After months of planning, all of us at the Center for Anglican Communion Studies are excited to begin our spring semester of events. The gift of CACS is that we offer conversation across boundaries and borders about some of the most salient issues in our lives and in the church today. And this month’s guests deliver on this promise in more ways than one. In this month’s Commentary, we share a bit more about two well-known leaders in the Episcopal Church in the US with the hope that you will be tempted to join us for their talks.
Former Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, Frank Griswold, will speak on February 17 on “Mary and the Communion of Saints,” an example of ecumenical theology drawing upon an Anglican appreciation of Mary in conversation with Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Reformed traditions. He will consider Mary from a number of perspectives: biblical, dogmatic, and liturgical, along with ways in which she is “iconic” for people of widely ranging perspectives.
Frank T. Griswold was Presiding Bishop from 1992-98, co-chaired the Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission for many years, and served as a member of various ecumenical and interfaith boards and institutes. He speaks from deep experience about engagement, inclusion, dialogue and biblical interpretation. His latest publication, Seeds of Faith: Theology and Spirituality at the Heart of Christian Belief (a parting gift from the late Mark McIntosh, Eerdmans, 2022), argues that “Christian belief can be understood neither entirely through doctrine nor entirely apart from it. Doctrine is the starting point, the seed of faith, from which springs forth flourishing life in the fellowship of the church. But that growth occurs only when theology and spirituality are held together in a relation of reciprocal influence.”
Our second speaker this month moves us from ecumenical boundary crossing to a discussion of geographical boundaries. The Rev. Canon David Ulloa Chavez, Canon for Border Ministries in the Episcopal Diocese of Arizona, will speak on February 23 about his experiences and those of others working in ecumenical partnership to support migrants and asylum-seekers, including at a shelter in Nogales, Mexico. He will discuss his work connecting congregations whose ministries serve migrants awaiting asylum hearings who are being held in detention facilities. Canon Chavez leads Diocese of Arizona Episcopalians in policy and theological study around border issues. We are excited that he will engage us in those topics as well.
We are particularly pleased to have both of our February 2022 speakers joining us in-person after so many months of mostly virtual guests. But we will be on Zoom as well for our many friends around the country and the Communion. Sign up on our Eventbrite. We hope to see you in February!