Dcn. Chris encouraged me to send two “missives” out to the parish during my travel this week. But first, we must inquire, “What is this ‘missive’ of which Dcn. Chris speaks?” Good question. It’s a fancy term for an official report or communication. Want a living example of a missive? Good news, I just wrote one –to you! Keep reading…
Sunday
On Sunday night I left church and came home and packed my bags and caught the red-eye out of Honolulu to Los Angeles, and from there to Dallas and, finally, to Pittsburgh.
During that travel I prayed, read the bible, and finished reading both a collection of poetry by the ever-delightful Anglican priest and 17th century poet Robert Herrick, as well as Saving Beauty by Byung-Chul Han (my thoughts on that will appear over the next couple of months on Da Blog and on my Substack).
Sleep, which I caught in snatches, was punctuated by pain in my back/disk/leg –pray for that as you think of me.
Monday
Arriving in Pittsburgh I met-up with a young man named Christopher, who is a lay delegate here at the Provincial Assembly, a student at Phoenix Seminary, and a newly-bridegroomed husband. His wife works for a political organization and he, when not in class, works at a high-end cowboy boot store. They met square-dancing --we’re not in Hawaii anymore Toto!
He’s been a regular at the psalm-chanting sessions we host at Synod in the basement of our Airbnb, and we’re splitting the cost of rental car and hotel accommodation.
We drove from Pittsburgh to Latrobe, checked-in at our Hotel and caught an open-mic-night at a local brewery --which was at once glorious and fascinating. Tommy Bahama aloha shirts, leather chaps, cement-stained work boots, and a band that had both synth keys and a banjo-ist. “This is real Pennsylvania” someone told me.
Back to hotel, prayers, psalms, sleep.
Tuesday
Tuesday morning, I vested and was the OT and NT lector for the Provincial Council’s opening morning prayer. The OT reading was from Judges 7 where God cuts the number of fighting men in Gideon’s army --and then keeps cutting till only 300 remain. I almost burst into laughter/tears when I read that. Brother or sister hear this: Sometimes we’re too strong for God to use us safely, allow him to whittle you in his Love, He does so to bring you victory.
The rest of the morning I spent in-and-out of the Provincial Council, occasionally ditching to pursue friendships: an old friend once stationed in Hawaii who was a parishioner at CtF who is now the dean at Reformed Episcopal Seminary; an old friend in the Anglican School world from TX who is now the missionary bishop of –get this— Cuba; an old Anglican chaplain friend; Archbishop Foley and his wife; old friends from folks from Anglican House Publishers; a beloved brother from Theoplis who is now Anglican (in Houston); new friends from across the Province, and many others.
Big takeaway from these conversations: They all told me to tell you that they are praying for us --not me singly, all of us. You are being covered in prayer by many, many people across North America. Think of this, there are brothers and sisters in Canada, the PNW, in Texas, in Cuba, in the NE, in the SE, and int he desserts of the SW who are praying, specifically, for “the churches and the mission in the Hawaiian islands.” You are loved and prayed for.
Tuesday continued with noon prayer, lunch, new friendships, more meetings, more friendships, and a delightful evensong with music by the Maryland boys’ choir (they are doing all the music, i’ts fantastic). Christopher and I grabbed beers with Bishop Ken and Christopher got to ask all of his seminarian questions about canonicity, episcopacy, and the 39 articles.
Christopher and I closed the day in devotions (I with Compline, he with his reading of the Psalter), and with joint prayers for our families.
Wednesday
Wednesday we had corporate morning prayer –which was great. It is so encouraging to hear a room filled with hundreds of voices singing together, and praying the daily Office.
I skipped the morning Plenary session in order to luxuriate in developing a friendship with the Rev. Dr. Peter Johnston who is the Director and Chief Editor at Anglican Compass, an online web resource and website for “rookie Anglicans.” You can look it up (I was writing pretty regularly for it back in 2020 and 2021). I am excited for the friendship as well as for the way in which that friendship carries implications for folks in our Network (with us, at CtF, and on Maui and the Big Island) to have an increased voice in the Province.
Peter and his wife have eight kids, they’re church planters, they read Peter Leithart, they do folk dancing at their church, and chant the Psalms. In some way it felt like meeting a long-lost sibling: there are visible signs that evidence your common heritage. We kept stopping to exclaim: “You too!?”
After lunch, we had a ‘Festival Eucharist’ in the basilica of St. Vincent College. Everyone was there - we packed out the basilica with clergy and laity. Standing room only. Fifteen years ago there was no Anglican Church in North America. Yesterday we packed out a basilica with delegates from a province that stretches from Hawaii to New Jersey, and from the Arctic Circle to the Mexico-Guatemala-Guatemala border.
Also, there was no air conditioning… Did you read that? No A/C. In the Basilica. In Pennsylvania. In June. We were all vested. It was hot, to put it mildly. At least one person near me fainted (not a joke). Ya’ll, (a word I’ve learned this week) this is the ACNA. Whatever else our weaknesses and flaws may be, we are nothing if not committed, and faithful to the end.
More meetings, more new friendships, more exciting relationships established for our network and the wider Anglican world. More people praying for us, more people wanting to come and visit, more folks excited about what God is doing in our islands.
The rest of Wednesday afternoon was consumed with the Provincial Assembly business meeting… [ahem] okay, let me explain: (1) all year different committees are drafting various amendments, missional initiatives, proposals, etc.; (2) each summer the Provincial Council (composed of a small number of delegates from each diocese) votes on these things; (3) once every four years Provincial Council (that’s the #2 thing in this list) is followed by Provincial Assembly (bigger group composed of more delegates) who ratify decisions made by all of the preceding four Provincial Councils.
Dinner.
Evening Prayer.
Time spent making new friends at a [different] local brewery. Among those newly met: (1) the editor of North American Anglican (2) a priest from Loomis, CA; (3) two priests from TX; (4) the web editor at Anglican Compass; and a bunch of other folks whose names now bleed into the growing and therefore increasingly illegible list of people who say they are praying for us and are also praying for a way to come and visit us in Hawaii.
Conclusion
Beloved, we serve a mighty God who is doing mighty things. People here are so excited to pray for us, for you. Bishops, priests, deacons, and lay delegates are texting me already about wanting to visit us. We have several potential international relationships ready for us to engage with. Hear this: You are loved and covered in prayer by our province, many of whom you do not know, and some of whom you may never meet. But they call you ‘family’ and eagerly look for more news of what God has done in Hawaii.