A STATEMENT FROM FR. JAMIE REGARDING THE SUPREME COURTS’ DECISION TO REPEAL ROE V. WADE

 June 25, 2022

Dear St. Stephen’s family-

As you all know by now, yesterday the Supreme Court made its landmark decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, which will greatly limit healthcare for women in our country.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry issued a statement (which I include at the end of this message), in which he said, “Today’s decision institutionalizes inequality because women with access to resources will be able to exercise their moral judgment in ways that women without the same resources will not.”

For many here at St. Stephen’s this decision by the Supreme Court is a painful, difficult and personal situation that affects us deeply on both collective and personal levels. Many of us have fought hard for many years for women’s rights and for full and protected healthcare for all. Some of us have suffered personally from the effects of a lack of healthcare for various reasons. This decision by SCOTUS seems to many (including myself) to be several steps backward in on the path of progress.  

In addition to the shock of that decision, the House of Bishops has received information “from federal authorities of credible security threats against clergy and churches…” and that “there is concern that clergy who have advised parishioners about abortion access and their reproductive rights may face threats or violence.”

          As most of you know, I have been speaking out vocally on both my own social media accounts and on the St. Stephen’s Facebook page about this issue and so far, I have received overwhelming support. But, as we have experienced in the past when have stood up for LGBTQ+ rights in this Diocese and state, we are aware there are people who do not share our commitment and who are willing to lash out at those with different opinions. Please know that despite such threats, I will continue to speak out as I have. I will also be preaching on this issue tomorrow at Mass.

          I repeat what I have said on social media: I will continue to support full access to healthcare for all people and will do everything in my power as a Christian, as a priest and as a citizen to make sure such access is made available.

          I also mention, though I do not mean to unduly alarm anyone, that Justice Clarence Thomas made a comment yesterday regarding the possibility that SCOTUS may be eyeing future issues such as gay marriage. Considering those comments, I am advising all our married LGBTQ+ parishioners and friends to get wills, as well as power of attorney and healthcare power of attorney documents as soon as possible. If any of you need legal help or suggestions, please contact me.  

And for those not married, please know I am more than willing to officiate at any weddings while we can still legally do so.

Be assured that St. Stephen’s will remain a haven for all people, and we will continue to provide care, safety and protection for anyone who needs it. We renew our commitment to uphold the “worth and dignity” of all people now and always.  

The consequences of SCOTUS’ decision yesterday are long-ranging and will be affecting all of us for some time to come. With that in minds, please pray. Pray for our country during this divisive and contentious time. Please pray for women whose lives are now in jeopardy because of limited or non-existent healthcare. Pray for the leadership of this country during this time that strong leaders may stand up and speak out. And please, do so yourself. Stand up and speak out.

-peace,

Jamie+

Rector, St. Stephen’s

 

O great God,

mighty and awesome.

You show no partiality.

You defend the cause

of the fatherless, motherless, and the widow.

You love the stranger.

 

We believe and we feel overwhelmed—

sometimes it is hard to believe

that you actually care about

injustice and suffering.

When we don’t see your work.

When we sense the apathy

from the church and the world.

When we feel small and forget

that we were designed to be different

and to make things different.

When we feel overwhelmed

by the darkness in the world—
the violence, injustice, poverty, oppression, abuse.

Give us hope not to be overcome.
Give us eyes to see your goodness for our world.
Give us the strength to hold the pain of injustice in
our world and faith that it will end.
Give us courage to be honest with ourselves about
why and how we are doing justice.

 

We believe.  

Empower us to disrupt our broken
thinking by learning truth from diverse leaders.
Enable us to discover the beauty

of justice and inspire action in others.

Embolden us to display your
goodness in the world. Amen.

 

Adapted from a prayer from A Liturgy of Longing by Sandra Maria Van Opstal, found in Sarah Bessey’s A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Meditations for Renewal; Convergent Publishing, 2021.

