TOBIAS FINDS TWO PROPHETS

From Tobias Haller at In a Godward Direction:

I had the very great pleasure of knowing Bishop Walter D. Dennis, Suffragan of New York, in his capacity as Visitor to the Brotherhood of Saint Gregory. He also had a keen eye for trends in the church, and often wrote about his prognostications.

Bishop Dennis:

If it turns out that unity with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches is a high priority for the new Archbishop of Canterbury [George Carey], then ECUSA, as part of the Anglican Communion, may feel obliged to sell out on some of the commitments it has already made, namely, on the ordination of women, on the issue of abortion, on the issue of theological dissent and liberation theologies, and on gay rights. Clearly, many would revolt, feeling that the price of unity is too high if it requires Episcopalians to forfeit these commitments.

Read the rest of Bishop Dennis' prophetic words at Tobias' blog. The quotes are taken from “A Personal Prospectus On The Episcopal Church In The 1990s,” Walter D. Dennis, in The St Luke’s Journal of Theology, December 1990, Volume XXXIV Number 1, pages 11-12

And Tobias gives us lagniappe from Bishop Dennis' essay, a quote from Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie:

One of the characteristics of Anglicanism is our Reformation inheritance of national or provincial autonomy. The Anglican tradition is thus opposed to centralism and encourages the thriving of variety. This is a great good. There is an important principle to be borne witness to here: that nothing should be done at a higher level than is absolutely necessary. So Anglicans have become accustomed to speak of a dispersed authority. And we are traditionally suspicious of the Lambeth Conference becoming anything other than a Conference. We may indeed wish to discuss the development of more solid structures of unity and coherence. But I for one would want their provisional character made absolutely clear; like tents in the desert, they should be capable of being easily dismantled when it is time for the Pilgrim People to move on. We have no intention of developing an alternative Papacy. We would rather continue to deal with the structures of the existing Petrine Ministry, and hopefully help in its continuing development and reform as a ministry of unity for all Christians. [The Lambeth Conference, 1988, The Truth Shall Make You Free (London: Church House Publishers, 1988).]

YES!!!

Archbishop Rowan Williams, did you know...?

Cryptic Message

A new pastor was visiting the homes of his parishioners. At one house it seemed obvious that someone was at home, but no answer came to his repeated knocks at the door. Therefore, he took out a business card and wrote "Revelation 3:20" on the back of it and stuck it in the door.

When the offering was processed the following Sunday, he found that his card had been returned. Added to it was this cryptic message, "Genesis 3:10".

Reaching for his Bible to check out the citation, he broke up in gales of laughter. Revelation 3:20 begins, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock." Genesis 3:10 reads, "And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself."

Thanks to Paul (A.).

THEY NEVER MISS AN OPPORTUNITY...

...to bash the Episcopal Church. That would be the Archbishop of Canterbury and his minions. From the Anglican Journal:

There is “general pessimism” among bishops of the Anglican Church of Canada about the potential for “any clear resolution” of the divisive issue of sexuality at the church’s upcoming General Synod in Halifax this June.

This is one of the many observations recently made by two pastoral visitors from the U.K. who were deputized by the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. They were invited to attend the four-day meeting of the House of Bishops last November in Niagara, Ont., at the request of Archbishop Williams. Archbishop Williams is seeking ways to heal divisions among member provinces of the Anglican Communion.
....

The visitors said they were also reminded frequently by bishops that “Canada is not the USA.” While the United States is seen as a melting pot culture where religious and ethnic groups are synthesized into “Americans,” Canadians “genuinely value and seek to live with diversity.” Differences between the Anglican Church of Canada and The Episcopal Church were underscored, including the area of Christology. “We sensed that in Canada there was a general consensus on the nature of orthodoxy, with fewer extreme views of the kind that have led to some of the aberrations south of the border,” the report said. “Even the bishops who were strongly progressive in the matter of same-sex blessings insisted that they stood firmly within the creedal mainstream.” This, the report said, is “an encouraging sign that it allows for a more obviously Christ-centred approach to issues that currently divide the Communion, to say nothing of the wider church.” (My emphasis)

They never let up. The Archbishop of Canterbury's representatives pay a visit to Canada to report on the situation in the Anglican Church of Canada, but they cannot resist a dig at the Episcopal Church. Maybe we should stop paying attention or caring what the ABC and his minions say.

H/T to John Chilton at The Lead.

OH NO!

Ummm, maybe not yet. How about sometime in February? I hope my house guest, Amelia, will not be shocked to see my Christmas decorations still in place. I mean they're not hurting anyone, except perhaps W. H. is turning over in his grave.

