From KJ, in the comments to the post below, "The Man From The South":
There's a great deal more adventure and joy in diving into the depths of diversity as opposed to wading in the kiddy pool of unanimity.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
"A Man From The South"
From the blog of Bishop Alan Wilson of Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom:
Monday, 28 July 2008
Man from the South
Spent the afternoon at the Windsor Report continuation hearing — the steamiest two hours this side of the Mississippi. By sheer coincidence one statement really got me thinking, from the Bishop of Mississippi, Duncan Gray. I commend it for a bit of thoughtful attention, as a slightly different take on TEC’s ups and downs:
[Bishop Duncan Gray]:
A bit of personal history: I have been nurtured and shaped within the Evangelical tradition of my Church. Most importantly, this means that the ultimate authority of the Holy Scripture and the necessity of an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus as the way to the Father are foundational and non-negotiable components of my faith.
Within my own province, I voted not to consent to the election of Gene Robinson, for reasons both theological and ecclesiological. I have followed to the letter and the spirit of the Windsor Report — before there was a Windsor Report.
For my faithfulness to this communion I have been rewarded by regular incursions into our diocese by primates and bishops who have no apparent regard for either my theology or ecclesiology.
I have made some peace with this reality, preferring to think of the irregularly ordained as Methodists — and some of my best friends are Methodists!
What I cannot make peace with is the portrayal of my sister and brother bishops in the Episcopal Church, who disagree with me, as bearers of a false gospel. That portrayal does violence to the imperfect, but faithful, grace-filled, and often costly way, in which they live out their love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, I am in serious disagreement with many of them on the very critical sacramental and ethical issues about which the Communion is in deep conflict. Are we sometimes, at best, insensitive to the wider context in which we do ministry, and at worst, deeply embedded in American arrogance — Absolutely! And for that insensitivity and arrogance we have begged the Communion's forgiveness on several occasions. “But do I see the Church in them?” as the most serious question at the last hearing asked. As God is my witness, I do. Despite my profound disagreements I continue to pray “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We continue to reaffirm our creedal faith together. We continue to gather round the Lord’s table together, bringing the brokenness and imperfectness of our lives into the healing embrace of our Lord who sends us out together to the poor, the weak and the hopeless. And, in the midst of our internal conflicts, they show me Jesus.
There are dozens of bishops like me in the Episcopal Church. We are not a one, or even two dimensional Church. We are a multitude of diverse theological, ecclesiological and sacramental perspectives — and the vast majority of us have figured out a way to stay together.
How is this possible? I think it begins with the gift from Saint Paul, who taught us the great limitations of even our most insightful thought. We do, every one of us, “see through a glass, darkly.” And none of us can say to the other, “I have no need of you.”
One day, Saint Paul says, we will see face to face, the glory that we now only glimpse. But in the meantime, as each of us struggles to be faithful, may each of us, the Episcopal Church and the wider communion, find the courage, and the humility, to say to one another, “I need you — for my salvation and for the salvation of the world.”
Bishop Gray of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, my neighbor state, exemplifies unity in the Spirit in the Body of Christ, despite differing opinions. Unfortunately, the media pay little attention to Bishop Gray and his kind. Those who want to tear the church apart get the coverage. Controversy sells. Christians bearing with one another despite disagreements are not newsworthy.
Thanks to Phil for calling this to my attention.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Man from the South
Spent the afternoon at the Windsor Report continuation hearing — the steamiest two hours this side of the Mississippi. By sheer coincidence one statement really got me thinking, from the Bishop of Mississippi, Duncan Gray. I commend it for a bit of thoughtful attention, as a slightly different take on TEC’s ups and downs:
[Bishop Duncan Gray]:
A bit of personal history: I have been nurtured and shaped within the Evangelical tradition of my Church. Most importantly, this means that the ultimate authority of the Holy Scripture and the necessity of an intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus as the way to the Father are foundational and non-negotiable components of my faith.
