The cult of "busyness"

from Episcopal Cafe by Nicholas Knisely

Why did the bishops of the Church of England differ so strikingly from their clergy in their voting about the Anglican Covenant? Sam Norton, an English priest argues that it's because the Church of England's "stupid and ungodly culture" honors being busy more than it honors the work of the discernment of God's will.

"[…][It seems to me that a significant part of this is the culture inhabited by the hierarchy which prevents a genuine and honest conversation from taking place - homosexuality is the presenting issue but the issues go much deeper than that. Put simply I don't believe that it is possible to be a Bishop and to tell the truth (with some honourable exceptions).

The roots of this are manifold, but I want to draw attention to one in particular - and that is the cult of overwork that has taken hold in the Church, in mimicry of the surrounding culture. It is this cult of overwork and 'busyness' that I see as stupid and ungodly. It is this cult that has radically diminished the capacity of the bench of bishops to exercise holy discernment. After all, how many Bishops do you know that are not absurdly overworked? The research is pretty clear that overwork leads to a significant decrease in productivity and is self-destructive - but appreciating that requires the application of wisdom, and it is precisely that wisdom that flies out of the window when a person is exhausted. We cannot expect our Bishops to exercise holy discernment and godly leadership if at the same time we are also expecting them to work 70 and 80 hour weeks (the same thing applies to clergy of course).

Of course, as Christians we are more than usually vulnerable to this cult of overwork because it appeals to our co-dependent culture and masochistic minister syndrome - if we are not suffering then we are not being properly godly. This is pernicious nonsense, and rooted in some very bad theology (not least the doctrine of penal substitution). It is as if we equate the way of the cross with the decision to mimic the world's obsessions, when a proper understanding of the cross would lead to precisely the opposite conclusion. The development of the stipend was originally to allow at least one person in a parish to have time for prayer; it is a sad irony that, as with many salaried posts, it has become an excuse to extract the maximum amount of labour for the minimum amount of expenditure.

In Stephen Donaldson's Thomas Covenant novels there is one character, a thaumaturge, who carries around a small child on his back, called a croyel. The child never grows up but does, periodically die - and is then replaced by another. As the story develops it becomes clear that the thaumaturge is simply siphoning off the life-force of each successive child in order to preserve his own immortality. It's a frightening image, but one that I feel captures the way that the church treats all those who work for it - full-timers, part-timers, volunteers. What we expect from our bishops and clergy is exactly what happened with Microsoft - use up the resource until it is a dry husk and then discard and replace with another. The needs of the institution - keeping the show on the road - is paramount, and the church continues to sacrifice its children on this idol's altar. It's long time past for us to stop."

Twitter is lighting up with Church of England people saying that Sam has this exactly right. I expect there are a number of TEC people who'd signal their agreement as well.

So, as we prepare to enter Holy Week, what are we doing to play down the busy and play up the discernment?

Exactly what I said

WHAT’S-HIS-FACE

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

Katharine Jefferts Schori has an Easter message up.  You’ll be pleased to know that the Presiding Bishop has some good Easter news for a change:

As we began Lent, I asked you to think about the Millennium Development Goals and our work in Lent as a re-focusing of our lives. I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the U.N. report this last year has shown some significant accomplishment in a couple of those goals, particularly in terms of lowering the rates of the worst poverty, and in achieving better access to drinking water and better access to primary education. We actually might reach those goals by 2015. That leaves a number of other goals as well as what moves beyond the goals to full access for all people to abundant life.

Yay!  We finally have something to celebrate during what is always a really grim time of year.  I’m not sure exactly what this means.


In this Easter season I would encourage you to look at where you are finding new life and resurrection, where life abundant and love incarnate are springing up in your lives and the lives of your communities. There is indeed greenness, whatever the season.

See if you can guess what isn’t here.  At all.  Here’s a hint: it’s a short, personal name and it begins with a J.  In the English language, at any rate.

Petitio principii: a Master Shows Us How [UPDATED]

from Anglican Curmudgeon by A. S. Haley

Bishop Shannon Johnston of Virginia gives us all a lesson in the fallacy known to the ancients as petitio principii:

May the members of a congregation leave a hierarchical denomination and take the church property with them?

You are begging the question, Bishop Johnston -- you have assumed the answer you want in the way you have chosen to phrase the query. In plainer words, you have asked: "May the members of a congregation leave a denomination which owns all that congregation's property and take the denomination's property with them?" By resorting to a rhetorical fallacy from the outset, you are off to a very bad start.

At great cost in time, effort, money and friendship — on both sides — the answer for the Episcopal Church in Virginia is no.

Well -- no, Bishop Johnston, not exactly. The answer given by one circuit court in Virginia is "no"; but the Circuit Court of Fairfax County does not speak for all the courts of Virginia.  Only the Virginia Supreme Court may do that, and it has not ruled on your "question." But I agree with you about the "great cost" involved to get to such a non-definitive point. And that may cause concern for some of your other contentions, below.

Many have followed this case and shared their opinions, both supporting and criticizing our effort to return Episcopal properties to the mission of the Episcopal Church. It’s tempting for this dispute to be about property, or politics, or just plain money. But the essence of the dispute is about theology itself.

You are not making sense, Bishop Johnston. You just touted one response of a secular civil court in Virginia to your initial question as definitive -- yet now you say that the actual question is a theological one? Courts don't decide theological questions, Bishop Johnston -- nor do litigants spend upwards of five million dollars to obtain an answer to a question that courts cannot decide.

It sounds to me very much as though the dispute was about "property, or politics, or just plain money," Bishop Johnston.  Why not be honest about it? Your Diocese needs the congregations' properties in order to be able to pay off the amounts you borrowed to finance your confiscations of those properties through the courts. That may not have been what the dispute was about at the outset, Bishop Johnston (when you were not there), but it is what the dispute has become now.

