Easter 3 2022

Let us pray together, Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid.

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Let us pray.

O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of bread.

Open the eyes of our faith that we may behold him in all his redeeming work, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

As we are seated, all the children are welcome to go with Mr.

Alex to the chapel.

A reading from Acts.

Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus.

So that if he found any who belonged to the way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

Now as he was going along and approaching Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

He asked, Who are you, Lord?

The reply came, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

But get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.

The men were traveling with him stood speechless because they heard the voice but saw no one.

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing.

So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus.

For three days he was without sight and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a disciple in Damascus called Enias.

The Lord said to him in a vision, Enias, he answered, Here I am, Lord.

The Lord said to him, Get up and go to the street called street.

And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Taurus named Saul.

At this moment he is praying.

And he has seen in a vision that a man named Anias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

But Anias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who invoke your name.

But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before the Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel.

I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.

So Enias went and entered the house.

He laid his hands on Saul and said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on your way here, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And immediately something like a scale fell from his eyes and his sight was restored.

Then he got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

For several days he was with the disciples in Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogue, saying, He is the Son of God.

Hear what the Spirit is saying to God's people.

The psalm for today is Psalm 30, and we will read responsibly by half verse.

I will exalt you, O Lord, because you have lifted me up.

Oh Lord, my God, I cried out to you.

And you restored me to hell.

You brought me up, O Lord, from the dead.

You restored my life as I was going down to the grave.

Sing to the Lord, you faithful servants.

For God's wrath endures but the twinkling of an eye.

Weeping may spend the night.

While I felt secure, I said, I shall never be disturbed.

You are better.

Then you hid your face.

And I was still preferred.

What profit is there in my blood if I go down to the pit?

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me.

O Lord, be my helper.

You have turned my wailing into dancing.

Therefore, my heart sings to you without ceasing.

O Lord, my God, I will give you thank you forever.

I cried to you, O Lord.

What profit is there in my blood if I go down to the pit?

Hear, O Lord, and have mercy upon me.

You have turned my wailing into dancing.

Therefore, my heart sings to you without ceasing.

And I didn't think it was any other and thousands and thousands.

And wealth.

And wisdom and might.

And honor and glory and blessing.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea.

And all that is in the sea.

And honor and glory and might forever and ever.

And the four living creatures said amen.

And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Jesus showed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberius, or the Sea of Galilee.

He showed himself in this way.

Gathered there together were Simon Peter, Thomas, called the twin, Nathaniel of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples.

Simon Peter said to them, I'm going fishing.

They said to him, We will go with you.

They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Just after daybreak, Jesus stood on the beach, but the disciples did not know that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to them, Children, you have no fish, have you?

They answered him, No.

He said to them, Cast the net to the right side of the boat, and you will find some.

So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in because there were so many fish.

That disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, It is the Lord.

When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, for he was naked, and jumped into the sea.

But the other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, only about a hundred yards off.

When they had gone ashore, they saw a charcoal fire there with fish on it and bread.

Jesus said to them, Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.

So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, a hundred and fifty-three of them.

And though there were so many, the net was not torn.

Jesus said to them, Come and have breakfast.

Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, Who are you?

Because they knew it was the Lord.

Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them and did the same with the fish.

This was now the third time that Jesus had appeared to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Jesus said to him, Feed my lambs.

A second time he said to him, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

Jesus said to him, tend my sheep.

He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, Do you love me?

And he said to him, Lord, you know everything.

You know that I love you.

Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

Very truly I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished.

But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.

He said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.

After this, he said to him, Follow me.

The gospel of the Lord.

And this meant that they were supposed to go into the whole world and all of that kind of thing.

I'm not going to talk to you about that.

I'm not going to talk to you about Paul breathing threats against Israel and Ananias and all of that kind of thing.

No, I'm going to talk about love.

We are a culture that is in love with being in love.

Now, I I say that in an exaggerated way, and you understand what I'm talking about.

I did a wedding a week ago yesterday, and I tell you, this was a deal.

It was a monument to love.

