A note from The Rev. John Burruss to the 192nd Convention of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama

Bishops and delegates, thank you for this privilege to share a few thoughts with you. In the 12th chapter of Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians, he is teaching the community in Corinth what it means to be the Body of Christ. Some of the words that speak the most to me: “If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many members, yet one body” (1 Cor. 12:19. “But God arranged the body… that there may be no dissension within the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it” 1 Cor. 12:24b-25.

Paul concludes, “Now you are the body of Christ” 1 Cor. 12:27a.

I’ve heard these words all my life. And yet in twenty years of professional church work and ten years of ordained ministry, I’ve only begun to grasp the significance of Paul’s theology in the last few months. Almost on a daily basis, I am asked how the people of Saint Stephen’s are doing. I often respond that it has been the hardest several months and the most beautiful several months of my life. We are thriving as a church because we have experienced the pain of Good Friday and met Jesus Christ on the other side.

Friends, that is because of you – the physical reminder of God’s presence and resurrection. You have prayed, you have showed up, you have cared, you have felt our pain, entered into it, and been a part of the healing that is ongoing. I am really just here to say thank you. Thank you for teaching us what it means to be the Body of Christ. Thank you for teaching us what it means to be family. Thank you for teaching us what it means to be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ.