On February 2, 2010, Archbishop Craig Bates made this statement to the Patriarch’s Council during the opening Eucharist.
God deals with men in decades, with nation in centuries, and with families in generations. This past December, on the Feast of the Holy Innocents, I celebrated my sixtieth birthday. This year in December, on the Solemnity of St. Lucy, I will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of my ordination as a priest in the Catholic Church. I have spent some time over the past few weeks reflecting on God’s working in my own life. The decade of 2000, which I began in bed with the flu, was a significant time for me. I have nothing but gratitude to our God for his provision and prosperity.
The last decade has also been a significant time for our communion. Of the forty-two active Bishops in the ICCEC, twenty-seven were consecrated in the last decade. And, as we will hear this week, there will be perhaps six new Bishops in East Africa. We welcome our newest Bishop from Brazil to our meeting this week. Also, with us is Bishop Gregory Ortiz, who is the newest Bishop in the U.S. Church.
Though we faced a crisis in the North American Church that impacted the communion at its very core, we continue to see growth around the world, particularly in East Africa and Brazil. We continue to have Bishops, clergy, seminarians, churches, and whole communions interested in joining our communion. We continue to see churches grow in the United States. Some show significant and rapid growth numerically, financially and, most importantly, spiritually. Others struggle, yet we see the clergy and laity of these churches are hopeful and optimistic.
I believe a word of the Lord for the next year is “expect the impossible.” In times of reflection on my own life and on the life of the ICCEC throughout the last decade, over and over again the words “expect the impossible” have come to my heart and my mind. It is expectancy of the impossible, or put another way, our waiting upon the Lord, knowing He is a God who hears our prayers, who stirs our hearts and leads us into actions of love, mercy, and reconciliation.
In my day-to-day ministry as a pastor in a local church, like all of you, I come into contact with many people as well as other pastors who minister in the New York Metropolitan area. I have lived my life believing that no conversation or contact is inconsequential. Rather, in each interaction we are to be available either to hear from the Lord or take an opportunity to minister.
I had the opportunity of being in a prayer group with several “key” evangelical pastors in New York City. These are seasoned men. They are men who are respected not only in their own circles but also cross-denominational, ethnic, and racial lines. They are men with substantial ministries. During the time of prayer each of these men talked about the same expectancy.
I believe that in the Charismatic Episcopal Church we can have a sense of expectancy for the impossible. The men who serve our churches, along with the laity, are faithful not only to the vision of the Charismatic Episcopal Church but also to the mission of the Kingdom. I think of the chaplains in the US Military who are serving in the harsh conditions of war and risk their lives every day for the sake of the souls of the military personnel they have been called to serve. I think of some of our African brothers and sisters who labor day after day with little or no resources to bring the hope of the Gospel to a people living in incredible poverty. I think of the men and women in Brazil who labor day after day in the work of evangelism and see the lives of hundreds upon hundreds changed dramatically because of an encounter with the Resurrected Jesus. The ministry of our Church in Brazil has literally restored thousands of marriages and families. I think of our brother priests in Pakistan who are preaching the Gospel in an area of extreme persecution and suffering for Christians. Our brothers and sisters in the Philippines are extraordinarily faithful in the work of prayer and worship and in particular to reaching out with the message of Christian unity. This year our Church in the Philippines was at the very heart of ministry to those who were left homeless from the several typhoons that hit the Islands. The people of the Philippines show incredible faith in their giving and sacrificial works of mercy. Our Church in Europe ministers in the midst of ever-increasing secularism and humanism. Yet, these small congregations continue to grow and I believe are a remnant voice for the Gospel. And the Church in North America continues to be faithful and reaches out to hundreds of communities. In spite of the size of the American Church it continues to give of its time and resources to the advancement of the ICCEC.
The strife we have faced pales in the face of the work of God’s people.
I believe a word of the Lord for the next decade is to prepare the next generation.
As well as being the Patriarch of the ICCEC, I am also a Bishop in the North American Church. During the past year I have been greatly encouraged by the depth of spiritual leadership that we have in our communion. As we have opened the doors to the involvement of clergy and laity at all levels of government, we are seeing tremendous progress. We should not be surprised, for Scripture informs us that we have all the spiritual gifts necessary for the building of the Body of Christ.
Again, I believe that the call of preparing the next generation compels us to develop our foundations – Canon Law, administrative accountability, policies and procedures, a catechism, a common liturgy, and development plans are all being reviewed and developed. You will hear reports from various groups that are one step further along in getting things in order for the next generation.
Each of us at this table has been called to the highest level of leadership in our communion. We have been called to sit here this week and hear the voice of the Lord for the entire ICCEC. We each have our own ecclesiastical responsibility. Some of us are Primates of nations; others sit here as General Secretaries over vast regions, and some are here because they are the early “fathers” of our communion. But however we got to this table we are here because the Lord has us in this place for this time.
It is necessary for us to understand that being at this table also carries with it a level of responsibility for the entire communion and the convergence movement as this communion understands it. We must for this week look beyond our own regions and the pressing needs to hear with spiritual ears the concerns of the larger church. We must bring to this table our talent, time, and treasure and be ready to give sacrificially to the life of the entire communion.
We are a communion of churches. We are not a confederation, a network, or a federation. As members of the Patriarch’s Council the concerns of all the churches are our concerns. Our concern at this table is to build up the communion by strengthening the office of the Patriarch to insure that the vision and mission of this church is strong enough to continue into the next generation. This means that at the end of this week we leave with one mind, but also having committed our resources to the implementation of what we have heard from the Lord.
Right now, the center of Christianity is moving to the Global South. In fact, I believe the future of Christianity in the Northern Hemisphere will be understood in light of the immigration of peoples of faith from the Global South to the United States and Europe. The move of the Spirit in Africa, Asia, and Central/South America carries with it the responsibility of bearing the burden of ministry to the Northern Hemisphere. The West is rapidly more and more secular with the fastest growing religious preference in America being “no preference.”
We are thankful to Bridges of America and the Society of St. Dismas for having, over the years, hosted this meeting as well as many other important meetings of the ICCEC. I hope the invitation to come back here is an open invitation. However, let me suggest that as an international church we examine the possibility of having our annual meeting rotate among the various Provinces and territories. Might I suggest either Manila or Nairobi as the place of our next meeting? This would enable other Bishops who cannot afford to travel great distances to at least sit in as observers to our meeting. It would also be a way for us to encourage those Bishops.
As we gather around Bishop and Eucharist this week let us cry out to God in prayer for our people. Let us ask the Lord for mercy and grace to be able to hear His voice. And, then let us be quick to repent of any rebellion or disobedience and pray the Lord grant us the grace to live in amendment of life. I believe this week we will leave with a new hope and a renewed unity in what God, our loving Father, has called us to do.