And now I don't want to make fun of it, but sometimes I think we lose sight of what love is and how love is supposed to guide our lives.

Clearly, the kind of love that we were celebrating at that wedding was different from the kind of love that Jesus was asking Simon, Peter about.

So I'm going to talk to you a little about love.

See, the thing is, I still read the scriptures in Greek sometimes.

And I noticed something this week that absolutely jumped off the page at me.

And that is that our concept of love, our concepts of love, there are several of them, get mingled together because we only have one word.

And the in English, then we translate all of them love, or at least the people in 1611 did when they translated the Bible.

So I'm going to talk to you a little bit, and just bear with me if you don't speak Greek.

It's all Greek to me.

One of the kinds, I'm going to talk to you about three kinds of love.

One is eros.

That's a noun.

And it's the place where we get words like erotic.

And it does mean physical love, but it means something else because it is a kind of love that God has for people, believe it or not.

You remember when God made the human being and put the one human being in the garden.

And then a couple of days went by and the one human being had a problem.

You remember what that was?

He was lonely, right?

And so God said, it is not good for the Haadam, which means human being, to be lonely.

He didn't say ish, which is which would be man.

He said haadam, the human being.

It's not good for the human being to be lonely.

And so you remember what God's first idea was?

If you don't think God has a learning curve, just read this story again.

God's first idea was to run all the animals by that had already been created.

Run all the animals by.

So here came the Ardvark, and here came the antelope, and when they got to zebra, there was not an appropriate lonely killing animal found.

And so God separated the two natures of the human being.

Remember, God caused a great sleep to fall over the human being.

And while the human being was asleep, God separated maleness from femaleness.

And when that happened, then the now man looked at the now woman and said, This at last is bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh.

This one is like me, but is not me.

This is a first for this man.

She is like me, but she's not me.

And so Eros is a kind of love that longs for, and it's down inside of our DNA, it longs for the reunification of that which has been separated.

As I said, it's a kind of love that God has for the people.

God longs to be with us again.

God longs to smoke and joke and walk in the cool of the night, of the evening in the garden with you and me.

The second kind of love is called phyllo or philea is the noun verb, the noun form.

Philo is a verb, and philea is the noun, and philea means a love of fellow creature.

You may know that it's uh it's the root word where Philadelphia comes from.

Philo, Adelphos, brother, love.

I love less.

I love him because he is my brother and I know him and all that kind of stuff.

But it's not it is not confined to my love of other human beings like I love you.

Philo is means I love the things that were created because I am a fellow creature.

It's the love that we are supposed to exhibit for the Mother Earth, the one who bears us, the one who supports us, the one who gives her life for us.

It's the kind of love that you and I have for fellow creatures.

It's the kind of love that makes your heart hurt when you're driving up toward the hill country and you see a deer that's been hit by a truck.

And you say, oh man, that wasn't supposed to happen.

It's the kind of love that makes you kind of cringe when you see the rainforests being mown down at a rate of a thousand acres a day in order to make room for another highway or a shopping mall.

Philea is the kind of love that we have for each other, for the creation, and for all of the parts of the world that we enjoy.

Philea might be the kind of love that you have for St.

Thomas Church.

Not just for all the people here, although the people are what make the church.

I mean, it's not the building, but you may have a special feeling for this building.

I do.

That's okay.

I have a special feeling.

This is a sacred space.

This is a place where I meet God.

This is a place where God deigns to meet me.

Philea.

Philo.

The third kind of love that I'm going to talk about is different from the other two.

It is named agapo or agape is the noun verb, is the noun form.

Why do I keep saying noun verb?

The noun form is agape.

Agapo or agapo means I love, and it, but it's a different kind of love from the other two.

You see, we have a natural affinity for each other.

We do.

I mean, I look at Ned and he, you know, he's handsome, I'm handsome, he's he's got a beard, I got a beard.

You know, we have a natural affinity for one another.

And I love him because we have this natural affinity.

But it just kind of comes out when I see him or when I see you.

It just kind of comes out.