 

 

Statement on Supreme Court Dobbs decision by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry 

June 24, 2022

Office of Public Affairs

 

Today the Supreme Court released its decision in the case of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The court has overturned the constitutional right to abortion that was recognized in the seminal 1973 case Roe v. Wade.  

While I, like many, anticipated this decision, I am deeply grieved by it. I have been ordained more than 40 years, and I have served as a pastor in poor communities; I have witnessed firsthand the negative impact this decision will have.

We as a church have tried carefully to be responsive both to the moral value of women having the right to determine their healthcare choices as well as the moral value of all life. Today’s decision institutionalizes inequality because women with access to resources will be able to exercise their moral judgment in ways that women without the same resources will not.

This is a pivotal day for our nation, and I acknowledge the pain, fear, and hurt that so many feel right now. As a church, we stand with those who will feel the effects of this decision—and in the weeks, months, and years to come.  

The Episcopal Church maintains that access to equitable health care, including reproductive health care and reproductive procedures, is “an integral part of a woman’s struggle to assert her dignity and worth as a human being” (2018-D032). The church holds that “reproductive health procedures should be treated as all other medical procedures, and not singled out or omitted by or because of gender” (2018-D032). The Episcopal Church sustains its “unequivocal opposition to any legislation on the part of the national or state governments which would abridge or deny the right of individuals to reach informed decisions [about the termination of pregnancy] and to act upon them” (2018-D032). As stated in the 1994 Act of Convention, the church also opposes any “executive or judicial action to abridge the right of a woman to reach an informed decision…or that would limit the access of a woman to safe means of acting on her decision” (1994-A054).   

The court’s decision eliminates federal protections for abortion and leaves the regulation of abortion to the states. The impact will be particularly acute for those who are impoverished or lack consistent access to health care services. As Episcopalians, we pray for those who may be harmed by this decision, especially for women and other people who need these reproductive services. We pray for the poor and vulnerable who may not have other options for access. We urge you to make your voice heard in the way you feel called but always to do so peacefully and with respect and love of neighbor.  

 

2 Pentecost

 June 19, 2022

Galatians 3.23-29;Luke 8.26-39

+ This past week I had lunch with our very own Cathy McMullen and her daughter-in-law Alissa.

 

Invariably in any conversation I have with people, the subject of films comes up.

 

And for some reason, the subject of one of my all-time favorite films came up.

 

That film?

 

The Exorcist.

 

Yes, I know.

 

It’s not what you expected.

 

Or maybe it’s exactly what you expected.

 

Either way, I love that movie for several reasons.

 

One, I love the characters of the two priests in the film, Fr. Damien Karras and Fr.

Lankaster Merrin.

 

Both are Jesuits (why, oh why can’t there be an Anglican-equivalent order of Jesuits? If there was I would join in a heart-beat).

 

But both are really prime examples of great pastors—priests who genuinely care, but who are also solidly human.

 

They each have their own issues.

 

They are not saints, but they are not horribly conflicted characters at all.

 

And I especially love the Fr. Merrin character because director William Freidkin has confessed that he actually based the character solidly on one of my heroes, another Jesuit priest, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.

But the film is more than that in my opinion.

 

It is also a strangely redemptive film.

 

The final scenes in that film actually directly reflects our Gospel reading for today, in which Fr. Karras, directly referencing the Legion of demons going into the pigs and being driven off the cliff, does so as well so he can release the girl Reagan from her possession.

 

Now, I know what you might be thinking.

 

Wait, The Exorcist is Fr. Jamie’s favorite film?

 

I thought he was a Christian Universalist?

 

I thought he didn’t even believe in hell.

 

Well, yes.

 

I preach about this on a very regular basis, but, as you all know, I am a very proud Christian Universalist.

 

In other words, I do not believe in an eternal hell.

 

I remember saying that once in a sermon and had someone audibly gasp.

 

But I am being honest.

 

I do not believe that the God that I believe in and love would send anyone to a metaphysical hell for all eternity.