Many denominations have a governance (“polity”) that allows for congregational self-determination. For hierarchical bodies, such as the Episcopal, Roman Catholic, Lutheran, United Methodist and Presbyterian churches, it is quite a different matter. In these churches, local congregations represent and witness to the larger structure. 

It sounds as though you are assuming facts "not in evidence," Bishop Johnston. Your phrase "represent and witness to the larger structure" stands the initial principles of your distinguished predecessor in the House of Bishops, the Rt. Rev. William White, on their head. What he wrote in 1782 was that the larger structure would be subservient to and representative of the local congregations and dioceses, not the other way around:

The continental representative body may consist of a convenient number from each of the larger districts, formed equally of clergy and laity, and among the clergy, formed equally of presiding ministers and others; to meet statedly once in three years. The use of this and the preceding representative bodies is to make such regulations, and receive appeals in such matters only, as shall be judged necessary for their continuing one religious communion.

Do you see Bishop White's use -- twice -- of that word "representative", Bishop Johnston? The larger Church was to be representative of the individual congregations, and to function only as necessary to maintain "one religious communion." Indeed, since it was to meet only once every three years, the "larger structure" was not even a continuing presence in the life of that communion.

But let's return to your history lesson, Bishop Johnston:

Our polity has been established and codified for almost 2,000 years and is the result of a theological view of what the Church is and how it should be governed. 

In our tradition, it is the diocese, not the congregation, that is the basic unit of the Church. The bishop is its chief pastor. 

I trust you are aware, Bishop Johnston, that it is only in terms of the polity of a worldwide communion of churches that you can describe a diocese as a "basic unit."  When you speak of an individual church in that communion, however, you need to talk about "mission," and to remember that a diocese has to have parishes to fulfill that mission. A diocese can never amount to anything without parishes to do the work of mission on the ground; it might as well be a monastery. And please note your own words: you are supposed to be "the chief pastor" of the diocese -- not its chief litigator.

The Church’s clergy vow to serve under the authority of their bishop. The elected leaders of congregations do the same. 

In my Episcopal church here in California, the vestry members are sworn into their office by promising to perform their duties "well and faithfully."  They make no vow of submission to the Bishop, as the clergy do upon ordination (but only in the sense of obeying their Bishop "in all things lawful and honest"). I am not sure whether it is different in Virginia -- perhaps a commenter can enlighten us.

The congregations that separated from the Episcopal Church always existed within the authority of this tradition and polity. Without question, the members of these congregations were free to leave this authority, but according to the ancient polity to which they themselves subscribed, the diocese retains its right, and its generational responsibility, of oversight for the ministry of the local church.

"Oversight for the ministry of the local church" becomes rather moot once that local church votes to disaffiliate, does it not, Bishop Johnston? How can you oversee something which is no longer there -- which no longer invites you to visit, or to confirm their members?

We have a defining commitment to this ancient theology and tradition. 

I think a Great Rhetorical Leap must be coming.  I am not certain where this is going, but that sentence simply begs all sorts of questions: (a) "defining commitment" - what commitment, and who defined it? (b) "ancient theology and tradition" - they are by no means the same. In short, one can erect any number of conclusions on top of that sentence.

We have a fiduciary duty to ensure that properties given to the Episcopal Church are used for its mission.

Now you have jumped again from theology to law, Bishop Johnston. Moreover, there you go again, begging the question! Who said that they were "properties given to the Episcopal Church"?? And if they were, why wasn't that Church's name on any of the deeds?

And, oh, the irony in those words -- "used for its mission"! Can you not see their two meanings  -- depending on how one reads the "mission" of the Episcopal Church (USA) to be?

If its "mission" is to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who are ignorant of the Good News, then that is one thing. But in that case, it is very difficult, as already noted, to bring the Good News to those whom you have already driven out, and who hence want no longer to hear from you.  Hanging on to the properties does not accomplish that mission, if there is no one to worship in them. Moreover, please note, as stated above, that Dioceses cannot do "mission" on their own. They need congregations for that.

But if the "mission" of ECUSA is defined by the over sixty lawsuits it has brought against former congregations, former bishops and their diocesan structures, then do you see the irony in your claiming to have a duty to "ensure that those properties "are used for its mission"? Do you see that irony, Bishop Johnston? I thought not.

That duty, however, is theologically based; we are called to be good stewards of property given to us by our forebears. Stewardship is a theological concept: we give thanks for the gifts God has given to us all. Stewards are bound to preserve gifts for future generations. The leaders of the departed congregations have asserted that this case was never about buildings or money but about larger principles. On that we agree.

Back to theology again, Bishop Johnston -- and my head is starting to spin. Biblical "stewardship" is a far broader concept than the legal one of "fiduciary duty." A fiduciary may indeed have to bring a lawsuit if the property placed in his care for others is stolen. But a Christian steward? Dealing with property that is not legally his, but ultimately God's? And watching that property remain in the service of God as it always has, and then deciding that he has a better use for it? Such as selling it to repay debts he has unwisely incurred?  Doesn't sound very "stewardly" to me, Bishop Johnston.

The matter of biblical interpretation is at the heart of the issues, and there are real differences. Differences over biblical interpretation, not authority, remain unsettled. Even so, the common, ancient tradition as to authority, polity and property stands with the diocese and its bishop.

Oh dear, oh dear. Look at what you just wrote, Bishop Johnston. "Differences over interpretation" remain "unsettled", but not "differences over authority"? Are you sure there are no differences over authority, Bishop Johnston? Then why did all of your larger congregations decide that they no longer wanted you to have any authority over them?

