During Lent, we begin our Sunday worship with A Penitential Order in the Book of Common Prayer (pp. 319 and 351). I usually begin the service with this quote from the Gospel according to Mark: “Jesus said, ‘The first commandment is this: Hear O Israel: The Lord our God is the only Lord. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these'” (Mark 12:29-31).

There are other sentences that I could use, but the quote from Mark continues to be the passage that I am called to read. In a few short sentences, Jesus lays out our marching orders as Christians – he centers us in our values and the word of God that sets us back on God’s “right pathways” (Psalm 23).

I’ve been thinking about our values as members of Calvary. This past Sunday, we held our second forum on the Calvary bylaws and our need to update and revise them. As we moved along in the meeting, a spirited discussion arose about The Episcopal Church’s canonical definition of what “membership” is and how it affects who can vote in church elections and other instances of decision-making. A voting member is an adult in “good standing” with the parish, and “good standing” means someone who has been baptized, and whose baptism is recorded in the church registers; who attends worship regularly; and who is faithful in working, praying, pledging, and giving to the parish.

The discussion centered around the possibility that many who vote at Calvary meetings do not meet all of the requirements of being a communicant in good standing, according to the letter of the canonical law. We do not check people’s baptismal status before we invite people to leadership or involvement in the parish work. As the discussion went on, I realized that what members here are passionate about is not so much running the parish under the letter of the law, but we are passionate about living and worshipping and being in fellowship together according to our values. Our community values of inclusion, connection, involvement, and, above all, love, are of utmost importance, and the canonical descriptions of “membership” hardly reflect our theological and spiritual values of what it means to be this part of the Body of Christ at Calvary.

While most of us left the forum understanding, albeit reluctantly, that living under the canons of the larger Episcopal Church and the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota means that we have to incorporate the applicable canons into our own bylaws as a nonprofit entity in the State of Minnesota, we also left with a renewed energy to talk about our church values. The question that I have been holding space for in my mind and prayers this week is: How do we as a community continue to talk about and honor our values of inclusion and love? How do we hold our beloved Episcopal tradition within our own Calvary context?

There are entire books available called “The Canons and Constitution of The Episcopal Church,” and this, too, is part of the history and tradition that we hold dear and do not want to make a mockery of.

If any faith community can hold the canons and constitution of the church up against, and together with, our spiritual and theological values of God’s inclusive love, we can. As Episcopalians, we dwell in the middle way. We meet together and figure things out. Remembering that always, God’s love in Christ, God’s love in ourselves, wins.

With that same love always,

Beth+