Holy Relationships

As the new year begins, we are all eager to put the Covid-19 pandemic behind us. But perhaps we should be less eager to forget some of the lessons the pandemic taught us, especially about the importance of community and the immeasurable value of our relationships with each other. We have felt acutely the loss of being able to gather physically in the ways that we did before March. The healing power of touch when ill or lonely or grieving, the life-giving joy of sharing a meal or embracing in celebration, the thrill of witnessing a child’s discovery, the deep spiritual connection of praying and singing together in a sacred space—from the absence of these things, we have learned just how much we once took them for granted.  Critical to the wellness of both individuals and communities are healthy relationships that mirror for us the love we share in Christ and help us to feel seen and loved in all our imperfections.

Those relationships are exactly what our Safeguarding policies and Title IV (the disciplinary canons for clergy in the Episcopal Church) were created to nurture and protect. Those relationships mediate God’s grace to the members of our community and to the strangers we encounter. They are our invitation to experience the miracle of Christ’s presence when two or three are gathered in his name. Because relationships in the Church matter deeply, they also wound deeply when they are misused and become the means to manipulate, exploit, abuse, or demean. Men and women in every congregation, school, and diocesan organization partner with the Wellness and Care team in the Safeguarding office to screen and train leaders and to monitor ministries so that when we gather, whether in person or online, we gather safely. It is because of their work and the daily awareness and practice of each and every one of you that we in the Diocese of Texas can offer the precious gifts of true community and holy relationships.

The Rev. Canon Lisa S. Hines