And when I see my wife, I don't have to work at what kind of feeling I have for her either.

You see, those things just kind of come out.

Agape is not like that.

It's not a love that you can fall into.

You can't.

Agapo is the kind of love that you have to work on.

It doesn't come from here, it doesn't come from your body, it comes from your brain, and only from your brain.

This kind of love is a decision.

And you have to make it in order to experience it.

It's the kind of love that God has for the people and that God wishes the people had for God.

It's the kind of love that says that every fiber of my being, from top to bottom, from first to last, right to left, everything is devoted to the object of this kind of love.

It's the kind of love that I ask people when I stand in front of a man and a woman and I say, Will you have this man to be your husband?

Will you have this woman to be your wife?

And they answer, I will.

They don't answer, I do.

They answer, I will.

And that does not mean I'm going to sometime in the future, which is what I will sometimes means.

What they mean is, this is my will.

Mi voluntad.

This is from which we get the word voluntary.

This is what I do, having thought of all of the options, having considered everything else that's possible, this is what I have decided.

Love is a decision, this kind of love.

It's a decision that we must make.

Sometimes we must make it every day.

This agapol love is all about who I am, what I was created to be, and how I have decided to live my life.

That's why when I marry my wife, I say I'm going to do this for the rest of my life because I've decided to change my life from what it was when I was single to what it is now that I'm married.

I have decided to change my life.

Simon, son of John.

And Simon, the son of John says, Nai Kurier, yes, Lord.

Philo, he didn't answer the question.

But it was asked, did he?

Agapas man?

Yes.

Philo, say.

Do you see the difference between what Jesus was asking and what Peter was willing to do?

How far Peter was willing to go.

Jesus says, feed my lamb.

A second time, Jesus says to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, Agaphas man.

And Simon says, Yes, Lord.

Philo says.

And Jesus answers, tend my sheep.

Jesus is nothing if not realistic.

Jesus understands who you are, and Jesus understands who I am.

And for better or worse, Jesus continues to ask this question of you and me.

Agapasme?

And on my better days, I say, yes, Lord, Philose.

I confess to you.

But Jesus doesn't stop there.

Jesus says a third time to Simon Peter, and this is where the creed comes in, Simon, son of John.

Philos me.

And Simon says, Yes, Lord, Philo say.

Jesus knows who you are.

And Jesus knows who I am.

And Jesus sometimes says, if what you can muster for me is the kind of love that you have for each other, that's gotta be good enough.

Because you know what?

You are good enough.

Jesus hopes maybe for one thing, but he gets something else.

And that's good enough.

Someone said once, Jesus loves you right exactly where you are, but Jesus loves you way too much to leave you there.

You get that?

I get it.

Jesus loves you right where you are with all the warts and all of the mistakes and all of that, but Jesus loves you far too much to leave you there.

I don't know of very many people throughout all of history who get this agape kind of love.

But Paul was one of them according to the scriptures.

According to the scriptures, Paul was one of them.

You see, our reading today from Acts starts off with Paul breathing threats.

God, that's strong language right there.

Paul breathing threats against the faithful of the church, arresting men and women, and having them thrown in jail just for invoking God's name.

And then this thing happens.

Paul is riding along on the road to Damascus, and a great light flashes, and he falls on the ground, and this voice says, Paul, Paul, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And he says, Lord, I don't know who you are, I can't even see you.

And Jesus says, I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.

And Paul was so profoundly converted at that moment, that's why we call it the Damascus Road experience.

He was so profoundly converted at that very moment that when he finally received his sight three days later from Ananias, or from God through Ananias, he immediately started telling the entire world that Jesus was the Son of God.

Wait a minute.

In today's political world, he'd be called a flip-flopper.

You know what I mean?

He went from being all the way on that end to being all the way on that end.

I mean all the way.

He gave everything he had, every fiber of his being, every cell in his body, all of his self to God and to those, and to Jesus Christ, who is God's Son.

If you have doubt about that, you may come and see me if you want, and I hope I will be able to allay those doubts.

