The ABC's Address To Church Of England Synod

The experiences of last summer's Lambeth Conference and last week's Primates' Meeting have left me with one or two strong impressions which seem worth sharing with Synod as it prepares for further discussion of some sensitive matters this week. Despite many predictions of doom - and a fair number of subsequent assessments of inefficacy - the Lambeth Conference at least established two things. The first was the significance of a climate in which every participant is guaranteed a hearing....

Indeed, one might say that the ABC's statement is technically correct, but what about the duly elected and consecrated bishop of the Episcopal Church who was not permitted to be a participant? What about Bishop Gene Robinson? Everyone who was included was, indeed, "guaranteed a hearing", but Bishop Gene's voice was never heard, because he was not allowed to be present.

What good does it do to put a good face on the process at Lambeth, while simply ignoring the exclusion of Bishop Gene? I'm tempted to dismiss every word of the ABC's address that follows, because he refuses to acknowledge or address the exclusion, which was his very own doing, but, I won't.

He goes on about mission and the horrific plight of the church in Zimbabwe and of supporting the the church there by prayer and practical help, a good thing, surely. Then on to self-restraint and moratoria for we know whom. The burden of self-restraint and moratoria on the backs of our LGTB brothers, will, I hope, be lifted in the Episcopal Church. As to the incursions into the territory of the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada by unauthorized bishops, who believes that these will cease?

Yet last week, all the Primates who had attended GAFCON were present, every one of them took part in daily prayer and Bible study alongside the Primates of North America and every one of them spoke in discussion. In a way that I have come to recognise as very typical of these meetings, when talk of replacing Communion with federation of some kind was heard, nearly everyone reacted by saying that this was not something they could think about choosing.

Well, whoop-de-doo! The GAFCON primates were present, and they all spoke. A federation is not something which can be agreed to now. Excellent.

It appears that Primates are not contaminated by sharing Scripture studies, but sharing the Lord's table is in another category altogether.

No-one wants to rest content with the breach in sacramental fellowship, and everyone acknowledges that this breach means we are less than we are called to be. But the fact that we recognise this and that we still gather around the Word is no small thing; without this, we should not even be able to hope for the full restoration of fellowship at the Eucharist.

Perhaps, there is hope.

And there are those in the Church of England who are adamantly opposed to women bishops, and on the other side, those who believe that it must happen.

This is not the place to elaborate on what that could mean in practice, but it does no harm to hold in mind the vision of a Church in which a difficult plurality of conviction will not simply be done away with by decree. This is not, though, simply a matter of tolerating private views, since it bears on the public life and worship of the church. If I hear correctly what is being said by those opposed to the Code of Practice currently on the table, they are asking what more might be offered to secure some kind of continuity of pastoral care for congregations and clergy unwilling to accept women as bishops, and some measure of organisational (including sacramental) coherence for them, rather than being wholly dependent on ad hoc provision and local chance.

Wholly tongue in cheek, how about a team from ACNA, The Anglican Church in North America, the parallel "province-in-waiting" as Mark Harris calls it, to help the Church of England along with providing pastoral care for all?

Once I quieted down from my "guaranteed a hearing" outrage, I gave the ABC's address far more time and attention than I intended to - a fairly close reading and an admittedly quite personal commentary.

UPDATE: H/T to The Lead for the link to the ABC's address, which I should have acknowledged from the beginning.

"Sin, True Sin Flourishes In Silence."

Sin, true sin flourishes in silence. Perhaps that is why we confess aloud. Not so that God can hear it--God knows. But so that we can hear it, and in speaking it aloud it loses its power.

From Margaret at Leave It Lay Where Jesus Flang It. Her post is part movie review of "The Reader", part meditation, and altogether wonderful. Please read it.

Spicing Up The LA Senate Race In 2010

From Stephen Sabludowsky at Bayou Buzz:

To date, there has been no politico to “belly up to the bar” to take on US Senator David Vitter, so perhaps that is why someone with an admirable belly and other anatomical parts has decide to jump into the US Senate ring.

I had heard about the possibility, but, then, today, I received the email. Perhaps, you might have received it also on the same computer in which you receive the David Vitter updates.

In bold, the email says, “DraftStormy Storms DC Mardi Gras”.

Quoting from the email:

Campaign to draft Baton Rouge native into the 2010 Louisiana Senate Race launches, stresses campaign is about the economy, sexy.

Washington DC—Against the backdrop of the annual Washington Mardis Gras, DraftStormy, a non-partisan grassroots movement to draft Baton Rouge native Stormy Daniels into the 2010 Louisiana Senate race, celebrated its official launch on Thursday.

