As a diocese we have come to a fork in the road. Some will take one course forward. Others will elect the other course. All of us will choose the road we do because of our Faith, because of how we understand the Gospel. But our understandings are quite different. Indeed, it has become clear that our understandings are not only different, but mutually exclusive, even destructive to one another. .

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This is not a place we would wish to stay, even if we could. Forces beyond our control have been inching us toward - sometimes hurtling us toward -- this fork for a very long time. The Episcopal Church (at least the majorities of the bodies that claim to speak for it) has declared itself "separate and independent" (B032, 75th General Convention), has refused on constitutional and canonical grounds to provide sufficient differentiation to our diocese under our request for Alternative Primatial Oversight and the Communion's plan for a Primatial Vicar, has declared the "firewall" erected by our 2003/2004 amendment to Article I of our diocesan constitution to be "null and void." and has made it clear in the consent process for former Pittsburgh priest Mark Lawrence that conservative dioceses like Pittsburgh will never again be allowed to simply elect a bishop of their own choosing. (While unofficial reports this week indicate consent has finally been obtained for Fr. Mark - one year and two first-ballot elections later - the point I am making is more than proved by what has been demanded and required.) This is why we are at the fork in the road, and why a choice by all of us can no longer be avoided. These realities are the context in which this 142nd Annual Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh assembles. This is the context of this address. So rather than the accustomed "year-in-review/year-in-prospect" address I believe it best to focus on the defining decisions before us, leaving the budget, the videos, the mission minutes and the numerous printed and spoken reports to summarize the richness and the commitments of our wider life as a diocese.

THE TIME HAS COME

Divided in Essentials (without prospect of short-term resolution)

Since the General Convention's decision to confirm the election of a same-sex partnered bishop for the Diocese of New Hampshire in 2003, we in the Diocese of Pittsburgh have discussed, debated and attempted to convince each other about whether this action, and the Scriptural re-imaging behind it, was church-rending or not. We have faced into these issues in six successive Special and Annual Conventions, and in many other settings. What is more, majority leadership in the diocese has sought to involve the global Anglican Communion in forcing a retreat by the national Episcopal Church, just as minority leadership in the diocese has resorted to civil litigation to attempt to coerce the diocesan majority into submitting to the Faith and Order innovations of the wider Episcopal Church. The formation of the Anglican Communion Network, the overwhelming vote for Alternative Primatial Oversight and for ending participation in Province Three were met by vestry resolutions of disassociation from the Network, loyalty oaths to the new Presiding Bishop, and unofficial representatives at Province Three. Four years into this, we are more polarized, not less, and there is no prospect of resolution, only of a mediated separation as an alternative to the public scandal of ever-spiraling litigation or canonical proceedings.

Against this backdrop, this year's pre-Convention hearings, numerous parish and district meetings, gatherings of clergy and lay leaders in both camps, staggering legal expenses, private attempts to open channels to a mediated parting - all reveal a growing acceptance in the diocese that our differences are presently irreconcilable, and that for most realignment of the diocese with another Province of the Communion (and even the acknowledged possibility of failure in the attempt) would be preferable to carrying on the fruitless effort at continued federation with the Episcopal Church. It is clear to most on both sides, that continuing efforts to convince, at best, and coerce, at worst, will only deepen the failure of all. A charitable and gracious provision for the minority to stay within the realigned fellowship of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh or to be given freedom to separate from us and align more directly with the wider Episcopal Church has also emerged as a course for which there is, I believe, a strengthening consensus.

One of the decisions I made as bishop some seven months ago (following the personally devastating March meeting of the House of Bishops) was that the decision now before the diocese was of such import that I needed to allow the clergy and lay leaders of the diocese to assess the situation for themselves without giving personal leadership to that assessment. The numerous meetings all across the diocese, very few of which I was present for, together with a facilitated Leadership Overnight in May and an unprecedented elected Leadership Follow-up in June, have brought us to this moment. It is immensely heartening to me that so many other leaders in the diocese have led through these months, and that their conclusions, reflected in the two resolutions before this Convention, are mine as well. The issue before us is realignment (Resolution One) or full accession (Resolution Two), and the fork in the road is now. There are two roads, mutually exclusive, between which all must decide (or default) to choose.

Better Spent Energies

Another aspect of the emerging consensus that now is the time to choose is that it would be better for all of us if we spent our time on mission (as we understand it) than on the conflict engulfing us. Over and over the same sentiment is expressed: "I am tired of the battle. I just want to get on with building the Kingdom." For many, the statement goes one step further: "Even if our buildings are taken away from us, I want to get on with what matters.

These sentiments are a part of why we are taking the votes we are this afternoon. There is a profound sense that - since we will not change one another's minds - we are wasting our efforts in areas that will bear no fruit, either for us or for the Gospel. Sentiment across the diocese is more unified on this point than any might have expected, even six months ago: "It's time to move on, gracefully, charitably, but move on."

Still Undecided?

There are always folks caught in the middle, folks whose loyalties with good reason run in both directions, and there are folks who wish the whole conflict would just "go away." This is an exceedingly difficult place to be. I know how hard it is, for I have been there too. All of us have, especially as this heartbreaking conflict has unfolded.

To the still undecided or "torn" deputies in this Annual Convention I would offer one thought. The matter finally comes down to an unavoidable choice between cultures. There is the culture of the wider Episcopal Church: theologically innovative, at the edge of mainstream Christianity, secularly attuned, declining, canonically fundamentalist, and ready to sue or depose to obtain its way. By contrast, there is the culture of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh: Scripturally centered, critiquing the secular agenda, among the fastest (and few) growing dioceses of the Episcopal Church (relative to population decline), focused on congregational mission, allowing vast freedoms in the form and manner of ministry. Given that we must choose - and I do believe that national actions have now dictated that we must - which is the predominant culture we desire individually and corporately to embrace: national Church or local diocese?

A Bright and Hopeful Future

Whether the testimony comes from parishes that are no longer in the Episcopal Church -- there are 100 of them in the Anglican Communion Network's International Conference alone - or whether the testimony comes from dioceses who no longer have a vocal conserving element - we hear over and over that there is a kind of spiritual freedom and practical unity not experienced in a very long time. Standing Committee President John Heidengren spent his recent sabbatical visiting among the 18 former seminarians, now clergy, who served Prince of Peace Church over the last 12 years. His startling finding was that the two-thirds who were no longer in the Episcopal Church exhibited a kind of vitality and positive attitude about their ministries that was in stark contrast to the third still laboring within the embattled Episcopal Church. Mary Hays tells the story of a fellow woman ordinand of twenty years ago, recently re-discovered, and now under Kenya, who excitedly testified: "You cannot believe how wonderful it is to be out." These are testimonies from beyond the fork in the road.

Lay people are not drawn to conflicted churches. There is more than enough conflict in all the other sectors of their life. Some conflict will always be present in a dynamic and faithful congregation, but this conflict between the proponents of two quite different gospels (one of affirmation and the other of transformation) has long-ago ceased to contribute to the growth of Episcopal parishes, in fact, quite the contrary.

Now and Not Yet (The Year Ahead)

The first reading of a constitutional change announces an intention without actually making a change. In one sense, adopting Resolution One (or Resolution Two) at this Convention changes absolutely nothing. There is no actual effect unless a second vote goes the same way a year from now. Of course, in another sense, adoption signifies an intention, gives warning, opens a possibility, introduces a period of preparation for anticipated consequences.

If Resolution One passes, our work in the year ahead would likely include determination of the Province with which the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh might re-align, development of acceptable options available to minority congregations, and negotiation, both nationally and with plaintiffs locally, about a mediated alternative to continuing or escalating litigation. Were Resolution Two to pass, roles would be reversed but hopefully the same kinds of considerations might be undertaken.

BEHAVIORS FOR THE TIME AHEAD

Pray

Jesus taught us that "With God nothing is impossible." Wherever we stand in the present conflict, lifting the situation - and our concerns - to our heavenly Father is the one thing that has the greatest potential for altering the outcome towards God's will. Unceasing prayer, like Jesus' model of the woman before the unjust judge, can change the course and the outcome of things. This is Scripture's promise and the Church's experience. Praying God's blessing on our opponents will also change us and them.

