Bishop Leo Frade
Address to Diocesan Convention 2004

This year I want to bring to you a different style of convention address. In the past month and a half we have endured the traumatic experiences of having two major hurricanes strike our diocese. The reason we are meeting here at this beautiful church is a product of Hurricanes Frances and Jeanne, which destroyed the previously chosen venue at Hutchison Island. 

Our brothers and sisters from St. Mary’s, Stuart, had been working very hard to host us there, and in many ways there is a sense of sadness for many of us that this convention is not taking place in Martin County as originally planned.  I want to publically thank Fr. Tom Pittenger as well as Fr. David Francoeur and Mother Holly Ostlund, who together with Dean Jeannie Martz, and other clergy of the North Palm Beach Deanery, have done such an outstanding job--under very difficult circumstances--of making everything run so smoothly for us.  I want to also thank the Rev. Hap Warren and the people at Bethesda-by-the Sea for allowing us to be here and for the wonderful dinner last night to greet us in their midst.

If there is one thing I know about, it is hurricanes.  Unfortunately, it is one of my areas of expertise.  My mother used to tell the story of how I was saved from being buried under a pile of rubble when I was an infant less than a year old.  She said that she picked me up from my bed just moments before that part of the house collapsed due to one of the strong hurricanes that hit Cuba at that time.  As I grew up I lived through many hurricanes that afflicted my Caribbean island.  Later on, living in Miami, New Orleans, Orlando and Honduras I also had to experience more of them.  The worst of all of them was in Honduras when Hurricane Mitch devasted that country. 

All hurricanes have in common their ability to make us very humble and help us to recognize how much we need God’s protection in our lives.  It is amazing to see how in just a few seconds things that you thought would be there forever disappear, blown away or destroyed by the waters.  Huge trees can be plucked away, and the only thing you can do is watch the forces of nature ravishing your familiar world.

I have said many times before that there are also hurricanes that affect our lives, things like sickness, divorce, being let go from a job due to changes in management or being downsized--or having the job move to India.  Our disappointments with our children or families, or failure of other relationships, can also be hurricanes in our lives. 

Of course, the Church also has hurricanes that disturb its unity.  We have seen in our history of the Episcopal Church the division that the Civil War created for a while, which by God’s grace was not able to divide our church completely.  We have seen other issues like Civil Rights in the 60’s and women’s ordination in the 70’s and 80’s, as well as the conflict caused by the changes in the Book of Common Prayer.  I am not discussing whether these things were good or bad--the point is that they were like hurricanes that troubled our environment.  A more recent ecclesiastical hurricane was the decision made by the 74th General Convention of the Episcopal Church to consent to the election of the Bishop of New Hampshire.  Those winds are still blowing.

How to survive hurricanes?  I want to give you a model that comes from nature.  If there is one thing able to survive hurricanes it is the grass that grows in the sand by the sea.  I want this Diocese to be like the grass that grows in the sand by sea.  Why do I say this?

In Honduras after the destruction of Hurricane Mitch I was appalled as there were almost no trees left, but I also found that the grass that grows in the sand by the sea was able to survive.  Oh yes, it was torn and beaten, but it was also alive.  In no time whatsoever it went back to normal.  I decided to study the qualities of that grass. 

The first quality of this grass that grows in the sand by the sea is that in order to feed properly and safely it has a very deep root.  The purpose is that it wants to drink not the water from the sea, which will bring its destruction, but the fresh water you will find in the depths of that unwelcoming sand.  I think this should be the first quality to help us to survive. We, all of us, regardless of what theological position we may have on any issue that threatens to divide us, must reach out our roots to God, to our Lord Christ.  I think that our Lord is annoyed not only when we try to decide who is the greatest among us, but I am sure that he is also not happy when we spend so much time discussing which of us is right, instead of carrying on his mission. Let us find a common unity in knowing that we all serve the same Lord and that we all have a common mission to fulfill. Unity is a gift from God. We need to take it, unwrap it and wear it. 

I have said it before and I will repeat it now.  As your Diocesan Bishop I will care for and serve all the clergy and laity of the Diocese.  You do not need to have a specific political or theological position or agree with me in any way to be part of our common vision and mission.  Let us together drink of that water of unity that Christ has given us.  Let us, as the Prayer Book says: “lay to heart the great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions…so we may be all of one heart and one soul, united in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and one mouth glorify you.”

The second quality of the sea grass is that besides growing a deep root seeking the water of life, it also has many side roots, some growing horizontally and some vertically. The purpose of these roots is not just to absorb the water that may come from the rain, but also to create a mesh, a net that makes it almost impossible to get rid of this grass. Try pulling it out sometime and you will see who wins. The response to four hurricanes throughout the diocese is just what I am talking about. Everyone pulled together to assist and help one another, and this ministry of Christ continues. My hope is that we continue to develop and strengthen this net of relationships among us.  We cannot act as isolated congregations without any connection with each other.  Our responses to four hurricanes showed us that. The time for competition and lack of cooperation among our diverse parishes must become something of the past. Jesus asks us to be unified in all seasons.  He knew that we would want to go our separate ways and in so doing, the totality of truth revealed in and through His church would be diminished.  Our Lord is calling us not to compete with each other, but to complete each other.

