A dose of humor for today

Father Christian over at the GAFCON blog continues to post wonderfully witty things. Warning, you have to appreciate sarcasm of the Anglican right to appreciate this blog!

Minorities Create Majorities.

The Bible teaches that all sin is equally abhorrent unto the Lord, but human nature is such that we readily consider some sins more shameful than others. The wise preacher understands this, and uses it to lay guilt upon a minority of his congregation, thereby encouraging the majority to feel self-confident and smug.

This tactic is at the heart of GAFCON Christianity, and one has only to see how homogeneously self-righteous churches are growing to understand its importance. Nobody likes being a loser, so inviting the insecure to join a large triumphant mob jeering at an alienated minority can rapidly develop a large and yet pliable congregation willing to do whatever one asks lest any disobedience results in them being on the receiving end of what they’ve grown used to throwing at others.

Yet sadly Clergy have of late been losing their creativity when it comes to creating alienated and oppressed minorities. Time was that within any diocese countless ways of achieving this could be seen; some preached against a particular race or ethnic group, others against women, or even against different flavors of Churchmanship or regional accents. Nowadays this wonderful variety has gone, and we hear nothing but sodomy, sodomy, and sodomy. What’s happened to the Communion’s imagination? Have today’s preachers never learned of the dangers in placing all of one’s eggs within a single basket?

The Anglican/Episcopalian leaders of tomorrow must be men who can vilify traditional minorities while at the same time developing new ways of fostering a pack mentality among believers. It’s not enough to simply assume that our present targets will remain vulnerable forever; we must find new groups to victimise lest our children find themselves in a world where liberal notions of inclusivity dominate. Just as the Israelites could enjoy slaughtering more than just Hittites, but were also blessed with an abundance Amorites, Perizzites, and Hivites - not to mention the Jebusites and Canaanites - to overcome and destroy, so also must we vigilantly ensure we discover a continuing supply of minorities with whom to fuel growing churches.

I’m Father Christian and I teach the Bible.

A little humor for today

This comes from the blog of the MadPriest. Hope it makes you laugh today.

don't blame me, blame Scott

from Of course, I could be wrong... by noreply@blogger.com (MadPriest)

This is all very funny. But the funniest are the two right at the end which I added myself.

WHY DID THE CHICKEN CROSS THE ROAD?

BARACK OBAMA:
The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a CHANGE! The chicken wanted CHANGE!

JOHN McCAIN:
My friends, that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON:
When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure- right from Day One! -- that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn't about me, although I clearly remember having to dodge enemy fire as Chelsea and I tried to cross the road.

DR. PHIL:
The problem we have here is that this chicken won't realize that he must first deal with the problem on 'THIS' side of the road before it goes after the problem on the 'OTHER SIDE' of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he's acting by not taking on his 'CURRENT' problems before adding 'NEW' problems.

OPRAH:
Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I'm going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.


GEORGE W. BUSH:
We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

COLIN POWELL Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road...
.
JOHN KERRY:
Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken's intentions. I am not for it now, and will remain against it.

NANCY GRACE:
That chicken crossed the road because he's GUILTY! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN:
To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART:
No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer's Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS:
Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I've not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY:
To die in the rain. Alone.

RUSH LIMBAUGH:
Because the chicken was gay! Can't you people see the plain truth?' That's why they call it the 'other side.' Yes, my friends, that chicken is gay. And if you eat that chicken, you will become gay too. I say we boycott all chickens until we sort out this abomination that the liberal media white washes with seemingly harmless phrases like 'the other side. That chicken should not be crossing the road. It's as plain and as simple as that.

GRANDPA:
In my day we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS:
Isn't that intewesting? In a few moments, we will be wistening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart warming story of how it experienced a sewious case of molting, and went on to accompwish its wife wong dweam of cwossing the woad.

ARISTOTLE:
It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON:
Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES:
I have just released eChicken2007, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your check book. Internet Explorer is an integral part of the Chicken. This new platform is much more stable and will never cra...#@&&^(C% reboot.

ALBERT EINSTEIN:
Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken

BILL CLINTON:
I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE:
I invented the chicken!

COLONEL SANDERS:
Did I miss one?

DICK CHENEY:
Where's my gun?

AL SHARPTON:
Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

REVEREND JEREMIAH WRIGHT:
damn that chicken. Does that make me unpatriotic?

TONY BLAIR
It was a long pilgrimage which just so happened to coincide with the chicken losing the job of appointing Church of England bishops.

CHERIE BLAIR
Because I told him to.

From the GAFCON blog

As you can see, I have (in just 5 minutes) become a huge fan of this blog!

The Importance of Hatred

from GAFCON by The Rev. Dr. Christian Troll

”As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.” Rom 9:13

Something the liberals destroying our Church with their perverted message of love never mention is that The Word makes it clear that hating some folks is simply part and parcel of what every Bible believer must do. The Sodomites and wishy-washy liberals can squirm and scream like babies all they wish, but the fact is that The Bible shows some people were only created so those prepared to show obedience to Orthodox teaching can do so by hating them.

In the examply of Esau we are called to hate him because he was red and hairy (Gen 26:25). There can be no apology for saying that Scripture teaches we must sometimes despise people for the way they look. That’s just the way things are, and it’s why I cannot accept any compromise whatsoever when it comes to hiring domestic staff for the Manse. Servants must be pleasing to the eye, even if they come from lands where most folk are Roman Catholics, hairy and despicable. God loved Jacob because he was a smooth man (Gen 27:11), and if we are to be faithful to The Word we have no option other than to similarly value those qualities.

fun blog

I found a new blog which seems loads of fun. You can read it here.



It is called GAFCON, which stands for God and Father Christian: Obscuring Nothing.

The author is (as described on the blog)

The Rev. Dr. Christian Troll

Doctrinal Warrior

Vicar Superior
St. Onuphrius'
Ichabod Springs

Masculine language for God

I have always thought myself pretty sensitive to the issue of masculine language for God. But lately, I have been reading Morning Prayer with Emma, Emmanuel's foster daughter. With a female in the house (no matter how young), I have been even more sensitive to this issue. For the past few days the Psalms have been filled with masculine pronouns for God. While I though I was always sensitive to it, I have discovered that I never fully comprehended how absolutely overwhelming it is. And I suspect as a male, even reading with little Emma there I'm still not fully grasping it all. I have found myself changing the pronouns so Emma can hear of a God who is not simply a male figure, and it is hard work to keep up.

I can't help but worry about how it will affect Emma to grow up hearing God referred to as a "he" so often. For my own part, I'm going to work hard to fight against that stream.

New blog

Since I'm actually posting here more often as a result of more free time and since I will probably have even more free time when my prison Chaplain job ends on 1 July, I have started a new blog where I will just place my sermons and on this blog I will continue my flow of comments, commentary, and strange rambling. You can find my sermon blog at: http://episcopalpadresermons.blogspot.com/

Prayers

As I have mentioned previously I'm reading through the book "The Dark Night Of The Soul" by Gerald G. May, M.D. He made a great observation about the tendency in many churches to start a meeting with a prayer which includes something along the line of asking for "God to be with us". And then once we finish the religious business of prayer move on to the "real" business of the meeting as if God is no longer involved.

