Okay, really, yesterday was William’s day, but I focused on good ol’ Benedict since I missed his day (July 11th) because of my busy schedule.
This might be a good time to explain how the Episcopal Church defines Saint. The average Joe probably thinks of Saints as performing miracles and dying horrible deaths. One might also conjure up the idea of Patron Saints – Saints you pray to intercede to God on your behalf regarding certain issues. For instance, Patron Saint of Social Justice, of Babies, of Beekeepers and Parking Spots (ok, so I made that last one up, but not the beekeepers one). This concept comes from the Catholic Church. Check out the Catholic Church’s online listing of Saints here for more info. The Episcopal Church, from my limited research, has no where near as many Saints as the Catholic Church, although there’s some overlap. One definition of Saint for the Episcopal Church basically covers some early Christian martyrs, as well as generally super-duper special Episcopalians. “The Saints were heroes of the Church.” This idea of Church heroes totally relates to this idea my friend Evan and I had of Episco-Pals, average super heroes who go around helping people. We worked out a lot of details, including sidekicks, cars and scenarios. (See what fun can come of avoiding homework during graduate school?!) Check out the Episcopal definition here and extra insight into the Episcopal idea of Saints here.
William White was a super-duper Episcopalian, not a martyr. And, because of William, I’m also going to go into another definition about the Episcopal Church, namely the name, Episcopalian. Episcopal (adjective) is derived from the Greek word, episkopos, which basically means bishop. Episcopalians are Anglican (Church of England). The thing is, back in 1700s when the colonies we trying to become a country independent of England, we couldn’t really be part of the Church of England since it was an oxymoron – American Anglicans couldn’t swear loyalty to the King because we rejected the King. So we improvised and said, well, we’re still Anglicans at heart, but let’s skip over the King issue and rename ourselves Episcopalians (since we’re a church of bishops and not under a pope). Ask your local priest for a more “official” explanation.
“William White was born in Philadelphia in 1747, went to England in 1770 to be ordained deacon and priest, returned in 1772 and became first an assistant and then the rector of the Church of Christ and Saint Peter in Philadelphia. He served as Chaplain of the Continental Congress from 1777 to 1789, and then as Chaplain of the Senate. White was largely responsible for the Constitution of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America. At his suggestion, the system of church government was established more or less as we have it today.” (James Kiefer)
One thing to really keep in mind is that William (or Billy, as I like to call him), really believed in unity, peace and moving forward. When we look around, not just at our congregation, but at the larger Church, consider where you see strife, and how harmony and community could be restored.
Lessons and prayers: http://satucket.com/lectionary/William_White.htm
More Info: http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bio/202.html
Egads, More Info: http://www.archives.upenn.edu/histy/features/1700s/people/white_wm.html
Questionable info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_White_%28Bishop_of_Pennsylvania%29
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