Friends,

One of my best friends from Seminary was the last of our rag tagged group to get ordained. Not due to a lack of sanctity (he probably had the most of our lot), but just because that is how his Diocese’s bureaucracy worked. When he did finally get his date for his ordination, he did something remarkable. He made fancy invitations and just didn’t send them to his family friends, but he also included the Pope, the Queen of England and the President of the United States. He immediately got a legit nicely hand-written note from the Pope’s office giving the pontiff’s regrets but still offered a genuinely encouraging message. He heard from the Queen’s office a month later. Less personal than the response from the Pope, but regardless, it was nice. Then from the President, a standard letter well after his ordination giving the president’s regrets.

When I think about this, I am still tickled pink at the absurdity of the situation, the fact he heard back from anyone at all, and the vastly different levels of sincerity he received. The English Reformation was confused, inconsistent, bloody, vengeful, but one consistent element was that the Pope was out!! I’ve been trying to make tagline work for the Episcopal Church that I stole from someone else. “All the Hope without the Pope” in a weird way functionally describes the Episcopal Church in the American religious landscape. The vast majority of the people I grew up with couldn’t tell the difference between an Episcopalian service and a Roman Catholic one. To call one liberal and one conservation isn’t quite right either. And, what is the fundamental thing that sets us apart? No Pope and thank goodness! Don’t get me wrong, Popes have done some cool stuff, but I’ve got ninety-five thesis and a Pope ain’t one.

The British Monarchy is another one that baffles me. American’s love the British Nobility, and I just don’t get it. We fought a war over this!!!! This is the family that oppressed us, and came and tried to subdue us, and we made a system of Government that very intentionally did not involve Kings. When Washington stepped down after his second term, he made it clear that something new was happening. He wasn’t going to maintain power for the sack of having it. The power belonged to the people, and it was his time to sit back. A lot of time has passed, and granted, the British Royal Family is very different in function that King George III, but I am always surprised that the existence of kings in our ally’s government isn’t at least a thorn in our sides.

My goal isn’t to convince you to be cynical to the new Pope or the British Monarchy. Maybe I am trying to explain my apathy a bit, but the weird thing that I see, that I want you to see too, is that we have not just found peace with our former enemies, but they sent nice handwritten notes to my American Episcopalian friend who was getting ordained.

The Roman Catholic Church does not exist as it did during the reformations. The British Royal Family does not exist in the same way that it did during the American Revolution. The Episcopal Church is just as dynamic as the other two. In both circumstances we were part of the British Empire, and our spiritual ancestors were part of the Roman Church, and in both circumstances the separation was not just contentious, but violent. Now that so much time has passed, we find commonality with our former oppressors and foes. The political oppression that led to the American Revolution feels further away than countless examples of culture being exchanged between the United Kingdom and the United States that has brought us together as close allies.

I could never be a Roman Catholic again; however, wherever I have served as an Episcopal priest, I have always developed comradery with local Roman Catholic clergy just because we were the token priests wearing collars during the week and robes on Sundays in the deep south. We were both acutely aware of what separated us, but the culture that surrounded us pushed us together in the same small pigeonhole.

A while ago, one of the current Royal princes did a PR thing with the cast of Hamiliton, where he sang one of the songs meant for King George III. If you are not familiar with the musical Hamilton, the character is not portrayed in a flattering way, but the prince performed the piece mocking his distant relative gracefully. I wonder if Alexander Hamilton would have loved or hated that. I hope that it would have given him hope. When we become divided, it is not always, but often for good reasons, but we need to keep in mind that things change and often come around. If our hurt, scorn, anger and hatred tear our collective identity to shreds and we decide to part ways, then we should be resigned to the fact that future generations are not obligated to carry on those feelings.

I think the fact we have an American Pope is neat. I think Pope Francis was pretty great, even though he could have done better on one issue in particular. I care, but more than anything I wonder if the new pope’s staff would respond promptly and compassionately to an invitation to an ordination in the Episcopal Church. I am downright opposed to the office of the Pope, but I hope I’d put that feeling aside if I were to receive an invitation to the consecration from the next Pontiff.

Blessings,

Nick