The thought made me ponder if I all too often live my life in that very same way. it is not the sort of thing we do on purpose of course! But I have to think that too often in my own life, I'm praying for God's presence and guidance, and then getting up and attending to the "business" of my life as if God no longer matters, or at least was no longer of primary concern.

I think I want to start working on making sure that I acknowledge and seek God's presence more and more in my life in all my decisions and actions.

Excommunicate the schismatics

It seems that Africa has come up with the solution to a Bishop who thinks he (since all the ones doing this are he's) can take a diocese out of a province. Perhaps the Episcopal Church should draw on this example!

CENTRAL AFRICA: Harare bishop excommunicated as persecution of Anglicans continues

By Matthew Davies, May 19, 2008

[Episcopal News Service] The controversial former bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, has been officially excommunicated, thereby stripping him of his ability to function as a cleric in the Anglican Church.

The announcement by the dean of the Church of the Province of Central Africa, the Rt. Rev. Albert Chama, comes following disturbing reports of continued harassment and violence from local police against Anglicans trying to worship in Zimbabwe's capital city.

Last week, Zimbabwe's Supreme Court dismissed an application from Kunonga to take control of Harare's Anglican churches. However, police in Harare have continued to use physical force in their attempt to bar worshippers from attending church services at the city's Anglican cathedral.

Kunonga, who is an avid follower of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and has praised him as "a prophet from God," was replaced in December 2007 by Bishop Sebastian Bakare, who is supported by the majority of the country's Anglicans.

Bakare said his main concern is how to provide pastoral counseling to many church members who have been psychologically traumatized and stressed. "Our people have been spiritually wounded and we can only pray and hope that God's Grace will sustain and heal us," he said. "The present persecution will not destroy us at all."

Chama had declared the Diocese of Harare vacant in October 2007 after Kunonga had attempted to withdraw the diocese from the province.

In his recent announcement, Chama said that he pronounces upon Kunonga "and all those who support him the sentence of Greater Excommunication, thereby separating them from the Church of the Province of Central Africa and the Anglican Communion, by the actions taken of withdrawing from the Province of Central Africa, forming another Church, and casting aside the Constitution and Canons of the Church of the Province of Central Africa."

Chama's announcement calls on the "faithful in the Church of the Province of Central Africa and the Anglican Communion…to join with us in humble supplication that these our erring brothers and sisters may speedily attain true repentance, for their own souls' health and the wellbeing of the Body of Church."

-- Matthew Davies is editor of Episcopal Life Online and Episcopal Life Media correspondent for the Anglican Communion.

Bumper stickers

Some humor and funny suggestions from Scotland and the blog of the Raspberry Rabbit.

In their wisdom the powers-that-be down at Grosvenor Crescent have decided that the Scottish Episcopal Church needs car stickers. Most of the cars driving around these parts have some sort of sticker on them.

Give us car stickers or give us death!

When I first moved to Penicuik I figured that there was a very popular Scottish Liberal Democrat named Arnold Clark running for election. Turns out that this is only the car retailer after all and people seem willing to advertise their car salesman without demanding a discount which seems very un-Scottish.

Anyway - we in the SEC now have a bumper sticker and it's more or less what appears at the top of the page. I couldn't find an online copy of the original anywhere so I threw this together as a reasonable facsimile.

It's not a sterling demonstration of Evangelical mojo. No strong language here, that's for sure. Still, it's all true. If you show up we will, in fact, welcome you, your children, your weekly envelope, your helpfulness in helping to paint the church and, in a moment of weakness or stupidity, your willingness to serve as a lay representative to Diocesan Synod.

Is it the best we can do? How about this?

Or even these

last one - I promise

---drumroll---

Disturbances in worship

I just watched a disturbing item on CNN. Apparently a church (not Episcopalian, thanks be to God), got a restraining order to prevent an autistic child from attending services because he is rather large, loud, disruptive, and they feel, dangerous.

I can just imagine Jesus getting a restraining order to keep people away from him, some of whom I'm sure were large, loud, disruptive, and possibly dangerous.

And I know that autistic children can be more than a handful and can be extremely disruptive at times, but come on. If everyone is not welcome in church

I can't imagine what sort of spirit is present in this place, but surely the spirit and compassion of Jesus must not be there.

I pray God will change their hearts and minds.

No one likes to be sick

Well I'm just beginning to recover from what I think is a case of food poisoning that laid me out for the past 4 days. (Don't tell the wonderful person who feed me the meal!) Quite frankly I'm still not up to speed but at least feeling I can face the world again.

On thing about being really sick is that it reminds me how good I really have it. There are people in the world suffering on a daily basis, day after day, week after week and quite frankly I tend to forget about that. But lying curled up in a ball for many days gives you a lot of time to let your mind wander.

I'm reminding myself to be thankful for all the blessings and to focus on them rather than the difficulties in my life.

Tell all your friends!

OK, another annual membership drive from the EPPN. A great organization which I encourage everyone to join and support. Come on all! I would love an inscribed BCP from our PB!!! Help me out and pass the word.

	The Episcopal Public Policy Network Policy Alert
Dear Robert, "And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly." -- Acts 5:31 Like the disciples who went out and spread the good news after the Holy Spirit’s anointing, we celebrate our renewal of purpose, mission, and calling as God’s people during this season after Pentecost. We need more Spirit-filled voices to speak the Church’s mission boldly and to act on the global climate crisis, fight deadly poverty and HIV/AIDS, cancel debt for poor countries, promote the Millennium Development Goals, and support the critical justice work carried out by the EPPN. During the weeks following Pentecost, we are having EPPN’s fourth annual membership drive contest. Last year we broke all kinds of records – the EPPN crossed the 20,000 member mark and more people were involved in the membership drive than ever before. Let’s continue that great tradition! Invite your friends, family, and fellow Episcopalians to join the EPPN. As in past years there will be prizes – but we are doing one thing differently. Because we know that even one more voice makes a huge difference – person to recruit just 1 new member will receive an EPPN prize. We will still also have prizes for the people who recruit the MOST new members during the summer as well: One Grand Prize A Flip Video Camera (maybe we can persuade you to send in a video to the EPPN?) and A Book of Common Prayer inscribed by the Presiding Bishop 3 Runner-up Prizes A Book of Common Prayer inscribed by the Presiding Bishop 100 First Recruiters Prizes EPPN Prize (it’s a surprise!) Invite your friends to join the EPPN! Be sure to use our special "Share this message with a friend pages" or have your friends write your name on their paper registration so that we can properly credit you. During the summer, watch for your EPPN Action Alerts and Newsletters, because they will contain updates on how many new members you have recruited and how many emails you have sent. Remember that the more voices we have, the more clearly our message will be heard. You are our best advocates on Capitol Hill. You are also our best recruiters in your home towns and churches. Send a message inviting your friends to join the EPPN!

