Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde

This past week the Episcopal Bishop of Washington, Mariann Edgar Budde, made headlines for the final portion of her homily during the inauguration prayer service. Budde made a plea to President Trump "to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now." As a result of these words, Budde has simultaneously been praised for preaching the heart of Jesus's gospel message and prophetically speaking truth to power, and has also been accused of weaponizing the pulpit in order to attack the president.

Though the final portion of Budde's homily is what went viral, it is worth giving her entire message a read. Budde spent most of her time speaking about unity as an antidote to divisiveness and a culture of contempt. Budde said this about unity:

"Joined by many across the country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a nation—not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good. Unity, in this sense, is the threshold requirement for people to live together in a free society, it is the solid rock, as Jesus said, in this case upon which to build a nation. It is not conformity. It is not a victory of one over another. It is not weary politeness nor passivity born of exhaustion. Unity is not partisan. Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree."

Budde acknowledges that unity is not something we can just hope and pray for. Instead, it requires commitment and must be built on the foundations of dignity, honesty, and humility.

If you are interested in reading more from Budde, you may want to read one of her books!