We stood "joined together in a life and liturgy of grace."

by the Right Reverend Thomas Clark Ely, Bishop of Vermont
Mountain Echo
June 2005

I arrived a bit ahead of time at the Bishop Booth Conference Center, where I was scheduled to preside at the Eucharist for the Senior High Diocesan Youth Event on April 2, 2005. Tired from a full morning, I was quickly refreshed by seeing the familiar faces of those who greeted me at the door, welcoming me into the community of those gathered since the night before. It was “free time,” so I had a chance to visit with those I knew and meet some of those who were new to me. Aware that part of the conference design was for the participants to plan the Eucharist, I was interested in finding out just what it was at which I was about to preside!

The advertised theme of the event was “Da Divine Vine,” with the biblical text from John 15:4 as the explication, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” What were these young people and their adult colleagues planning to do with this theme? Walking around I came upon a group of three who were putting the final touches on the liturgy and the sermon. They reviewed the outline of the liturgy with me, and who was doing what, and then continued working on the sermon. (Connie Saeger-Proctor, our diocesan canon for youth ministry, has developed an effective model of group sermon preparation with young people, using a circular bible study method to help the person/s writing the sermon focus their thoughts and creative ideas.)

Moving about, I encountered one of the adults walking around with a small Weber grill, and I became naturally curious. “We’re going to take our brown leaves off the vine and burn our burdens during the confession,” he said. “Of course,” I replied, interested to see what that was all about.

I wandered over to the chapel to make sure everything was set up for the liturgy and walked into “the vine” that was snaking its way throughout the room. There on the vine were colorful leaves and a few brown ones. The colorful leaves, I would later discover, represented the various youth at the event and their gifts and connections to the vine, to God, to Jesus. There was nothing written on the few brown leaves left on the vine, and I pondered what that was all about.

Not long after, while I was getting the communion vessels ready, a couple of the youth entered the chapel to prepare the music for the service. They asked me if I had my brown leaf ready. My puzzled look betrayed my ignorance and they went on to explain how we all carry burdens around with us and sometimes we need to just let them go and give them over to God. They told me that earlier in the day everyone took a brown leaf off the vine and wrote their burdens on it. They were each supposed to bring that to the Eucharist, and after the confession, before the absolution, they would place it on the fire as a way of “letting go.” “So, Bishop, do you have any burdens that you need to let go of? If you do, take a brown leaf off the vine, write them down on the leaf, and hold onto it until the confession.” So, I did.

Everyone was arriving now, and soon the liturgy was underway. The design of the liturgy was simple and had obviously grown out of the life of the community and the participants’ knowledge and familiarity with the Book of Common Prayer. Multiple voices gave leadership throughout. Mine was but one—the way it is supposed to be. The John gospel reading about the vine and the branches (John 15:1-11) was followed by the sermon. It was a wonderful sermon, more wonderful I suppose because I knew something of how it was given life in the preparation and the fact that the two young men offering the sermon were so fully engaged in what they were doing.

The sermon’s central image was that of “The Force” from the Star Wars movie and the consequences related to the choice one makes about staying connected to “The Force,” or not. “The Force” is always there, always with you, and if you disconnect yourself from it you can always come back. The metaphor for God’s unconditional love was unmistakable: Jesus the vine, giving life and vitality to those who stay connected, always available for “reconnection.”

We confessed our sins, our burdens, and laid those burdens down in the flames of the fire heating up in the Weber grill outside the chapel screen door. Looking out over the beauty of Lake Champlain, we stood quietly for a while amid the tentacles of the vine reaching into every corner of the room—tangled, connected, joined together in a life and liturgy of grace. Then I offered the words of God’s forgiveness and mercy.
“The Peace of the Risen Christ be always with you.” “And also with you.” We greeted one another, made the offering of bread and wine and all our life to God, asked God to bless it all, and then received it back as nourishment for the journey—the Bread of Heaven, the Cup of Salvation.

In peace,
+Thomas