110 Maryland Ave., N.E. #309, Washington, D.C. 20002
1-800-228-0515, (202) 547-7300, FAX (202) 547-4457
On the Web: www.episcopalchurch.org/eppn
Email: eppn@episcopalchurch.org

Charity and Compassion

Another excellent post from the blog of Fr. Tobias Haller, BSG. A link to his blog can be found on my listing of links.


Thought for 05.15.08
from In a Godward direction by Tobias Haller
Charitable feelings are of no use
without acts of charity.
Compassionate feelings are of no use
without acts of compassion.
Loving feelings are useless
unless they lead to acts of love.
The Priest and Levite may well have felt sorry
for the wounded man
as they steered a course past him,
and the Samaritan who stopped to help
may have been muttering
under his breath
at the inconvenience
the whole time.
How they felt
was immaterial to the wounded man.

Tobias Haller BSG

Thought for the Day: Show love in truth and action

Sunday's Epistle from the Daily Lectionary, 1 John 3:11-18 ends with "Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action." Great words for us to remember in our hearts each and every day.

Cyclone Nagris survivor

From the Day in pictures from the BBC News web page.

Day in pictures

YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING...

A young Burmese survivor of Cyclone Nargis eats in Dagon township on the outskirts of Rangoon.

And you thought we had it bad

Being one to soon enter the ranks of the unemployed with the defunding of my chaplain position at the prison, I start wondering about making ends meet. What with the price of gas and groceries it can be worrisome. But articles like this make me very grateful for what I do have.

A 10m Zimbabwe dollar note was issued earlier this year

Zimbabwe bank issues $500m note
Zimbabwe $10m note
A 10m Zimbabwe dollar note was issued earlier this year

The central bank has issued a 500m Zimbabwe dollar banknote, worth US$2, to try to ease cash shortages amid the world's highest rate of inflation.

The previous highest denomination note was for Z$250m, issued 10 days ago.



You can read the entire article here.

Charity and Compassion

Another excellent post from the blog of Fr. Tobias Haller, BSG. A link to his blog can be found to the right.


Thought for 05.15.08
from In a Godward direction by Tobias Haller
Charitable feelings are of no use
without acts of charity.
Compassionate feelings are of no use
without acts of compassion.
Loving feelings are useless
unless they lead to acts of love.
The Priest and Levite may well have felt sorry
for the wounded man
as they steered a course past him,
and the Samaritan who stopped to help
may have been muttering
under his breath
at the inconvenience
the whole time.
How they felt
was immaterial to the wounded man.

Tobias Haller BSG

Mistakes and Repentance

I found this excellent blog entry. Having to struggle with my own personal failures and repentance really drives this home. In my career I have seen other clergy stumble and have always wondered what in the world was going on in their minds at the time. I'm a bit more humble now, going through it myself.

Repentance

via Darryl's Blog by dsd@DashHouse.com (Darryl Dash) on 5/12/08

One of the best things I learned in the past year is repentance. I suppose I always knew about repentance, but the learning that's recently taken place is about the continual nature of repentance: that, as Martin Luther said, all of life is repentance. Repentance is not occasional and traumatic. Instead, it's continuous and joyful, because I'm not surprised by my sin, nor am I overly discouraged by it. My acceptance isn't based on my worthiness or how badly I feel, but on what Christ has done for me.

This has allowed me to look at myself with much greater honesty. There's less to hide and less to prove. I'm still learning this, but it's made a huge difference in my life. It changes everything. As I say, I knew this before, but it's really become clear in this past year, and much more part of my life.

Two of the people who have helped me most with this are Tim Keller, who wrote this handy PDF on the subject, and Jack Miller, who wrote The Heart of a Servant Leader.

I was thinking about this today, even before I heard some bad news. A friend or mine, someone I was supposed to see this week, and someone whose ministry was taking off, recently resigned due to moral failure. I'm devastated for his wife and kids and church, and truth be told for him. I'm mad that news like this is so commonplace. I'm preaching on Proverbs 5 in a couple of weeks, and I didn't really need another sermon illustration.

But news like this also makes me humble and repentant. I pray to God I don't do anything as stupid as what my friend did, but I know I'm capable. I look at myself and can say what I sung growing up: "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it." And facing this in myself reminds me of my weakness and of my need to keep on acknowledging my weakness and repenting.

Ironically, it's in facing what wrong with us sets us free, because we stop looking for the solution within ourselves. And we discover that God's grace is more than a match for anything that's wrong with us.

If you're so inclined, please pray for my friend today. I hope he'll find his way to genuine repentance, but it's not likely to be joyful at first. Maybe ever.

Pray that the rest of us will learn the continual nature of repentance, so that we can keep it continual and joyful. It's much better than the alternative. And spread the news as best as you know how: all of life is repentance.

Reprinted with permission. You can find the blog for the DashHouse here.

Lambeth and the Anglican Communion

Fr. Tony Clavier has an excellent blog you can find here. He is sometimes a bit conservative for me, but his writings are always thoughtful, grace filled, and giving with Christian care and love. I very much appreciated his pointing out that TEC was not the first member of the Anglican Communion other than the Church of England, something that I often hear said.

LAMBETH AND ORIGINS

from Fr. Tony Clavier by Fr. Tony Clavier

We've been asked to pray for the upcoming Lambeth Conference, which perhaps nowadays should be called the Canterbury Conference. It is many years since the bishops attending a decadal conference could fit into the library of Lambeth Palace, the home of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

With enormous irony those in our church most suspicious of the Conference, or at least those on the left wing of TEC, are also keen to assert that the emergence of the Episcopal Church as an organized "national" body at the end of the 18th Century signalled the creation of the Anglican Communion. This theory ignores the Scottish Episcopal Church which pre-existed TEC. Granted this "continuing Anglican" body was formally recognized by the Church of England at that time but at least a passing nod should be made to the church which provided America with its first official bishop. Yet even if our Scottish brethren are disqualified there remains the Church in Ireland, complete with its separate succession of bishops going back to St Patrick.

In a review in the "Church Times" of a recent book on Archbishop Ussher of Armagh, the wonderful post-reformation scholar and historian Dr Judith Maltby writes:

"We usually think of the origins of the Anglican Communion as lying in the emergence of the Atlantic colonies, but the roots are much closer to home. Archbishop Laud conducted a determined campaign to impose his brand of orthodoxy not only on the Church of England, but on the Scottish and Irish Churches as well. I most admire Ussher for his dogged persistence in maintaining that he was Laud’s peer and equal (he even suggested to the English Primate that they were not so much brother metropolitans, as brother patriarchs!) in the face of a determined, at times ruthless, campaign to subject the Irish Church to the English. As Ford puts Ussher’s vision, “the Church of England and the Church of Ireland were engaged, not in a parent-child, but in a more equal, sisterly relationship, which entitled them to defend their own rather different version of ecclesiastical orthodoxy.”

