EPISCOPAL CHURCH SANCTIONED AT ANGLICAN PRIMATES GATHERING

Canterbury Cathedral

Susan Russell says it well at The Huffington Post.  Imagine! The Episcopal Church was sanctioned for being inclusive!

Today's statement from the Anglican Primates sanctioning the Episcopal Church for moving forward on marriage equality was sad but not surprising. The Episcopal Church being blamed for "impaired communion" between constituent members of the 38 autonomous churches making up the worldwide Anglican Communion is news to absolutely no one who has followed the long running saga of the Anglican Inclusion Wars.

If you wonder what a primate is, or you think you already know, an Anglican primate is the chief bishop in a country or region. If you think that perhaps a more suitable label could have been chosen, I agree.

Our primate, Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, made me proud with his response to the announcement of the sanctions.

Our commitment to be an inclusive church is not based on a social theory or capitulation to the ways of the culture, but on our belief that the outstretched arms of Jesus on the cross are a sign of the very love of God reaching out to us all. While I understand that many disagree with us, our decision regarding marriage is based on the belief that the words of the Apostle Paul to the Galatians are true for the church today: All who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ.

GILES FRASER - FAREWELL TO CHURCH TIMES

I HAVE written this column for nine years. It is time for me to hang up my hat. It has been a huge privilege to write in these pages, and I want publicly to thank the work of the editorial team, who have been so supportive of my column.

Partly, this decision has to do with the arrival of a new Archbishop. Justin Welby is a good man, and will, I expect, make a fine leader of the Church. But his moral opposition to homosexuality remains a massive problem for me - as was that of his predecessor. I do not want to spend my time getting angry with him, or continually being ashamed at the Church of which I am, and will always try to remain, a part.

But the C of E is travelling in a different direction now. And there is something spiritually deadening about being in a state of permanent opposition to all of this. In my sermon on Sunday, I preached about the loyalty of Simeon and Anna, arguing that it is more important to say what you are for than what you are against. I need to take my own advice, and find a different space where I feel more comfortable saying what I am for.

I expect we'll continue to hear from Giles in other forums, and for that I'm grateful.  The words in the column that struck me are:

"In my sermon on Sunday, I preached about the loyalty of Simeon and Anna, arguing that it is more important to say what you are for than what you are against.  I need to take my own advice, and find a different space where I feel more comfortable saying what I am for."  

As I think about what I write here on my blog, it seems to me that I write or link to more stories about what I am against than what I'm for, and, like Giles, I don't see  it's a particularly good thing.  What would I write about that I am for, that is positive?  I'm thinking...

In the meantime, I could not resist publishing once again the wonderful cartoon by Susan Russell, which is surely worthy of more than one use.

 

Click on the cartoon for the larger view.

FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

Matthew 21:1-13 (NRSV)

When they had come near Jerusalem and had reached Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, “Go into the village ahead of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her; untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, just say this, ‘The Lord needs them.’ And he will send them immediately.” This took place to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet, saying,

“Tell the daughter of Zion,
Look, your king is coming to you,
humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them; they brought the donkey and the colt, and put their cloaks on them, and he sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. The crowds that went ahead of him and that followed were shouting,

“Hosanna to the Son of David!
Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!
Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was in turmoil, asking, “Who is this?” The crowds were saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Then Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. He said to them,

“It is written,
‘My house shall be called a house of prayer’;
but you are making it a den of robbers.”

Schwarz, Wjatscheslaw Grigorjewitsch  - Palm Sunday in Moscow
Russian State Museum, St Petersburg

What have we in the painting above? (Click on the picture for a larger view.)  A historically accurate reenactment of the Gospel account?  No, of course not.  Why then do we see depictions of Jesus wearing a bejeweled golden crown and expensive fabrics when he would have worn the ordinary clothing of working class males in 1st century Jerusalem, which was an undergarment of coarse cloth and a tunic made of wool?  It's true that Jesus' tunic was seamless, which seems to have been unusual, but that's about as far as his finery can be taken.  The only crown Jesus wore was a crown of thorns.  Even after the Resurrection, when Mary Magdalene first saw Jesus, she thought he was the gardener.    

The rule of God—the kingship of Christ—is not about earthly power or political authority, revenge or judgment; it’s about wholeness, it’s about restoring creation to the fullness of peace and justice, truth and love that God intended. It’s about all lands—ALL people—not just a chosen few. It’s about the primary moral value of prizing the interconnectedness of all humanity—of loving our neighbors as ourselves. The kingship of Jesus is AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN vastly different from a worldly kingship. When we celebrate Christ the King, we’re holding up a king who is, first and foremost, a  reconciler, a redeemer, a servant. This is a king who comes to show us how to live as a people of God in the kingdom of God—a shepherd willing to lay down his life for his sheep. (Susan Russell - Sermon 2004)

 Image from Wikipedia.

LOUISE EMERSON BROOKS - REST IN PEACE AND RISE IN GLORY

From Susan Russell, whose wife, Louise Emerson Brooks, died Sunday, September 2, 2012 after a long battle with cancer.

There are no words to express the depths of our gratitude for your words of support and love for us and in tribute to Louise's extraordinary life. We will celebrate her life with a service at All Saints Church in Pasadena on Saturday, September 8th at 11am with a reception to follow. Please come prepared to grieve her loss, celebrate her life -- and to tell stories about the part of Louise Emerson Brooks that touched your life. That is quite literally what she said she wanted -- as the producer in her was very clear that she wanted a "production credit" for the liturgical celebration of her life. For more details call All Saints at 626.796.1172.  Here's my new-and-improved 2.0 version:

For those who have asked about memorial gifts, two of the great passions of her life were the work of LGBT inclusion and the work of animal rescue. Contributions to Integrity will help support the distribution of her latest documentary "Voices of Witness: Out of the Box" and contributions to Husky Camp will support the ongoing Siberian Husky Rescue that brought us our beloved Luna and Juno.

Integrity USA in memory of Louise Brooks
http://integrityusa.org/
838 East High St. #291 Lexington, KY 40502

Husky Camp -- Siberian Husky Rescue
http://www.HuskyCamp.com/
SHRRCA
303 Cameo Dr.,
Danville, CA 94526

I met Susan Russell at GC2009.  The next year, I had the pleasure of meeting both Louise and Susan in New Orleans when Susan gave a speech sponsored by the New Orleans Chapter of Integrity and Human Rights Campaign at Trinity Church.  I was amongst the guests at a dinner in their honor and was fortunate to be seated at the same table with Susan and Louise and enjoyed their company and conversation immensely.  I teased Louise that, although I find it difficult to remember names, I would have no problem remembering hers since it was the same as the silent movie star.  Many would not recognize the reference, but Louise knew of whom I spoke. Louise had a sharp wit, which she sometimes expressed in throwaway-lines with a dead-pan expression, so you had to be quick to appreciate how wonderfully clever and funny she was.

Below is a picture of Louise, me, and Susan after Susan's speech.

May Louise rest in peace and rise in glory. May God give comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding to Susan and to all who love Louise.

UPDATE: Louise's obituary in the Pasadena Star News. 

GILES FRASER'S NEOLOGISM EXPLAINED

Click on the picture for the larger view.

Giles Fraser's definition of his new word in a visual by Susan Russell as seen on Facebook.