Episcopalians joyfully anticipate Curry as PB (my interview)

A Fierce Wild Beast & The Feast of All Saints

Today I had the pleasure to write this week's edition of The Epistle, the weekly letter from St. Paul's Within the Walls to our congregation and supporters near and far. The following is my reflection on the Feast of All Saints which will take place on November 1st.

“...And one was a soldier and one was a priest
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast!...”

Whenever I hear those words, I nearly jump with excitement. They appear mid-way through one of my favorite hymns, entitled "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God" by the English lyricist Lesbia Scott. The anthem, which every year is enjoyed thousands in Episcopal churches around the world, describes lots of ordinary-seeming people of all sorts of everyday professions. In delightfully brief yet vivid detail, Mrs. Scott’s hymn reminds us that “all of them [were] saints of God” who were not any innately holier than the rest of us, but merely “toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew”. (I recommend this adorable video if you’d like to have a listen).

This Sunday we will celebrate the Feast of All Saints – the annual remembrance of the whole multitude of faithful people throughout the centuries whose faith continues to inspire us. We joyously recall that these holy people lived not just in ancient times, but have walked the earth with us across every continent and throughout every century since the founding of our faith. Even today there are living saints – perhaps even people we know - whose common humanity and uncommon witness to the Gospel help us to follow the path in their footsteps. Take a moment with me to remember those people in your lives – perhaps a parent or relative or friend or someone you’ve met along the way whose love of Christ brings joy to your heart.

While our congregation celebrates this special day on November 1st with the congregation of All Saints Anglican Church, I regretfully will not be with you. Instead, I will be in Washington DC to celebrate someone who has been a bit of a living saint in my life and in the lives of many others in our church. The Rt. Rev. Michael Bruce Curry will soon be installed that day as the twenty-seventh Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church at Washington National Cathedral. I have had the special honor to have him as my parish priest, as a dear family friend and as a mentor for more than two decades, and he has inspired my personal faith journey more deeply than any other living person. (Take a look at my article on Bishop Curry in the upcoming issue of Letters from St. Paul’s for more).

This week, pray with me for the saints past and present in our lives. And pray (sing!) with me the final words of Ms. Scott’s hymn: “You can meet [saints] in school, on the street, in the store, / in church, by the sea, in the house next door; / they are saints of God, whether rich or poor, / and I mean to be one too!”

Charles Graves IV

‘What if it were you?’ Responding to the refugee crisis in Italy

Eager to Love, Part 2 - "The Good Bishop"

As Paola and I have happily taken on the project of putting together this Autumn quarterly edition of the St. Paul's Church magazine, Letters from St. Paul's, I have been blessed with the opportunity to write a brief reflection on the Presiding Bishop Elect of the Episcopal Church, The Rt. Rev. Michael Bruce Curry. Those who know me will know that Bishop Curry was my parish priest at St. James' Church in Baltimore during my childhood years, and he has remained a dear family friend and role model to me during his fifteen years as Bishop of North Carolina. As a term of affection, he has come to be known in my family as "The Good Bishop". The following is my reflection on his ministry in our church.

In the Spring of 1992, my parents had just moved to Baltimore and were searching for a church home. A friend recommended an inner-city parish with a little-known dynamic young rector by the name of Michael Bruce Curry. Twenty-three years later I was blessed to sit on the floor of the House of Deputies at General Convention 2015, hearing the Rt. Rev. Michael B.

Curry announced as the next Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. He was my priest for nearly a decade and over the years, I have been blessed to know him well as a friend, mentor, pastor, bishop, and now as the leader of nearly two million Episcopalians in seventeen countries across the globe. Since long before he was Presiding Bishop or even a bishop at all, no single person has more deeply inspired me as a Christian or as a person called to ordained ministry.

In the last several months, I have had the opportunity to talk to scores of Episcopalians from dozens of dioceses about our new Presiding Bishop. Most know him as an exhilarating preacher, and a charismatic speaker. Others know him as a tireless advocate for social justice and equality. A few more speak of him as a caring pastor and a gifted administrator.