Because Paul gave to us a wonderful example of what it means to have this agape kind of love for Jesus.

If Jesus had said, Paul, Agapas me, Paul would have fallen on the ground eventually after the conversion.

He would have fallen on the ground and said, Yes, Lord, Agape.

Paul's conversion was more profound than anything I have ever heard or read about.

And Paul got it.

Peter didn't.

That's okay.

Peter was, you know, I'm not very much like St.

Paul.

I'm an awful lot like Saint Peter.

Maybe I'm not the only one in the room.

Here's the thing.

There's the goal.

And there's where we are.

And there's probably distance between those two.

In case you're wondering, God is not disappointed in you.

You know, and I know that there is clearly more that we can do in God's name, in the service of God, in the service of other people, to get from where we are to where we're supposed to be.

You know that, and I know that, and God knows that.

God is not disappointed in you.

God has hopes and dreams for the person that God made you to be.

And we spend our lives living into that vision, don't we?

We spend our lives living into the vision that God has for us.

That's what Life is all about for you and me.

For people who proclaim that God became a human being so that we could know that divinity is among us and that humanity is divine.

That's why the Jesus event even happened.

When Jesus asked Simon about this love that Simon had, Peter answered him, Philo would say.

That's okay.

That's okay.

Jesus realized that was okay because you see the answers that he gave to the three responses.

First was, feed my lambs.

Now this is a kind of a dominion sort of a thing, isn't it?

It's a kind of an oversee.

You, Simon, if you can agape me, you can be an overseer for these little ones, some of whom can't tell their right hand from their left, and who are trying to make their way in the world.

You can be the one to feed them on my behalf.

And when he asked him a second time, and Peter said, Philose, Jesus said, tend my sheep.

You can be the shepherd of my sheep if you will devote everything you've got, every fiber to me and to serving the world in my name.

Finally, when Jesus asked him, Philos me?

And Peter says, Philosoph.

Jesus says, feed my sheep.

Be among them like one of them.

I get it.

I get it.

You're not Superman, Peter.

You're not Superman.

You're not Superwoman, Kathy.

You're not Superman, Joseph.

You're not Superwoman, Naomi.

You're not.

I get it.

So feed my sheep, your brothers and your sisters, your fellow sheep in my name.

And that is good enough.

In fact, that's all I ask you to do.

All I ask you to do is take care of the creation like it was your home because that's what it is.

Domicile, have dominion, comes from the same root word as domicile, which means a household.

We're supposed to treat the world like a household, and we are all inhabitants of it.

It's okay, says Jesus.

It's all right.

Just feed your fellow sheep in my name.

If you do that.

We believe in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, light from light, through God from true God, begotten not made, but one being with the Father.

Through him all things conveyed.

For us and for our salvation, he came down from heaven.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate from the Virgin Mary and was to make man.

For our sake he was crucified under conscious heart.

He suffered death and was buried.

On the third day he rose again in accordance with the scriptures.

He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.

With the Father and the Son, he is worshipped and glorified.

He has spoken through the prophets.

We believe in one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church.

We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins.

We look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Amen.

The prayers of the people in peace.

We pray to you, Lord God.

For all people in their daily life and work.

For this community, the nation, for the people of Ukraine, and the people of Russia, and for the world.

For all who work for justice, freedom, and peace.

For St.

Thomas the Apostle School.

For those who teach and those who learn, that they may rejoice in the knowledge of your truth.

For the just and proper use of your creation.

For the victims of hunger, fear, injustice, and oppression.

For all who are in danger, sorrow, or any kind of trouble.

For those who disappear to the sake of the friendless and the beauty.

For the peace and unity of the Church of God.

For all who proclaim the gospel and all who speak the truth.

For all bishops, priests, and deacons, for the priest in our community, Mike, Jim, Craig, Bill, and Lillian.

For our seminarian, Eric.

For Andy, Hector, Jeff, and Kay, our bishops.

In the Diocesan Cycle of Prayer, St.

Luke the Evangelist, Houston, St.

Mark's, Houston, Trinity, Baytown, and Trinity, Houston.

