THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF ALABAMA May/June 2016 • Vol. 101, No. 3 2 • THE ALABAMA EPISCOPALIAN Around Our Diocese Bishop Marray Nominated to Become Bishop of Easton he Rt. Rev. Santosh Marray, the Diocese of Alabama’s Assistant bishop, has been Marray became the Diocese of Alabama’s Assistant Bishop in 2012. In that role he shares nominated to become the 11th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Easton. He collaborative and collegial ministry with the bishop, and diocesan staff and leadership. He Tis one of four candidates announced in April, by the standing committee of that was Bishop Assisting of the Diocese of East Carolina 2009-20012. From 2005-2008 he diocese. was the Bishop of Seychelles, Province of the Indian Ocean, and led the diocese through The election will take place on Saturday, June 11 at Trinity Cathedral in Easton. The re-imagination, change, and clergy and laity empowerment. When the diocese returned to other nominees are the Rev. Kathryn A. Andonian, Rector of the Church of the Holy Spirit sustainability, he returned to his family in the US. in Harleysville, PA; the Very Rev. Brian Grantz, Dean and Rector of the Cathedral of Saint Prior to being elected bishop, he served a small parish in Florida, and multi-church par- James in South Bend, IN; the Rev. John A. Mennell, Rector of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church ishes in his native country Guyana and the Bahamas, leading the revitalization of struggling Montclair, NJ. congregations of various sizes. He has also planted new churches and carried out numerous Sharing the news with the Diocese of Alabama, the Rt. Rev. Kee Sloan, Bishop of successful capital campaigns. He taught for 10 years in the Bahamas Public School System. Alabama said: Marray was the Province of the Indian Ocean’s representative on the Anglican Commu- nion Covenant Design Group and was later appointed by Archbishop Rowan Williams as “I’m proud to announce that our friend Santosh Marray has been nominated to Commissary to the Anglican Communion. become the 11th Bishop of the Diocese is Easton. He was not looking for a new job; Marray is a convert from Hinduism, the faith of his parents. His passion for Jesus and he loves our Diocese and is doing a great job. But his name was suggested there, and his Church is undergirded by his conviction that a loving Jesus who came looking for him they have recognized that Santosh is a gifted, talented servant of our Lord with a great in a small remote village in South America populated by majority Hindus and Muslims in amount of experience and skill. Guyana deserves his love and devotion. I hope you will join me in supporting Santosh and Lynn as they move toward this He was ordained to the diaconate and priesthood in 1981, and bishop in 2005. He holds election on June 11th. If he is elected, I hope you’ll join me in rejoicing that our a degrees from Codrington Theological College, Barbados; the University of the West In- sister Diocese has elected a very fine Bishop; if he is not, I hope you’ll join me in re- dies, Barbados; General Theological Seminary, New York; the University of Wales, UK, and joicing that this very fine Bishop will continue to serve our Lord here with us. Either Colgate Rochester/Bexley Hall Divinity School. way, we will trust the Spirit to lead and strengthen us all to be about God’s work of Marray is married to Nalini ‘Lynn’ since 1977. They have two grown children, Ingram love and reconciliation in the Church and in the world.” and Amanda, a daughter-in-law, Tenille, and a granddaughter. Amazon shoppers can now support diocesan ministry at no additional cost mazon shoppers now have an opportunity to support the ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of AAlabama at no additional cost. The AmazonSmile program allows shoppers to designate 0.5 percent of the purchase price of tens of millions of products. To support the diocese, visit AmazonSmile (smile. amazon.com) and log into your Amazon account. Before beginning to shop, select “Protestant Episcopal Church In Diocese of Alabama” to receive donations Youth at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church in Ft. Payne, from eligible purchases. AmazonSmile will remember present United Thank Offering Ingathering May 8. the selection, and then every eligible purchase at smile. amazon.com will result in a donation to the diocese. Correction For additional information about using amazonS- In our article “Elected to serve,” the March/April issue, we mile to donate to the work of the Diocese of Alabama mistakenly listed the Rev. Donna Gafford’s parish as St. Mar- visit: http://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/ch/about