The news hit the front page of the Washington Post that the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington reached a mutually satisfying agreement about the St. Luke’s Episcopal church in Bladensburg. St. Luke's is now in the process of being received into the ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. (I hope that the correct phrasing. I don't pretend to know the intricacies of all this.)
Churches are good at recycling – Lutherans becoming Methodists and Baptists becoming Presbyterians, Roman Catholics becoming Episcopalians and a few Episcopalians becoming Roman Catholics. It’s a good thing that people can find traditions that suit them and feed their journeys of faith.
I’m not opposed to recycling. In fact, my growing congregation is growing mostly due to Roman Catholics seeking a new way to exploring their faith and live out their faith. They come and stay because the Episcopal Church corresponds to their understanding of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for their presence and what those who come from other traditions bring to our church that helps us grow in numbers and in spiritual depth.
Recycling is a good thing for all of us. But I wonder about those who have yet to cycle at all. We have a powerful story to tell about love, mercy, justice, compassion and peace. We have a remarkable expression of a living God that pursues reconciliation rather than revenge, for some reason that good news hasn’t made the headlines in a very long time.
