Dear Friends,
I was delighted yesterday to welcome Bishop Van Koevering for a brief visit to Calvary. He toured our lovely building, met our staff, and attended the noon Eucharist, where he chatted with eleven of our parishioners. Afterward, he and I spent two hours over lunch in wonderful conversation about Calvary and the diocese, and he shared, among other things, a strong commitment to evangelism and his belief in the Church as God’s agent of healing in our world.
Just as rectors work to develop a vision for a parish, bishops do so for a diocese. Bishop Van Koevering calls the beginning of this development our “Great Conversation to describe our collective diocesan vision.” “Any such work,” he says, “needs to be steeped in prayer. I suggest that we spend the time between Ascension and Pentecost to focus our prayer on discerning God’s design for our diocese as we join in with sisters and brothers across the Anglican Communion to pray for Thy Kingdom Come.”
From the Thy Kingdom Come website:
Thy Kingdom Come is a global prayer movement which invites Christians around the world to pray between Ascension and Pentecost for more people to come to know Jesus Christ. What started out as an invitation from the Archbishops of Canterbury and York in 2016 to the Church of England has grown into an international and ecumenical call to prayer. The hope is that
- people will commit to pray with God’s world-wide family – as a church, individually, or as a family;
- churches will hold prayer events . . . across the UK and in other parts of the world;
- people will be empowered through prayer by the Holy Spirit, finding new confidence to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.
The bishop sees this time of special prayer as an opportunity, as well, to “inquire how you might better live out your call to be the Church and participate in bringing the way of God to grow in the Diocese of Lexington.”
Calvary will participate in this special time of prayer in the days between Ascension and Pentecost (May 10 – 20). Look for more information in next week’s e-news.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Mtr. TJ