Beloved Ones,

Hebrews 13:8 says that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever, whether today you are heartbroken and scared for yourself or those you love, or relieved and hopeful, Jesus Christ is the same. We don't look to politicians for our salvation, because we have a Savior in the person of Jesus. And despite the rhetoric of the past weeks and months, the rhetoric that sought to divide us from each other, to pit us against each other, we know that we are called to unity in the body of Christ. Our baptismal service reminds us that there is one body and one Spirit, there is one hope in God's call to us, one Lord, one faith, one baptism; and we know the fullness of our call as Christians to live into our baptismal promise that we continue yesterday, today and forever, to live into the apostles’ teaching and fellowship and the breaking of bread and in the prayers. Our baptismal covenant is clear in what we are called to do as Christians, to resist evil and repent and return to the Lord, to proclaim the good news of the transformative love of Jesus, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to respect the dignity of every human being,

Beloved, this is the same world, and the same country, and the same body of Christ we lived in yesterday, and we live in today, and we are called to serve in the same way, because this divided country and world needs a church that will continue to proclaim the transformative love of Jesus. It needs the church to amplify the voices and fight for the rights of the marginalized. It needs the church to bring people together who disagree, to bring them on their knees with their hands outstretched to receive the sacrament.

Beloved, we are that church. We know our call. We know the difference that Christ's transformative love makes in the world. We know that loving God and loving your neighbor does change the world. So go find your neighbors, those who are locked inside and can't get out of bed because they're afraid, those who are rejoicing - love them, love them all, and let them know that they aren't alone. And this weekend, at Convention and on Sunday, we'll come together. We'll come together to pray and to worship and hold all of the emotions, and then we will work together to be the beloved community that shares the transformative love of Jesus with this world that so desperately needs it. I'll see you soon.

God’s Peace,

+Anne

The Rt. Rev. Anne B. Jolly
Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio