CHAPTER 1

Where Do Bishops Come From?

First Things First—Let's Meet Jesus

You may have heard stories in church that begin, "There was once someone who did such amazing things and said such wonderful things that people followed him." And if you have not heard that particular phrase, you probably know whom that story is about or who told that story.

Write out the letters of that person's name.

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Here is how you can say "Jesus Loves Me" in sign language.

Practice this sentence and you can pray it quietly anywhere. To know something well, teach it to someone else.

Names of Jesus

Since Jesus' name is known all over the world, there are many ways to write, speak, and pray his name.

See if you can find names for Jesus in other languages.

Singing About Jesus

Jesus is so much more than a name that we write out, sign, or discover in other languages. Jesus is God. Jesus is friend. We can see Jesus—or the Christ within—in everything around us. Meeting and knowing Jesus is done through prayer, play, helping others (service), and knowing deep inside that every one of us is a child of God.

This spiritual works well with percussion—finger snapping, clapping, foot tapping, shakers, or pencils on a desktop.

If anybody asks you who you are, who you are, who you are, If anybody asks you who you are, just tell them you're a child of God.

If anybody asks you who he is, who he is, If anybody asks you who he is, just tell them he's a child of God.

If anybody asks you who she is, who she is, who she is, If anybody asks you who she is, just tell them she's a child of God.

If anybody asks you who we are, who we are, who we are, If anybody asks you who we are, just tell them we're all children of God.

The music is written out below. Don't worry if you can't read music, or find someone to help read it, or you can even make up your own melody.

Child of God

Jesus Then

One of the ways we understand more about Jesus is to read the stories about him in the Second Testament (also referred to as the New Testament) of the Bible.

Jewish tradition considers a boy to be a young man (adult) at the age of twelve. That tradition continues today with bar mitzvahs for boys and bat mitzvahs for girls acknowledging the transition from childhood. In Jesus' time, a law required that every adult Jewish male who lived near Jerusalem go to that holy city for Passover. This story from the Gospel of Luke is an indication of how eager Jesus was to study and discuss the Torah, the book of the First or Hebrew Testament.

Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day's journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, "Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety." He said to them, "Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor. (Luke 2:41–52)

Can you imagine being so excited about something you're learning that you forget the time and to go home with your family? Mary probably thought Jesus was with Joseph since the women traveled separately from the men in those days. Joseph probably thought that Jesus was with Mary. When Jesus returned home, Luke tells us that Jesus then "went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man."

God speaks to us through our interests and what excites us. Consider what you truly love to do. Is it talking with friends and family? The strategy of playing a game? Sports? Caring for pets? Reading? Making art, poetry, or music? Making others feel at ease? Every one of us is part of the Kingdom of Heaven and can find clues for God's plan for us by paying attention to the things we genuinely love to do.

There is a practice called an examen. The word "examination" derives from this Latin root and was the basis for spiritual reflections by St. Ignatius. Cut out the box on the next page and keep it next to your bed. Before going to sleep, you can go through the examen process and discover how God is working in your life and Jesus is with you. It is a great way to "put the day to bed" and look forward to a night of deep rest.

The Lord's Prayer

As Jesus grew older, he continued to think deeply about the Torah. As he traveled he used it in his teaching and preaching. His disciples and thousands of people who wanted to hear what Jesus had to say followed him.

One of his most famous teaching moments is when he said this about prayer:

And whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, so that they may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you ... for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Pray then in this way:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us to the time of trial, but rescue us from the evil one. (Matthew 6:5–13)

This teaching, preaching, and prayer from Jesus is something we use and do every single day. When we pray the prayer above in Episcopal churches together, we hear "Now let us pray as Christ the Lord taught us...." This is a most important prayer, so let's pause and consider it.

Under each phrase, write or discuss what that means to you personally, how you understand its meaning. Can you rephrase it in words that are more personal?

1. Our Father in heaven

2. Hallowed (holy) be your name

3. Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

4. Give us today our daily bread.

5. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

6. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil

You can put each phrase on an index card. Take a different one each day and think about how the Lord's Prayer is being acted out in your family's life, at school, or at church.

Jesus Today

In those days after the resurrection, Jesus came to visit his friends. He taught and even cooked a meal for them. After forty days, he ascended into heaven, but remains with us as more than a memory. At Pentecost, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to be our comforter and inspiration. While we may not be able to see Jesus today, we know he is with us.

When we serve him in spirit, we can sense Jesus' presence.

We can get to know Jesus through prayer and particularly by being open to the people the Holy Spirit brings to us every day. The Holy Spirit is that helper Jesus said would bring his memory alive again so much so that it is vivid and real.

Many people ask: "What would Jesus do?" Some wear bracelets with the abbreviation "WWJD" as a reminder. Another question we can ask ourselves, particularly if someone is being very difficult, is: "What if this person was Jesus?" or has some part of Jesus we can't see right away. What is Jesus up to right now in my life? What is the invitation? When we seek to meet Jesus every day, we grow into our best possible selves.

If your day is just beginning, take a moment to pray that you have open eyes, ears, heart, and mind to meet Jesus. If this is the end of the day, go over what you did from when you got up to when you started getting ready for bed. Was there an opportunity to meet Jesus?

Using the blank beads on the bracelet below, write in ways you can meet and serve Jesus.

The Great Commission

We know the stories from and about Jesus through four books of the Bible that we refer to as "The Gospels." These are the stories passed on by communities who followed Jesus' teaching in the early church. The four books are Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Three of those books tell the story known as the Great Commission. It is an important summary Jesus left for us to do. And it is an assurance. Here it is from the book of Matthew:

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19–20)

The story of the Great Commission is found in Mark, chapter 3, verses 13–19, and Luke, chapter 6, verses 12–16. If you want to be a real scholar, see how these stories are different and wonder why they might be different. You may want to draw a picture of what you imagine that moment was like when Jesus spoke these words.