And in your next sentence, you just jumped the shark, Bishop Johnston. For you slipped that word "property" in, didn't you, hoping that no one would notice? So now "the common, ancient tradition as to  . . . property stands with the diocese and its bishop? Is that the way the Church fathers understood things?

While you look for some citations from the Church fathers to support your outlandish claim, Bishop Johnston, I have just one question for you. If the bishop's control over parish property was always such a fixed matter of authority and polity, then why did the Episcopal Church have to pass the Dennis Canon in 1979?

Still looking for that citation, Bishop Johnston? And no answer to my question? Well, let's continue:

To be absolutely clear, as bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Virginia, I do not want merely an outcome from the court; I seek a witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I pray blessings upon those congregations who have made the painful decision to leave the Episcopal Church. They have prayed for the diocese and for me. Despite our dispute, we are being as gracious as we possibly can by providing smooth transitions for those congregations. And we must find ways to minister where we have much in common, such as in South Sudan. We both work to help those who face the perils of daily life there, most notably from the infamous Lord’s Resistance Army. There is no reason — and no excuse — why we cannot do so together. Both sides must seek ministries in which we can, in unity, serve a society and a world in desperate need. In doing so, we will find one another again as brothers and sisters in the one God and thus be better disciples of the Lord we all follow.

An absolutely fine and noble Christian sentiment, Bishop Johnston. You will find no Christian who disagrees with you in those aims. It is just too bad that their expression came after you had spent so much time rigging the rhetorical playing field.

What’s next? We begin anew, as we hope those who left the Episcopal Church will, too. Dayspring is the biblical term for a new dawn that speaks of God breaking through to do new things. Our Dayspring initiative is renewing and restarting Episcopal congregations and returning Episcopal congregations to their church homes. We will ensure that all recovered properties serve the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church and thus serve our Lord Jesus Christ.

"New things," Bishop Johnston? Where have I heard those words before?  Oh, yes -- another bishop in ECUSA said them (quoting Isaiah) just before embarking on the largest campaign of internecine warfare in the Chruch's history. "Returning Episcopal congregations to their church homes"? That very much remains to be seen, Bishop Johnston. And as for seeing that "all recovered properties serve the mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church"? I've already pointed out the extreme irony in those words, Bishop Johnston, and you do not help matters when you add the non sequitur "and thus serve our Lord Jesus Christ."

I have every confidence that our congregations will thrive. The Episcopal Church is built upon and celebrates its ancient roots, but is a faith in and for the modern world. Join us in God’s ancient yet new work.

Begging the question again, Bishop Johnston. But that's where we came in.



[UPDATE 03/30/2012: If the Bishop's remarks in the Post were intended to be read as extending an olive branch, his diocese's post-trial conduct has been anything but. Indeed, it was such as to give the lie to the good Bishop, and in light of what has now occurred, to make his remarks appear as a calculated countermove on the PR front.

For today, Truro Church filed its appeal of Judge Bellows' judgment to the Virginia Supreme Court, and The Falls Church (joined by Truro) filed a motion with the trial court to stay the judgment and set a supersedeas bond. (H/T: Baby Blue. Truro's notice of appeal will probably be linked on Monday.)

Once the court fixes the amount, the bond -- in the form of cash or security given by a bonding company -- is posted by the appellants to allow the case to be heard and decided by the appellate court without having to first turn over all of their bank accounts and properties to the diocese. The amount is set by the court to compensate the latter for the "loss" the diocese would incur from not taking possession of the properties immediately, and from having to wait until the Virginia Supreme Court acts on the appeal. (As noted in an earlier post, the Court has complete discretion: it can take the appeal and set it for argument and decision, or it can decline to hear it altogether, in which case the judgment below would become final if not appealed further -- see below.)

This move is probably best understood not only as a reaction to the punitive requests of the diocese following announcement of the judgment, but also as a precautionary move to keep the judgment from becoming final while we wait to see whether or not the United States Supreme Court will grant review on the three cert petitions now before it from the Supreme Courts of Georgia and Connecticut. Whether or not the Virginia Supreme Court agrees to take the appeal, a petition for certiorari could be filed with the United States Supreme Court -- asking it to review either Judge Bellows' decision directly (if the Virginia Court declines to take the appeal), or any eventual decision by the Virginia Supreme Court (if it upholds Judge Bellows' decision).

Meanwhile, in a separate announcement, the Church of the Epiphany, in Herndon, announced jointly with the Episcopal Diocese that they had reached a settlement. (Thus Epiphany will not be filing an appeal.) The terms require the Church to pay $520,750 to the Diocese over a period of two years, without interest, and to vacate their buildings by April 30 (except for their day school, which will remain through the end of the school year).

Skip's new church

“Old church takes bold new step”  Where?  Off a ledge?

from Stand Firm by Timothy Fountain 

“Old church takes bold new step” is the headline of an Albany, NY timesunion.com article  about (stay with me, now) a “liberal” Episcopal Church getting pastoral oversight from a “liberal” bishop rather than the “conservative” bishop of the “conservative” diocese in which said “liberal” parish is stuck.  (Liberal and conservative are the terms used in the article.  They are more the language of our polarized national politics but hey, the article turns out to be more about a particular political cause than about the church anyway.)

This is an arrangement called DEPO, for “Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight.”  It was a method tried out at first to help traditional Episcopal congregations guided by the Bible, church tradition and reasoned reflection who were under pressure from bishops and dioceses run by single issue (OK, LGBTQ) activists, bishops opposed to the Bible as the authority for Christian belief and practice, and bishops denying Christ as the unique Savior of the world and other foundations of faith in Christ.  A congregation could appeal to have pastoral visits, Confirmations and other ministries from a Bishop supportive of the congregation’s theology and spirituality.

