Thinking Anglicans posted the entire text of Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori's sermon at Southwark Cathedral in south London this morning.
That woman who wanders into Simon’s house comes with her hair uncovered – “oh, scandal! She’s clearly a woman of the street!” And she starts to act in profoundly embarrassing ways, crying all over Jesus’ feet and cleaning up the tears with her hair. And, “oh Lord, now she’s covering him with perfume! We can’t have this in a proper house – what will people think? And I guess now we know just what sort of person this fellow is!”
The scorn that some are willing to heap on others because we think they’ve loved excessively or inappropriately is still pretty well known. Yet it is this woman’s loving response to Jesus that brings her pardon, and Jesus’ celebration of her right relationship with God. She doesn’t even have to ask. Jesus seems to say that evidence of her pardon has already been given – full measure, pressed down, and overflowing – just like her tears and hair and cask of nard.
It’s the same message Jesus offers over and over: “perfect love casts out fear” (1Jn 4:18). It’s actually our fear of the wretchedness within our own souls that pushes us away from our sisters and brothers. Fear is the only thing that keeps us from knowing God’s love – and we most often discover it in the people around us. Jesus wasn’t afraid to eat with sinners, either Simon or the other dinner guests, and he wasn’t afraid of what the woman of the city was going to do to his reputation.
Read the rest of the sermon at TA.
Photo from LondonSE1 whence cometh news of this sour note:
15 evangelical clergy from the Diocese of Southwark signed a letter to The Times criticising the Dean's decision to invite Dr Jefferts Schori to preach in the cathedral.
"We, the undersigned clergy of Southwark diocese, distance ourselves from Bishop Schori’s teaching and presiding in our cathedral.
"We seriously question the judgment of those who have not withdrawn their invitation to her after her recent consecration of Mary Glasspool."
The list of signees is at the Times.
A working link to the Times letter is here.
ReplyDeleteAre British clergy so uneducated that they cannot even get the Presiding Bishop's name right? Either her first name or her last?
But then again, every sentence in the letter (with the possible exception of the last one) contains falsehoods. Those concerned with "the teaching of the Bible" ought to bear in mind God's prohibition of false witness.
The more I think about this and other things going on round the Communion, the more I think that the fact of our Presiding Bishop's being a woman/woman bishop is at the root of a dilemma in the CofE. Namely, that if they all recognize her and call her by her proper name and all that, they will have to recognize that they have no reason to continue to foment against women bishops in the CofE. They can't very well recognize her fully without sending a message to their own women priests that it's OK for TEC to have women bishops but not them. I am so proud of her strong presence and message and I must confess feeling a bit of delight at how she makes them squirmy.
ReplyDelete(WV: "missi"... entirely appropriate!)
Paul, thanks for the link correction.
ReplyDeleteUgly words, aren't they? And untrue. Bishop Katharine seems to be a grave threat to the old boys clubs of the English bishops and the Anglican primates. More and more, I've come to believe that Mark Harris' speaks the truth as to why the Episcopal Church is singled out for disciplinary action:
It's not about gay and lesbian persons - if so why not Canada and England? It's not about infractions or incursions in dioceses not one's own, if so why not Rwanda (in particular) and the usual suspects?
What is it about? Maybe it is about women.
I also think that Father Mark is correct. We became a much stronger Church by having women in the Clergy and Episcopacy. We celebrate diversity, they fulminate against it. But surely that's a sign of their own weakness.
ReplyDelete"We, the undersigned clergy of Southwark diocese, distance ourselves from Bishop Schori’s teaching"
ReplyDeletePlease feel free to distance yourselves as much as is possible. The further away you are, the more we like it.
So sad that those people never read the Gospels and know nothing of the inclusive love that Jesus taught. They are living in times that may never have existed except in their minds. The patriarchy is its own worst enemy these days.
ReplyDeleteI think our Presiding Bishop is up to something.
ReplyDeleteRallying liberals in the UK? Sending messages to Canterbury (as in "we're not intimidated")? Sending a big message to the CofE about women in the episcopacy?
I think the protesting evangelicals are playing right into her hands.
Hope you're right, Counterlight. She's tough enough to play their game.
ReplyDeletePenelopespiscopal, I think you are absolutely correct. They are using the gay thing to cover up their utter misogyny. As a wise man said, homophobia is only a room in th ehouse of misogyny.
Cathy, I doubt that Bp. Katharine sheds tears that the evangelical clergy are not her BFF.
ReplyDeletePiskie, I wonder, too, if those clergy types ever look at the part of the Bible that's called the Gospel.