tins in the Pines, Seal. Her parish is St. Matthew’s in the Pines, Seale. THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH In the Diocese of Alabama In the United States The Anglican Communion About 34,000 baptized members in 92 parishes A community of about An 80-million-member and worshiping communities and 8 college 2.4 million members in 119 dioceses worldwide community of campus ministries. Established in 1830. in the Americas and abroad. Established 38 provinces. in 1789. Bishop Archbishop of Canterbury The Rt. Rev. John McKee Sloan Presiding Bishop The Most Rev. Justin Welby Assistant Bishop The Most Rev. Michael Curry Lambeth Palace, London The Rt. Rev. Santosh K. Marray Episcopal Church Center England SE17JU Carpenter House 815 Second Avenue 521 North 20th Street New York, NY 10017 Birmingham, AL 35203 212/867-8400 205/715-2060 The Alabama Episcopalian is published 6 times per year (January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August, September/October, and Novem- The Alabama Episcopalian ber/December) by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama. Previous names for this publication include The Diocese of Alabama (1892), The Church Record Dave Drachlis, Editor (1893–1922), The Alabama Churchman (1923–1987), The Apostle (1988–1997 and 1999–2009), and The Alabama Apostle (1998). Periodicals rate Miles G. Parsons, Art Director postage paid at Birmingham, Alabama. Denise Servant, Circulation Secretary All editorial submissions should be sent to Dave Drachlis at [email protected]. The deadline for each issue is the first day of the Volume 101, Number 3 month of publication. ON THE COVER May/June 2016 Team Ennis. 2016 Episcopal Place Gumbo Gala USPS 070-910 All address corrections or additions should be sent to Denise Servant at [email protected] or Carpenter House, 521 North 20th Street, Birmingham, AL 35203–2682. Story and photos ISSN 1041-3316 Pages 6 & 7 POSTMASTER: Please send address corrections to Denise Servant, Circulation Secretary, The Alabama Episcopalian, 521 North 20th Street, Birmingham, AL 35203–2682. May/June 2016 From Bishop Sloan THE ALABAMA EPISCOPALIAN • 3 “It’s All About Love” became the Roman Emperor, and it soon became legal to be a Christian. Before long it was required that a person be a Christian in order to be a good citizen of It’s all about the Good News of the Rome. The Church came out of hiding and working against the prevailing culture and became the establish- love of God in Jesus Christ. ment. And the Church would never be the same. It may be that an unintended consequence of Constantine’s conversion was that the Church became we’re going to have to pay some attention to what he domesticated, or at least standardized. We all spoke the said we’re supposed to do: “Love one another as I have same language, all conducted the same liturgy, all wore loved you.” There can be no limits, no conditions. the same uniform. At the Council of Nicaea, which Love them all, every single one of them. Even the Constantine called to settle a controversy about the ones you don’t like, maybe even especially the ones you divinity and humanity of Jesus, the Church was given don’t like. a creed, and we were soon expected to abide by it: But what about the people we disagree with (you Nicene Creed, Nicene faith. know, the ones who are wrong)? Can we just condone Heretics were identified and dealt with, Crusades their heresies and sinfulness? Or is all of that just un- were launched, inquisitions were tasked with protect- important? ing the orthodoxy of the Faith. The Church broke and split and divided again and again, and our definition of what was good and right and acceptable became nar- rower and narrower. You don’t have to agree with people you think are wrong. You don’t have Hello, friends I believe that heresy is not the prima- to condone anything. ry enemy of the Church. Nor is divi- hen Cleopas and his friend came back You don’t have to agree with people you think from Emmaus to tell the disciples sion and schism what will do us in. are wrong. You don’t have to condone anything. Our they’d seen Jesus, they found eleven opinions are important, and so are our differences. W They’re just not as important as the love of God in Je- men who’d undergone an incredible transfor- It’s just my opinion, but I believe that heresy is sus Christ, which is the great gift we have been given, not the primary enemy of the Church. Nor is divi- and the great gift we have to offer to the world. mation. They had gone from huddling in fear sion and schism what will do us in. One of our great Shine on, Christians; shine with the Light of and defeat after the Crucifixion to proclaiming perils is the insistence that we must be correct, that Christ.