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Friends in Christ,
Our country has decided our next president will be Donald J. Trump. His agenda carried majority support. Those who chose differently are the minority. The early church was a small minority in the Roman Empire but their courage in following the crucified and risen One launched a movement to change the world. As followers of Jesus, we are all called to recommit ourselves to what Michael Curry calls the Way of Love, to what I have called Jesus’ mission of mercy, compassion and hope. And with our new Presiding Bishop, the Most Rev. Sean Rowe, I remind you that “at every turn, we will stand for the dignity and human rights of all of God’s people.”
I promise that our Diocese in Western Massachusetts will continue to be a place of inclusion where we “respect the dignity of every human being.” We will continue to be guided by the ordination vow I took twelve years ago as your bishop -- “to defend those who have no helper.” We will continue to address climate change and the public health crisis of gun violence. Our robust ministry to our beloved Veterans is needed more than ever and we will welcome the stranger in our midst who shows us the face of Christ.
At another change in administration, President Jimmy Carter quoted his teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, in his Inaugural Address. She said, “We must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging principles.” We hold to the unchanging teachings of our Redeemer, to love one another and do God’s justice.
As St. Paul inspires us, “Glory to God, whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.” We will ask much and be given enough for the day.
In Christ,
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