Counterlight, our PB has certainly made her presence felt in the UK of late, I suppose she has her reasons, and the folks who invite her have their reasons.
ReplyDeleteIT, I like the wise man's saying. The wise man is correct.
When opposing clergy write blog posts entitled Keeping older women out of church, one knows it is really keeping women in their place.
ReplyDeleteI read recently - can't remember where - that her current tour was arranged last year in the wake of Lambeth. It is an "official" thing, tho' Rowan & Co could hardly have anticipated how its timing would work out, and many other primates signed up for similar tours. So particularly nervy and dumb - and when did that ever prevent them? - of the clergy who're labeling and protesting her visit as an "insult to Rowan".
ReplyDeleteErp, I left a comment over at the site you linked to. It's not moderated through yet, and it may not be, but here's what I said, borrowing some from what Paul (A.) said in the comment above:
ReplyDelete“The issue with her is not simply that she’s a woman, but that she’s a false teacher.”
What about the commandment in the Bible about not bearing false witness? Everything in the paragraph that you quoted from the letter is untrue. I suppose that does not matter. And the writers could not even get Bishop Katharine’s name right
The Presiding Bishop is a woman, and she’s broken into the old boys’ club of male bishops. The old guys just can’t handle it, and apparently you and other threatened males like you can’t handle that situation, either. Sad.
And there's the news from the Anglican Diocese of Melborne in Australia via Thinking Anglicans, titled "Men lead, women obey?". You didn't read wrong and I didn't type wrong. That's the Melborne diocese, not the Sydney diocese.
Cardinal Pirelli, thank you. Bp. Katharine could not preach or preside at Southwark without the local bishop's approval. If the visit was scheduled some time ago, perhaps it's Rowan's timing that was off with his Pentecost letter. The letter was most certainly out of kilter with the spirit of the church season of Pentecost.
ReplyDeleteRe, "when was KJS's trip arranged" this, at "Anglican Mainstream" (I will respect you and not link the site), from David Anderson, "President and CEO, American Anglican Council".
ReplyDelete"The AAC has learned that Lambeth Palace permission was granted, under the Overseas Clergy Act, for Katharine Jefferts Schori, the first woman primate in the Anglican Communion, to function in a presbyterial capacity at the Southwark Cathedral. However, Lambeth Palace did not grant her permission to function as a bishop. This raises a question: will she honor this Lambeth permission and dress in vestments appropriate to a priest, or will she dishonor the permission given, and wear vestments appropriate to a bishop? Yes, she is a bishop, but the permission given was to function as a priest. We are told that she will preach and preside; it is understood that this will be the first time she has preached and presided in a Cathedral in the UK."
Does "Bishop" Anderson also expect that visiting male primates should also "dress in vestments appropriate to a priest"?
The pretentious priggishness of these Faux-Anglicans (as a US resident baptized and confirmed in the C of E I deeply resent the way that these people have Shanghai-ed and besmirched the word "Anglican") is past belief.
Lapin, is it only the staff and the mitre that are in question? I don't know whether +Katharine dressed "appropriately" according to Anderson, and I couldn't care less.
ReplyDeleteDoes "Bishop" Anderson also expect that visiting male primates should also "dress in vestments appropriate to a priest"?
The rules are different for women. BP. Katharine really rocks their boat, doesn't she?
Thanks for not linking.
These jerks would bitch if she didn't cross her stole, Mimi.
ReplyDeleteYes, she rocks!
And they call us the weaker sex....
ReplyDeleteThat's 15 evangelical clegy out of step with the prevailing mood.
ReplyDeleteSt Stephen's, Lewisham is Anglo-Papalist, DP. Evidently misogyny trumps Churchmanship.
ReplyDeleteAarrgh! That should be PB Katharine up there! I've got BP on the brain.
ReplyDeleteOf course it's about misogyny, from start to finish!
ReplyDeleteWhen is the only time that THE ESTABLISHMENT has expressed concern about a lesbian? When she was made a bishop! Otherwise, consciously or unconsciously, these sort of . . . men(?) . . . believe a lesbian is a step up - almost a man. Of course, still not, so not fit to lead, but can be safely ignored, like a monkey dressed in clothes.
A gay man however is a threat, because he has "backslid" and become like a woman - he has devolved, in the opinion of these . . . men(?). He is a traitor, a dangerous rallying point for those women who dare to think they're equal and God doesn't place as much emphasis on parts as these . . . men(?) . . . do.
Mark, I don't know. Lesbian priests take a lot of flak, too. I agree that gay men are threatening to straight, insecure, homophobic men.
ReplyDelete