But the Michael Curry I know - the man I have loved and admired for more than two decades – is indeed all of these things, but he is marked by one even greater attribute. I know no one else on earth who is more eager to love than Michael B. Curry. Hear him speak in person or on video, whether preaching or interviewing or even giving an administrative presentation, and you will hear it seep out of his pores. Read his book, Crazy Christians and watch his love for God and humanity dripping from every page as if the ink itself were leaking. Even take a picture with him, and you will invariably see the look of profound joy and excitement, greeting everyone as his oldest and dearest friend.

No one in the Episcopal Church talks more powerfully, more convincingly, more energetically about being a disciple of Jesus Christ than our new Presiding Bishop. His infectious eagerness to love Jesus, the Church, and all God’s people (He’s fond of saying “All means ALL – or as we say in the South, ‘All Y’all”) is exactly what continues to inspire me and literally millions of other Christians to do the same.

For this reason, Bishop Curry was elected by a greater percentage than any of his predecessors in history, and he will become the first person of color ever to be Presiding Bishop. I was given the immense honor to be present on November 1^st 2015 for Bishop Curry’s installation as the 27^th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church. And it is likely that at least once during his nine-year term, St. Paul’s will have the honor of a visit from this truly remarkable man. Please pray for him, and for our Church as we find ourselves eager to love in new ways, under a wonderful new leader.

Eager to Love, Part 1 - Introductions

One of my major projects this month, in addition to my work at the refugee center and liturgical work at the church, is to work with Paola on the church magazine Letters from St. Paul's. Each quarterly edition has a theme, and the theme for this Autumn is "Eager to Love", after a stellar book of the same name by Richard Rohr. I've had the honor to write a short piece introducing myself to the many communities of St. Paul's Within the Walls Episcopal Church (e.g. the Refugee Center, English-speaking community, Spanish-speaking community, musicians & concert-goers etc). Here is that introduction: 

Most of you by now have likely seen me around St. Paul’s on Sundays or other times throughout the week, and many of you have graciously welcomed me into this beautiful community. I’m thrilled to take this opportunity to introduce myself a bit! A word of thanks, first of all, to every member of this community who has prayed, greeted, welcomed, or supported me already in my time of preparation to join you, and in the time since my arrival here in Rome. I think it’s perfect that this edition of Letters is themed “Eager to Love”. I can think of no better phrase to capture how I feel about embarking on this year of service with you and this community.

I’m Charles Graves IV (Carlo, Carlos, or just Charles if you like) and I’ll be with you at St. Paul’s for at least one year as a missionary intern with the Young Adult Service Corps of the Episcopal Church (YASC). It is my great pleasure to join my fantastic fellow YASCer Paola Sanchez Figueroa in following in the footsteps of my good friends Will Bryant and Jared Grant!

But a little more about me – I’m a Baltimore, Maryland native (and committed Ravens football fan), although I moved to Cincinnati, Ohio about eight years ago. In May 2015 I was blessed to graduate from seminary at Yale Divinity School, and I am in the ordination process for the priesthood in the Diocese of Southern Ohio. Before seminary, I spent a few years working on political campaigns and worked briefly as an aide in the US Senate. I’ve been blessed to travel all around the world on church-related missions, and I am thrilled to be serving God with you in such a loving, Christ-centered, service-oriented community.

You may see me here working on Christian Education sessions, or acolyting (perhaps even preaching) at Sunday service, or helping out at the JNRC, or leading prayer services of thanksgiving with newly married couples, and even helping to produce this magazine! In every single one of these activities, and in very much more, I am so honored to share God’s love with you and our neighbors in this beautiful city. Please do come and talk with me during my time here, as I would absolutely love to get to know each and every one of you.

Someone recently asked me to define “eager” and I replied “it’s like a kid on Christmas Eve”. Indeed every single day here in Rome I have woken up with the excitement of a little boy – overjoyed and anxiously awaiting the gifts God has carefully wrapped for her people to enjoy.

At St. Paul’s, every day is Pentecost

The English-Speaking community on a Sunday morning

So far almost everyone back home has asked me – what’s the #1 surprise or challenge that I’ve encountered in my new life here in Rome. While a close 2^nd is navigating the geography of what I might call the original spaghetti street system, it’s actually something different entirely. Every day without fail (usually multiple times a day) I’ve been astounded by how many different languages go into every part of life at St. Paul’s.

Everything here – every activity from eating breakfast to staff meetings to Sunday worship and serving at the Refugee Center always seems to involve at least three languages. By the end of the day, it’s not uncommon for me to hear or interact with as many as seven or even ten different languages! For those of you back home in America for whom – like me – living in an English-only world is an unquestioned reality, this can be absolutely mind-boggling. Here’s what I mean:

Joining the Spanish-speaking community, watching fabulous Colombian dancers
to celebrate the 23rd anniversary of the Communidad Latinoamericana

On an average morning I might get up, say Morning Prayer with a few others in English with a community of five or so folks, representing four different home countries and three first-languages. Perhaps next I’ll walk down the street on a busy Roman block directly outside of our church (not unlike the shopping districts of New York or London), hearing passing tourists and locals speaking a variety of languages – commonly Either Italian or English and perhaps, Spanish, French, German, Russian and or others. I’ll go to get coffee or some groceries, speaking to the workers there in Italian (although at this point my Italian is really quite limited).

JNRC refugees in an English or Italian language lesson

I come back to the church and stop into to the Joel Nafuma Refugee Center, a place that serves refugees from more than a dozen countries and a myriad of regional and tribal language groups. Written signs and spoken instructions are often given in four languages – Italian, English, French and Arabic– because most of our refugees come in knowing at least one of those languages already. Commonly those from North African countries have some familiarity with French because of those nations’ former colonial relationship with France. Arabic also is well known among many of the refugees also because most are Muslim, and the Qur’an is only considered holy in that faith if read in Arabic, not in translation. Beyond the four “standard” languages of the JNRC, many refugees there are native speakers of Pashto, Persian (also known in certain countries as Farsi, Dari or Tajiki), or one of at least a dozen other nearby languages if they have come from Afghanistan or the surrounding nations. Likewise those from North Africa may have grown up speaking Hausa, Bambara, Yoruba, Fulani, Tuareg, all of which span several large countries along the vast Saharan stretch from Mauritania to Chad. In addition to these, many of the refugees also speak some of the dozens of smaller tribal languages from North Africa or Central Asia.

JNRC guests, volunteers and staff
come in many colors, nationalities and languages!

Believe it or not, it is common that most of the refugees could be fluent in at least three if not four, five, six or more different languages!! (For most Americans looking on the refugee crisis from abroad, it could be easy to assume that the hundreds of thousands of new immigrants are unschooled, unskilled and uneducated – but in many cases their linguistic skills dwarf those of the average American.

Moving on from the JNRC after lunch on an average day, I might have a meeting with my colleagues at St. Paul’s. Recently at our weekly staff meeting, English, Italian and Spanish were all spoken at different times during the session. As there were eight people present representing four different mother tongues - and almost all of whom are also fluent in at least one other, but not the same one – it simply made the most sense to do it that way. As one person struggled to think of English word, they might say the word in another language so that someone else could translate it for them. And because Spanish and Italian are largely mutually intelligible with one another, sometimes one person would ask a question in Spanish and the other would respond in Italian or vice versa, particularly if one of the two is not as comfortable in English. Perhaps ironically, we sent the last staff meeting planning a trilingual service when our bishop will be here to celebrate the 24^th anniversary of our Spanish-speaking congregation.

Officiating a service of thanksgiving for a lovely couple!

Next, on a standard day, I might easily be officiating a Japanese marriage thanksgiving service - a concept about which I will write in much greater detail in a later blog entry. Long story short, instead of hosting large and expensive weddings in their hometowns, Japanese couples often choose to have legal marriages at their local courthouses and fly to large churches in the West, including ours, for a very small service of thanksgiving.) Usually the liturgy is in English with an Italian-Japanese translator and a couple that might only speak Japanese. Somehow or another, it all comes together!

After the service and after I’ve had a quick dinner, it’s time to spend a few hours practicing my Spanish or Italian using either books, online software or the help of my dear mission partner Paola. Not suffering from any lack of ambition, I’m somehow trying to pick up not one but two languages at the same time! But in a place like this – no wonder!

Having written far too much here, I’ll reflect a bit more in a later post about what this very multilingual climate says about me and about my own cultural background. But for me, suffice to say that I feel so blessed to serve a God with no need for translation. Glory to the One who created each and every tongue and who understands every one of them. Somehow that Holy Spirit born into the world on the day of Pentecost makes it all possible. Amen