The 2005 Annual Meeting of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral was held on Sunday, January 16, 2005. Among the highlights were the official selection of a new Vestry class, a summary of the 2005 Cathedral budget and a farewell statement by outgoing Senior Warden Al Mauro. Dean Terry White's address is below.
You can also read the Annual Report (PDF file, 975 KB)
Address to the Annual Meeting of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral, Kansas City, Missouri. January 16, 2005
The Very Rev’d Terry A. White
Dean of the Cathedral
Last October, you did not have to be a devoted baseball fan to get caught up rooting for the Boston Red Sox. Famous for having last won the World Series in 1918, the Red Sox found themselves in the playoffs, facing their hated rivals the New York Yankees for the right to advance to the World Series. The best-of-seven series began far too predictably, with the Yankees winning the first three games. The loveable losers from Boston were destined to add another year to their streak of futility. Sports authorities of all walks of life knew the statistic by heart: in the history of major league baseball, no team has rallied from 0-3 start to win a best of seven series in the postseason.
In Game Four the Red Sox won in extra innings, and then eked out a second win, before heading to New York for the final two games.
You know the rest of this story: The Red Sox made history. They won games 6 & 7 in New York to become the first major league team to rally from 0-3 deficit, and they continued their streak by sweeping the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0 in the World Series.
During the broadcast of Game 4 of the Red Sox-Yankees series, a TV camera focused several times on a sign held by Boston fan in the stands. It was a homemade sign, perhaps drawn on poster board or cardboard reading: Why Not Us? That sign appeared at game 5, too, then games 6 & 7 in Yankee Stadium. And it caught on. People believed, even superstitious sports fans from Boston, that this was a sign form heaven: Why Not Us?
As we gather today for the cathedral’s annual meeting, I invite us to ponder what such words might means for our mission and ministry: Why Not Us?
Now let me quickly add that Grace and Holy Trinity in no way bears an ecclesiastical likeness to the Boston Red Sox. Far from being a franchise that has experienced futility for decades, this congregation is alive, dynamic, and full of current good works as we can read in the many written reports submitted for your consideration, and we are a community full of hope for the future which we can feel whenever we worship and come together.
Let me be understated: 2004 was quite a year in the life of Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. I can only speak of June 21st onward, but a great deal was accomplished last year. And so, in this new year of grace, we have good reason to feel certain that God is calling us to much more. And why not? Why is to prevent us from being more effective servants? Not only in Boston’s Fenway Park, but here in this Cathedral we should ask: Why not us? Do we not feel led, being nudged, being called right now?
At the Every Member Canvass luncheon in October, I was introduced with some very gracious words. In the my remarks which followed, I shared with you a very personal reflection. I said that just as the cathedral had been engaged in discernment for months leading up to the call of new dean, so I had been in discernment for months about my vocation, and Linda sue and I together had been engaged in discerning where our family would next be living. I thought that I pretty well knew what kind of place God would send me to, and we had a generally good notion of where our family would next be. But we were wrong. Thankfully, we were very wrong! In fact, if God had answered our prayers as we hoped – we would have ended up somewhere else, dare I say somewhere less exciting than the Cathedral, because frankly, we had no idea a place like this existed.
Without knowing it, in my discernment, I was not asking God for enough. My discernment was not broad enough, not deep enough, not wide enough. And I am truly thankful that God calls the shots and not me, or else I would not be here.
In 2004, you completed many months of discernment and called a priest to serve as dean. And today I would like the minutes to reflect that the grace period for returning me to the Deans R Us store has passed, and since my name is etched in stone on a pillar in the cloister, we are now bound to each other.
So in the months ahead, I am calling for us, together, to be about another discernment process: discerning what God is calling the Cathedral congregation to do and become. In 2005, I ask that we be open to strengthening our present ministries, and be open to new possibilities, and even acknowledge that it may be time for some things to come to a close.
But what I really wish to emphasize today is that, as we embark on this discernment, let us not limit our vision, let us be open to those greater opportunities of mission and ministry that perhaps right now live only in the imagination of God. Just as I had little idea that a place like this existed, we must expect God to show us and lead us into lives and places we may not yet be able to imagine. In other words: Why Not Us?
Why not take our worship, music, formation, pastoral, social witness and outreach to greater heights, and into uncharted territory? Why not be bold in how we manage our considerable resources? Why not look at our finances, property, personnel and programs all as ministries, not just programs but ministries that give glory to God and instill in us excitement at doing good work, and yet humble us as we realize that God is using us as vessels of grace and love. Why not honor the Incarnation of Christ by incarnating radical discipleship and authentic servanthood that makes the comfortable nervous? How about practicing hilarious generosity? Why not Us? Why not Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral?
We have a “mission, high fulfilling” as our last hymn proclaimed, to tell to all the world that God is light, and not one soul should fail to know his love and might.
God has placed us here, in this city which is a place filled with possibilities, where resources and ideas are plentiful. A part of our calling is to speak to and work with the city so that our civic leaders keep focused on the common good. Surely a part of our growing mission is to see that the least in society never get pushed aside. We must proclaim in word and deed that he highest measure of a city’s greatness is how the widow and orphans, the downtrodden, the oppressed, and the voiceless are lifted up. That proclamation is consistent with and embedded in both Holy Scripture and our tradition as Anglican Christians. So we can see that we have plenty of work to do. And yet, I say again, there is also work for us that lives right now only in God’s imagination which we must seek out and discern.
My sisters and brothers: a year ago this time I could not have imagined being here. So I thank God for being larger than my ideas about Him, and for blessing me with you, and for welcoming and caring do deeply for my family.
Together, let ask God, “What else? What more can we be about? Lord, what haven’t we thought of yet?” And let us ask ourselves, “Are we ready to claim our programs as ministries, worthy of greater effort, support, and creativity?”
Our dual mission as a city parish and a cathedral requires us to be bright and bold. Not arrogant, not isolated, not timid. I ask for your prayers and help, and know of mine for you, as we continue, together, to sing a new song.
Why Not Us? Indeed! Why Not!