And for Michael, our presiding bishop.

For the special needs and concerns of this congregation, especially Chris, Ken, Nancy, Amber, Christine, Patrick, Barbara, Jan, Austin, Rachel, Marilyn, Lee, and those the congregation wishes to name at this time, silently or aloud.

Hear us, Lord.

We thank you, Lord, for all the blessings of this life.

We will exalt you, O God, our King.

We pray for all who have died, especially Deborah and Chris, that they may have a place in your eternal kingdom.

Lord, let your loving kindness be upon them.

God, we ask you to hear the prayers of your people and what we have asked faithfully, we ask that we obtain effectually.

For you are gracious to us, O God, and to you we give thanks.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Peace be with you, my dear.

God's peace, Joseph.

Be seated, please.

This is the first Sunday of May, and so, according to our tradition, anybody who has a birthday in May is welcome to come forward at this time.

Well, nobody got any older?

I like this place.

Oh, no, come on up.

If this is a place where you don't get older.

Oh, there's one in the choir, too.

All right.

Mickey has a turn around where people can see it.

Okay.

Oh, goodness gracious.

What are we wallflowers here?

Benjamin has a birthday.

Okay, so here's the drill.

Uh tell me what uh your name and uh and what day your birthday is, and you can either tell us where you were born or what year you were born or whatever.

Hello everyone, my name is Ben Mater.

I was born on May 11th, 2000, in Naga City in the Philippines.

And I'm Liz Corley, I was born on May 16th in Victoria, Texas.

Victoria.

Mickey Murzynski.

I was born in 1938 and South in Indiana.

Hi, I'm Bob Triple, May 18th, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

And uh Beth, who is not here today, my wife Beth, uh, was born May 7th of uh 2002.

No.

1951, and she was born in uh New York, in Brooklyn.

Let us pray.

God, we lift up to you these whose birthdays are this month, thanking you for the year past that they have come through in your grace and with your blessing.

We ask you, Lord, to bless them in the year ahead with strength and resolve to serve you by serving your children.

May their roads rise to meet their feet, and may their way be shown by you.

Amen.

Congratulations.

Our food distribution in coordination with the uh uh Galveston Food Bank will be this Saturday.

We do this every month, this Saturday at 7.45.

Please come to the church parking lot.

Uh you don't have to sign up, just show up.

We're always done by 9.30.

And in that time between 7.45 and 9.30, we feed about 400 people.

Now, that's I don't know if that's agape, but that's a heck of a lot of good file, you know?

It really is.

So we uh we look forward to all of you uh being there on Saturday.

Um thank you all for wearing your name tags.

This is a great blessing for me.

Um it may be a blessing for other people in the room.

I mean, you probably know somebody in the room whose face you recognize, but you can't remember what her name is.

You know what I mean?

So it helps everybody.

Uh is Herb here?

He was at the early service.

No.

He was here at the early service.

And what he said at the early service was, he was first of all introducing himself, and what he said was, there's coffee.

Yay! We're glad that there's coffee, and eventually there will be donuts, and it's just gonna be wonderful.

Now, I have, according to the canon of the church, I am to read you something.

Dated the second Sunday of Easter, April 24, 2022.

A pastoral letter to the Episcopal Diocese of Texas from the Right Reverend C.

Andrew Doyle.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation.

The old has passed away, behold, the new has come.

2 Corinthians.

In the fall of 2021, Bishop Scott Mayer, provisional bishop of the Episcopal Church in North Texas, called together a discernment group of clergy and lay leaders to begin the process of identifying and evaluating options for the future of the Episcopal Church in the 23 counties that make up that region.

This group eventually concluded that exploring a relationship with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas made sense.

As an aside, the area that we're talking about is what used to be known as the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth.

I, along with the leadership of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas, grieved in 2008 when Bishop Jack Iker led 62 parishes out of the Episcopal Church.

We immediately reached out to the church in North Texas, then called Fort Worth, and we have been a friend and ally of the remaining and missionary-minded group of Episcopalians in North Texas as they rebuilt.