It is only fair that the same arrangement should be used for LGBTQ, anti-Biblical or Christophobic congregations suffering under traditionally Christian bishops.  And so it is that the Episcopalians of St. George’s Church, Schenectady applied for and received visitation from a neighboring bishop named Gladstone “Skip” Adams, best known for closing an evangelical parish and it’s ministry to the local poor, then selling the facility at well below market to an Islamic center.  St. George’s remains part of the Albany diocese led by traditional bishop William Love, but will receive direct care from Adams.

But this step, which the article lauds as “bold, cutting edge, creative” and filled with all of the usual buzz words that I won’t bother to retype for you here, is simply another revelation that we have two mutually exclusive belief systems trying to pass as one church.  What seems tolerant and gentle at first glance is just evidence that people don’t share core convictions, priorities or even affection strong enough to keep them together in any meaningful way.

So the “bold step” is the one offered by Satan to Jesus in the wilderness, the offer to jump off of a tower in the expectation that God’s job is to catch us and kiss our boo-boo away.  The “cutting edge” is just more mutilation of the body of Christ, working against Jesus’ own prayer and incurring God’s judgment.
It bears saying that some of the few traditional bishops left in The Episcopal Church see DEPO as an important safeguard.  As the article points out, DEPO was instituted as a response to the concerns of traditional Christians in the denomination.

But their more humble tone (compared to the smug stuff in the timesunion.com piece) does not make “conservative” DEPO any better than “liberal” DEPO when it comes to the state of the denomination.  It isn’t just St. George’s, Schenectady that is an “old church.”  The Episcopal Church has some of the worst statistics and trends in the nation when it comes to attendance decline, age of members, financially distressed congregations and excluded groups (men, blue collar people and young people in particular).  It continues to look for a magic pill that will reverse these trends, having attempted decades of changes that were supposed to open the church door to all kinds of people, and have by almost every measure resulted in people exiting without being replaced.

But there’s DEPO, which can at least sustain the lofty version of Christian charity, unity and mission held out by the leaders of St. George’s, Schenectady:

Senior Warden David Kennison said the congregation voted overwhelmingly at its annual meeting in January to link with Adams under DEPO. “We are not trying to hurt the diocese,” he said. “It’s just that we don’t agree on everything.”

Truro Church files notice of appeal to the VA Supreme Court

from BabyBlueOnline by BabyBlue

Supreme Court of Virginia

Truro Church has filed a notice of an appeal to the Virginia Supreme Court regarding the recent ruling of the Fairfax Circuit Court.  Truro's Notice of Appeal is here.

In addition to the notice of appeal, The Falls Church (at this time) filed today aMotion to Suspend Execution of the Final Order and to Set the Supersedeas Bondand Truro filed a Motion to Stay Execution of the Final Order and to Set the Supersedeas Bond.

In light of these filings today, Bishop Shannon Johnston's Washington Post editorialshould probably be read in light of these anticipated filings.  Curmudgeon has his commentary up here on the editorial.

Church of the Epiphany has settled with the Diocese of Virginia and their joint statement is here.

Someone in pecusa has noticed "a sobering read"

Why did they leave? And where did they go?

from The Lead by Andrew Gerns

In the late fall of 2011, Bishop David M. O’Connell, of Trenton, N.J., surveyed nearly 300 nonchurchgoing Catholics in his diocese asking some simple question: "Why did you leave?" and "Where did you go?"
While Episcopalians think of themselves as a logical alternative to Catholicism, a close read of what was said by these lapsed Catholics should be a sobering read for us. How much of this sounds familiar?

The survey was undertaken by the Villanova University’s Center for the Study of Church Management via mail and e-mail using a series of open-ended questions.

America Magazine reports:

An overwhelming number of respondents told us they had left both their parish and the church. About a quarter said they had separated themselves from the parish, but still considered themselves to be Catholic. One respondent wrote: “I separated my family from the Catholic Church and turned to an alternate religion for a while and then returned knowing I had the right religion but the wrong people running it.” Several chose to specify that they separated themselves from “the hierarchy.”

A fair amount of ambivalence was exhibited in response to our question whether separation was a conscious decision or not. Relatively few indicated that they simply “drifted away.”

One 23-year-old female said, “I felt deceived and undervalued by the church. I didn’t understand certain things and found no mentors within the church. I just stopped going because my community of friends and family were no longer in the church.” Another woman wrote, “I tried different Catholic churches in the area because I just didn’t seem to be getting anything out of the Mass, especially the homily.” Another person said, “I stopped going regularly because the homilies were so empty. And whenever the church wanted to raise money, they dropped the homily and talked money.” There were many complaints about the quality of homilies as well as poor music at Mass.

The scandal surrounding the sexual abuse of minors by clergy was mentioned often. “The bishop’s refusal to list pedophile priests on the diocesan Web site and his non-support of the effort to lift the statute of limitations for bringing sexual abuses cases forward in the courts” did it for me, said one man.

Okay. We know this from the former Roman Catholics who have come to the Episcopal Church. But look closely at what respondents said about what it would take to bring them back to Church. How would we fare on some of these same concerns? I wonder if we asked 300 lapsed or former Episcopalians, what would we discover about our welcome, the substance of our teaching, and the quality of our community life?

We also asked: “Are there any changes your parish might make that would prompt you to return?” Respondents clearly welcomed the opportunity to express their opinions. We found no easily discernible trend in their replies, but their generally positive tone suggests the wisdom of finding ways for all Catholics to post their views somehow “on the record,” with an assurance that they will be heard. Here are just a few of the many replies this question drew:

“Be accepting of divorced and remarried congregants.”

“I’m looking for more spiritual guidance and a longer sermon.”

“Return to a more consultative and transparent approach.”

“Change the liberal-progressive political slant to a more conservative, work-ethic atmosphere.”