Ussher is perhaps notoriously remembered for his attempt to date Creation. Despite this now seemingly odd adventure, he is better remembered for his seminal rehabilitation of the works of Ignatius of Antioch against Puritan attempts to discredit the authenticity of that earliest Father of the Church, whose views on episcopacy and the sacraments did not commend themselves to radical evangelicals who sought to reform the Church of England "root and branch".

Dr Maltby also commends Ussher - the only bishop to attend the Westminster Assembly which produced the famous "Westminster Confession" - for his irenic attempts to forge a way between Laudianism and Puritanism. Ussher failed. Whether Ussher's example provides a goodly example for others to follow in seeking to comprehend the "prophetic" utterances of contemporary TEC establishmentarianism and classical Anglicanism perhaps is open to question. It might be noted that if "Laudianism" is viewed not so much as a High Church revival as an example of an intolerant ascendant "party" determined to enforce its agenda on the rest of the church, if necessary by the force of law, then perhaps in that limited sense the official TEC position is "Laudian".

Certainly pre-1662 the Irish Church represented a more unified example of Reformed Anglicanism than its troubled and divided sister church in England. "Laudian" bishops such as Bramhall and Jeremy Taylor, both Englishmen, would represent a change in all that after the Restoration but that was then the future.

The Church of Ireland does have a claim to be a part of the original "Anglican Communion" pre-dating TEC by centuries. Of course that doesn't really matter very much. That its "character" was comprehended by the Elizabethan and Jacobean Anglican family of churches, despite its differences, is also true.

I must also admit that although I appreciate the legacy of "Laudianism" and the heroic witness of those we later described as the Caroline Divines, I must also admit that I deplore the means used to force reforms on church people who were moderate Anglicans and not anti-church Puritans, forcing many of them to embrace schismatics rather than conform.

When Charles II returned from his journeys in 1660 it was hoped that the Laudians had learnt their lessons. They had contributed to the very destruction of the church they wished to reform because they were so sure of the virtue of their cause and brooked no opposition. Yet instead of learning from their mistakes, in a fit of revenge and righteous indignation, in 1662 and thereafter they used the force of law to eject from the church even moderate Puritans like the saintly Richard Baxter.

Nowadays the 1662 Prayer Book is viewed by many as a living memory of comprehensive classical Anglicanism. In 1662, to many, it was a symbol of resurrected oppression on the part of the High Church party bent on securing its place and accomplishing its agenda. Yet the victory of Laudianism in the Restoration Church came at a great price. Those ejected formed permanent Nonconformity, depriving the Church of England, at least in practical terms of its claim to be the comprehensive church of the English people. Was smaller better? Perhaps those in our church intent on establishing their agenda may wish to think about this lesson?

Join in helping

All the destruction that has happened in the past few days, particularly in Myanmar and China, with tens of thousands dead and hundreds of thousands displaced sort of make my struggles and issues seem minor in comparison. It is an opportunity for me to reflect on the many blessings I have received from God, not because I have done anything to deserve them, but just because God has been gracious to me. While the possible impending loss of Emma (which is seems nothing but a miracle will change) and with my recent resignation as rector from my parish are all painful and distressing, I'm still blessed in spite of my pain.

I encourage you to go to Episcopal Relief and Development and give generously to the work of helping those so recently struck by tragedy's of such huge impact that my mind simply cannot imagine the breadth of destruction.

Make haste less slowly!

Only the English can come up with something like this!

Make haste less slowly...

The hon. Member for Middlesbrough, representing the Church Commissioners, was asked—

Livings (Crown Patronage)

7. Robert Key (Salisbury) (Con): How many livings in the Church of England are under the patronage of the Crown; and how many of the incumbents of those livings are women. [204058]

The Second Church Estates Commissioner (Sir Stuart Bell): There are approximately 650 parochial appointments in the gift of the Crown, of which patronage for around 450 is exercised on the Crown’s behalf by the Lord Chancellor. In some cases, the patronage right is shared in turn with other patrons of the benefice; 103 of those appointments are held by women.

Robert Key: There is clearly still some way to go. Does the hon. Gentleman agree with me that it really is time that the Church of England stopped discriminating against 50 per cent. of the human race when it comes to episcopal appointments? Can he imagine this House finding it expedient to agree to any Measure from Synod that sought to discriminate against women, in the hope that it was going to allow women bishops in the Church of England—but not at any price?

Sir Stuart Bell: I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. He will remember that this House voted almost unanimously, but certainly overwhelmingly, for women priests way back in 1992. Given that he is a member of the General Synod, he will know that in July it will look at the options for progressing the ordination of women as bishops, informed by the recently published report of the legislative drafting group, chaired by the Bishop of Manchester. This House—in its majority, I think—supports women bishops and we urge the Church in this case to make haste less slowly.

Budens to bear

About three weeks ago I wrote about a transformation in my life. Emmanuel had brought a wonderful new gift into our lives, a gift which I had fought and was not to happy about. But it was a gift that transformed my life in a very short time. The gift was a beautiful girl, Emma. Emmanuel was her foster father and it was hoped that due to her background Emmanuel would be able to adopt her. We have now found out that it is very likely she will be placed in another home sometime this summer. So barring a miracle, it is likely we will lose those wonderful presence in our lives. Please pray for us and Emma. We trust in God and know that God is watching over Emma. But the thought of losing her breaks our hearts.

Do Anglicans really have to choose?

In response to the article below, I can only ask, who do the Roman Catholics think they are demanding that we have to choose? You can find the article here. As well as the full text below.

Anglicans must choose between Protestantism and tradition, says Vatican
By Anna Arco
6 May 2008

Cardinal Kasper delivers his Newman lecture in Oxford

The Vatican has said that the time has come for the Anglican Church to choose between Protestantism and the ancient churches of Rome and Orthodoxy.

Speaking on the day that the Archbishop of Canterbury met Benedict XVI in Rome, Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president of the Pontifical Council of Christian Unity, said it was time for Anglicanism to "clarify its identity".

He told the Catholic Herald: "Ultimately, it is a question of the identity of the Anglican Church. Where does it belong?

"Does it belong more to the churches of the first millennium -Catholic and Orthodox - or does it belong more to the Protestant churches of the 16th century? At the moment it is somewhere in between, but it must clarify its identity now and that will not be possible without certain difficult decisions."

He said he hoped that the Lambeth conference, an event which brings the worldwide Anglican Communion together every 10 years, would be the deciding moment for Anglicanism.

Cardinal Kasper, who has been asked to speak at the Lambeth Conference by the Archbishop of Canterbury, said: "We hope that certain fundamental questions will be clarified at the conference so that dialogue will be possible.

"We shall work and pray that it is possible, but I think that it is not sustainable to keep pushing decision-making back because it only extends the crisis."

His comments will be interpreted as an attempt by Rome to put pressure on the Church of England not to proceed with the ordination women bishops or to sanction gay partnerships, both serious obstacles to unity.