We invited their clergy to our clergy conferences, we opened Camp Allen to them, and we offered startup funds and other financial supports as they needed.

When Bishop Mayer contacted me with the emerging thoughts regarding the special committee's discernment, I immediately told him, we are family.

We love you and we are delighted to explore this with you.

In January of this year, the discernment group in North Texas sent a recommendation to their standing committee that the Episcopal Church in North Texas reunite with the Episcopal Diocese of Texas.

Next, I spoke to our standing committee at our regular meeting and then to the executive board in a private session, and I was assured of their support to continue the conversation.

Earlier this month, that is earlier in April, attorneys for the Episcopal Church and our diocese and our dioceses signaled that though litigation with the Anglican Church in North America is not concluded, sufficient progress has been made to allow discernment to continue.

In the interim, I have worked with our Chancellor, David Harvin, to ensure progress both legally and canonically.

We have worked with the wider leadership of the Episcopal Church.

I have worked with Bishop Mayer.

Our communications people are collaborating, and I am in consultation with our bishops, clergy, and lay leadership of the Diocese of Texas.

On Good Friday, in agreement with our chancellors, Bishop Mayer, and I agreed we were ready to further engage in conversation with our respective diocesan leadership regarding potential reunification.

This week, our standing committee responded along with our executive board, that we pursue reunification with the Episcopal Church in North Texas.

This past Wednesday, I met with 276 clergy by Zoom in two meetings, and I also met with representatives of some of the foundations.

All asked similar questions and were very supportive of the movement forward.

I was, by the way, part of that meeting.

The Episcopal Diocese of Texas and leaders recognize that this is an amazing opportunity to model Christian love.

We believe that the Episcopal Church in North Texas must continue to discern new ways of regionalizing, sharing assets, and strategizing for mission in order to face the realities of a new mission era.

The Episcopal Church in North Texas brings great gifts to the table in this regard.

We are being welcomed into the region of North Texas as partners with the mutual goal of sharing the message of God's unconditional love in 23 counties in North Texas.

What a beautiful gift from God for both regions.

After reunion, the Episcopal Church in North Texas will become a region slash convocation of the Episcopal Diocese of Texas with an office, a regional bishop, and a staff.

Bishop Mayer will continue to serve as bishop of the North Texas region, with his title changing from Bishop Provisional to Assisting Bishop of Texas.

I will be asking our council to affirm this appointment at the reunion session of our 173rd Diocesan Council.

Bishop Mayer will remain as Bishop Diocesan in the Diocese of Northwest Texas.

This will be how we will lead regionally while also engaging reunion.

Over the past 13 years, the Episcopal Church in North Texas has forged an identity of creativity and innovation and sacrificial surface, all while standing for full inclusion.

God loves everyone.

We are being welcomed gratefully and gladly into a region that shares our values.

If we approach our diocesan decisions with an eye toward scarcity, we will focus on money.

If we focus, however, upon God's abundant love and the power of the Holy Spirit, we will discern with greater clarity.

We recognize that Christ invites us to be kin.

We are invited to live a life of brother and sisterhood with one another.

Our kin have asked us to join them in North Texas and to see what God is doing and how we might share in God's mission there.

How could we reject such an amazing invitation?

Bishop Mayer has put together a group of individuals to work on the reunification.

Likewise, we are doing the same.

Our chancellor is working with theirs to create a reunification agreement.

This will be presented to our elected leadership, standing committee, and the executive board for agreement in advance of the reunion session of our diocesan council.

On April 29th, Bishop Mayer will meet with the clergy and people of small congregations in the region.

I and other leaders from the Episcopal Diocese of Texas will meet on May 4th and 5th with leaders in North Texas.

Our plan is to create a frequently asked questions document in advance of the council meeting.

Meeting and send that out to the parishes.

We will also have a couple of Zoom meetings to answer questions, much like a pre-council meeting.

Once the legalities of reunion have been resolved to the satisfaction of both regions, we will hold a third session of the Diocesan Council to vote on reunion.