Within my own province, I voted not to consent to the election of Gene Robinson, for reasons both theological and ecclesiological. I have followed to the letter and the spirit of the Windsor Report — before there was a Windsor Report.
For my faithfulness to this communion I have been rewarded by regular incursions into our diocese by primates and bishops who have no apparent regard for either my theology or ecclesiology.
I have made some peace with this reality, preferring to think of the irregularly ordained as Methodists — and some of my best friends are Methodists!
What I cannot make peace with is the portrayal of my sister and brother bishops in the Episcopal Church, who disagree with me, as bearers of a false gospel. That portrayal does violence to the imperfect, but faithful, grace-filled, and often costly way, in which they live out their love of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Yes, I am in serious disagreement with many of them on the very critical sacramental and ethical issues about which the Communion is in deep conflict. Are we sometimes, at best, insensitive to the wider context in which we do ministry, and at worst, deeply embedded in American arrogance — Absolutely! And for that insensitivity and arrogance we have begged the Communion's forgiveness on several occasions. “But do I see the Church in them?” as the most serious question at the last hearing asked. As God is my witness, I do. Despite my profound disagreements I continue to pray “One Lord, one faith, one baptism.” We continue to reaffirm our creedal faith together. We continue to gather round the Lord’s table together, bringing the brokenness and imperfectness of our lives into the healing embrace of our Lord who sends us out together to the poor, the weak and the hopeless. And, in the midst of our internal conflicts, they show me Jesus.
There are dozens of bishops like me in the Episcopal Church. We are not a one, or even two dimensional Church. We are a multitude of diverse theological, ecclesiological and sacramental perspectives — and the vast majority of us have figured out a way to stay together.
How is this possible? I think it begins with the gift from Saint Paul, who taught us the great limitations of even our most insightful thought. We do, every one of us, “see through a glass, darkly.” And none of us can say to the other, “I have no need of you.”
One day, Saint Paul says, we will see face to face, the glory that we now only glimpse. But in the meantime, as each of us struggles to be faithful, may each of us, the Episcopal Church and the wider communion, find the courage, and the humility, to say to one another, “I need you — for my salvation and for the salvation of the world.”
Bishop Gray of the Episcopal Diocese of Mississippi, my neighbor state, exemplifies unity in the Spirit in the Body of Christ, despite differing opinions. Unfortunately, the media pay little attention to Bishop Gray and his kind. Those who want to tear the church apart get the coverage. Controversy sells. Christians bearing with one another despite disagreements are not newsworthy.
Thanks to Phil for calling this to my attention.
Monday, July 28, 2008
I Need A Laugh - Or Two, Or Three
And, as usual Doug obliges:
Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Barbara, you should have remained a virgin.'
- Barbara Bush (mother of G.W.)
I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.
- Mark Twain
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending;
and to have the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
- Victor Borge
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
- Mark Twain
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
- Groucho Marx
I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.
- Bob Hope
I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
- W.C. Fields
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
- Will Rogers
Don't worry about avoiding temptation as you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.
- Phyllis Diller
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.
-Billy Crystal
The cardiologist's diet: If it tastes good, spit it out.
Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself, 'Barbara, you should have remained a virgin.'
- Barbara Bush (mother of G.W.)
I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not pleased to read the description in the catalog: 'No good in a bed, but fine against a wall.'
- Eleanor Roosevelt
Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen. I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that statement.
- Mark Twain
The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending;
and to have the two as close together as possible.
- George Burns
Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
- Victor Borge
Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint.
- Mark Twain
By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
- Socrates
I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury.
- Groucho Marx
I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time for my nap.
- Bob Hope
I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it.
- W.C. Fields
We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its way through Congress.
- Will Rogers
Don't worry about avoiding temptation as you grow older, it will avoid you.
- Winston Churchill
Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty. But everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out.
- Phyllis Diller
By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go anywhere.
-Billy Crystal
The cardiologist's diet: If it tastes good, spit it out.
