I have great hope for the Church: a Christmas/New Year's message

I have great hope for the Church.

And by "the Church," I mean the Episcopal Church first, the Anglican Communion second, and Christ's universal, catholic church third. I don't mean that I have the most hope in the Episcopal Church, and the least in the universal church. I mean that the Episcopal Church is my spiritual home, and it is a member of the Anglican Communion, which is a part of the universal church.

I have hope in the church because the church is changing. In changing, it is learning a new way of being.

The church is changing to include different faces. Faces from all around the globe. The center of power is shifting away from the West, away from Whites. Many Westerners and many Whites are wonderful people; all else equal, Westerners and Whites are no better or worse than people of any other race or nationality. However, a church that includes people from all around the world, but whose center of power is unduly dominated by Whites and Westerners is not a true church.

Now, of course, the Episcopal Church basically defines itself as the Anglican Province of the United States. It is a Western church, in terms of geography. However, the United States is not ethnically homogeneous. Almost all Americans are descended from immigrants, or else are immigrants themselves.

The face of the Episcopal Church is changing.

In addition to welcoming people of other races, we have welcomed women, and are in the process of welcoming LGBT people. We are not perfect. But the world is not perfect.

We are a church that is learning about environmental stewardship. About development. About human rights. About racism, sexism, homophobia. We are a church that is learning.

We are starting to let Jesus decolonize us.

Working alongside for our nation, our Communion, and the world, we can help find the way forward.

Amen.