Nzara. Photo: Victor Mangu Elisama

the inauguration of 6 classrooms and two offices for St. Timothy Nursery and Primary School in the Diocese of Nzara. Photo: Victor Mangu Elisama

From Nzara

You awake to drums, and are summoned by drums to tea breaks during your workshops or to prayer in the Cathedral in the morning. Rosters crow incessantly in the morning, just in case you didn’t get the message that a new day has dawned. Days are not taken for granted here and so with genuine gratefulness, you greet God’s blessing of the new day. Life is God’s ongoing gift, and it is offered in the age long refrain “And it was morning and evening—(another) day.”

As jet lag from the thirty-hour journey wanes, you find a new rhythm to life. It is life in community, where the bishop’s house is home not only to his own children but to any number of others whom he has taken under his wing—some from early childhood to becoming adults. All of this is in a life uncompensated by the artificial notion of salary.

Somehow travel expenses are met in a busy global ministry; schools are expanded to accommodate increasing number of students; and solar panels are the building blocks of their own electrical grid. The great gift of water—clean though not yet “running” except to its five points of distribution around and outside the Cathedral compound. This is a Cathedral and Diocesan staff that lives together in community, in a growing village of “tukols,” or huts fashioning an intergenerational homestead.

Is this a way of life that commercialized urbanization has never reached or has left behind? Or is it an ongoing, ancient choice of how to live that we have forgotten and lost to our sorrow? Certainly it is a choice seeking best of all worlds as modern technology increases its reach. Laughter rings out from morning to night. Children lead prayers, and people know how to welcome strangers and how to open their lives to say thank you for being with us.

I have just enjoyed two days of workshops with the clergy of the Diocese, tackling the thorny question of blending Hebrew and Christian scriptures on the first day, and going deeply into the Lord’s Prayer on the second day, showing how to use it as a faith telling course for baptism and confirmation preparation. And now we have begun to experience the open and honest accountability sessions which make up the Nzara Diocese in Synod.

In the meantime it has been a joy to see the Iowa team absorbed in their specific work here – helping the Mother’s Union find the confidence to make their own uniforms (Abigail and Marci from St Timothy’s West Des Moines) or exploring the set up of creating their own diocesan pineapple wine for communion (Mel Schlachter). This is about capacity building—and saving the expense of Ugandan imports for both entities. And yet everything is done around prayer and singing, laughter and joy. And if we wonder how is all this possible even as the clouds of civil war have barely broken open to let in sun rays of peace, well I think the clergy group know the answer—for do we not pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done—on earth as it is in heaven?” Live as in heaven, and seek to bring its reality to this land surface of ours. That is the secret of this place. We might almost say “Is this heaven? No it’s Nzara!” But they live as if it is so!

+Alan

Photo Credit: M. Mordecai

Photo Credit: M. Mordecai

Photo Credit: M. Mordecai

Photo Credit: M. Mordecai

Photo Credit: M. Mordecai

Photo Credit: M. Mordecai