This past Monday through Wednesday, I was at the Mission Inn in Riverside for the Diocese of Los Angeles’ annual Clergy Conference. Our program this year was Sacred Resistance, led by the Rev. Dr. Francisco Garcia. It began with a talk from Bishop Taylor, who spoke about the importance of being strong witnesses to Christ’s reconciling love for the world. He reminded us of the centrality of the Golden Rule and how we are to always respond in love, especially to those who hate us. He nicely set the stage for the rest of the program.
Our first session was called Courage to Be…Actually Christian in the Face of Cruelty and Confusion. In this session, we spoke about Story and Story Telling, and how the stories we tell about ourselves and others shape the ways we feel we ought to act. But stories also can inspire us to have the courage to act in ways that scare us but reflect the love and light of Christ.
Session two was called Being Good News and Sharing Good News. We explored the people, institutions, and moments in our lives that shaped us, for good and ill. We then looked more deeply at the experiences we are proud of as leaders and members of the larger community and how race, class/labor, gender/sexuality, immigration, politics, and faith have shaped us and informed the ways we interact with the world. Our last question for reflection asked: Who are your people? What do they/you care about and why, and what’s the story you would tell about this?
The third session was a little like chewing on aluminum foil: Prophesy My People! Getting Pentecostal even though we’re Episcopalians. Just the title made me want to go back to my room or out for a cup of coffee. But the Rev. Dr. Garcia wasn’t talking about clapping with the music or using fog machines, but rather a Biblical notion of Pentecostal—who are we, and can we speak/hear in one shared language. While there are many things that divide us, it’s God’s endless love for all people that binds us together.
Our final session was titled Sacred Resistance is all of Us: Responding to the Fierce Urgency of Now. We were asked what urgent challenge we as individuals would call on the church to face, the consequences of action or inaction, and what we could achieve if we do act. Our last question was what action would we call upon others to join us in taking?
It was a good program, and we had time to think and discuss foundational questions. It was all centered on Christ and our Baptismal Covenant, which draws heavily from Matthew 25 and Luke 10 (“Whatever you have done unto the least of these,” and the Good Samaritan, respectively). How can the church be the hands and feet of Christ in today’s broken and hurting world, and more to the point, will we do so wholeheartedly?
The Rev. Jason Shelby
Rector
jason.shelby@stfrancispalosverdes.org