View the sermon from the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle, bishop of the Diocese of Texas
Bound Together in Hope
by Marjorie George
The Episcopalians who gathered in 1839 to form the Episcopal Church in Texas wrote in the minutes of their first diocesan council: “We are united, we are formed, we are styled, and we are known as the Episcopal Church.” That remains true, said the Rt. Rev. Andy Doyle, current bishop of the Diocese of Texas, in his sermon during the Council Eucharist.
“Today,” said Bishop Doyle, “we stand on the shoulders of bishops, clergy, and laity who were steadfast in their faith.” It is important, said Doyle, to see that regardless of our own sin and brokenness, we have continued to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the people of Texas.
Doyle’s message was one of encouragement. He reiterated the words of Bishop Robert W. B. Elliott, first bishop of the Missionary District of Western Texas, to the first Council of West Texas in 1875: “Let us remember that it is our mission as brethren banded together for the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Those first members of the Missionary District of Western Texas had a vision of a thriving Episcopal Church in Texas, said Doyle. “With faith,” he said, “we look back, at a living and encouraging word.”
Doyle reminded the congregation of several ways we can glorify God in our own time. First, he said, we are to “bring our lives alongside the scriptures.” We are to live our lives under the grace of God and live in the power of the Holy Spirit. We must be accountable for our successes and our failures, said Doyle, and we must remember that we are God’s missionaries “if we hope to offer anyone anything of value.”
We are, said Bishop Doyle, “to generously invite, generously love, generously value, generously welcome, and generously bring into the family of God, his lost sheep.”
Doyle reminded the congregation that the most common command in the Bible is: “Do not be afraid.” “Fear can easily become paralyzing instead of motivating, habitual instead of sporadic,” said Doyle. However, we can all be reminded that “God really is big enough to take care of us,” said Doyle.
Christ also calls us to encourage one another, said Doyle. “The temptation in our culture is to demean one another instead of encourage one another,” he added. St. Paul calls us to live in harmony, he said. “I encourage you to stop seeing each other as different from one another and begin to see one another unified by the blood of the lamb.”
Doyle also encouraged the congregation to be leaders of the diocese. “We are bound together by a common missionary spirit,” said Doyle. “We are brothers and sisters and friends in Christ Jesus, and we have been called into leadership at this time to glorify God and make his name known.”