Take Courage!
In the midst of the troubles of the Anglican Communion, in which the Lambeth conference seems to be turning into farce, I take heart in these words from the Sunday readings in Romans 8:
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Anglican Communion is an institution. Institutions rise and fall. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In that I place my hope.
What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
"For your sake we are being killed all day long;
we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered."
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Anglican Communion is an institution. Institutions rise and fall. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. In that I place my hope.
From Susan Russell, President Of Integrity USA
LGBT ANGLICANS BACK ON CHOPPING BLOCK
CANTERBURY, UK-The Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity USA, issued the following statement after today's release of Part Three of the Windsor Continuation Group's Preliminary Observations:
"LGBT Anglicans are back on the chopping block based on the work of the Windsor Continuation Group. While we recognize that this is a long-term process, sadly, what was continued today was the process of institutionalizing bigotry and marginalizing the LGBT baptized. Acceptance of these recommendations would result in de facto sacramental apartheid.
"We applaud the strong testimony in today's hearings from TEC bishops who are committed to be pastoral to all the sheep in their flock, not just the straight ones. We call on them to take that witness to their Indaba groups. We ask them to remember the 1976 commitment of the Episcopal Church to 'full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church' for the LGBT baptized.
"It is a sad thing indeed that the message today's report sends out from the Anglican Communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria.
"As Integrity continues to offer our witness here at Lambeth Conference, we demonstrate our deep commitment to our ongoing relationship with the rest of the global Anglican Communion. At the same time, we will witness to our conviction that the vocations and relationships of the LGBT baptized are not for sale as bargaining chips in this game of global Anglican politics. At the end of the day, too high a price to pay for institutional unity."
The Rev. Susan Russell is available for interviews and comment.
Press contact in the UK:
Louise Brooks, Senior Press Officer, +44 (0)7503 695 579,
tvprod@earthlink.net
CANTERBURY, UK-The Rev. Susan Russell, President of Integrity USA, issued the following statement after today's release of Part Three of the Windsor Continuation Group's Preliminary Observations:
"LGBT Anglicans are back on the chopping block based on the work of the Windsor Continuation Group. While we recognize that this is a long-term process, sadly, what was continued today was the process of institutionalizing bigotry and marginalizing the LGBT baptized. Acceptance of these recommendations would result in de facto sacramental apartheid.
"We applaud the strong testimony in today's hearings from TEC bishops who are committed to be pastoral to all the sheep in their flock, not just the straight ones. We call on them to take that witness to their Indaba groups. We ask them to remember the 1976 commitment of the Episcopal Church to 'full and equal claim with all other persons upon the love, acceptance, and pastoral concern and care of the Church' for the LGBT baptized.
"It is a sad thing indeed that the message today's report sends out from the Anglican Communion to the world is that homosexuals getting married in California are of more concern to the church than are homosexuals being mugged in Nigeria.
"As Integrity continues to offer our witness here at Lambeth Conference, we demonstrate our deep commitment to our ongoing relationship with the rest of the global Anglican Communion. At the same time, we will witness to our conviction that the vocations and relationships of the LGBT baptized are not for sale as bargaining chips in this game of global Anglican politics. At the end of the day, too high a price to pay for institutional unity."
The Rev. Susan Russell is available for interviews and comment.
Press contact in the UK:
Louise Brooks, Senior Press Officer, +44 (0)7503 695 579,
tvprod@earthlink.net
From Elizabeth at "Telling Secrets"
I pray that Elizabeth forgives me for stealing her entire post, but I know that everyone doesn't click the links, and I want this read as widely as possible.
I love this picture because I have come to love the women in it.
Queen is the woman sitting on the left and Rose is the woman sitting on the right. Both women are from Nigeria, here with Davis Mac-Iylla.
I'm asking for prayers, right now, for Rose Ngeri. As I write this, she is up on the Campus of the University of Kent, trying to meet as many African bishops and their wives as she possibly can.
