Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times
Bishop Greg Rickel of the Diocese of Olympia is someone I’ve been watching over the last year. I’ve been impressed by his commitment to help the clergy and parishes of his Diocese engage the new “missional era” we find ourselves in by focusing on the development of authentic faith and seeking new creative ways to connect with those seeking spirituality but who are skeptical of the traditional church.
The Seattle Times featured a report on Bishop Rickel over the weekend:
In this season of baptisms, and given that he’s a bishop, it seems strange to hear the Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel speak proudly of the time he talked some parents out of baptizing their child. He was convinced the parents were doing it only because other family members insisted. And that, says Rickel, who is preaching this Easter Sunday at St. Mark’s Cathedral in Seattle, is dumbing down the faith.
“My goal is not to baptize as many people (as I can) so I can count them up as Episcopalians,” he said. “My goal is to have an authentic faith that people can really articulate and understand.”
That approach might seem counterintuitive, given the decline in the numbers of Episcopalians — and other mainline Protestants — over the past decades, both locally and nationally. But it’s characteristic of Rickel, 46, who arrived 2 ½ years ago as head of the Episcopal Church in Western Washington.
Read the full article here.
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Two key words here are ” authentic faith.” In the effort to connect to those who find traditional church daunting or not their cup of tea, we must remain true to God as God has been revealed to us and continues to be revealed to us. Especially in our era, we must guard against bending too much to the culture while trying to find our place as church within it. We must heed Colossians 2: 8, neither refusing change into which the Holy Spirit is leading to be, nor changing for the sake of being the “cool church” on the block that accepts too much and compromises its very identity.
What does it mean to be Episcopal/Anglican anymore? It is important that we change according to the Holy Spirit but do not sacrifice our identity in a challenged world unless and until we are at that point in human history at which boundaries among all Christian sects are dissolved. We can be witness to a skeptical world, change and be transformed ourselves, and strive for oneness with other Christians throughout the world without losing who we are in Christ.