 

Many people think that being a Christian universalist also means I don’t believe in things like evil.

 

That’s not true.

 

I actually say it emphatically:

 

Evil DOES exist.

 

Now I’m not saying I believe in actual supernatural devils or demons.

 

But, the fact remains, whether we believe in actual demons or nor not, whether we believe in Satan as a goat-like horned figure with a forked tail or not, what we all must believe in is the presence of actual evil in this world.

 

Whether that evil is natural or supernatural, or both, the fact is, there is evil.  

 

Even good rational people know that!

 

Just look at the news, depending on what news source you follow.

 

We of course just had a church shooting at an Episcopal church in Alabama this past week.

 

At a church named St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, nonetheless.

 

Let me tell you, I see plenty of evil in that act, and I see plenty of evil in the way people try to explain it all away, to say that this is not an issue of guns.

 

I think that’s all pretty evil.

 

Evil is real.

 

And we see it many forms in this world.

 

And for me, The Exorcist is a great story to reflect how sometimes evil becomes a force so great in our lives and in the world around us that we sometimes struggle how to deal with it.

 

The fact is this: for us, evil is not an option.

 

Those of us who are followers of Jesus have promised that we must turn away from evil again and again, in whatever way we encounter it.  

 

Whenever we are confronted with evil, we must resist it, we must stand up to it.

 

In our Baptismal service, these questions are asked of the person being baptized (or their sponsors):

“Do you renounce Satan and all the spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God?”

And…

“Do you renounce the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God?”

And, as our Baptismal Covenant asks us asks us:

“Do you persevere in resisting evil, and whenever you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?”

Evil is something we must stand up against however we encounter it.

 

Whether we encounter it as a spiritual force, or whether we encounter it in other forms, such as racism, sexism, war,  or homophobia, or transphobia  as followers of Jesus, must stand up against evil and say no to it.

 

In a sense, what we are being asked to do is what Jesus did in this morning’s Gospel.  

 

We are being compelled, again and again, to cast out the evil in our midst, to send it away from us.

 

This is not easy thing to do.  

 

It is not easy to look long and hard at the evil that exists in the world, and in our very midst.

 

But it is very easy to believe that evil wins.

 

The story of Jesus is clear: good always defeats evil ultimately.

 

Again and again.

 

It might not seem like it sometimes.

 

Often times, evil wins the battle.

 

But, be assured, evil never wins the war. 

 

Christ, as we heard in Paul’s Letter to the Galatians today, breaks down the boundaries evil in its various forms sets up.

 

In Christ, we hear, there are no distinctions.

 

In Christ, all those things that divide us and allow the seeds of evil to flower are done away with—those issue of sex, and social status and nationality and race are essentially erased in Christ.

 

And we, as followers of Jesus, so prone at times to get nitpicky and self-righteous and hypocritical and divide ourselves into camps of “us” versus “them,” are told in no uncertain terms that those boundaries, in Jesus, cannot exist among us.

 

Those boundaries, those distinctions, only lead to more evil.

 

To less love.

 

But even then, even when evil does seem to win out, even when there are moments of despair and fear at the future, there’s no real need to despair.

 

Even in those moments when evil seems to triumph, we know that those moments of triumph are always, always short-lived.  

 

Good will always defeat evil ultimately.

Look at history.

 

Yes, we find the premise of good versus evil  in every popular movie and book we encounter.

 

This is the essence of conflict that we find in all popular culture.  

 

Good versus evil—and good always wins.

But, for us, as followers of Jesus, this is not fiction.

 

That is not a fairy tale or wishful thinking.

 

It is the basis on which our faith lies.

 

When confronted with those spiritual forces of wickedness that rebel against God, we must renounce them and move on.

And what are those spiritual forces of wickedness in our lives?

 

What are those forces that divide us and cause conflict among us?

 

What are the legion of demons we find in our midst?

