Bishop's Message to the Diocese: August 2020

The Rt. Rev. David M. Reed, Bishop of the Diocese of West Texas, offers an update and word of encouragement as we look into the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond in the diocese.

In his message, Bishop Reed shares, "It is a time of anxiety and uncertainty. The times right now are anxious enough and the future is uncertain in so many ways, on so many levels. And yet, we continue to live with hope. We’re a people called to embody hope and resurrection, to trust that God is doing a new thing, and to look for the ways that God is acting today, and will be acting tomorrow to restore his people. In the midst of my own tendency to whine and moan and complain about how hard my life is right now, I am very mindful of how many people are truly suffering. How many people have experienced such depths of loss, and we need to be mindful of that, and we need to look for ways not only to hold the Church together, but also how to break the Church apart, in effect, and send the Body out into the world in the name of Christ to love and serve, and bring healing.

...At Council in February we introduced the theme from Ephesians to, 'Live with the eyes of our hearts enlightened', to look, and look again at the ways that God is at work in our midst. God is not restricted by the pandemic. The love and grace and mercy of God are ever available to us, and available to us so that we might offer them to others. I encourage you to open your eyes and pay attention and look for the ways that our Lord is present, and the ways that the spirit is moving in our midst even now, to restore and to bind up and to renew and revive. So that when that great day comes and we are able to regather as we all long to do, that we trust that the spirit has led us  this far and that it is the Spirit that will continue to lead and guide us on the other side of this."

Full transcript of the video message is available now for download.