Today's story is written by The Rev. Cn. Meg Wagner, Canon to the Ordinary,
The Episcopal Diocese of Iowa. She graduated Episcopal Divinity School in 2015.

Through our diocesan partnerships with Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and One Iowa, the Diocese of Iowa had been alerted that a bill aimed at erasing gender Identity from the Iowa Civil Rights code would be proposed again this legislative session.

The final version of the bill that was passed was even more devastating than we expected - SF418. It not only has wide-ranging impacts on protections from discrimination in housing, education and more but also erases the phrase “gender identity” in educational contexts and replaces it with the phrase “gender theory,” prohibiting instruction about so-called “gender theory” in schools from kindergarten through sixth grade. It defines “sex” as “the state of being either male or female as observed or clinically verified at birth”, makes it so that can never be changed, and that legal documents must reflect that.

Skylar from St. Luke’s, Cedar Falls giving testimonyThe Diocese of Iowa has 3 volunteer lobbyists registered with the state who keep us informed about bills our legislators are working on that address areas that General Convention or our diocese has official positions on. They register opinions on behalf of the diocese, testify at committee hearings, and organize a yearly “Episcopal Day on the Hill” where Episcopalians from across the state come and learn how the legislative process works and have the opportunity to speak with their representatives on the issues they care about.

This particular bill moved incredibly fast through the process - one week from introduction to passing, and our lobbyists got word out through our diocesan Facebook group, Faith in Action and our diocesan facebook page. Bishop Monnot testified at subcommittees and at the public hearing that was held on Thursday, Feb 27. Transgender members from our churches also testified at several hearings.

Despite only really having about a day and a half notice, I saw over 25 members from at least 11 of our churches at what they are calling the largest protest within the capitol building. Over 2,500 Iowans showed up on Thursday, February 27 to protest the bill. Episcopal clergy joined leaders of other denominations in two lines of locked arms keeping a calm and physical distance between the heavy Iowa State trooper presence and the protestors. We prayed, we sang. And everywhere we went folks thanked us for being present and bearing a Christian witness against what was happening.

The Congregation of St. Andrew's Des Moines at the State HouseAnd we stayed to witness as it ended up passing both houses in simultaneous “debate” meant to divide the crowd’s attention. Other than the bill’s proposer, no republican spoke in favor of the bill, and in fact it was revealed later the Republican senators had a bingo game they were playing mocking the Democrats who spoke against it. All Democrats voted against and all but five Republican House members voted for the bill (even after extreme pressure and threats from their leadership). Afterwards we stayed and provided what pastoral care we could to the remaining devastated and angry protestors and some of the legislators who had really tried their best. The governor signed it into law on Friday.
There will undoubtedly be efforts to stop it in the courts, but there is no telling the damage that has been and will be caused in the meantime. Many of our clergy at services this weekend encountered people angry and sad that it had passed, but also undeterred that our place is to stand where Jesus stood, with the marginalized. The diocese remains committed to working with Interfaith Alliance of Iowa and other partners to fight for the worth and dignity of our trans and genderqueer neighbors, friends and family.
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As Bishop Monnot posted the next day, “In Iowa, we are grieving yesterday’s vote to remove gender identity from the Iowa Civil Rights code. Transgender and genderqueer Iowans, you are beautifully and wonderfully made in God’s image, and God does not make mistakes. I see you, I love you, and I will fight for your right to be free to be the person God made you to be.” And lots of Iowa Episcopalians will be there with her.
Blessings,
Meg+
Pronouns: she/her/hers (why pronouns matter)

I wrote an article for Congregations Magazine (Alban Institute) called Journey to Jerusalem. It is the story of closing a church. Twenty years ago closing a church was a black mark on my profile. Now churches want pastors with my experience. Today’s blog is for churches that may need to close.


Jesus chooses death. Your theology of who Jesus is (your Christology) determines if this was pre-planned and if Jesus knew the plan. In Luke 13:31-25 Jesus says clearly that prophets can only be killed in Jerusalem, and so he must go. In the countryside and small towns people choose to listen to and follow Jesus. Small town leaders attack with questions, but were not in a position to hurt him. In Jerusalem, Rome was in charge. Rome has a death penalty.


Jesus turns toward Jerusalem saying “How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34). Jesus wants to hold the people, the leaders, of Jerusalem under their wings, to protect them.


