Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot emphasizes the Episcopal Church’s commitment to justice, stating, “One of the vows that we take… is to respect the dignity and worth of every human being.”
The Rt. Rev. Betsey Monnot is the 10th Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa the first woman to serve as bishop since the diocese was formed in 1853. Previously, Monnot served as the priest-in-charge at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Rancho Cordova, California.
Hear the full November 2, 2024 episode here.
TRANSCRIPT:
REV. PAUL BRANDEIS RAUSHENBUSH, HOST:
Bishop Monnot, welcome to The State of Belief. We’re here in Iowa, and we just got through with the press conference. How are you feeling? And how do you understand your role as a bishop in this moment in our democracy?
RT. REV. BETSEY MONNOT, GUEST:
Thank you. This is an exciting day. How I’m feeling right now after this press conference is excited. There were some wonderful speakers. I think this is a moment where we need to come together; it’s all to me about connection and network. And this is one of the themes that I have been talking about in my own diocese, among my churches and among my people, that we need to learn how to be more deeply connected to each other and to God and to our neighbors.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
Yeah. One of the things you spoke about so beautifully in the press conference was really going into your faith and saying, like, this is about loving God, but part of loving God is also loving neighbor. Those two commandments very closely aligned, and and how do you understand those commandments and how that can inspire a democracy that works for everyone?
BETSEY MONNOT:
So one of the vows that we take in the Episcopal Church when we are baptized, part of our baptismal covenant, is to respect the dignity and worth of every human being, and to strive for justice and peace among all people. And both of those are just foundational to what it is to love neighbor. My neighbor may be different from me. They may believe different things or want different things or hope for different things. But I am still called – commanded, really – to treat them with dignity and respect, and to love them and to to treat them the way I would want to be treated.
But there’s a corollary to that, which is to not treat them in a way that I would not want to be treated. So it works both ways. So if I don’t want somebody to take away my rights, I must not take away rights from another person.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
So amazing. We had on on the show a couple of women who were involved in the Black Episcopal Union, and they were telling the story about how, within the Episcopal Church, you really took on book banning and said, this is a constriction of the beloved community. And it’s just an example of how a religious community can really, with authenticity, interact with an important political moment.
BETSEY MONNOT:
So just a quick little story: the youth of our diocese, the children and youth, last year at their summer camp, they made two little free libraries. And one of those is on the grounds of my diocesan office, which just happens to be across the street from a public elementary school; and so they have stocked it with banned books at the elementary school age. So books that would be appropriate for children of that age and families with children of that age, but that are currently banned. So it’s just one tiny little example of something that the Episcopal Church in Iowa is doing against banned books.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
I think that that is a great story. And something that everybody on this show has heard me say this, but it’s about this curtailing of the imagination and the erasing of stories that banning of books does. It’s an anathema to religious freedom and the idea that we have the right to pursue the spiritual world that we live in and be curious. Thank you for that story.
It feels like there’s a lot of those going on in Iowa right now. And, even even the election itself, it’s so fraught. How are you kind of talking about the role of the Episcopal Church in approaching this moment, this bigger moment in our democracy that is really causing a lot of anxiety for a lot of us?
BETSEY MONNOT:
So one of the one of the roles for me is to encourage people to vote, because that’s the basic foundation of our democracy. And when we are treating one another with love, we have to vote. That’s part of what we are called to do.
So another thing is that the Episcopal Church, and, I think, many churches, if not all churches, can become places that people of differing ideas and differing viewpoints can come together and can have open and honest conversation with respect – because we’re here for one purpose. We are here to love God and to love neighbor. And so we should be able to learn how to talk through those different issues and through those different perspectives, so that we can all come to a deeper understanding of one another and a deeper connectedness, as well.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
I think that’s so important. And there’s so few places remaining. It seems like we’re so separated, and all these civic spaces are being kind of hollowed out. So it’s so important, to step into that role.
How do you imagine talking to your people on November 6th? I mean, my guess is November 6th we won’t have a clear winner, necessarily. But there’s going to be a lot of anxiety and a lot of potential disruption. Are you thinking about what your approach will be?
BETSEY MONNOT:
Well, of course, the most important thing is remain calm and waiting. And any kind of political violence is always just absolutely not anything that… It’s just not. It’s just not.
One of the things that I’ve been saying to folks is breathe, breathe deeply. And when we get those moments of anxiety, breathe. And when you breathe in, feel the love of God. Because God loves us, God loves you. And while that might feel like an inadequate response to a political event or political anxiety, in fact it’s the most important thing there is. And from that space, grounded in God’s love, then we can take whatever the next step is – whether that’s reaching out to our neighbors or cooking a meal for somebody who’s hungry or just coming together with the people that we love and being together.
PAUL RAUSHENBUSH:
I actually think it’s so important that you emphasize that kind of spiritual moment. I mean, if we think about Rep. John Lewis, again, who is the inspiration for “The vote is sacred” phrase, in his work to gain the right to vote, they were deeply spiritually-minded about how to take the next step. And so I really appreciate that. Bishop, thank you so much for being with us here today on The State of Belief.
BETSEY MONNOT:
It’s a delight to be with you. Thank you for having me.
