Episcopal Bishop in MN: The church is dying, and needs to die to move forward

Reject division, white supremacy; return to community, simplicity

The Rt. Rev. Craig Loya, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in Minnesota, said the Episcopal church has been dying for more than 50 years. It needs to die and return to its roots in Jesus’ teachings.

The church, he said, has been co-opted by the state.

“The church we’re afraid of losing is largely one that went along for the ride of the domination systems, of empire and white supremacy and patriarchy and genocide of Indigenous peoples, decimation of the planet, on and on and on,” Loya said Nov. 6 in an address to the Episcopal Church in Minnesota’s 2021 online Convention.

Religious institutions speak out on George Floyd’s murder, repent for past complicity, call for change

Police protect the Third Precinct. (file)

The President of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said most police officers “carry out their duties with honor”

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, the anger over long-standing problems with police brutality has boiled over to the streets. It’s put the question of the police’s role in society squarely on the front burner. Some are pushing to abolish the police altogether.

In this deeply moral moment, religious communities are weighing in, issuing statements on Floyd’s murder.

Faith communities have played an important role in civil rights movements. Their voices could be powerful in pushing for greater police accountability. This blog will follow how they engage in this important work in the coming months.

What follows is a summary of some of the initial statements on Floyd’s murder, including links and short excerpts. For those of you who are part of one of these faith communities, this is an opportunity to push them to follow through on their commitments and then some.

This list is based on an Internet search and may not be complete. Please post links to statements we missed in the comment section below.

Episcopal Church Returns Land to the Ojibwe; Praise for Closing the Upper St. Anthony Lock

The Episcopal Church in Minnesota is giving its Cass Lake Episcopal Camp (CLEC) property to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Bishop Brian Prior announced this month.

In a December 7 email to church members, Prior acknowledged that the announcement would come as sad news to those who, like him, found camping ministry important to their spiritual development. However, he noted that the Episcopal Church had not used the camp for well over a decade and the property was in disrepair. The decision came after a lengthy review. He wrote:

The resurrection news, the Good News that Jesus calls all of us to, is that the property that CLEC was privileged to enjoy for a good long season is once again in the loving hands of those who first enjoyed this amazing piece of God’s creation.

As an aside, it’s worth nothing that Leech Lake has suffered as much as any reservation in the country from the effects of “checker boarding,”  the government policy of dividing tribal-held land into individual allotments to make it easier to sell. Cris Stainbrook of the Indian Land Tenure Foundation spoke at a Healing Minnesota Stories event in early 2015 and explained the process.

The Leech Lake Reservation is one of the worst examples of the effects of allotment of any reservation in the country — and I mean any. The Leech LakeBand and individual allotees own 4 percent of the reservation. In terms of economic development, Leech Lake is the poorest tribe in Minnesota.

May the camp land be a benefit to the Leech Lake community.

Praise for the Closing of the Upper St. Anthony Lock

The Circle Newspaper has a great article by Jon Lurie this month with a Native perspective on the closing of the Upper St. Anthony Lock in Minneapolis. The piece is titled: A History of Owamni Yomni: Lock Closures Signal Healing for Mississippi River.

It begins by noting that the Dakota name for the waterfall is Owamni Yomni, or whirlpool, a place revered for centuries for its tremendous spiritual power and inspiration.

The article traces the waterfall’s history, noting:

In the years that followed Hennepin’s visit, a series of white explorers, missionaries, business tycoons and politicians came through the area and – following Hennepin’s lead, renamed sacred sites to reflect their claims to the area and erase the memory of the Dakota’s special relationship to the land and water.

The Upper St. Anthony Lock opened in 1963. The article notes that Dakota spiritual leaders predicted its downfall at the time, warning that people should leave spiritual places alone. Towards the end, the article concludes:

By closing the Upper Saint Anthony Falls Lock, Congress has acted to return Owamni Yomni to function as it had for centuries, as a divide between the upper and lower Mississippi River’s unique natural systems. At least one important food supply to Minnesota’s Native population will now be protected from invasive carp: 90% of Minnesota’s wild rice grows north of Saint Anthony falls within the Mississippi watershed.

After three centuries of destruction, and the remaking the Dakota homelands in their own image, it appears efforts are underway by the non-Indian population to repair at least some of the damage.

Read the full article.