They have come at an extremely sensitive time for the Anglican Communion, as cracks between different factions in the church are beginning to show ahead of the conference in July.

Dr Rowan Williams faces rebellion from conservative and liberal Anglicans over homosexuality and women bishops.

The Rt Rev Gene Robinson, the Anglican bishop of New Hampshire, whose attempts to enter into a civil union with his gay partner have angered conservative Anglicans, plans to attend the public events of the conference despite the fact that he has not been invited by Dr Williams.

On the other side of the spectrum, rebel conservative bishops, headed by Archbishop Peter Akinola of Nigeria, dismayed by the Archbishop of Canterbury's refusal to condemn homosexuality outright, plan a rival conference in the Holy Land in June.

Ecumenical dialogue between Rome and the Anglican Communion ground to a halt in 2006. Cardinal Kasper said at the time that a decision by the Church of England to consecrate women bishops would lead to "a serious and long lasting chill".

But last month the Church of England's Legislative Drafting Group published a report preparing the ground for women bishops, who are already ordained in several Anglican provinces.

Thought for the day

"Hope is what sits by a window and waits for one more dawn, despite the fact that there is not one ounce of proof in tonight's dark, black sky that it can possibly come."
- Joan Chittister

Thought for the day

"Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle. and the life of the candle will never be shortened. Happiness never decreased by being shared."
- Buddha

I think too many people live their lives as if sharing some light or happiness will somehow decrease their own.

Let your voice be heard

Here is an opportunity to take action. I encourage you to sign up for these Policy Alerts from teh Episcopal Public Policy Network. We need to be in contact with our elected officials with respect to Gospel issues.

	The Episcopal Public Policy Network Policy Alert
Dear Robert, "Violence against women is perhaps the most shameful human rights violation. And it is perhaps the most pervasive. It knows no boundaries of geography, culture or wealth. As long as it continues, we cannot claim to be making real progress towards equity, development and peace." – Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations Did you know that one out of every three women around the world will be abused – physically, sexually or otherwise – during her lifetime? In some developing countries, rates of violence against women are as high as 70 percent, with social norms often giving women few options for escaping the cycle of abuse. None of this has to be so. Violence against women is totally preventable, and there are proven strategies for combating its prevalence in the developing world. A new, bipartisan bill in the U.S. Congress – The International Violence Against Women Act (IVAWA) – would, for the first time, comprehensively incorporate these strategies into U.S. foreign-aid programs. The bill (S.2279, H.R. 5927) devotes $1 billion to create a five-year strategy to combat violence against women around the world. (Click here to learn about IVAWA and how it would work.) Violence against women not only fundamentally violates human dignity and destabilizes families and communities; it also serves as a significant deterrent in the fight to end deadly global poverty and achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Violence and abuse keep women from getting an education, working, and earning the income they need to lift their families out of poverty. Violence also poses a barrier to combating public-health epidemics that affect women and children disproportionately, like HIV/AIDS and malaria. In Nicaragua, for example, a study found that children of female victims of violence left school an average of four years earlier than other children. In India a survey revealed that women who experienced even a single incident of violence lost an average of seven working days: the difference between survival and starvation for their families. TAKE ACTION: The International Violence Against Women Act has bipartisan backing in both the House and the Senate, but in order to be acted upon in this Congress, it needs a large number of cosponsors. The Senate bill has only 16 and the House is just being introduced. Click here to send a message to your Senators and Representative, asking them to work to ensure IVAWA's passage, and – if they have not already done so – to sign on as cosponsors. Forward this message to a friend, HERE.

A bit of humor this morning

This comes from the blog of the Raspberry Rabbit by Raspberry Rabbit on 4/10/08

A good but rather old joke which has come into circulation again. Thanks to Madpriest for pulling it out of its tomb.

The Pastor's Ass

The pastor entered his donkey in a race and it won. The pastor was so pleased with the donkey that he entered it in the race again, and it won again. The local paper read:

PASTOR'S ASS OUT FRONT

The Bishop was so upset with this kind of publicity that he ordered the pastor not to enter the donkey in another race. The next day, the local paper headline read:

BISHOP SCRATCHES PASTOR'S ASS

This was too much for the bishop, so he ordered the pastor to get rid of the donkey. The pastor decided to give it to a nun in a nearby convent. The local paper, hearing of the news, posted the following headline the next day:

NUN HAS BEST ASS IN TOWN

The bishop fainted. He informed the nun that she would have to get rid of the donkey, so she sold it to a farmer for $10. The next day the paper read:

NUN SELLS ASS FOR $10

This was too much for the bishop,so he ordered the nun to buy back the donkey and lead it to the plains where it could run wild. The next day the paper read:

NUN ANNOUNCES HER ASS IS WILD AND FREE

The bishop was buried the next day.

The moral of the story is .. . . . Being concerned about public opinion, can bring you much grief and misery, . . . even shorten your life. So, be yourself and enjoy life. Stop worrying about everyone else's ass and you'll be a lot happier, and live longer!!

Idolatry update

The end of April, I posted a sermon which was primarily about the sin of idolatry in our society and in our lives. At the recommendation of a wonderful friend I'm currently reading "The Dark Night of the Soul" by Gerald G. May, M.D., subtitled "A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth" based as you might well imagine on the works of John of the Cross and Teresa of Avila. In the section entitled "Attachment and Idolatry" in Chapter two he makes this observation:

In a spiritual sense, the objects of our attachments and addictions become idols. We give them our time, energy, and attention whether we want to or not, even -- and often especially -- when we are struggling to rid ourselves of them. We want to be free, compassionate, and happy, but in the face of our attachments we are clinging, grasping, and fearfully self-absorbed. This is the root of our trouble. Our birth legacy, our human nature, is the fulfillment of the promise of the two great commandments: we will love God with all our heart and soul and mind, and we will love one another as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). Yet we find our hearts are given elsewhere, our souls compelled by something else, our minds kidnapped by other things. Whether we admit or deny it, we are worshiping false gods. Most of the time, we try to deny it.

Wish I could have said it that well in my sermon!

Most of us probably have idols in our lives which challenge us, but most of us (me for sure) are experts at denying it. How much easier it is to look at the idols of others rather than our own.

Grind you down

People probably think I never have an original though here any more! But why work so hard when other people are so brilliant! I have copied posts from this persons blog before. She is a wonderfully thoughtful Chaplain in Scotland. Working in prison myself I can really identify with some of her thoughts. I encourage you to subscribe to her blog which you can find here.

Don't let the "service users" grind you down.

via Get Out of Jail Free by AnneDroid on 4/29/08

I have observed that:
1) Prison would be great if it weren't for the prisoners.
2) Schools would be great if it weren't for the pupils.
3) The health service would be great if it weren't for sick people.
4) Churches would be great if it weren't for the churchgoers.
5) Public transport would be great if it weren't for the public.

