Every week on our staff meeting agenda here at All Saints Church we have an agenda item we call “Celebrating Good Work.” It’s a chance to pause and reflect with gratitude on the good work done the week before … and today it seemed like the perfect day to take that agenda item wider and invite everyone to celebrate with us the “good work” of the UBE event we had the privilege to host here on July 24th.
UBE (Union of Black Episcopalians) — a confederation of more than 55 chapters and interest groups throughout the continental United States and the Caribbean — proudly stands in the continuing tradition of 200 years of Black leadership in the Episcopal Church.
From July 22-26 hundreds of UBE members and supporters gathered here in Los Angeles for their 51st Annual Business Meeting and Conference under the theme: “Preparing the way for such a time as this: Many people, One Lord!!” On Wednesday evening they gathered here for the Youth and Young Adult service and oh, what a time we had!
We had music to die for, processions galore, awesome acolytes and dazzling dancers; powerful youth readers and intercessors, lay and clergy leaders from all around our Big Fat Episcopal Family (including some of the newest and most fabulous additions to the House of Bishops), peach cobbler at the reception and Presiding Bishop Michael Curry of Royal Wedding Sermon fame in the pulpit.
Oh yes, we had church!
There is a photo album here.
There is a great article from the Episcopal News Service here.
And before too long there will be a video link online … it’s going to take a little while longer than usual due to staff vacations but it will be well worth waiting for.
In the meantime there is this reflection written by our own Bishop John Taylor that captures some of the energy, power and pure joy of Bishop Curry’s sermon — which was truly a transformative experience for all in attendance:
As we marked the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, we saw plenty of old film of the mighty Saturn V taking off from the Kennedy Space Center. It flew 13 times, most of them moon missions. For a few seconds after ignition, it rose almost imperceptibly. It took ten seconds to clear the tower, which means it wasn’t going much faster than an elevator. Within three minutes, 6200 miles an hour. Eight minutes after that, it’s in orbit, kissing the face of heaven, an utter astonishment and marvel, far beyond the reach of any power that might try to bring it back to earth, to take away its magic, to give it dull weight again.
That’s what it feels like listening to the Most Rev. Michael Curry preach. The world saw it at the royal wedding, and we see it each time he uncoils. He did it again Wednesday night at All Saints Church. Some propulsive material deep within ignites him. He does careful exegesis and provocative political and cultural commentary (never partisan, always steeped in gospel values) and manages to weave in Sinatra’s “That’s Life” and the old hymn: “On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand, all other ground is sinking sand.” He roars and whispers; we laugh and weep. It’s comforting, demanding, Jesus-drenched, love-struck, justice-fixated, utterly progressive and reassuringly old-fashioned.
John Wesley famously did not say, “I set myself on fire, and they come to watch me burn.” Scholars agree that he would not have called attention to himself in that way. Nor would Bishop Curry. But we do come to see him blast off. Every time I see him, I tell him to take care of himself. Who am I, his mother? But escaping gravity is costly. The Saturn V used up every ounce of its fuel in 11 minutes. His precious vessel is also finite, with two brushes with serious illness in the last four years. Pray for him.
His messages about the Jesus Movement and the Way of Love and the way he proclaims them make him the most important figure in 21st century Christianity. But he refuses to behave the way people of that stature usually do. And I’ve known my share. In fact I don’t think I’ve ever heard the greatest preacher of our age even talk about his preaching. After reentry and splashdown, he drinks some water, rests for a bit, and then starts singing and smiling at the kids gathered around the altar. He accepts praise gracefully but without giving the impression that he craves it.
Meanwhile, in private consultations, he’s focused on his conversation partner — always gracious, incisive, generous with practical advice. He chairs the House of Bishops with amazing deftness, displaying the keenest politician’s ability to read the temper of the room. In these settings, it’s always about you, not him. One of his The Episcopal Church colleagues told me today that those who really know him don’t say that his greatest gift is his preaching. It’s his listening. That’s leadership. That’s evangelism in a selfish era. That’s the burning fire of the God of empathetic love. He’s inspiring us all, in all our anxiety about the future of the church and this mean old world, to keep our lamps lit in anticipation of the coming of the Lord and the realm of justice and peace. Godspeed, Michael Curry.
So much for which to be grateful. Join us in celebrating this good work … and then join us in striving to go and do likewise!
