Daily Archives: May 9, 2011

On the Visitation of a Bishop

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One of the fun things for me about having a doctorate in the History of Christianity and being an Episcopal priest is musing over the historical background of particular customs or even canons. Bishop Miller’s visit to Grace has been the occasion for some not-so-serious reflection on the history of Episcopal visitations.

The visitation was introduced in the late middle ages as an effort at reform. First targeting monastic houses, reform-minded bishops and church organizations began visitations of parishes as well. One of the early, and most famous, visitations was that of Electoral Saxony (Luther’s home) in 1528. Eventually, the requirement for regular visitations was enshrined for Roman Catholics at the Council of Trent. When I was working on my doctorate, visitation records were all the rage. Visitors (not bishops, but state or church bureaucrats) would go to all of the parishes and inquire about the religious life and faith of the community, asking as well about the priest or minister. From these records, we gain insight into the level of religious commitment, religious practice, and other things like magic, witchcraft, heresy, and clerical malfeasance. The visitors often had a set of very detailed questions to ask, and they also demanded that people do things like say the 10 Commandments or creed.

In the Episcopal Church, the Bishop’s visit is usually the occasion for confirmation. Such was the case for us, but unlike visitors of yore, Bishop Miller did not query confirmands on their catechism (good thing!). After confirmation, as is the custom in many places, we had a reception. Here are some photos:

Thy table now is spread

The Bishop and the Senior Warden analyzing the situation

There was music as well:

From the children:

And from Los Soles:

In addition to celebrating the confirmands and all of our mothers, we belatedly celebrated the Rev. Pat Size’s ministry among us. She retired at the end of 2010.

Mary Ray Worley gives Pat a scrapbook of her ministry with the Hispanic community

Participants or Spectators? Consumers or producers?

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Bishop Miller made his biennial visitation to Grace Church yesterday. In his sermon, he referred to a college course he once took on the history of sport in America. The professor’s thesis was that Americans’ involvement in sports was the movement from participation to being fans. He compared that to the church and proclaimed that Christianity is not a spectator sport.

I found a connection between his sermon and a blog entry that asked whether worshipers are consumers or producers. The author began with music–the difference between consuming (turning on the radio, listening to one’s ipod) and producing, whether as a musician or as a songwriter. She then turns to worship, asking whether we perceive worship leaders (clergy, choir, professionals) as producers, and those who sit in the pew as consumers of worship. She concludes that to some degree the notion of the lay consumer of worship is an accurate representation:

It’s true that we consume the Word which is given to us, something we did not produce ourselves.  But as we chew and swallow and ponder what we freely receive, we do go out to produce, to create, to produce fruit, to create community, to do justice and to love kindness.

One could have deepened the comparison by pointing out that people’s “consumption” of music has changed since the nineteenth century, with the selling of sheet music giving way to the selling of recordings, and the important value that educated, cultured persons could play an instrument, or that popular entertainment for many among the poorer classes, was self-created. In these cases, music also created community.

The problem with the consumer/producer model is not just that tends towards passivity; it also tends towards isolation. I think that’s true of much of worship as well, even in the Anglican tradition.