Shiny new institutions are set up, or old institutions get new direction and purpose, and everything starts out great. All those working in them are signed up to the vision and really believe they can make a difference. The training helps them to feel equipped and ready to serve. There is a great sense that the world can be a better place.

And then along come the "service users" and reality kicks them in the butt, hard. The service users are not overcome with gratitude. The service users are not playing by the rules and following the path it was envisaged they would follow. The service users are, goodness me, critical. They moan and whine and complain, so far from the expected gratitude are they.

And the service deliverers?

Do they/we rise above it?
Do they/we turn the other cheek?
Do they/we hang onto the vision of what we're about, through thick and thin?
Do they/we resist bitterness and cynicism, knowing that all that that will achieve is an exacerbation of the problem?
Do they/we encourage each other to keep our chin up and our head down (however those things are simultaneously achieved!)?
Do they/we resist the urge to start squabbling amongst ourselves, department against department within the institution?
I know the answer to those questions that should be, is, a lot of the time, not the answer that is. I know that prisoners, pupils, patients, church members, the public, may manipulate us and try our patience to its limit, but... BUT, if we can keep our head when all about are losing theirs, and keep the faith, and keep the vision, and aim high (even when all evidence points to the contrary and people laugh at our naivete) I think we'll be prouder looking back on our "careers" than if we give up and just endure the working day for the sake of the pay and the pension.

IF you can keep your head, when all about you
are losing theirs - and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself, when all men doubt you,
but make allowances for their doubting too;

If you can wait, and not be tired by waiting,
or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
and yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise.

If you can dream, and not make dreams your master;
if you can think, and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet triumph and disaster,
and treat those two imposters just the same.

If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken,
twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
and stoop and build them up with worn-out tools.

If you can make one heap of all your winnings,
and risk it all in one turn of pitch and toss -
and lose, and start again, at your beginnings,
and never breathe a word about your loss.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew,
to serve your turn long after they are gone,
and so hold on when there is nothing in you,
except the will which says to them - "Hold On".

If you can do all this and more -
you'll be a man, by son, you'll be a man.

RUDYARD KIPLING.

All sorts of bonds of affection

This is a powerful and thought provoking article which should challenge all of us. You can find the original posting here.

"The bonds of affection", and the wreck of the SS Tennessee

By Donald Schell

Like many Anglicans I’ve got the Windsor Report’s phrase, ‘Bonds of Affection’ rolling round in my head like a melody from the radio that won’t be dismissed. I think about affection and whether it makes relationship or just happens sometimes in it. What sense do we make of people who say affection is fleeting? Does good affection bind? That gets more wondering about choices and how we make them, and how bonds and choices live together. And that brings an old personal story to mind.

For eighteen months after she got her R.N. my wife Ellen worked nights caring for sleeping and sleepless patients at teaching hospital near our home. When she was on, I’d walk her over to the hospital, leaving our children sleeping for ten minutes. There had been some late night muggings in our neighborhood and I didn’t want her walking over alone. Ten minutes to eleven I’d steal a good-night kiss from my lovely nurse in uniform and walk home to sleep alone while she worked the shift that hospitals don’t call ‘graveyard.’ Next morning at 7:15 while I was making the kids’ breakfast, we’d listen for her key in the door and her weary "Good morning." Then it was breakfast together and, if it was a weekday, I’d deliver the children to school and child care while Ellen slept.

Regular weekdays I plunged into the priestly and missionary tasks I’d taken founding a new congregation from the ground up, leaving the house to Ellen as a temple of silence. With earplugs and a sleeping mask, she could sleep, more or less, and be ready to greet us in the late afternoon for tea and dinner together before my evening church meetings. Whenever Ellen had a week night off work, I’d take off the following day (with the children off at school) and we’d do something outdoors in the daylight (rain or shine) and enjoy lunch together.

On the weekends that Ellen worked, my task was to keep an intense three-year old son and our more contemplative seven-year old daughter happily occupied away from home so she could sleep. Wherever I took the children on Saturday, our company was divorced dads, men and their children haunting the hands-on Exploratorium, the zoo, the beach, the park. Ellen would make herself stay up for church if she’d worked Saturday night, so on Sundays, our outings were in the afternoon.

Night shift made Ellen’s weekends off important events to us. The Saturday I’m remembering we’d planned a hike and picnic to Tennessee Beach, in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area just north of San Francisco. It’s a beautiful place and the long gentle hike to Tennessee Beach was a favorite for us and the children.

I can’t remember how the morning went wrong except that something Ellen said as we were packing the picnic angered me. I made a tentative statement of what bugged me and why and quickly decided she wasn’t listening. So I decided to sit on my anger and say nothing about it. Of course, I was absolutely certain I was right, that Ellen was wrong, and furthermore that by not listening to me she essentially conceding that I was Right about The Very Important Point I Was Making. Happily casting myself as a righteous victim, I concluded that her evident wrong-headedness gave me no choice but to claim the intellectual and moral high ground and hold it in silence. I didn’t say, "Fine, have it your way," but I thought it.

However, not wanting to be a jerk, I decided to pity her for a long week of working nights, by doing my duty as a dad and father in every particular, being exquisitely nice and helpful as I did it. I agreed with absolutely everything she said, and I smiled a lot and kept busy. I felt Ellen picking up on my rage as we were walking from the ridge down to the beach where the Gold Rush era S.S. Tennessee was wrecked in 1853. My first indication was a look from her – angry, hurt, reproachful, and questioning all at once. The children seemed to be enjoying dad’s catering to them and had a great time. Since I wasn’t making conversation but only responding to Ellen’s or the children’s questions, I had some quiet time during the picnic to think about the early steamship whose wreck had given the beach its name.

Coming up from Panama finding the Golden Gate enshrouded in heavy fog, the Captain was counting on dead reckoning to establish his position. He knew there was land just to the north of him and thought he was entering into the Golden Gate to make anchor in San Francisco Bay, but the sound of waves breaking directly ahead told him his navigation calculations had been disastrously wrong. Through the mists a high cliff appeared, now directly astern. Turning the ship hard away from the cliff and driving the big steam-driven sidewheels full speed he struggled against waves and current and until he saw the other cliff that defined the little cove directly ahead. No way forward and no way back, each succeeding wave drove the ship closer to the beach until finally the sand caught it broadside. More than five hundred passengers and all the U.S. mail were successfully brought ashore. The Tennessee’s owners came out to find their ship beached, but still sound. Soon they had tugs and cables and workmen on the shore trying to re-float the ship, but a couple of days after the Tennessee was beached, a big storm blew in from the Pacific and fierce waves pounded it to pieces.

Three hours or so into my folly of forced niceness, fake smiles and cold helpfulness, I thought I was as trapped as the S.S. Tennessee had been, a nearly new ship, best technology of its era, now little left but rusty boilers buried beneath this beach. As the kids explored the quiet beach and played at the sea’s edge, Ellen asked what was going on. "Nothing," I insisted with all the warmth of an airline steward. Did I actually think I could fool her? Probably not. "Everything" was what I really meant, and she heard me.