“Make the homilies more relevant; eliminate the extreme conservative haranguing.”

“Provide childcare and a children’s ministry.”

“Give us an outwardly loving, kind, Christian Catholic priest/pastor.”

Our question about whether or not their pastor was “approachable or welcoming” drew a number of warm and positive answers. About half of the respondents, however, were not enthusiastically supportive of their pastors. Where pastors and parishes were named, we gave that information to the bishop and recommended that he deal with the issues privately and avoid unnecessary public embarrassment when he goes public with our report. Words like "arrogant,” “distant,” “aloof,” and “insensitive” appeared often enough to suggest that attention must be paid to evidence of “clericalism” in the diocese.

Most respondents were positive or neutral in response to our question about the approachability of parish staff. There were sufficient reports of bad experiences over the parish telephone, however, to suggest that attention should be paid to courtesy and improved “customer relations.”

By a margin of about two-to-one, respondents reported that they did at one time consider themselves to be part of a parish community. On the negative side, here are two interesting replies elicited by this question:

“As much as I wanted to get involved and expand my faith, there were no clear avenues to do that. So it was just a place to attend Mass. And because attending Mass was a guilt-ridden obligation, I was always alone in a crowd where I knew no one and no one knew me.”

“I did not experience community in the sense that I knew people just from going to church. The ones I knew, I knew them outside of church. No one misses the fact that we stopped going. No one has called from the parish even though we were regular attendees and envelope users!”

Where'd they go?

The vast majority of respondents said no to our question about whether they considered themselves now to be members of another faith community. Those who do consider themselves affiliated with another church spanned a wide range, including Buddhist and Jewish on the fringe and Lutheran, Episcopal, Baptist and Presbyterian clustered in the middle.

ANATHEMA!!

from Midwest Conservative Journal by The Editor

WARNING: anyone with a particularly sensitive nature should avoid reading this post.  I realize that by merely reporting this story, I am participating in a great sin and for that I do earnestly repent, am heartily sorry for this my misdoing and humbly and abjectly beg mercy.  But unfortunately, I am obliged to relate that Eliud Wabukala, the Anglican Archbishop of Kenya, recently…shudder…blasphemed against the Millennium Development Goals[peace and blessings be upon them]:

The Archbishop of Kenya has criticized idolatry of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) saying faith in Christ, not works performed in his name, is the path of salvation.


The 22 February 2012 letter written by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala on behalf of the Gafcon primates chastised Christians who in the pursuit of social and economic change, lost sight of the centrality of the cross and the primacy of repentance and amendment of life.  “While it is obvious that such good things as feeding the hungry, fighting disease, improving education and national prosperity are to be desired by all, by themselves any human dream can become a substitute gospel which renders repentance and the cross of Christ irrelevant,” he said.


In his Lenten letter, Archbishop Wabukala wrote in Kenya the church seeks to “equip God’s people to transform society with the gospel.”  Such a transformation is far “more lasting” than the work of governments or NGOs because the Gospel “addresses our deepest need, that of a restored relationship with the God.”


When believers stop placing their full trust in God, they become “vulnerable to taking short cuts that lead us away from the truth of the gospel. Some church leaders seem to think that the transformation of society will simply come through commitment” to the MDGs.


“While it is obvious that such good things as feeding the hungry, fighting disease, improving education and national prosperity are to be desired by all, by themselves any human dream can become a substitute gospel which renders repentance and the cross of Christ irrelevant,” Archbishop Wabukla said.


Archbishop Wabukala also questioned the philosophical rationale for the Western aid industry.  The MDGs “have grown out of a secularised Western culture which is pushing Christianity to the margins and uses the language of human rights and equality to promote irresponsibility in social life and diminish personal responsibility.”

Sarcasm off.


DAY-um!!

To put this in a Midwestern context, let’s say that a tornado has just blown through your town.  Your dwelling escaped destruction but you have a family member/friend whose family survived unhurt but who lost everything.
You and your church or your social circle get together to determine how you’re going to help out your family member/friend.   Do you (1) decide what it is that you think your family member/friend needs and then provide it for him whether he actually needs it or not or (2) ask your family member/friend how you can best help his family and then do whatever it is that your family member/friend needs done?

Racism may be too harsh a word to use here.  But I really think that there is an element of infantilization at work in the Western “charitable” community especially as far as the various African nations are concerned.
Do the Africans want the Millennium Development Goals[peace and blessings be upon them]?  Or do they want the opportunity to make their own way in the world and solve their own problems in their own way?

The key word there, of course, is “opportunity.”

The United States of America was founded on the idea that there are no guarantees in this life.  As Mr. Jeffersonphrased it, God promises us life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not the achievement of it.

So one assumes that your average African wants more than anything else to have the chance to pursue happiness, whatever he perceives happiness to be.  But if he never achieves what he perceives to be happiness, at least he can die happy knowing that he gave it his best shot.

Which, at the end of the day, is all anyone can ask for in this life.

How about give thanks for Jesus? (who isn't mentioned)

Presiding bishop’s Easter message: ‘Give thanks for Easter’

from Episcopal Life Online

[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs] “Give thanks for Easter,” Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori says in her Easter 2012 message. “Give thanks for resurrection. Give thanks for the presence of God incarnate in our midst.”

The presiding bishop’s message on video is here.

She also noted, “In this Easter season I would encourage you to look at where you are finding new life and resurrection, where life abundant and love incarnate are springing up in your lives and the lives of your communities.”

The following is a transcript of the presiding bishop’s Easter message.
__________________________________________
Easter 2012

One of my favorite Easter hymns is about greenness. “Now the green blade riseth from the buried grain.”
It goes on to talk about love coming again. It’s a reminder to me of how centered our Easter images are in the Northern hemisphere. We talk about greenness and new life and life springing forth from the earth when we talk about resurrection.

