Against the backdrop of a fierce winter storm, Episcopalians from all around the Diocese of Mississippi descended upon St. Andrew’s Episcopal School’s North Campus in Ridgeland for the 199th Annual Council of the diocese. Expanding on the previous year’s theme of “Telling our stories,” this year appended the subtitle “Every voice, one song.”
The first motion of the meeting, from Canon to the Ordinary Reverend Gary Meade, was to allow a hybrid meeting format—some delegations from the north were still trapped amid ice from the once-in-30-year winter storm. Faithful even under the stress, those churches put in the time to participate in discussions and voting via teleconference. The diocesan family was in tact, even when separated by 100+miles.
The Revs. Will Compton and CJ Meaders, rectors of host parishes Chapel of the Cross, Madison and St. Columb’s, Ridgeland, welcomed those in the room and on the screens. They took a moment to thank their council co-chairs, Rebecca Haas and Renee Mader, and invited both Ridgeland Mayor Gene McGee and St. Andrew’s Head of School Kevin Lewis to extend welcomes of their own.
“St. Andrew’s lives daily into our Episcopal values as we welcome, we wonder, we worship, and we love,” said Lewis. “We’re delighted to once again host annual council, and hope you find our school to be a welcoming and warm place during your time with us.”
No opening session of council would be complete without a bishop’s address, and Bishop Dorothy Sanders Wells delivered an inspiring message anchored by a response to the recent intentional burning of Beth Israel Congregation, Jackson’s only synagogue. That faith community, which was also firebombed in 1967 over its support for desegregation and black communities in general, has long stood shoulder to shoulder with Mississippi Episcopalians in difficult times.
Bishop Wells used those examples to remind us of the five “Will you…” questions in our baptismal covenant and to encourage us to seek unity over division and love over hatred.
“We believe in prayer in the Episcopal Church,” she said, “and I ask you to be prayerful people that our hearts may be transformed; that rather than seeing one another as enemies or threats, we begin to see the image and likeness of the Creator in all of us, especially the folks with whom we think we disagree the most.”
The bishop also alluded to inspirational Episcopalians from our diocese’s past, particularly Bishop John Allin, who stood with Beth Israel in 1967 amid the tumult of the Civil Rights Movement. She concluded her remarks by inviting us to take that inspiration and draw courage from it.
“I ask us to pray that we can tear down the walls that separate us and help eradicate the hatred that divides us. We have big shoes to fill from those who have come before us. Now it is our time to pray that God can help us love one another as God loves us all.”
That love flowed freely after the conclusion of the first session, as delegates and friends gathered at Georgia Blue in Madison for food, music, and dancing.
From there, proceedings continued, from the conducting of the business of the diocese to the year’s biggest worship service to the joyous reuniting of friends. The ice that had enveloped much of the state only a week before continued to melt, a fitting backdrop to the warmth of friends and neighbors coming together, merging their many voices to sing a song in harmony.
To watch the complete video of the bishop’s address, visit msepiscopalian.com/bishops-address.