People who followed Jesus very closely: they lived and shared food together, as well as his teaching and healing. They stepped out in faith and love every day. They were known as his disciples, meaning students or learners. At some point the disciples became known as apostles. Apostle means "one who is sent." They took what they had learned and became the teachers. The twelve apostles we know in the Bible are specific people.

Draw a line in both directions from the name of each of these followers to a word that describes who they were and what they did:

Listen DISCIPLE Follower
Pray Learner
Learn Evangelist
Teach Witness
Worship APOSTLE Pupil
Seek peace Companion
Share Apprentice
Travel with Jesus Teacher
Adherent

Following Jesus, Jesus Now—The Risen Christ

The historical Jesus has become the risen Christ who is present through God's Spirit. No matter how old we are, we can all be followers of Jesus once we have met him. We can be disciples and apostleseven at the same time. We can live each day with our senses open to God's will for us as learners, teachers, creators, and just being ourselves.

Some think the apostles became Apostles ("Team Apostle") when Jesus commissioned them. Others think it happened on the day of Pentecost. Whenever it happened, their way of thinking and being began to change. See how many people were deeply affected on that first day of Pentecost:

So those who welcomed his message were baptized, and that day about three thousand persons were added. They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. (Acts 2:41–4)

Before followers of Jesus were called Christians, those who were changed by Jesus' work said they followed The Way. Christianity started with communities of children, adults, and elders, bound together by fellowship, the breaking of bread, service, and in prayer. Many lived together, sharing possessions and helping each other. Today we call that "mutual aid" because people realize that a community is strongest when it cares for the weakest members.

One of the reasons the Good News (Gospel) of Jesus spread was that each of those twelve Apostles went out and traveled; teaching and sharing so that even more people would know Jesus' message of love and justice.

Write about or draw one activity you did today that was the activity of a disciple or an apostle.

Team Apostle

Investigate those who were on the first Team Apostle. Where did each one travel? What did each one teach? Team Apostle continues today and includes bishops, priests, deacons, and you and your friends. Draw faces on the more recent members of Team Apostle.

Grow with Team Apostle

Paul's letters (epistles) record that he was a member of Team Apostle: encouraging, advising, and evangelizing. The Good News of Jesus and his teachings quickly spread due to the work of people like Paul.

Many study bibles include maps of Paul's travels. You may want to investigate the places he traveled to and which routes he took to get to them. Read the epistles to see what Paul's concerns and hopes were for each of these communities.

Try this activity to see how Christianity grew exponentially. You will need a lot of room to draw and write for this activity. Have on hand something like a roll of plain paper, or chalk on a chalkboard or sidewalk before you begin.

1. At the far left of your writing space, draw a picture representing Paul.

2. To the right of Paul, starting at the top of the writing space, write this list of places we are certain Paul visited:

• Rome

• Corinth

• Galatia

• Ephesus

• Philippi

• Colossae

• Thessalonica

3. We're going to be guessing a little here because we want to show how something can increase exponentially. Suppose each of those seven locations has only one church with 100 followers. Next to each location, draw a box with the number 100 written in each one.

4. Let's continue to imagine a little. Suppose three people in each church told one person who really began to understand and love Jesus. Draw three lines—maybe like a fan—out from each of those seven boxes.

5. Draw three boxes next to each of those three fans. You should now have 63 boxes. We're being very conservative and assuming that only three people told others the Good News. It would have been more likely that each of those 63 boxes represents a new house church with at least 25 people coming to worship and share. In just three exchanges of this little activity, we can see that 1,575 people had their lives changed in probably less than a year.

Paul traveled for many years, visiting more places than the seven listed above. He was not the only one spreading the Good News. There were twelve members of Team Apostle traveling and teaching. The 3,000 who began to follow Jesus on the Day of Pentecost could not have kept the life-changing experience of knowing Jesus to themselves. This is the kind of growth that cannot be written out on a roll of paper—someone would have to write a computer program to count the numbers.

The Early Church

The story of bishops begins in the Bible.

Remember those 3,000 people who changed their lives on that first Pentecost? They couldn't keep this new way of living to themselves. Each one told others about it, they then told others, and the communities began to grow and spread all over the world they knew. This was also due to the hard work of Team Apostle.

When we look at the early church, we recognize that the language used in the part of the world where Christianity was born was Greek. Many of the words we use today—in church and outside of church—come from Greek roots. Knowing the history of the words helps us understand their deeper meanings.

Ekklesia, for example, means "the gathered" or a community of believers. Ekklesia also means "church," but not church as a building or a place to "go to." The church really is the people gathered, figuring out or discerning God's will for their lives.

As the early church—the gathered communities of those following The Way—grew, they needed a leader to help them. The Greek word for a leader of a community is presbyteros, which is now interpreted as presbyter or priest. These kinds of leaders are not like officers in the military, but more like teachers. Their role is to encourage and bring out the best in the people in a particular faith community.

Still, the early Christians needed ways to connect with each other. They realized that as they went beyond their immediate location and built relationships with other communities in this new growing family of churches, an overseer was needed: someone who could visit the different communities, listen and participate in what was going on, share information, and help them out. The Greek word for overseer is episkopos. It also means to visit, to look into someone's needs with the intention of helping him or her. Episkopos in English nowadays means "bishop."

Say the word "[TEXT NOT REPRODUCIBLE IN ASCII]" out loud. What word are you reminded of when you hear the four syllables? What words are you reminded of when you say the third syllable? It is the same root of the words microscope and telescope and gives us an important clue as to the role of a bishop.