The Episcopal Church in North Texas Diocesan Convention will also meet to vote on reunion.

Once both regions have agreed, then the decision to reunite must be affirmed by a majority of the bishops and standing committees of the Episcopal Church.

It will also take most of the year to continue, most of the rest of this year to continue the process of reunification.

What can you do?

First, pray for me, for Bishop Mayor, the clergy and the lay leaders of our two regions.

The decisions being made will shape the future of the Episcopal Church in this part of the country.

Second, reflect on your own experience in this diocese of mission.

Mourn with our brothers and sisters in North Texas what has been lost, and let us celebrate all that has flourished despite adversity.

Invite God to prepare our hearts for what comes next.

And third, share your thoughts with your clergy and your convention delegates.

I am so proud and grateful for the bishops of the Episcopal Church in North Texas and now Bishop Mayor.

I am grateful for the people of North Texas, for they exhibit to the whole church unconditional love, courage in the face of grief and loss, and resilience founded in a deep faith.

They are a gift to the whole church.

I am excited to embrace our kin and to join with them in God's mission of evangelism and service in North Texas.

God has a way of placing us where we belong, and I am grateful that we have traveled full circle and may soon be back together again.

As we move forward toward a new future together, we are unified by the love of Christ Jesus, who prayed for us that we all may be one, and we are thankful for this reunion.

We are given in our unity as Episcopalians and Anglicans a blessing of baptism, which shows resurrection comes from death, and the ministry of the gospel comes from the Holy Spirit.

Renew us now, for you have prepared us for the coming of the Holy Spirit through your word and sacraments.

O God of unchangeable power and eternal light, look favorably on your whole church, that wonderful and sacred mystery.

By the effectual working of your prophets, carry out in tranquility the plan of salvation.

Let the whole world see and know that things which were had grown things that had been were being cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new, and that all things are being brought to their perfection by him through whom all things were made.

Your Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

In Christ's most holy name, see Andrew Doyle, Ninth Bishop of Texas.

So come.

You who have been here often and you who have not been for a long time or ever before.

You who have tried to follow and you who have failed.

Come not because the church invites you, it is Christ Himself, and He invites you to meet Him here.

The Lord be with you.

Lift up your hearts.

But chiefly are we bound to praise Thee for the glorious resurrection of thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, for he is the very Paschal Lamb who was sacrificed for us and hath taken away the sin of the world, who by his death hath destroyed death, and by his rising to life again hath won for us everlasting life.

Therefore we praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, who forever sing this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name.

For in these last days you sent him to be incarnate from the Virgin Mary, to be the Savior and Redeemer of the world.

In him you have delivered us from evil and made us worthy to stand before you.

In him you have brought us out of error into truth, out of sin into righteousness, out of death into life.

On the night before he died for us, our Lord Jesus Christ took bread.

And when he had given thanks to you, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, Take, eat.

This is my body which is given for you.

Do this for the remembrance of me.

After supper, he took the cup of wine.

And when he had given thanks, he gave it to them and said, Drink this, all of you.

This is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for you and for all for the remission of sins.

Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me.

Therefore, according to his command, O Father, we remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming Lord.

And we offer our sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to you, O Lord, of all, presenting to you from your creation this bread and this wine.

We pray you, gracious God, to send your Holy Spirit upon these gifts, that they may be the sacrament of the body of Christ and his blood of the new covenant.

Unite us to your Son in his sacrifice, that we may be acceptable through him, being sanctified by the Holy Spirit.

In the fullness of time, put all things in subjection under your Christ, and bring us to that heavenly country, where with Deborah and Chris, blessed Thomas, and all your saints, we may enter the everlasting heritage of your sons and daughters.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the church, and the author of our salvation, by him and with him and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever.

Amen.

Now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, we are bold to say, Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever.

Now send us forth a people forgiven, healed, renewed, that we may proclaim your love to the world and continue the risen life of Christ our Savior.

Amen.

The God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, the great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in God's sight.

And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be upon you and remain with you always.

Amen.