I often wonder what Easter images come in the Southern hemisphere, and I think that the church in the south has something to teach us about that.

I was in Japan a month or so ago, and visiting the area of Japan that was so affected by the tsunami and the aftermath of the earthquake. The earth there is — was at that point — largely colorless, brown, in the middle of winter. No greenness. But at the same time the work of the Nippon Sei Ko Kai, the Japanese church in that part of Japan, has brought a great deal of new life, life abundant for people who have been devastated and displaced, who are still mourning their loss of loved ones, the loss of their homes and employment.
New life comes in many forms, even in seasons that seem fairly wintry.

As we began Lent, I asked you to think about the Millennium Development Goals and our work in Lent as a re-focusing of our lives. I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the U.N. report this last year has shown some significant accomplishment in a couple of those goals, particularly in terms of lowering the rates of the worst poverty, and in achieving better access to drinking water and better access to primary education. We actually might reach those goals by 2015. That leaves a number of other goals as well as what moves beyond the goals to full access for all people to abundant life.

In this Easter season I would encourage you to look at where you are finding new life and resurrection, where life abundant and love incarnate are springing up in your lives and the lives of your communities. There is indeed greenness, whatever the season.

Give thanks for Easter. Give thanks for resurrection. Give thanks for the presence of God incarnate in our midst.

The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church

A Liturgy for Women Preparing to Abort Their Babies

from Stand Firm by Matt Kennedy 

After reading David’s piece on the Interstate Sacrament of Abortion, I thought to myself, “Self, I’ll bet someone somewhere has ginned up a liturgy for women getting ready to kill their babies.” And sure enough, I was right. After a moment’s googling I found a ritual entitled, “A Liturgy For Seeking Wisdom” on the “Catholics” for Choicewebsite. It looks like it was published about 12 years ago. It features meditation, visualization, absorbing candle power, time for listening to the self, and what feminist liturgy would be complete without a hymn of praise to the goddess who is me: “i found god in myself, i found god in myself and I loved her fiercely, i loved her fiercely, i found god in myself.”
No telling how many times this thing has been used to soothe women into murdering their children. Read it and weep.

Liturgies for Responsible Reproduction
We sometimes forget the spiritual dimension of allimportant decisions and events in our lives. Women need spiritual support and affirmation as they make difficult choices about reproduction. The following liturgies celebrate women’s spirituality by affirming the integrity and holiness of their decisions. They can be used alone or shared with a partner, friends or family.Women may need encouragement to consider celebrating such a liturgy because traditional churches and society do not provide them.
Liturgy for Seeking Wisdom
Background
This liturgy will help a woman decide whether to bring her pregnancy to term or to have an abortion.
Centering
Play soothing instrumental music quietly in the background.
Candle Lighting
Light candle, absorb its power, pray.
Prayer:
Gracious and loving Holy Wisdom, fill me with wisdom that I may see clearly the choice that I need to make. Bless me and comfort me with your Spirit.
Visualization
See yourself walking on a path through the woods. You are walking into the future. At the end of this path see yourself in ten years if you decide to bring this pregnancy to term. (Pause for three minutes and listen to yourself).
Now begin again. (Pause fifteen seconds.)
See another path through the woods. Walk along this path. At the end of this path see yourself in ten years if you do not bring this pregnancy to term. (Pause for three minutes and experience what this is like.)
After you have visualized these two pathways, find a cozy room with a comfortable chair. Sit in this chair and think about what you have seen. (Pause for as long as you like.)
Reflection
Sit and watch the candle burn, write down your thoughts in a journal and/or share your insights.
Closing
Wisdom comes when we reflect on our life and make choices based on honesty and truth. Wisdom lives within us. Listen to her. Trust her. Talk to her whenever you need to. She is your friend.
Song
“i found god in myself” from for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf.
i found god in myself, i found god in myself
and I loved her fiercely, i loved her fiercely,
i found god in myself.
Blow out the candle when you are finished. Do something comforting, for example, drink a cup of tea or take a warm shower.

So, what do you do after the baby is dead? Well, there’s a liturgy for that too “A Liturgy of Affirmation for Making a Difficult Decision”, featuring this prayer:

Blessed are you, Holy One, for your presence with _______ (name of woman). Praised be you, Mother and Father God, that you have given your people the power of choice. We are saddened that the life circumstances of _______(woman’s name or, if appropriate, woman’s name and her partner’s name) are such that she has had to choose to terminate her pregnancy. Such a choice is never simple. It is filled with pain and hurt, with anger and questions, but also with integrity and strength. We rejoice in her attention to choice. Our beloved sister has made a very hard choice. We affirm her and support her in her decision. We promise to stand with her in her ongoing life. Blessed are you, Holy One, for your presence with her.

Do please pray for repentance and salvation for all women who have been subjected to this liturgy and do the same for the person who created and published this abomination. 

That’s What Holy Week’s All About, Charlie Brown

from Stand Firm by David Fischler 

For most people, Holy Week is about worship, about remembrance, about gratitude that the Son of God would give His life to save His people. But for some, Holy Week, like every other day of the year, is about politics.David Henson, who says he is a postulant for Episcopal ministry (of course!) makes this claim in a post at his Patheos blog:

Church is the last place Christians should be during Holy Week.
[I]f we want to follow our Savior through Holy Week, if we want to experience Holy Week in a way that reflects our Savior’s own experiences during that first holy week, then we won’t find ourselves in a pew, in a church, in a service.
We would find ourselves in the streets. In anger. In protest. In search of justice.
Just like Jesus.