 

Those spiritual forces of wickedness are those forces that destroy that basic tenant of love of God and love of each other.

 

Those spiritual forces of wickedness drive us apart from each other and divide us.

 

They harden our hearts and kill love within us.

 

When that happens in us, when we are racist, or homophobic, or sexist, or transphobic, or just simply filled with hatred for others, when we allow that to happen, we cannot be followers of Jesus anymore.

 

We cannot call ourselves children of a loving God.

 

When that happens our faith in God and our love for each other dies and we are left barren and empty.

 

We become like the demoniac and the legion of demons that possess him in today’s Gospel.

 

Or like the demons that possess poor Regan in The Exorcist.

 

We become tormented by God and all the forces of goodness.

 

We wander about in the tombs and the wastelands of our lives.  

 

And we find ourselves living in fear—fear of the unknown, fear of that dark abyss of hopelessness that lies before us.

But when we turn from evil, we are able to carry out what Jesus commands of the demoniac.  

 

We are able to return from those moments to our homes and to proclaim the goodness that God does for us.

 

That’s what good does.

 

That’s what God’s goodness does to us and for us.

 

That is what turning away from evil—in whatever form we experience evil—does for us.

 

So, let us do just that.

 

Let us proclaim all that God has done for us.  

 

Let us choose good and let us resist evil.

 

Let us love—and love fully and completely, without barriers.

 

Let us love each other.

 

Let us love peace and nonviolence.

 

Let us cast off whatever dark forces there are that kills love within us.

 

And let us sit at the feet of Jesus, “clothed in and in our right mind,” freed of fear and hatred and violence and filled instead with joy and hope and love.

 

Let us pray.

 

Holy God, you are all good; guide us in our following of Jesus,  that we may always turn from evil, drive it from our lives, and live always into the goodness you have called us to strive for; we ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pentecost

 

June 5, 2022

 

 Acts 2.1-21

 

+ In case you might not have guessed, today—Pentecost Sunday—is an important day in the life of the Church.

 

Ok. I don’t think I’m being clear enough on this.

 

Today is a VERY important day in the Church.

 

Important like Christmas and Easter are important.

 

Not a lot of Christians know that.

 

But, trust me.

 

It is an important Sunday.

 

A VERY important Sunday.

 

Today, we commemorate the end of the Easter season today, which is important. 

 

At the end of Mass today, we will process the Paschal Candle back to its place in the Baptistery, where it will stand by the baptismal font until next year.

 

So, this is a fitting end to the season.

 

It’s been a good Easter season.

 

And it’s sad to see it go.

 

But, of course, most importantly, we commemorate today  the descent of the Holy Spirit on those first followers of Jesus.

 

What’s surprising is that, as important as this day is, there still is not a whole lot of Christians who quite “get” the Holy Spirit.

 

As you probably notice, Christians think A LOT about Jesus.

 

Which is good!

 

BUT….although they think VERY much about Jesus, and pray to Jesus a lot (all of which are important, and which I commend to all of you too), there isn’t always a lot of following of Jesus.

 

There isn’t a lot of being Jesus in the world.

 

And that isn’t just sad or unfortunate.

 

That is detrimental to the Church as a whole.

 

Sadly, the Holy Spirit just doesn’t capture the imagination of most Christians like Jesus does.

 

After all, the Spirit is usually depicted as a dove.

 

Not an exciting symbol for most people.

 

But, let me tell you, the Holy Spirit is VERY important.

 

Vitally important.

 

Essential.

 

In fact, the Spirit is probably that one aspect of God that we experience in our own lives more than any other aspect of God.

 

Every time we feel God’s  Presence in our life, every time we feel a sense of the Holy, that is the Spirit.

 

And everything we do as a Church is done in the Spirit of God.

 

Even here in the Holy Eucharist, when we partake of the Bread and the Wine, we are partaking in the Spirit of God.

 

We actually call down the Spirit in this Eucharist.

 

Most importantly the Spirit works in other amazing ways in the Church.

