How Jesus intended our garden to grow

“People are looking for acceptance, belonging, healing and wholeness. When we are at our very best, we can share that with the world. This week, The Episcopal Church committed itself and its resources to the reckoning with its past, in order to create a more just, inclusive and authentic future.”

So said Julia Ayala Harris, the newly elected President of the House of Deputies, in a sermon preached on July 11, the last day of the 80th General Convention of The Episcopal Church. I’m fairly certain I’ve never quoted the President of the House of Deputies, though I’m thrilled to do so today.

Before I explain why, let me share a little background. General Convention meets in two houses: the House of Deputies, made up of an equal number of lay people and clergy from each diocese, and the House of Bishops. For a very long time, the President of the House of Deputies was elected only to preside over meetings. But over the past six decades, the position has grown to have far greater executive authority. Today, the President is a paid position working with the Presiding Bishop to oversee the denomination during and in between conventions.

So, why did I quote her and why is her election significant? Firstly, because Ms. Harris, a lay woman from the Diocese of Oklahoma, is the first Latina to be elected to lead the church in this capacity. The highest executive positions in The Episcopal Church are now held by people of color. For a historically and predominantly white denomination, this is historic.

Secondly, Ms. Harris’ sermon was one of the most extraordinary and pertinent sermons I’ve heard in a long time. I believe she perfectly captured the moment in which we find ourselves. She used two images to speak to the mission of the church. She first quoted Jesus’ teaching on wineskins: “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins; otherwise, the skins burst, and the wine is spilled, and the skins are destroyed; but new wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.” (Mt 9:17)

The Episcopal Church, she said, “has been the civic religion of the white upper class since the founding of the republic. I am here to tell you today that this approach has taken us as far as we can go. New wineskins mean doing ministry among what we have previously socially constructed as weeds … charting a different course.”

Her second image, related to the weeds mentioned above, was of her grandmother’s patio. She talked about the violets that grew in the cracks between the bricks. Many considered the violets to be weeds, but her grandmother didn’t destroy them. She allowed them to grow. In the same way, Harris called the church to look for the ministries that are growing in the cracks, the initiatives that need to be nurtured and resourced so they can flourish (ministries such as our St. Paul’s On the Way initiative).

“The Episcopal Church used to be the divider of the weeds and now we need to look for the flowers in the cracks,” she said. “You do not pull out the violets. You water them. Feed them. Fertilize them. Nurture them. … If we could do that, I think we would find our congregations and our structures would be more aligned with how Jesus has intended our garden to grow.”

You’ll find the full sermon on YouTube. I strongly encourage you to take 11 minutes to listen. I suspect this isn’t the last time I’ll quote her.