I passed her this morning, standing in front of the wall in the Church yard, praying. There was no denying that she was in prayer. There was no ignoring the power of that moment of her prayer.
I had no idea that it would lead to her feeling called to an act that can only be described as prophetic, if not something that may place her in danger when she returns home to Nigeria.
A few hours later, I was asked to proof read a leaflet she had prepared. Her intention is to put this in the hands of every African bishop she meets today.
When I first read this, it brought me to tears. As I just typed them into my computer, I found my hands trembling. I knew I had to share them with you.
One other preface: When Michael, who acted as her scribe, asked her if she was not putting herself in no small amount of danger, she said, with no discernible alarm in her voice, that we must understand that when the sexual orientation of gay men becomes known, they are tortured and/or killed.
What becomes of lesbian women, she was asked.
Oh, she said, they just send men to rape us. But, she added, deeply distressed, gay men are tortured and killed.
Here are her own words to her bishops and their wives:
"The Lambeth Conference, to me, is a place where you meet Bishops and people from all walks of life to share different views about lots of things we see and hear.
I gather that LGBT are welcome in the House of God by some people . . yet, denied the right of place in the same house of God by others.
Please, our African spiritual fathers, let us have a place in our churches. REMEMBER, WE WERE BORN OF YOUR FATHERS, MOTHERS, SISTERS, AUNTIES, COUSINS AND NEICES.
Our mothers did not ask for this group of children. Rather it is the content of the man deposited in the woman that came out the same way it is made by God.
African leaders keep passing laws against LGBT. Please, if I may ask, what crime have we committed?
Mothers, will you fold your arms and let your children die through torture? Why can't you ask them what crime your children have committed before they kill more of your children?
How long should we keep quiet about issues like this?
Which way Africa?"
Please take a moment from whatever it is you are doing and pray, right now, for Rose Ngeri.
Thank you.
Posted by Elizabeth Kaeton at 8:45 AM
Thanks to Erika for calling this to my attention.
Press Release From Davis Mac-Iyalla
Davis Mac-Iyalla - "Thanks the UK Government and Supporters".
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Following his being granted asylum in the UK, Davis Mac-Iyalla of Anglican
pressure group Changing Attitude Nigeria wishes to express his gratitude to
a number of individuals and organisations that provided support in one form
or another over a period of time.
Davis said, "The people I wish to thank include the UK government and the
Home Office, Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn, my solicitor Abigail Evans of
Wilson and Co, The Reverend Stephen Coles, Colin Coward and the trustees of
Changing Attitude, Peter Tatchell of OutRage!, Sebastian Rocca of UK Lesbian
and Gay Immigration Group, Erika Baker, Susan Strong, Mike Hersee, Julian
Batson, the Inclusive Church and others too numerous to mention. Your
support in different ways has been absolutely invaluable, not just for me
but for our common goals."
Davis added, "I'm very grateful to the UK government for granting me asylum.
It means I will have an opportunity to continue working for the full
inclusion of LGBT people in the Anglican church in Nigeria. My heart really
goes out to my LGBT brothers and sisters still trapped in Nigeria. They are
intimated and threatened by the increasingly hostile and violent environment
against them, stoked up by Archbishop Akinola and his henchmen - or
hench-bishops - who claim that we don't really exist, and if we do then we
are the spawn of the devil."
"It is impossible to have a rational debate in such a climate of hatred
spewed out from what is supposed to be a loving church. I think Jesus would
be apalled at how low the Anglican Church of Nigeria has sunk by straying so
far from his message of love and forgiveness that it does the complete
opposite".
Davis concluded, "If the Anglican Church of Nigeria and the Nigerian
government had a more open-minded and understanding attitude, then people
like me would not need asylum in the first place".
For further information contact:
Davis Mac-Iyalla
Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria
Mobile +44 (0)7948237399
Thanks to Erika.