 

It is God’s living Spirit that is responsible for growth and vitality and holiness.

 

It the Spirit that many of us feel when we enter this church and gather together.

 

It is that wonderful kind of disconcerting energy we feel in the air, that reaches right down into us and grabs us in our core.

 

THAT is the Spirit.

 

So, see, the Spirit is very active in our lives.

 

And by being active in life, we know that God is active in our lives.

 

Today we are reminded of how the Holy Spirit continues to move in our lives.

 

We are reminded that the Holy Spirit is in the collective Church.

 

And in us, as individuals.  

 

And that moving of the Holy Spirit within us, has changed us and made us a wonderful force of good and love in the world.

 

Now that sounds all great and wonderful.

 

But the fact is, that after 2000 years, the Church still sometimes struggles.

 

And man! is it struggling with an issue right now.

 

Hopefully you have not even been aware of this particular situation.

 

But there is a controversy going on the Episcopal Church as it gears up for its General Convention this summer.

 

Usually controversies come and go.

 

But this one hits home for us here at St. Stephen’s.

 

It seems there was a resolution put forth by the Diocese of Norther California  to be voted that would remove the requirement for baptism to receive Holy Communion.

 

As you know, the Canons currently state that one must be baptized to receive Holy Communion in the Episcopal Church.

 

It’s actually quite controversial.

 

And it’s one you’ve heard me speak on before.

 

Personally, I think it’s a ridiculous resolution.

 

As you can probably guess, I do not support this resolution for the Diocese of Northern California.

 

I do think the canon requiring Baptism for Holy Communion should stay.

 

I consider myself a pretty faithful Episcopalian.

 

But…as you know, in practice, I am in violation of that Canon left and right.

 

At Communion, you hear me say every time we gather for Mass, “ALL are welcome to receive Holy Communion.”

 

Yes, I should say, “All Baptized people are welcome.”

 

But I don’t.

 

Because this is Jesus’ table, not mine.

 

And Jesus makes no distinction on this issue.

 

Personally, my attitude is this: I have not, nor will I ever turn anyone away from this or any altar at which I serve.

 

I have not, nor will I refuse Holy Communion to anyone who comes to this rail.

 

And I will not stop invited ALL people to this altar.

 

But saying that, I also encourage anyone who who does come forward for Holy Communion to please seek the Sacrament of Baptism as well.

 

I hold baptism to be vitally important as all of you know.

 

No, I mean to be more emphatic than that.

 

I hold baptism to be truly vital for us.

 

You know how often I speak on the vital importance of baptism to our Christian life.

 

And I believe that to my very core.

 

Baptism is what makes us Christians.

 

And it is one of the most important steps any person can make.

 

I take baptism very seriously.

 

The Episcopal Church maybe should start looking long and hard at the rubrics it has in the book of Common Prayer on Baptism.

 

On page 298, you will find this:

 

Holy Baptism is appropriately administered within the Eucharist as the chief service on a Sunday or other feast.

 

On page 312 in the BCP, you’ll find this:

Holy Baptism is especially appropriate at the Easter Vigil, on the Day of Pentecost, on All Saints' Day or the Sunday after All Saints' Day, and on the Feast of the Baptism of our Lord (the First Sunday after the Epiphany). It is recommended that, as far as possible, Baptisms be reserved for these occasions or when a bishop is present.

I can’t tell you how many times I have been reprimanded by Bishops and fellow clergy and colleagues for the way we do baptisms here at St. Stephen’s.

 

I have been criticized many for time for what others see as a violation of these rubrics, whether it be we do baptisms outside of this regular Sunday morning Mass, or we don’t do them on these designated “special days” Sundays suggested by the BCP or that we do so-called “private” Baptism (which, by the way, is NOT a thing—no Baptism if ever private, nor should it be).  

 

Because, out here, in the trenches, where I am, struggling to do my best in a diocese that is struggling to remain a diocese, I have to do what needs to be done.