Why now? Why on that day? Why not preach a little longer? Or maybe he stretched out his teaching, avoiding this trip. But on this day he faces his death and chooses to walk toward it.


If your congregation is running out of money or running out of energy and are afraid of facing death. If you are already discussing legacy and imagining what it will be like to not have this church at this location at this time. I suggest that this time in our nation is a time for a church to risk it all. To face Jerusalem and keep walking.


Before our neighbors were being deported and our trans siblings were attacked and federal workers were pushed out of their jobs and on and on and on; before all that the questions of closing were about whether to sell your building, cutting the paid leadership hours, and how much energy you can devote to church.


If you have some energy remaining, now is a great time to make a significant impact on your community. Put your energy into care of your neighbors, phone calls to political leaders, support groups for trans teens. Risk your remaining money on protecting your neighbors, supporting legal actions, or resourcing displaced workers. Give your money to organizations that have the energy to do the work that you cannot.


Pick one dramatic impact you want to make in the next year, and spend the money and energy to do that.


Imagine how great it will feel to be the church that is making things happen in your town. Right up until the doors close the work that you do will matter in the work for God's Kingdom. 


Imagine using your worship space for a community planning meeting. What advance work will you do to bing your town together in this work? Imagine an evening worship or bible study focused on developing strategies for action. How can you get word out to bring the community in? Imagine a prayer meeting where the main activity is phone banking, find an town leader to provide scripts and call lists, while you provide snacks and Christian arguments for justice.


Imagine how great it will feel to be the church that is making things happen in your town. Right up until the doors close the work that you do will matter in the work for God's Kingdom. 

So far, I'm sure you noticed that I haven't mentioned anything about what is going on right now. Certainly one of my points is that the best reaction to the chaos is to take a deep breath and figure out how to do well those things that churches do well. The name Act! Be Church Now is something I thought of in terms of the current crisis in our government, but Be Church and the idea Act! are essential to my ecclesiology.

The internal work of church is definitely to learn how to be with God. Who we choose to be as a community is what defines our health as a congregation. I'll write more on this in later weeks. But I'm not good at sitting around and praying. My prayers happen while I'm doing things. The answer to these times is to Act! The answer to how to be church has always been Act!

To be sure, especially in dying churches, some people choose to do everything. To try everything. To aim to be everything for everyone. That is not going to help. Anxiety driven action is not what helps us to be the Body of Christ. (Thus, more on how to be coming soon.) But to have a single action, or two actions, that define your congregation to the people outside your doors is essential to my definition of church. The purpose of church is to meet the needs of the people of God--members, visitors, and those in the community we are a part of. (Not all the needs. One of the needs. Two of the needs.)

Both of the churches that I serve right now, and most of the churches I have every served have food pantries. We are taking seriously Jesus command to feed those who are hungry. One church I served also had a moving ministry, providing support, and a truck, for people moving into or out of our town. Another had a healing service and worked with Rape Crisis Center. One of my present churches provides a Rainbow Senior Meal once a month, lunch for the shortest days, dinner and an outdoor BBQ the rest of the time. Another is the sponsor of the town's Bridging Differences group, providing conversations about how we can welcome people across differences in racial identity and sexual orientation.

As you can see, all of these projects are somewhat connected to political environment we are in. But we didn't start them because of that. We started these ministries to serve the needs of people in our community who would otherwise be overlooked. Each of these programs took years to become embedded in our community and to become markers of our identity as church.

That is the gift of church. We have the time to be the steady presence reaching out to a group of people that might be hurt by society at large. We have the time and the foundational values that allow us to set the priority on the relationships that we build. We are not necessarily the most politically astute and we don't have the legal chops. We have, or can choose to build, the relationships with the people who need to be heard. Often it is the church in town that calls the community to gather after a disaster.

So to churches that are making connections with people who would otherwise be ignored--keep going. Keep doing the work you are doing. These relationships are essential to the future of our communities. If your church is not yet making those connections, spend time now figuring out what group that you can reach, and begin the work of building relationships.

I offer to us all this youtube video from the Ezra Klein show.  The point is this--the chaos is meant to overwhelm you. The chaos is meant to distract you. The chaos is the actual strategy. Remember that God creates the world out of chaos, so we can choose to stay focused on God, and focused on our relationships in the community. We can Be Church Now.

​(Send me a note about what your congregation is doing in these times!)