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Following his being granted asylum in the UK, Davis Mac-Iyalla of Anglican
pressure group Changing Attitude Nigeria wishes to express his gratitude to
a number of individuals and organisations that provided support in one form
or another over a period of time.
Davis said, "The people I wish to thank include the UK government and the
Home Office, Islington MP Jeremy Corbyn, my solicitor Abigail Evans of
Wilson and Co, The Reverend Stephen Coles, Colin Coward and the trustees of
Changing Attitude, Peter Tatchell of OutRage!, Sebastian Rocca of UK Lesbian
and Gay Immigration Group, Erika Baker, Susan Strong, Mike Hersee, Julian
Batson, the Inclusive Church and others too numerous to mention. Your
support in different ways has been absolutely invaluable, not just for me
but for our common goals."
Davis added, "I'm very grateful to the UK government for granting me asylum.
It means I will have an opportunity to continue working for the full
inclusion of LGBT people in the Anglican church in Nigeria. My heart really
goes out to my LGBT brothers and sisters still trapped in Nigeria. They are
intimated and threatened by the increasingly hostile and violent environment
against them, stoked up by Archbishop Akinola and his henchmen - or
hench-bishops - who claim that we don't really exist, and if we do then we
are the spawn of the devil."
"It is impossible to have a rational debate in such a climate of hatred
spewed out from what is supposed to be a loving church. I think Jesus would
be apalled at how low the Anglican Church of Nigeria has sunk by straying so
far from his message of love and forgiveness that it does the complete
opposite".
Davis concluded, "If the Anglican Church of Nigeria and the Nigerian
government had a more open-minded and understanding attitude, then people
like me would not need asylum in the first place".
For further information contact:
Davis Mac-Iyalla
Director of Changing Attitude Nigeria
Mobile +44 (0)7948237399
Thanks to Erika.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Stephen Colbert On The Anglican Communion
Other bloggers, Klady, Fran, and Elizabeth have posted or linked to this video, but I could not resist. Stephen solves all the problems in the Anglican Communion over at Comedy Central. Why isn't he at Lambeth to share his wisdom with the bishops?
UPDATE: Malcolm+ says that Canadians can view the video here.
John The Baptist At The Nelson-Atkins Museum
"Saint John the Baptist in the Wilderness", 1604-1605
This painting at the NA Museum in Kansas City caused me to gasp as soon as I walked into the gallery and spotted it. I made a beeline to it to get a closer look and read the details. I did not instantly recognize it as a Caravaggio, but I should have. I know that Professor Counterlight would have. What a beauty!
The contrast of the light and shadow is superb, with the eyes and the background shaded and the torso, the arms, and one leg in the light. Then, there's the striking dark slash across the torso from the shadow of the arm and the contrast of the luscious red of the cloak. This is a pensive, cleaned up John the Baptist, groomed with a colorful and elegant cloak, if not much else. Even looking at the reproduction causes me to catch my breath. For me, seeing the painting was an encounter with the living God.
Below is a Rembrandt at the NA. I thank Rembrandt for my spiritual awakening to art. When I was in my early 30s, I visited the Metropolitan Museum in New York. When I walked into one of the galleries which is hung almost entirely with Rembrandt paintings, I was stunned breathless. I walked around the gallery in a trance, bewitched by the power of the paintings. I have viewed art differently since that day. Seeing art that I love is intense for me. It feeds my spirit.
With Rembrandt, it's the play of light and shadow that captivates me, with the intense focus of light on the faces of the subjects of the paintings, with perhaps part of the clothing or another object or two highlighted and the rest of the painting in shadow of various dark colors to black. Rembrandt is gifted in his ability to capture character in the expression on the faces of his subjects.
Oh, my! I'm reliving my visit to the museum and getting excited all over again. Just look at the John the Baptist!
Rembrandt Harmensz. van Rijn, Dutch, 1606-1669, b. Leiden, Netherlands
"Portrait of a Young Man", 1666
Images from the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.
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