Bishop Roskam

These thoughts are my thoughts alone and do not represent my diocesan team or the Indaba project.

This morning I went to the 15th anniversary of the consecration of Bishop Roskam of the New York diocese in St John of the Divine Cathedral, NY city. We processed and sat with our Indaba colleagues. Roskam is obviously a sassy woman. She explained that this was her retirement celebration but she was not done yet! In the Cathedral there was a stilt walker and juggler and other tastefully attired vaudeville attractions. This was after the main service had finished, I hasten to add. The service was traditional and Anglo-Catholic in expression but with contemporary language.

Catherine Roskam spoke eloquently and accessibly on the letter to the Philippians 1:1-11 and Matthew 6:25-34. She talked about their foci on education, Carpenters Kids and the Global Fund for Women.

Her emphases were on social justice, empowerment, education and relationship. She was fresh with her rhetoric, charging the church to 'be the leaven in the lump! ...to understand ourselves as one body that should not be seeing parts of itself die...We are called and compelled by grace into the ministry of Christ.' She asked for a conscious attunement to the fact that New York schools are still segregated.

Her real focus was on the empowerment that comes through education - it being 'an indispensable component of becoming fully what God has called us to be...It is a ticket on a fast train to justice. Education is the ticket and we want a ticket to ride!...Do not forget about this ticket,' she said alluding to her imminent retirement and urging the church to continue to support her foci, 'keep it in your hearts...let's start printing those tickets.'

About the communion and what keeps us together she said she had no answers but we were to work it out together but it was to be about Radical Welcome, Listening and Invitation - 'Christ has called us to be open to the other.' 'We don't serve the church, we are the church that serves God in Christ!'

'It is not about perfection but direction and our choice is about following Christ every day...in the everyday choices in accordance with God's will...we are called to live cruciform lives and when the cross comes to us it comes to us all with no distinctions - do not say - what's that? Christ did not say pick up your pillow and follow me!

We were then all invited to renew our baptismal vows before participating in the eucharist administered by Bishop Sisk.