The Rt. Rev. Duncan M. Gray III
IX Bishop of Mississippi
This diocese, meeting in Council in February 2005, claimed Bishop Gray’s vision as its own. We are called by God to be “One Church, in Mission: Inviting, Transforming, Reconciling”
These words growing in our hearts and minds have been the lenses through which we have sought to organize our common life together. In the aftermath of the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, these words of vision gave us the keys to our response and have been indelibly seared into our soul.
We have known in ways never before recognized that we are one church as hundreds of thousands came to our assistance from throughout the world. We have understood mission from the inside out. Our brokenness has made us more sensitive to the needs of the vulnerable wherever they are. We have discovered new ways to be a church of invitation where walls between our churches and the communities were literally torn down. There are thousands of stories of personal transformation-spiritual and emotional-as lives have been changed in remarkable ways. Today the church is hard at work to be an instrument of societal transformation as communities on the Gulf Coast begin the challenging tasks of rebuilding and renewing.
Finally, we are learning anew the opportunities that such a tragedy provides for the deepest kind of reconciliation-in lives and relationships torn apart and in institutional structures that have too often been, at best, indifferent to human need.
These words will guide us in the coming years. We invite you to join us in these challenging and exhilarating times.
2008-2009 Parish & Mission Visitation Schedule - Subject to Change