We packed our picnic and hiked back to the car. I was impeccably helpful, showily available to the children, excruciatingly respectful and solicitous of my wife. And I knew as I did all this that I was trapped in my own folly and doing us serious damage. All the work of parenting had Ellen stranded too - baffled and frustrated with her incommunicative husband.

Finally, after a dinner at which I tried to channel Ward Cleaver from Leave it to Beaver, and then cheerily took dish duty while Ellen put the children to bed, she came back to the kitchen, stood looking at me for a fierce, loving moment and said, "We don’t do it this way. Tell me what’s wrong."

Words of a response lined up in my head, ‘Well, this is how we do it now!’ but I hated those words and knew I’d regret them for ever, so I left them unspoken. She had me. I was immediately embarrassed to recognize that I’d long since lost track of the fine points from our morning’s conflict, but knowing I was as trapped as the captain of the doomed steamship, I welcomed her direct appeal to unbreakable bonds of affection. I’d never heard us say it before, but she was stating an immediately evident fact – we had tried to shape the course of our life together from a steady intention to grow in love and truth. She was offering us what the S.S. Tennessee could not find, a way forward.

I told her what remained from our conversation that morning, how I’d felt unheard and not taken seriously. She replied describing the scene I’d actually witnessed that morning – her very steady focus on all it took to get the picnic made and us out the door and in the car.

What generated the strain of that day was real bonds of affection we’d forged in the eight years before. I felt the painful bind with which wisdom and the force of my loving her cramped my self-righteousness. Like St. Paul in Acts (26:14) I was straining against the constraints of love. Real bonds of affection are like the muscles and sinews of our bodies, and like those living bonds, practicing relationship makes the bonds more flexible and effective through the strain of use.

Taking ‘bonds of affection’ seriously gives the lie to the old, neat distinction between agape and eros—Christian love and erotic love. Ellen was calling on our established practice of disciplined affection. Letting her touch me with that reminder validated our history together, good memories, and hopes we’d shaped over some years. Her demand rested in the delight in each other’s presence and voice and yes, in the flesh she knew I treasured. She was asking me to use the blessed, powerful bond we’d forged together to break the bind I’d created that morning. We needed to talk. She appealed to what we knew but had never declared before. This new phrase, "How we do it," refused to accept that there were any disagreements we couldn’t talk about.

I am grateful for every liberal and every conservative in our Anglican Communion who is saying now, "That’s not how we do it." With cliffs behind ahead of our ship, there’s no way forward in the righteous certainty than "I’m right" or "She’s wrong." Genuine bonds of affection demand what forged them, the commitment to keep talking, graceful conversation, through whatever conflict we face.

The Rev. Donald Schell, founder of St. Gregory of Nyssa Church in San Francisco, is Creative Director of All Saints Company, working for community development in congregational life focusing on sharing leadership, welcoming creativity, building community through music, and making liturgical architecture a win/win for building and congregation. He wrote My Father, My Daughter: Pilgrims on the Road to Santiago.

Confession

I found this excellent confession written by Jonny Baker. It really spoke to me in a powerful way for today. Not that I don't like the trusty confession of sin found in our BCP (I actually love it), but sometimes it is healthy to look at things in a new light. You can find his blog here:

Confession

When we have acted out of judgement rather than grace
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

When we have forgotten your story and been shaped by the story of the Western Dream of the good life
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy

When church has taken all our energy and we've not had time to get stuck into our locality
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

When all our friends have become Christians and we haven't made new friendships
Christ have mercy
Christ have mercy

When we have acted in our own strength and forgotten the gifts of your Spirit
Lord have mercy
Lord have mercy

But when we are filled with grace,
live out the gospel
in our locality
make good friends
and share the gifts of the Spirit
then God rejoices with us

Almighty God who forgives all who who truly repent
have mercy on us
pardon and deliver us from our sins
and keep us in life eternal
through Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen

Windsor Report Summary

To go along with the excellent Windsor Report cartoon I posed a link to recently here is an excellent summary of The Windsor Report prepared by Patricia Bays in January of 2005 (any comments or additions I have made are in brackets). It can be found on the internet at: http://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:DjfIiQpFYTMJ:stthomasbelleville.ca/files/WindsorReportSummary-PatBays_2.doc+windsor+report+summary&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=9&gl=us&client=firefox-a

The Windsor Report - a Summary

What is it?

In October 2003, at the request of the primates, the Archbishop of Canterbury set up the Lambeth Commission. 17 members represented member churches of the Anglican Communion, and included bishops, priests and lay people. The Rev. Canon Alyson Barnett-Cowan, director of Faith, Worship and Ministry, represented the Anglican Church of Canada. The Eames Commission in the 1990s studied the question of the ordination of women as bishops, and the Inter Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission meets regularly to look at issues related to the Anglican Communion. They produced the Virginia Report on the nature of communion.

Its Mandate

The commission was asked to report on the legal and theological implications of decisions in [the Episcopal Diocese of] New Hampshire [to elect and then the Episcopal Church ordain a gay man in a relationship as a Bishop] and [the Canadian Diocese of] New Westminster [to approve the blessings of same sex unions], and on canonical understandings of communion, in order to suggest ways in which communion can be maintained. They were to look at the role of the Archbishop of Canterbury in maintaining communion.

They were not asked to debate issues of homosexuality.

Summary of the Report

A. The purposes and benefits of communion .

· The report explores the biblical background (Ephesians, I Corinthians). We are called into fellowship with God and with each other. As Anglicans we have a common life of mutual responsibility and interdependence.

· How can the communion function in situations where mutual discernment is needed? The report explores the way decisions were made regarding the ordination of women and then the current discussion on issues of human sexuality.

B. Fundamental principles

Some parts of the communion feel that decisions taken in NW [the Diocese of New Westminster located in Canada] and NH [the Diocese of New Hampshire] are "departures from genuine apostolic faith." Other concerns for which we need a common forum:

· Perceived lack of consultation before action

· What does communion mean? Are there degrees of communion? What of our present impaired communion with respect to ordination of women and of divorced and remarried persons

· How is the gospel to be interpreted and inculturated in diverse cultures?

· Are there questions on which Christians might have legitimate differences? Are there limits to diversity?

· What matters should be decided on a communion level and which can be decided on the local level?

· What is the authority of scripture, tradition, reason, the episcopate?

C. The instruments of unity

The report describes the instruments: The Archbishop of Canterbury, the Lambeth Conference, the Anglican Consultative Council, the Primates' Meeting, and suggests that further work needs to be done on the relationship and relative authority of these.

Some proposals:

· The Archbishop of Canterbury "should be able to speak directly to any provincial situation on behalf of the Communion where this is deemed advisable. Such action should not be viewed as outside interference in the exercise of autonomy by any province." The report affirms that the Archbishop has the right to invite to the Lambeth Conference and Primates' Meeting.