And our response to hurricanes is not the only example of cooperation. I have seen that when congregations start to work together, as for example with the youth, retreats and revivals the success rate is extraordinary.  In recent days I was very happy to see how the Hispanic Commission was able to organize most of the Hispanic congregations of our area for a revival. A large number of Hispanic youth, as well as other youth from the Diocese, attended the National Acolyte Festival at National Cathedral in Washington DC.  Our Diocese had the largest group present. 

It is my intention this coming year to continue organizing our Deanery structures and to explore further ways in which we can expand interrelationships of our parishes.  The Broward Deanery’s attempt to unify her efforts in helping the relief efforts in Haiti is commendable. My hope is to develop similar programs and strategies that will serve the common good and make our work more effective. 

One of the things I would like to consider, and will bring to the consideration of the Deans, is to do area confirmations, which would allow me more time in a individual parishes to exercise some of my other responsibilities as a bishop.  I do not want to be seen just as a confirmation machine, but also as a teacher, a pastor and a friend during my visits to your churches. This does not mean that Bishop Ottley and I will never make a visit to your parish for a Sunday confirmation service. It does mean that when we visit your parish we will be able to spend more time simply getting to know your parish family, listening to your vision for our mission together and sharing ours.

The third quality of this grass is its ability to grow. It never stops growing; it grows everywhere, and keeps spreading.  I am convinced that our church can continue growing, and that we have a responsibility to fulfill Christ’s command to all of us.  One of the resolutions that is being presented during this Convention asks us to adopt a common vision of our mission. In September I completed the fourth year of my episcopacy in this diocese. When I came to Southeast Florida I brought with me a vision that I shared with you.  We have worked for the past four years to put into the clearest possible language this vision of our ministry together. For the past year the Executive Board of the diocese has worked on refining the words to express the vision we share. Today they are presenting this resolution, a statement of our common vision and mission.  I commend it to you for its approval.  It will no longer be only my vision, but will be a common statement of mission that will allow us to continue growing and to strengthen the ties among all of us.

The fourth quality of the grass that grows in the sand by the sea is that it has burrs.  Yes, burrs, those rough or prickly things that make you jump if you are walking barefoot on the sand. Those burrs have two purposes.  One is to protect the grass, to make sure you don’t walk on it, and the other is to function as a seed, guaranteeing its life will continue. We need burrs in our Episcopal Church.  We need them to protect us from those who want to destroy and divide us, as well as to provide for the spread of the message of love, forgiveness and salvation of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Do not get me wrong--I do not believe we need protection from those whose ideas are different from those of the majority in our Diocese. In fact, they are some of the burrs we need. We need to hear from them, and they need to make us jump—and I must admit they do! I am talking about protection from those who are calling for the demise of the Episcopal Church. Against such threats we need every person who is not afraid of a free exchange of ideas and opinions, and who will work to make this a better church.  Voices of dissent always need to have a proper forum and an equal opportunity to be heard. I welcome challenging dialogue; this is how the burrs in our midst help to strengthen us.

On Monday we will see the release of a report commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury dealing with our common relationship in the Anglican Communion.  The purpose of it is to find ways we can improve and strengthen our communion as Anglicans.  I do not know its content, but as your Bishop, like all the Bishops at the recent meeting of the House of Bishops, I am committed to graciously receive and study this report.  I do recognize that the decision of the majority at our General Convention has pained some of our sisters and brothers in our own Episcopal church, as well as in other parts of the Anglican Communion, and I grieve deeply because of that. I grieve deeply.

I will work with our clergy to consider the report of the Lambeth Commission.  I am calling an overnight meeting in early December of all of our Diocesan clergy to discuss the report and what it might mean for us all as Anglicans. A week later I will meet with the Bishops of Prov IV to share together the results of our reflections.  In early January all the Bishops of the church will meet again and we will share our provincial discussion. 

Yes, division is a hurricane that is very destructive to the life of our missionary endeavor to proclaim Christ to all the people.  I think that it is of the utmost importance for our life and our mission not only to defend against divisiveness, but also to share with others that we are all one body in Christ.  If you are more liberal in your theological positions, then learn to listen and respect the opinions of others.  Invite your brothers and sisters of different opinions to converse openly with you and try to understand their position and their pain. I may also be so bold as to suggest that if you are a conservative, you should consider doing likewise.  I invite all of us, regardless of where we stand on the potentially divisive issues facing the church, to pray for the unity of the church and to continue the hard task of listening to each other as we have been doing this past year in order to preserve our ability to work with each other. 

There are many more things that I can share with you but I will end here. What I have shared with you has been my prayer during this whole year. I can see unity when others cannot see it.  I can see success when others say it cannot be done.  It is not only because of sheer faith that I say this. You see, I have the advantage of being the soon-to-be senior diocesan bishop of the whole Episcopal Church--in other words, I have the advantage of being much older that I was when I began my episcopacy. This is why I can say that I have seen a glimpse of the other side and have experienced God in action. I give witness that regardless how strong the hurricane, our God never, never abandons us and will preserve his church in unity.   My sisters and brothers, it can be done. Let us, my brothers and sisters, unwrap it and wear it—unity, our gift from God. We can fulfill God’s task for each of us.  May God bless you.

+Leo Frade

October 16, 2004