Yes, just like Jesus. He was in Jerusalem that last week to stick it to The Man, to right wrongs, to protest fro universal health insurance, to demand the shut-down of coal-fired power plants…

Holy Week, for Jesus, began with a subversive, defiant public protest to Roman imperial power on Palm Sunday. During the Jewish celebration of Passover, there would typically be Roman military parade to remind the sometimes rowdy and rebellious peasants to know their place and the consequences of a zealous revolt. On horseback, through the front gate, the Roman officers or client rulers would ride and march.

Yes, that’s exactly the purpose of the entry into Jerusalem. It had nothing to do with repudiating the Jewish belief that the Messiah would come in power to overthrow the Romans and liberate His people from their political rule and calling God’s people to an entirely different conception of the Kingdom of God. No, the triumphal entry was about defying and mocking the Romans and…hey.

Next, Jesus goes to the Temple — the center of religious life, of commerce, of taxation and Roman client oppression — and destroys it all. He overturns the tables, drives out the moneychangers, upsets the most important status quo centers of money, power and religion. He protests the exploitation of Rome carried out by the Temple, enforced by the military. And then he threatens to destroy the whole place — to tear it down all by himself.

The Temple exploited people on behalf of Rome? Backed by the Roman military? Who knew? And Jesus threatened to destroy the Temple, rather than speaking of the destruction of His own body in the crucifixion, a temple that would then be rebuilt in three days? Wow, this is revelatory stuff.

And then there is Jesus, homeless and praying in the gardens — the park — at midnight with his friends when the authorities come to arrest him.
Protest. Disruption of a system of oppression. Arrest. Trial.
Execution.

Jesus was tried and executed to “disrupt a system of oppression”? Must have had the Romans quaking in their boots.

Now, I’m not suggesting that we do anything quite so extreme as our Savior. In fact, I think it would be quite a bad idea to walk into the halls of power and authority, overturn some tables, bust up some computers, assault some moneychangers. And an even worse idea to follow it up with a threat to destroy the whole building and the system it represents.

Of course not. That might result in our being inconvenienced in our fight against The Powers That Be. Why, TPTB might take umbrage and toss our can in jail! Can’t have that. Instead:

On Palm Sunday, protest the imperial power of our day that exploits the poor, the earth and our humanity. Protest the imperial power that would strip us of rights, of our dignity, of our voice. Protest it with mockery and reveal its nakedness for all to see. Laugh in the face of those who seriously think they can own humanity’s future.

Yes, protest. Open your flapper and Speak Truth to Power. Maybe join an Occupy Something rally. Do Something Important.

On Monday of Holy Week, protest corruption and the whoring of democracy to wealth. Make a holy mess of things and show others that the system feeds on the souls of humankind. Live in park if you have to. In a tent. Occupy a space that isn’t intended to be owned: a tree, a blanket of grass, earth.

Get with the program. Defecate on a police car. Rape a fellow Occupier. Spread garbage around to attract rats. That will show them!

On Wednesday of Holy Week, cook a meal and share it with the miracle of friends. Do this and remember all that is good in this world of suffering. Do this and remember that this world is still worth the fight. Do this and remember.

And don’t forget that exquisite 2002 Duckhorn Merlot. This is an Episcopal protest, remember.

On Friday of Holy Week, visit the captives and prisoners and remember the innocent. Protest the injustice of the prison state in America. Protest the death penalty and the unbroken line of state-sanctioned murder that killed our Savior.

Come and see the violence inherent in the system. Jesus died to protest the death penalty.

Then, and only then, can we understand what Easter is really about.
It is not about sin and the saving blood of a sacrificial lamb. It is not about God needing a pure and unblemished offering for all the sins we have committed.

So I guess it isn’t actually about what the Bible teaches, or about Christian faith, but about liberal politics. Thanks for clearing that up.

Leftist Episcopal Presiding Bishop Rejects Anti-Israel Divestment

from VirtueOnline

Leftist Episcopal Presiding Bishop Rejects Anti-Israel Divestment

By Mark D. Tooley
www.theird.org
March 30, 2012

Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori preaches.

While the United Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church (USA) denominations will ponder anti-Israel divestment at their conventions this year, the Episcopal Church's Presiding Bishop opposes divestment.

"The Episcopal Church does not endorse divestment or boycott," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori recently told a Los Angeles group. "It's not going to be helpful to endorse divestment or boycotts of Israel. It will only end in punishing Palestinians economically."

Although often left-wing and politically correct, the Episcopal Church's chief prelate and other officials, maybe mindful of interfaith relations with Jewish leaders, have typically steered away from the worst anti-Israel zeal. Unlike the Methodist and Presbyterians, the Episcopalians will not seriously consider divestment at their own convention this year.

Speaking to a Middle East Peacemakers luncheon, Schori was obliged to make the usual calls for "dialogue" and to imply moral equivalence between Israel's struggle to exist versus Palestinian calls for its eradication. "We can urge Israel to freeze the settlement activity," she suggested, according to Episcopal News Service. "We can urge the Palestinian Authority to recognize Israel's right to exist. We can condemn violence everywhere."

Read the full story at www.VirtueOnline.org

(Anglican Ink) Doctrinal fissure opens over African aid

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

The Archbishop of Kenya has criticized idolatry of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) saying faith in Christ, not works performed in his name, is the path of salvation.

The 22 February 2012 letter written by Archbishop Eliud Wabukala on behalf of the Gafcon primates chastised Christians who in the pursuit of social and economic change, lost sight of the centrality of the cross and the primacy of repentance and amendment of life. “While it is obvious that such good things as feeding the hungry, fighting disease, improving education and national prosperity are to be desired by all, by themselves any human dream can become a substitute gospel which renders repentance and the cross of Christ irrelevant,” he said.

