Bob Hall, Jr. forwarded this article to Jo Freeman about Bishop Griswold's comments to national Cursillo seminar in Texas. The article is authored by James Solheim
[ENS 2001-330, 21NOV01]. Jo has requested that it be placed on the web page.

'God's work is our work,' Griswold tells national Cursillo seminar in Texas
As a young priest, Frank T. Griswold was
sent to a diocesan gathering of Cursillo, which describes itself as "a
movement for strengthening adult leadership in the church" by teaching a
"method to help live out the baptismal covenant" through "a set of
principles for Christian living-- piety, study and apostolic action."
Arriving at the Cursillo meeting after a 30-day silent, Ignatian retreat,
Griswold admitted to 250 participants in a National Cursillo Seminar at Camp
Allen in the Diocese of Texas that he had not quite been prepared for the
level of enthusiasm and energy. Yet he soon realized that God was reminding
him that "I am loving you through the members of my body."
In his keynote address at the October 26-28 seminar, Griswold said that
"over the years I have come to the conclusion that Christ is counting on me
not simply for what I do but to be a companion, someone who in a deep and
intimate way travels with him." In that way, he added, "Christ allows his
life to become my life, his hopes and desires for the world to become my
hopes and desires. In that way Christ is counting on me to be a faithful and
intimate companion."
Griswold said that, at some point, Christ implanted a question in his mind:
"Why are your sins so much more important to you than to me? I realized that
there was a whole embrace of compassion and grace and acceptance that I had
kept at a distance because of my own self-judgement, that I had been too
busy building a spirituality based on my own capacity of achievement."
God is counting on us
Drawing on the theme of God's work in the Gospel of John, Griswold reminded
the participants, representing 47 dioceses, that Christ's prayer on the eve
of his crucifixion was that he had "completed the work you have given me. It
is finished, completed, accomplished." And that work is described by Jesus
as drawing all things to God.
"And that is where we come in--God's work, God's project, God's mission is
the reconciliation of all things to God's own self in Christ through the
agency of the Holy Spirit. What is the mission of the church? we ask. To
restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ. The mission
is to participate in God's work," Griswold said.
God's mission is not an abstraction, Griswold argued. "God's mission is
incarnate and made flesh in the lives of men and women who through baptism
become limbs of Christ's risen body and share his work in drawing all things
to himself. This work takes many forms, expresses itself in many contexts,
using different vocabularies: Church growth, social justice, spirituality
and holiness, personal growth and corporate responsibility, sin, the cross
and forgiveness, redemption, resurrection, transformation."
Griswold said that the 20/20 Task Force charged by the General Convention to
envision a plan to increase membership and participation in the Episcopal
Church had completed its work and "unleashed a vision of mission that both
celebrates and names some of the energies abroad in the church--and pushes
the church to step outside its institutional safety zones and open itself to
the driving motion of the Spirit in new ways in the service of God's
project. God is counting on us."
The Cursillo stool
Exploring the implications of Cursillo's three-legged stool--piety, study
and action--Griswold said that, in the call to deep and intimate
companionship with the risen Christ, "prayer works in a wonderful way, deep
within us. Prayer has been defined by a modern contemplative as an openness
to love on every level of our being. A Jewish mystic says speech informs,
prayer partakes. It is about communion and intimacy, rather than clarity.
Prayer purifies us, works in us the mind of Christ, overturning the idols of
our own fear, transforming the dullness of our blinded sight, allowing us to
see with the eyes of Christ, opening the availability to the deep mystery of
God in Christ. And God does the rest, often in surprising ways.
The sacramental life is an important place to encounter grace, Griswold
added, "but it has become too much routine, a ritual form with which we
decorate all kinds of events, with a mindlessness that is close to
sacrilege." In the Eucharist, Christ is showing himself face-to-face. There
are so many wonderful ways the sacrament can catch us off guard and lead us
beyond ourselves, cracking us open in new ways to the grace of God."
For Christians, study is "first and foremost the pondering of Scripture."
Too often clergy, he said, "lose the capacity to be accosted by Scripture
because we wrestle it into submission for our sermons. Scripture is alive
and active because Christ is the lord of Scripture. It is a sacrament, words
on a page that convey a power and real presence of the risen Christ if we
allow it to be alive and active in our own consciousness."
In action, "we become extensions of Christ, evangelizing by word and
example, by seeking, serving, strivingâ?¦ always animated by the
loving kindness of God, the unbounded love for each of usâ?¦. It is only when
we do not know what to do next, embrace our own deep poverty, that the grace
of God can take us by the hand and lead us forward and use us in wild and
wonderful ways that surpass anything we could ever ask for imagine."
In his conclusion, Griswold said that "Cursillo is about drawing people into
a deeper union with Christ, so that they can go forth with Christ in all
sorts of ways that boggle the imagination but reveal the mystery of
reconciliation. May we be faithful to that ministryâ?¦. may it be an
instrument of disciple-making, formation and transformation in the service
of God's project--the reconciliation of all things to Christ."
'Best evangelistic tool in church'
The Revd Hap Lewis of Florida, completing his term as president of the
National Episcopal Cursillo Committee, appreciated those comments from the
presiding bishop because he is convinced that Cursillo is "a widely spread
movement that is the best evangelistic tool in the church." In an interview
he said that its purpose is "to deepen the understanding of our role as
Christians. It is a short course that should increase someone's commitment,
helping them understand that the main purpose of their lives is apostolic
action."
Lewis said that is why the annual seminar includes a series of workshops on
topics like leadership development and spiritual direction. "But it also a
time of great fellowship, greeting old friends and making new ones." Lewis
was grateful that Griswold met with the committee, talking about the 20/20
initiative and sharing his vision for the church. "I think he saw some ways
that Cursillo could help the church at this important time--and he
understands better who we are and how we can support the church."
He added that Griswold spent time interacting with participants, providing a
great deal of support and encouragement. "He was very well received," Lewis
said.
Caught in the middle
In a sermon at the closing Eucharist, Griswold said that "we can learn from
reflecting on the early Christian community." He explored the tension
between those who had come to faith from the Jewish community, who saw
Christianity as essentially Judaism with Jesus added--and that meant that
all the rules and regulations and traditions were binding.
"But in Acts we have the story of what happens when Resurrection gets lose,
and the Holy Spirit leaps over the boundaries of traditions and begins
showing up in strange and unlikely places and people outside the community
suddenly seem to be coming alive with the Spirit. The ministry of the
Apostles was to catch up with what the Spirit is doing, outside the
formality of the community with its inherited traditions. There was a sense
of vitality of the Spirit moving throughout the ancient world, opening the
hearts of men and women to the message of Jesus."
As the community struggled with what to do, "James says we shouldn't overly
burden the Gentiles, so we will modify the tradition but we will keep some
of it because not to do so would create scandal." They managed it in an
almost Anglican way, Griswold suggested, by being sensitive to the freedom
of the Spirit but also maintaining "reverence for the community's historic
life. It would be unwise to jettison everything but it would dishonor the
Resurrection not to see God at work in the conversion of the Gentiles. Stay
grounded but welcome the Spirit."
Griswold admitted that, like James, he sometimes feels caught in the middle,
asking, "Where is the Spirit at work, when to go full blast forward, when to
be cautious?" And yet he is convinced that a "deep experience of being
rooted and grounded in Christ gives one the courage to ask what the Lord is
up to hereâ?¦. The grace of God is shaping and forming our consciousness so
that we act in union with Christ."
[James Solheim is director of Episcopal News Service]