· A Council of Advice should be established "to assist him in discerning when and how it might be appropriate for him to exercise a ministry of unity on behalf of the whole Communion." It might be formed from the ACC [Anglican Consultative Council] and Primates' Meeting.

· Canon lawyers should "produce a statement of the principles of canon law common to the churches, and examine shared problems and possible solutions.

· The commission proposes a common Anglican Covenant, to be signed by the primates, "which would make explicit and forceful the loyalty and bonds of affection which govern the relationships between the churches of the Communion." It would deal with the relationships of communion, the commitments of communion, the exercise of autonomy in communion, and the management of disputes.

D. The maintenance of communion

The report reprimands both Canadian and US churches on the one hand [for the actions taken by the Diocese of New Hampshire and the Diocese of New Westminster], and certain primates on the other [primarily for entering other Diocese with permission for the purpose of performing unauthorized visits and other episcopal acts], for acting without consideration for the impact of their decisions on other parts of the communion.

Elections to the episcopate should "pay proper regard to the acceptability of the candidate to other provinces in our communion." The Archbishop of Canterbury is urged to exercise caution in inviting Bishop Gene Robinson to the councils of the communion.

NW [the Diocese of New Westminster] and NH [the Diocese of New Hampshire] are invited to express regret for the consequences of their actions. Those who took part in the NH consecration [the consecration of Gene Robinson as a bishop] should consider withdrawing from representative functions. The Episcopal Church should refrain from further consecrations of persons living in same gender unions. NW [the Diocese of New Westminster] should refrain from authorizing any further blessings.

All provinces are urged to study and reflect on the issues.

The report calls for the "conditional and temporary provision of delegated pastoral oversight for those who are dissenting" only as a last resort. It asks bishops who believe it is their duty to intervene in dioceses other than their own to express regret for the consequences of their action and to refrain from further interventions.

The report urges all parties "to seek ways of reconciliation, and to heal our divisions."

Prepared by Patricia Bays January 2005

Windsor cartoon

You can find an excellent cartoon on the Windsor Report here:

Pluralist, Exclisivist, or Inclusivist

An interesting post from another blog I have stumbled across. You can find the blog here.

Thanks to those who have been engaging in the discussion about Christian witness in a plural society: not an easy topic, but a rewarding one to struggle with. I had deliberately not nailed my colours to the mast on where I stand in relation to Exclusivist, Inclusivist and Pluralist, so here are my current thoughts on Christianity and other faiths:

Attractive as the Pluralist position is, and much as I might like to hope that all roads lead to God, I find no Biblical authority for such a stance and therefore reject it.

In terms of the unique claims of Christ as the only road to salvation, I would have difficulty rejecting such statements (its my evangelical past, don't you know) although I was much taken with one comment on the earlier thread which points out that such claims are unique to John's Gospel and are not to be found in the Synoptics. (If you are interested in Biblical criticism as a discipline, and are interested in the development of theological thought in Christian writings, that may be an interesting line to follow. If you are such a person, you will probably also not have a strong sense of the inerancy of scripture in its narrowest understanding.)

However, I must confess here to being an Inclusivist and my sense that this is the best understanding of God's grace is quite pragmatic. While I have no problem at all with the crucifixion and atonement being God's answer to the problem of human wilful disobedience (aka sin) I do have a problem with statements that interpret Christ's substitutionary death for all mankind as somehow being only for those who take a positive faith stance on that. Please don't misunderstand me here: I have made such a positive declaration of discipleship through God's mercy and grace via repentance, acceptance and a new life in the Spirit.

BUT I am not willing to accept that this defines the limits of God's grace. To ascribe such limits is a human failing. God transcends our understanding of him and we make that same God in our own image when we attempt to understand him beyond what he has revealed of himself. Our God, unless we are careful, is too small!

I am a Christian, born again and saved through Christ's once and for all sacrifice because I heard, understood and was convinced and convicted by that message of repentance and faith. It is at times like this, though, when I consider the Muslim born and brought up in Saudi Arabia, the Sikh born and brought up in the Punjab, The Buddhist in Burma, the Hindu in rural India or the Jew in The Orthodox areas of Jerusalem. Do they hear the Gospel as I did? No, they don't. Will they? Can they? No they won't and they can't.

What sort of a God dismisses and condemns such people to an internity in his absence? I want nothing to do with such a God. Such a God is not worthy of our loyalty or our worship.

Now we may discourse until the cows come home about mission in this context, but the bottom line is that Saudi Arabia, Burma and a great many other regimes aren't going to let us in to evangelise so are we saying that God condems these people? Are we really?

I think firstly, then, of Mark 9.38-40: "Whoever is not against us is for us..." and I think of Cornelius in Acts 10.4 as he received the Holy Spirit before his conversion. The church and the gospel can meet others, not as abandoned by God but as anonymous Christians. Back to Justin Martyr: "Those who live according to the light of their Knowledge are Christians." Christianity is the absolute religion resting on the incarnation of the word but non-Christian religions can nevertheless be vehicles of God's grace and ways of salvation where the Christian hope is present as a hidden reality - even outside the visible church.

So, should I attempt to evangelise my Muslim and Sikh friends? Are they not better off as faithful Muslims and Sikhs if I accept that their religious, cultural, linguistic and family ties all mitigate against them hearing the Gospel as I heard it and if I accept, as I increasingly do, that God will judge them as those incapable of hearing the true gospel but as those who can live by the light of Christ within their own faith positions?

Only one thing is guaranteed

I pulled this out of a post from a blog that I regularly read. It is from a blog written by a Chaplain in Scotland. The entire post can be found here. Some of the statistics were rather surprising to me.

Statistics of Death
by Adrian Plass

Here’s a cheery thought. Only one thing in life is absolutely guaranteed. We are all going to die. I think you’ll find the statistics are very clear on this point.

You are more likely to die travelling by train than by plane
More likely to die in the winter than in the spring
More likely to die in a car-crash than from cancer
More lilkely to die watching Eastenders than The Weakest Link
More likely to be murdered than to win the lottery
More likely to die in China than in Spain

You are more likely to die if you starve than if you eat
More likely to die at Old Trafford than in an ice-cream parlour
More likely to die in the morning than in the afternoon
More likely to die in Luton than in Milton Keynes
More likely to die in a Polish sentry-box than a Morris 1000 Traveller
More likely to die of cold than of heat

You are more likely to die in blue than in green
More likely to die in bed than in Birmingham
More likely to die intestate than on a tandem
More likely to die in company than alone
More likely to die on a Monday than on a Friday
More likely to die where you are than where you have been

You are more likely to die if you are tall than if you are short
More likely to die of hate than of love
More likely to die choking on a marble than to spontaneously combust
More likely to die facing south than facing east
More likely to die on land than on sea
More likely to die from leisure than from sport

You are more likely to die doing the twist than the jive
More likely to die at home than in any other place
More likely to die with friends than with strangers
More likely to die with an apology than with a blessing
More likely to die with a question than an answer
You are most likely to die if you are alive