To commemorate the launch, DC Mardis Gras attendees were greeted Thursday morning with a complimentary string of Mardis Gras beads featuring the soon-to-be iconic DraftStormy logo in metallic pink on a white medallion. Hours before, the official DraftStormy website went live.

Inviting Louisianans and Americans to "Join the Storm" the website features a petition page along with an extensive overview of Stormy Daniels and her qualifications to tackle some of the biggest issues facing both the Pelican State and the nation in general.

For example, a section titled, "It's the Economy, Sexy," examines how the current economic crisis is impacting all sectors of the economy including the adult entertainment industry.

Stormy makes a lot of sense. Why isn't Vitter in jail? The DC madam, Deborah Jeane Palfrey, committed suicide last May after she was convicted and sentenced to prison. Is it possible that Louisiana could have a senator who would tell the truth?

Rich Sanchez did a pretty good job with the interview yesterday, except that he might have mentioned Deborah Jean Palfrey's death.

Vitter Gets A Smackdown

See Vitter speak nonsense. No. 1 and No. 2 are both false statements. I take his efforts to cut ACORN out of the funding personally, because the First Draft Krewe, of which I was a member, worked on gutting a house in Gentilly in New Orleans under the auspices of ACORN. What's wrong with Vitter? 3,500 homes in New Orleans rehabilitated by ACORN and their volunteers, and he wants them squeezed out!

UPDATE: The amendment was voted down. Thanks to Susan S. for asking. I meant to note that in the original post.

Lest you doubt my words, the picture is below. There we are, all fresh and clean, before we went to work.



Thanks to Athenae at First Draft for the picture and the tip on the video.

To My Caring Real Life And Virtual Friends

The response to my post on our recent sad news of another divorce in the family was overwhelming. When I read the comments over, 56 at last count, I cry. I reflect upon what an amazing phenomenon this blog community has become for me. How healing and uplifting it is to know that our family is surrounded by such an outpouring of love, caring, and prayers. My family and friends pray; my church community prays; and the blogging community prays.

I'm sounding more mushy than I'd like, but I don't know how else to say what I want to say, and words don't do justice by half to what I think and feel. Some of you posted lovely prayers, others of you poems, and yet others, your own wonderful words. I love them all.

MadPriest linked to my post, and even Fr. Christian Troll gave me a link. Did you know that the he has a soft, sweet side to him? I fear his enemies will take advantage.

Ostrich left a beautiful poem by Raymond Chapman that touched my heart.

When we seem to walk alone, we are not alone because we walk with God even in loneliness.

When light turns to darkness, we are not helpless, because Christ, the light of the world, shines on us.

When we go into the wilderness we are not lost because God makes new paths for the wandering feet.

He knows our frailty, our imperfection, and receives us when we come, offering only our weakness.

Sorrow and anger and regret, he understands them all and out of them will make all things new.

It is not anger but resentment that devours love, not repentence but guilt that destroys hope: if we avoid them, what has been good will not perish.

Put your hand into the hand of God, go forward, lonely, but not alone.

Raymond Chapman.

Thank you, thank you, thank you. May God bless you all!

Image from Glitter Pictures

♫ We Wish You To Get Well ! ♫

To all my blog friends who are afflicted with teh sick and who are all thoroughly sick of teh sick, my grandson with coughing and wheezing, Fran, with laryngitis, Counterlight with laryngitis which morphed into asthma, MadPriest, with man-flu, and any others of you out there who are not well from the depredations of the winter season or something else, I offer you my prayers and sympathy. I ask one thing of you. Please! Don't send teh sick our way.

♫ Get well, get well soon.
We wish you to get well. ♫

Street Gangs In Montana

Why are they lying around and standing around? Why don't they go to work? Next thing you know, they'll want government handouts.

From Doug, who thinks that God has a sense of humor.

Fats Domino - "Blueberry Hill"

I woke up this morning with "Blueberry Hill" playing in my head, over and over, and over and over. Don't get me wrong. I like Fats' "Blueberry Hill" a lot, but all day? Noooo. I post the video with the hope the song will get out of my head and onto my blog.

Click the "x" next to "Ads by Google" to remove them from the bottom of the video.

Am I Lucky, Or What?

staatclaims02@aim.com

show details 12:13 PM (11 minutes ago)

Reply

We are aware this will come to you as a suprise,
the results of the electronic online email sweepstakes is out,Your email ID won 500,000.00 euro in category¨b¨
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What a surprise! I will use the money for my trip to England and give what's left over to charity.

"Please Pray For My Country"

From Brian R. in Australia:

I ask for your prayers for those who have died, those who are injured, those who have lost loved ones and those who have lost their homes and all they possess.

Read the rest at Noble Wolf.