By Lisa H. Towle
President, National ECW Board
In “To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings,” John O’Donohue began one of his poems with a particularly exquisite turn of phrase: “We seldom notice how each day is a holy place, Where the eucharist of the ordinary happens…”
Savor that for a moment. Savor the imagery invoked by the word “eucharist.” Its use wasn’t accidental. In his too short life, O’Donohue, an Irishman, was not only a poet but an author, philosopher, and for two decades a Catholic priest. He certainly understood the different meanings that can be applied to the word: the act of sharing; the intimate fellowship; the common faith and discipline of a body of Christians; the sacrament that is the Eucharist, capital E.
Naturally, all this leads me to the ministry traditionally known as Episcopal Church Women. Whether ECW or a variation of the name now found in some dioceses – Episcopal Women of…, for example, or Women’s Ministries of… – it’s about making space and time for the eucharist of the ordinary to happen. And in those acts of sharing and fellowship, study and worship, extraordinary things happen.
Still, I can hear the question that’s been put to me by clergy and laity alike: Yes, but what IS ECW? I think what people really want when they ask about ECW as a ministry is a tidy answer: we raise money for good works, or we’re dedicated to prayer and spiritual growth, or we advocate for peace and justice. As women of The Episcopal Church (collectively and individually) and as members of the sprawling Anglican Communion we do all those things, and more, because, well, one size does not fit all.
God speaks to each of us and touches our hearts in different ways. Though we are certainly one in the Body of Christ, time and again the people of our fabulously diverse Church make it known we are not always of one mind. That reality can be a welcome one for the 16-member National ECW Board because, among other things, it provides an opportunity to think and act creatively about how best to encourage the ministries of Episcopal Church Women in particular and The Episcopal Church in general.
Helping to ensure that things don’t get discombobulated as we go about casting our nets wide are our structural frameworks. Three of them are especially vital when it comes to engaging with the world at large, and they’re all available on our website as well as in this magazine. Our Vision and Living the Ministry statements are on page 10, and on the back cover are the Five Marks of Mission.
In her opening remarks to the Church’s General Convention in 2015, then-Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori noted the Five Marks, which were developed by the Anglican Consultative Council between 1984 and 1990, “are summed up in the image of pursuing God’s kingdom here on Earth as
it is in heaven.”
Like pursuit, faith requires action. Pam Chinnis, a trailblazer in The Episcopal Church (see page 10), spoke to this when she said, “You start out where you are, and you do Christ’s mission there.” Examples of how Episcopal Church Women are living the faith abound in this issue. Hopefully, what’s shared here will inspire others to go and do a new thing, because it doesn’t necessarily have to be choosing one thing over another, instead it’s very much about both/and.
As we get closer to 2018, the year in which the next ECW Triennial Meeting and General Convention take place, there will be a steady uptick in our message to “GO! Share the Word: Every Day, Comunicamos, EveryWhere.” The hows and whys of the theme and logo for the 2015-2018 triennium as well as news about how the Triennial Meeting is shaping up are in this issue. May we all approach each new day of the new year with an understanding of it as a holy place. May we persist in our witness.