 

I have to do baptisms anyway I can.

 

Because by doing so, I am holding the vital importance of baptism in the life of this parish.

 

Which is all I am ultimately responsible for as your priest. 

 

And clergy who have parishes with Average Sundays of attendances of over 100 people out there on the East Coast can spare me their critiques.

 

This kind of behavior is providing a strangle-hold on a church that is already struggling for breath.

 

Rather than worrying about “Open Communion,” maybe the Episcopal Church should look at these rubrics and work on making Baptism less restrictive, and more open to all people.

 

Maybe we should be talking about “Open Baptisms.”

 

And I do want to be clear once again: I too wish that everyone who came forward to this altar for the Body and Blood of Jesus was a baptized Christian.

 

If ths Sacrament of Christ’s Body and Blood is important to you, then the Sacrament of Baptism should be just as important to you.

 

But, for me, what more important than any of this talk is that people whoa re seeking Jesus will just come forward.

 

For Baptism.

 

And for the Holy Eucharist.

 

People here seeking to know Jesus and hear Jesus’ words, will come forward.

 

And the reality is this: some people will experience Jesus in the Bread and Wine of the Eucharist LONG before they meet Jesus in the waters of baptism and are marked at his own forever.

 

I’ve known those people.

 

And I am grateful for them.

 

And while the Episcopal Church nitpicks and argues about all these internal issues, gun violence continues in this country.

 

Wars rage.

 

Nazis still march the street and spread their hate

 

People suffer.

 

And here, in Fargo, North Dakota, we gather together simply to worship God, receive God’s Son’s Body and Blood at Holy Communion and to rejoice in the presence of God’s Spirit in our lives.

 

I don’t want the canons on this issue to change.

 

I still ideally want and will work for people to be baptized.

 

That’s my job.

 

But I will NEVER turn anyone away from this altar.

 

Nor will I ever deny anyone the Body and Blood of Jesus. Ever.

 

For me, this is how I try to live that Pentecost reality in my own life.

 

The Spirit we celebrate today—and hopefully every day—is truly the Spirit of the God that came to us and continues to come to us—first to those prophets in our Hebrew past, then in the Word who is Jesus and finally in that rushing wind and in that rain of burning flames.

 

And in the waters of Baptism.

 

And in the Bread and Wine of Holy Communion.

 

It is through this Spirit that we come to know God in ways we might never have before.

 

The Spirit is God with us NOW.

 

Right here.

 

Right now.

 

Always.

 

We need to understand: the Spirit works with us, not for us.

 

We can’t manipulate the Spirit.

 

We can’t force the Spirit to do anything—especially  what we want that Spirit to do.

 

We can’t control that Spirit any more than we can control the wind.

 

We have to do part of the work ourselves.

 

This is the way the Spirit works.

 

Our job as followers of Jesus is to be open to God’s Spirit, the same way he was open to God’s Spirit, just the way his mother Mary was open to God’s Spirit, just the way those first followers in that upper room were open to God’s Spirit.

 

Our job is to allow the Spirit to be present and to do what the Spirit does.

 

For us collectively here at St. Stephen’s, we’ve been doing that all along.

 

So, let us be thankful to the Spirit of God with us, to the Spirit who dwells with us here.

 

And let us continue to welcome that Spirit into our midst to continue to the work begun here. 

 

This week of Pentecost, let us look for the gifts of the Spirit in our lives and in those around us.  

 

Let us open ourselves to God’s Spirit and let it flow through us like a caressing wind.   

 

On this feast of Pentecost—this feast of the fruits of God—let us feel the Holy Spirit move within us and let us give thanks to God for all the many fruits of the Spirit in our lives.

 

 Let us pray.  Come Holy Spirit: come as the wind and cleanse; come as the fire and burn; convict, convert, consecrate the lives of the members of St. Stephen’s, to our great good and your greater glory. Let us know your Presence here and let the gift of your fruits flourish in our midst. Amen.