Forgive

Do not dwell on the hurts. Let go of the things that wound. Make your confession often. It is our Lord's direction to us in the prayer He Himself taught us.

It is in this spirit that I share with you one of my convictions about what our God is calling us to in our stewardship of assets in the years ahead of us. It is my growing conviction that all the things we presently hold in common need to continue to be administered for the good of all, even if we find ourselves in two different Anglican Provinces at the end of the day.

Consider Trinity Cathedral. It is, more than any other church building, the city's and the region's parish church, a true cathedral. It belongs to the whole community, not just the Episcopal Diocese, and certainly not just to those who may "win" the right to administer it. I intend to challenge the Cathedral Chapter at their annual January retreat to make plans for how our Cathedral can continue to serve all of us - and all of the community - in the separated future that lies ahead. Magnanimity and grace can characterize our future, if we choose it.

How will those who hold Calvary Camp or the Common Life Center Property or the Growth Fund or Pool One administer these assets? For all, or just for some? These matters are a choice, after all. I do not need to remind the Convention of how Diocesan Council dealt with St. Stephen's Church in Wilkinsburg during the period when they were joined as plaintiffs in the lawsuit: we fully supported their Youth Program despite the conflict between us. The present diocesan leadership has a track record, as does the national Episcopal Church. Locally, we also have a vision: "One Church of Miraculous Expectation and Missionary Grace," impelling us to support each other wherever we can support each other, in areas and in concerns where we do agree. Forgiveness is Jesus' witness from His undeserved cross. May it be our witness too.

Do the Mission

Archbishop Henry Orombi, on a visit to the diocese not so long ago (our 139th Annual Convention), was asked what we could do in the face of the present (debilitating) crisis. He said simply, "You can do the mission." As a diocese we have tried to stay focused on the mission. As congregations we have tried to stay focused on the mission. As bishop I have tried to stay focused on the mission, though the conflict has been a terrible distraction and sadness to me, as it has been to all of us in greater or lesser degrees, and regardless of which side of the divide.

This convention has as its particular focus the mission message to every one of us as individuals, congregations, and diocese: "Taking Christ's Love to our Neighbors." When in doubt do the mission. If our heartbeat is prayer and our attitude forgiveness, let our action be the mission, through this conflict and, may it please God, beyond it.

It is a joy to have Bishop John Guernsey with us as Convention speaker and preacher. In addition to being a bishop of the Province of Uganda, John is also known as one of the great parish priests of North American Anglicanism, for 26 years leading All Saints, Dale City, Virginia, as a model of a congregation and a people who reach their neighbors with Christ's love, which is why we have invited him (and his dear wife, the Rev. Meg Phillips) to teach us in this Convention.

Trust

In just three weeks time, we enter the 250th year of Anglican witness in Southwestern Pennsylvania. What a blessing it will be to celebrate this extraordinary anniversary together, and to share the anniversary with the City of Pittsburgh. It was on the very same day, November 26th, 1758, that the Book of Common Prayer was first used at the Point and that Pittsburgh was given its name. The year ahead will be filled with celebrations of many sorts, not surprisingly many of them having to do with mission and evangelism.

A 250th Anniversary reminds us of many things, but above all that our God can be trusted. We have lived through a revolution, a rebellion and a civil war, and lost sons and daughters in many international conflicts. We have endured through epidemics and fires and floods. (We meet in the city whose tragic and humanly caused flood took more lives than the San Francisco earthquake or the World Trade Center attack, including the life of the faithful rector of this parish.) There have been riots, strikes, industrial collapses, and countless suffering in social injustices and violence. Through it all Anglicans and Christians have witnessed and endured, proclaiming the only ultimate hope of the world, Jesus Christ.

The Greek word for faith is trust. We trust in God's trustworthiness. So I end where I began: "He who has called you is faithful, and He will do it."

May God continue to shower His blessings upon us - all of us, majority and minority - in all that is ahead, despite our sin and our division and where we are in error, not because we deserve it, but because He is so good.

END