I was back in the pew of my regularly-attended Episcopal church this week. Two of my roommates were finally being confirmed into that church. I can't really explain how excited I was for them. I love that they are able to join into this body that they have wanted to join. Furthermore, I'm amused that they (a committed couple) had very different and far-reaching reasons for why they wanted to be confirmed.
My other roommate is a [dirty papist!] Catholic.
One of the reasons I was excited about confirmation, other than my pleasure at my friends' step forward in their lives, was to finally get to see the bishop. Since my church is a vicarage instead of a parish, my priest is not actually a priest, but a vicar. She doesn't have full authority, but works as a proxy (or vicar) or the bishop. Furthermore, I was told that the bishop would be holding his staff and wearing his funny hat (which, I learned is a miter). Being there was a no-brainer. Also, I was able to drag my boyfriend with me to support the roomies, and this was heightened by sitting next to Jon's dad, who preached at the Methodist church a few weeks ago, and further down the row, Jon's grandparents, the avowed Baptists who were none too thrilled to watch their grandson kneeling before a bishop, funny hat or no.
So there I sat, between Bob and the boyfriend, neither of whom knew the particulars of the Episcopal service too thoroughly, and I was doing my damnedest to kneel and stand and sit and bow and cross and forehead-lips-chest sign and sing and read and pray. It was awesome.
This week, one of the most interesting points I noticed was that in the process of confirmation, the congregants went through the liturgy of the baptismal renewal. I like this, because it is a fresh vow to follow Christ and to abstain from evil. I dig it. Also, in the service, the Bishop's sermon focused on the Christian doctrine of the ultimate triumph of good over evil. He preached against the ancient heresy of Modalism, that is, that the two sides are balanced and it is an unsure struggle. God wins, or good wins. It depends on how you want to look at it, but I think that's kind of the same thing.
I know I'm skipping something. But here's to another week of the search and the participation in that which is, I hope, a noble pursuit.
T
