Link to audio recording of lecture. 

The sanctuary of St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Dallas was the perfect setting for William Willimon’s lecture “Keep Christianity Weird: Christian Distinctiveness and the Episcopal Church.” It is something of a weird space itself, with an eclectic architectural style and an interior décor that includes stained-glass windows of Anglican saints alongside a painting of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Anyone walking into the cathedral for the first time might have gotten the sense that this place was somehow delightfully different.

Dr. Willimon commended the value of such distinctiveness in his Saturday-morning lecture, which featured profound insights and warm-hearted humor. One of the best-known preachers in the United States, Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at Duke Divinity School, the prolific author of 70 books, and a United Methodist bishop. Michael A. Turner, a former student of Willimon, describes the professor’s theology in this way: “Willimon, it seems, never tires of telling the Church just how distinctive our way of life should be because of the particular God who has captured us.”[1]

Willimon began the lecture by describing his days as a seminarian at Yale Divinity School, where he learned to preach in what he called “the translation mode.” This was a skeptical and critical reading of the Scriptures which attempted to translate the very different worldview of the ancient scriptures into modern terms. In his view, this approach had a number of problems. In the first place, it allowed modern people, rather than God, to set the agenda for which parts of the Bible can be believed or lived out. It also enabled the “blasphemous hermeneutic” of normalizing Jesus’ teachings for our culture. Finally, it set humanity as the judge over Scripture, rather than allowing Scripture to judge us.

Yet the “translation mode” was a common way of thinking in mainline Protestantism of the early to mid-twentieth century. Conforming to modern culture in matters of theology helped solidify the reasonableness of mainline Protestantism to much of the American population. The Episcopal Church in the 1950s, for example, prided itself on being uniquely positioned to be the unofficial national church of this country. Jokingly referred to as “the Republican Party at prayer,” it stood as perhaps the pinnacle of middle- to upper-class respectability in terms of church affiliation. This helped create what Willimon calls a theology of cultural complacency and comfort.

For many American Christians, however, it became clearer as the modern era progressed that those who were committed to ancient Christian values were becoming more and more distinct from the culture in which they lived. Throughout the latter half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first, the hegemony of Christian culture gave way to a more post-Christian milieu in which Americans “cannot become Christians merely by osmosis from the culture…Christians began to feel like they were being pushed to the margins of a world we once thought we owned.” Rather than lamenting this development, Willimon emphasized that this could be a wonderful time for the Church to recover its sense of being different from the surrounding culture—of being weird, even.

There are several ways in which The Episcopal Church already stands out in American culture. Episcopalians,despite our disproportionate presence in the White House historically, are a rather small religious minority in this country. We number only 2 million members, compared to 70 million Catholics and 16 million Southern Baptists. We owe our roots to an established church affiliated with a monarchy and yet live in a country in which freedom of religion and representative government are key principles. Episcopalians are distinct in the South and in Texas as well. We are a liturgical church in a sea of evangelical megachurches which feature contemporary worship. Episcopalians are also deeply sacramental in a Bible Belt context which exalts altar calls over altars. For these reasons, the Episcopal Diocese of Dallas can tap into several levels of distinctiveness in its witness to the wider culture.

Willimon suggested that part of this countercultural witness would include exactly the opposite kind of exegesis he learned in seminary. In this exegesis, when a preacher encounters an odd biblical text, she won’t try to translate it into modern terms at all. Rather, the preacher would let the weirdness and distinctiveness of the text stand as it is, without apology or sanitation. This approach applies not only to biblical passages about Jesus, but to the entire Christian narrative. Willimon pointed out that Christians say that a particular Jewish man who lived two thousand years ago and was executed by the state by being hanged on a tree is “as much of God as we’ll ever hope to see.” That is a weird message!

The weirdness of Christianity to secular culture lies not only in its message, but in its morality, a point Willimon illustrated with an anecdote. A young Episcopalian man went on a date with a young woman but would not take her home on the first date on account of his convictions. She found this odd, which opened an opportunity for the young man to tell her about his faith and invite her to church. The oddness only continued there—“why is that man wearing a dress? Why is there all this incense?” While the two did not end up as a couple, the woman did eventually come to faith and was baptized—a striking example of “evangelism through the weird.”

The main part of Willimon’s presentation consisted of three reasons why he believed The Episcopal Church is especially positioned to reclaim a countercultural and distinctive voice in this country. Firstly, The Episcopal Church is, at its best, “relentlessly biblical,” especially in the realm of liturgy. The Episcopal liturgy is saturated with Scripture. There are four readings on a typical Sunday service (Old Testament, Psalm, New Testament, and Gospel), more than most church services. Episcopal liturgy also directs its participants to acknowledge the hand of God in Scripture, even in the places that most baffle us. Even if a reading is confusing, counterintuitive, “problematic,” or downright incomprehensible, the reader says, “The Word of the Lord,” and the people respond, “Thanks be to God.”

It is true that critical reflection upon Scripture is encouraged in the Anglican Communion, and that there is more latitude in scriptural interpretation than many other Christian traditions. Yet the blunt fact of Scripture, the givenness of divine revelation in the Word written, is affirmed by our church’s worship. Anglicans can and have come to different conclusions regarding the interpretation of controversial passages of Scripture, but the need to wrestle with the text is not optional.Willimon noted that this aspect of The Episcopal Church is one especially appreciated by those who grew up in a Free Church tradition and made their way into Anglicanism.

Secondly, The Episcopal Church has a vibrant witness in the Book of Common Prayer. Willimon related that when he asked Stanley Hauerwas why he attended an Episcopal parish and not a Methodist congregation, the eminent theologian replied, “It’s the book.” The BCP is a treasure, Willimon believes, because it enables common prayer in the midst of a hyper-individualist culture and objectivity in the midst of the subjectivity which defines much of American Christianity. The BCP shows us that the words we use in our address to God don’t always come naturally; the prayer book helps us express ourselves when we can’t find the words. It is also “a buffer against stupid clergy,” who are restrained from pursuing their theological and ideological flights of fancy in the church’s worship.

Thirdly, The Episcopal Church stresses the importance of the Church to salvation. “Jesus has a Body. Jesus takes up room,” Willimon emphasized, loosely quoting Bonhoeffer. It is the duty of the local church to continue to explore the boundaries of that Body. A difficulty for many Episcopal churches is “keeping up with the Spirit” in terms of integrating into the community whomever Jesus is calling. A parish where only one race, age group, or socioeconomic status is represented is not keeping up with who God is calling into the Church.

“We’ve got to work with whoever Jesus calls into the Body,” Willimon reminded the audience. This can sometimes be messy, because it means we cannot control who comes into the Church, nor can we let only the “the right kind” of people into our community. Being open to all sorts and conditions of people is distinct in a culture that often values exclusivity. Willimon stressed that everything belongs to Jesus, and he is in the process of getting it all back. When Christians are open to who God is calling into the Church, we can experience the fun of partnering with God in God’s “buyback” of the world.

Willimon concluded his lecture by encouraging the audience to revel in the weirdness of Jesus, Christianity, and The Episcopal Church. How can we take advantage of this distinctiveness in the present cultural moment? Willimon’s talk has given the people of the Diocese of Dallas some interesting thoughts to reflect upon as we attempt to answer that question in the coming years.

The Rev. Lorenzo Galuszka is curate at St. Peter’s in McKinney. He studied theology at Yale Divinity School and worked as a hospital chaplain before his ordination to the diaconate.

[1]William H. Willimon, A Peculiar Prophet: William Willimon and the Craft of Preaching, ed. Michael A. Turner and William F. Malambri (Nashville, Abingdon Press, 2004).