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When Lloyd Casson, our wonderful new Interim Dean at this Cathedral,
called last week to suggest we have this service on William White Day,
inviting any and all to come, I thought, "What a timely idea!" If we
can just bring Bishop White back from the dead and put him in charge
again, all will be well.
Well, resurrection will come, thanks be to God, but not right now
(though you never know). But it is indeed timely and encouraging to
reflect on William White, the first Bishop of Pennsylvania, who is, one
might say, the patron saint of Philadelphia Episcopalians.
I was struck in my first year or so here how often I came across the
footprints of Bishop White. There were few good things that happened in
Philadelphia in the early days of the republic that could not be
attributed to William White or Benjamin Franklin. Bishop White was
called "the patriarch of charities in the City of Brotherly Love." In
1827 he chaired the Pennsylvania Hospital, the Episcopal Academy, the
Prison Society, the Magdalen Society, the Sunday School Society, the
Provident Society, the Philadelphia Bible Society, and the Institute
for the Deaf. This in addition to being Rector of Christ Church and St
Peter's, Bishop of Pennsylvania, and Presiding Bishop. How did he do it
all? Well, at least he didn't have email.
The risen Christ asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Peter kept
saying, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." But each time Jesus
responded, "Feed my lambs…tend my sheep…feed my sheep."
Jesus does not want words, he wants caring action, caring for those
whom he loves, the little ones first and then all of them. "Feed my
sheep" That is what Bishop White did, year after year.
That for which we remember him is not primarily his charitable
leadership, admirable as that was, but the fact that he was the one who
brought the Episcopal Church into being.
After the American Revolution and the defeat of the English, he took
the weak, unpopular Church of England parishes scattered from Maine to
Georgia and led them into a union under a Constitution. Even more
remarkably, he achieved a relationship with the bishops of the old
country, still smarting from its humiliating military defeat. They
blessed the new Church and ordained its bishops.
Much has been said, and rightly so, about his reconciling temperament.
He had the ability to stay in a constructive relationship with those
with whom he disagreed. He was respected by passionate patriots and
conservative Tories, by high churchmen and evangelicals.
He exemplified what Ed Friedman told us at Clergy Conference more than
once. The secret of effective leadership is "Define yourself, but stay
in touch." He was clear about what he believed, but he stayed in touch
with those who thought otherwise.
And Bishop White had patience. If he saw that a proposal he favored
excited controversy, he would pull back and propose it later in an
improved version.
But there is another of his qualities struck me as I did a little
reading: his steadiness, his ability to make a decision and then stand
by it, with humility but with confidence, and thus steer a steady
course. We can see this most clearly in his decision at the time of the
outbreak of war.
He had been moderate on the issue of independence, seeking to avoid
war. As he says, "Being invited to preach before a battalion, I
declined; and I mentioned to the colonel, who was one of the warmest
spirits of the day, my objections to the making of the ministry
instrumental to the war. I continued, as did all of us, to pray for the
king, until Sunday before the 4th of July 1776.
But then he says, "Within a short time after, I took the oath of
allegiance to the United States, and have since remained faithful to
it. My intentions were upright, and most seriously weighed. I hope they
were not contrariety to my duty."
A friend, seeing him sign, made a gesture across his throat. William
White upon leaving the courthouse (Independence Hall) said to him,
"I perceived, by your gesture, that you thought I was exposing my neck
to great danger by the step I have taken. But I have not taken it
without full deliberation. I know my danger, and that it is the greater
on account of my being a clergyman of the Church of England. But I
trust in Providence. The cause is a just one, and I am persuaded will
be protected."
For a time he was the only Anglican clergyman in Philadelphia. But
thanks to his steadfast vision of a united Episcopal Church in the
former colonies, and the respect in which he was held, our Church came
into being in 1789. He presided at the organizing General Convention
and was again the Presiding Bishop from 1795 until his death in 1836.
"Feed my sheep." Bishop White tended not only his flock at Christ
Church and St. Peter's; his vision included all the colonies. And the
spirit in which he pursued that vision was the spirit of love.
The Diocese of Pennsylvania is once again going through a very
difficult time. It is not so bloody a time as the Revolution. The
battles of Germantown and Brandywine, as it were, are in the courts of
ecclesiastical law. And most of the time now, as then, is spent in
waiting. The Revolution went on for years, you know.
But the end does come. Providence prevails. God is good.
And in the meanwhile, the flocks need care. So we need to hear the word
of Jesus—the risen Christ, who triumphed even over death—saying, "Feed
my lambs…tend my sheep…feed my sheep."
So, like our founding bishop, let us keep our vision broad, reach out
to those on all sides, trust God, and care for the all the
flock…because Jesus loves them all.
O Lord, in a time of turmoil and confusion you raised up your servant
William White, and endowed him with wisdom, patience, and a reconciling
temper, that he might lead your Church into ways of stability and
peace; Hear our prayer, and give us wise and faithful leaders, that
through their ministry your people may be blessed and your will be
done; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and
the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
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