While the archbishop’s letter stands in contrast to recent Western church endorsements of the MDGs – a series of 8 initiatives adopted by the U.N. member states that seek to address education, healthcare, and poverty issues – the African church, not America is the focus of concern Anglican Ink has learned.

Read it all.

(Church Times) Challenges remain, Primate warns, after dioceses block Anglican Covenant

from TitusOneNine by Kendall Harmon

The Archbishop of Canterbury warned this week that challenges in the Anglican Communion “will not go away”. Dr Williams was speaking after a majority of diocesan synods rejected the Anglican Covenant.

Last weekend, three more diocesan synods — Lincoln, Oxford, and Guildford — voted against the Covenant. Three others — Black­burn, Exeter, and Peterborough — endorsed it. This brought the total number of diocesan synods in favour of the Covenant to 15, and the total number against to 23.

Since a majority of dioceses have voted against, it will not return to the General Synod during this quin­quennium (2011-15).

Read it all.

Message from Bishop David Anderson  Bishop Anderson Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ, As we prepare for Palm Sunday and Holy Week, the transition from the "Hosanna's" of the palm-strewn road to the grief of the Via Dolorosa becomes quite jarring. Although it all was within God's larger plan for our redemption, the betrayal of Jesus by one he trusted, the crowds shouting "crucify him," and his treatment at the hands of the soldiers, even to his death, leaves us wanting and needing the good news that the tomb is empty and Jesus is alive. I think betrayal by someone you trust is particularly hurtful. Clergy, attorneys, teachers, doctors, and bankers are all supposed to assist you within their professional relationship, hence when one is betrayed or defrauded by a priest, pastor, attorney, teacher, doctor or banker it is arguably worse than a robber simply sticking a gun in your ribs and demanding your money. This brings to mind the relationship that bishops and clergy have, and the lack of trust that can develop. In the increasingly totalitarian culture of The Episcopal Church (TEC) - a culture which brought you the new Title IV Disciplinary canons which afford no due process, no right to a trial, and, for priests, no right to face your accusers - the bishops of TEC have borrowed a page out of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago."  In that great work, the Soviet government accused dissidents and malcontents of "mental illness," and then shut them away in the gulags under the guise of psychiatric treatment for mental health. The reasoning was that anyone who opposed the Soviet government and culture must be crazy. That same reasoning seems to have infected the minds of some TEC bishops. For the last seven or more years, TEC has had in its playbook a process for getting rid of troublesome conservative priests. Over these years, the AAC has quietly counseled with many of the priests as they discovered that their bishop, feigning genuine concern for the priest, was working to deftly remove him.

The betrayal usually starts with a liberal revisionist bishop and a conservative parish and priest. The bishop's plan is to remove the priest, put a liberal priest in as an interim rector, drive away the more conservative parish members and reshape the beliefs of those that remain. Step one is a phone call to the priest. Someone in the bishop's office phones the priest and says the bishop wants to schedule an appointment to see him as soon as possible, no clues given as to the reason for the meeting. When the meeting takes place, the bishop says that he has received several phone calls from parishioners who are worried about the priest and his emotional health. Feigning concern, the bishop tells the priest he wants him to meet with the diocese's psychologist or psychiatrist, to establish a base line and see how the diocese can help. If the priest resists, he is given a "godly admonition" to do it, on pain of discipline if he refuses. This is a trap, and unless the priest follows a defensive plan immediately, he is toast - burned toast. The priest meets with the bishop's psychologist or psychiatrist, who then finds what the bishop wants: emotional fatigue, depression, and some sense of imbalance. The priest asks for a copy of the report but is refused on the grounds that the bishop has labeled it confidential and the priest will have to discuss it with the bishop, who also refuses him a copy. The bishop says he wants to protect both the priest and the congregation, so he temporarily suspends the priest from active duty ("Administrative Leave" under the new Title IV canons), requires the priest to undergo therapy and rest and stay away from the church, meanwhile appointing an interim priest to reshape the congregation in the original priest's absence. Months drag on and the priest will never return to that church. What should you, the priest do in this situation? When the bishop asks you to meet with a psychologist/psychiatrist, you should agree to the meeting, but schedule it, and if necessary reschedule it, far enough out for you to quickly approach a non-biased psychiatrist and ask for a full psychiatric workup. Time is of the essence - this needs to be done before the meeting with the bishop's appointed psychiatrist. Assuming that the non-biased psychiatric workup is reasonably favorable, keep a copy in your possession. Also have in your possession a copy of the HIPPA regulations concerning patients' rights and penalties for non-compliance; the AAC can help you get a copy if necessary. When you meet the bishop's mental health evaluator, after the interview and testing is completed, ask for a copy of his evaluation to be sent to you. If/when he or she refuses, remind the doctor of the HIPPA requirements, and pull out your copy with appropriate lines highlighted. At that point, also mention that you have just recently had a complete psychiatric workup at your request, and would the doctor like a copy of that? If the bishop's doctor writes an unfavorable mental health evaluation, advise the doctor and the bishop that in light of the previous evaluation you wish to have the two reports reviewed by a non-biased, mutually agreed-upon doctor. If the bishop and the doctor don't agree, advise the bishop and the doctor that you intend to file a grievance with the licensing board naming both of them. The real intent is to block the bishop's further punitive action against you, but the only way to do this is from a position of preparedness and strength. Sadly, these tactics are still being used in the United States today, and priests have to be careful. If your sermons are recorded and if you email, blog, tweet and text, things that you say or write will travel far and fast. For all of my readers who have a godly and just bishop, give especial thanks to God this Holy Week. You can take part in the renewal of ordination vows in Holy Week without crossing your fingers or wondering if the bishop has you on his short list for a gulag. Faithfully in Christ, +David The Rt. Rev. David C. Anderson, Sr. President and CEO, American Anglican Council