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes --
Some have got broken -- and carrying them up to the attic.

Shamelessly stolen from Rmj at Adventus.

PERFECT DAY

It was a day filled with the glow of
ordinary things & we passed them
quietly from hand to hand for a long
time & someone said she had picked a
perfect day to be born & I think all of us
felt the same.

From StoryPeople.

GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER

That would be MotherAmelia. She's returning to Maine by the southern route to avoid the snow and cold. We have no snow, but we have cold. The low predicted for tonight and tomorrow night is 20­­° F.

She's spending the night, and she will be attending church with me on Sunday. Maybe Amelia can be persuaded to stay longer than one night. I am sooo looking forward to her visit.

Pray for safe travel for Amelia tomorrow and for the rest of her trip home.

WHEEE!!! I CAN SEE!!!

After cataract surgery, patients must wait at least a month for vision to settle in to what it will be permanently. For over one and a half months, I've been driving with what I was told was sufficient visual acuity in my right eye to pass the eye test for a driver's license. What can I say? To me, it seemed that my distant vision was not that good, so I drove only in my little town, where I know where I'm going, and I didn't need to read street signs or speed limit signs.

Today, I finally picked up my glasses, and it's a whole new world of clarity out there - 20/15 vision. How about that? I can see well up close and in the middle distance without glasses, but I will still need bifocals, because I can't see up close with the distance vision prescription. I'd hoped to be rid of bifocals, but it's not to be. Sigh.... On the other hand, around the house, I don't need glasses at all. Don't get me wrong; I'm not complaining. I'm quite thankful for my new, improved eyesight and my successful surgery.

Note: The original image which I used in my post is back up, but I don't know for how long. The link is to another website, Roadside Scholar. Let's see if the chart will remain for a while.

Oyster Scores

My friend Oyster at Your Right Hand Thief is on a roll here and here.

Read on past the title of the first link, "Since the Federal Flood, the Army Corps of Engineers has kept us safe", because the title is irony of the sort that may be plain only to Louisiana/New Orleans insiders. The subject of the post is the woeful state of certain of the news media at the present time. The manner in which Oyster writes his posts makes it difficult for other bloggers to excerpt and quote, so just go read the posts.

In the second linked post titled, "'Tis the season for GOP elves in their talking-point workshops", Oyster discusses the woeful state of the economy which is the heritage left by BushCo. It's quite good. Oyster did his homework.

Woe upon woe.

GOOD WORDS FROM LOUISIANA

From Churchwork, the official publication of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana.

With Mud on My Shoes
by Bishop Charles Jenkins

Holy Scripture tells us that when we come to a place where the Good News of God in Christ is not honored we should "shake the dust from our sandals." There is no dust in south Louisiana this wet winter. My wellies are covered in mud and I have no intention of trying to shake that river mud from my feet! Serving God as Bishop in Louisiana has been an honor for me.

I had no idea how this ministry of episcope would turn out. If God had told me that a fellow from rural north Louisiana would ended up doing the ministry that has been mine for the past five years, I would have questioned God's credibility. Indeed, these last five years have been the hardest of my life. It has been frustrating as can be to try and deal with all that I have had before me whilst dealing with my own impairment. So, with honor there is humility. God is good.

My parting hope is that we shall continue strong as a Church to stand for all of God's children. There have been times when we alone have so done. If we keep doing God's will, we shall not be alone for long.

Thank you for your kindness and support. Please show the same and more to Bishop Thompson as he takes up the joy of episcope in Louisiana. Please forgive me for those things I ought not to have done and those things that I ought to have done that I did not do. They are many.

God bless you.

+Charles

Bishop Jenkins, I don't know if you meant to, but you made me cry. I shall miss you. May God bless you in your retirement. Take your time to rest and recover. Take all the time that you need. However, I, for one, do not believe that your ministry is over. I pray that God will enlighten you and Louise and guide you in the way forward.


When Anticipation Becomes Reality
By Harriet Murrell, Director of School for Ministry and Diocesan Archivist

...We woke up Saturday morning, December 5 and by mid-day experienced the naming of the eleventh bishop of the Diocese of Louisiana.

Since December 2008 when Bishop Jenkins announced his retirement, all Episcopalians, with varying degrees of interest, wondered what his decision meant. What would the nominating process be like? Would there be a woman among the nominees? Would the candidates pay attention to what we said in the prepared profile? Would our electing delegates reflect the attitudes of their constituency? After the walkabouts, did the candidates become real people expressing sincere interest in us as a diverse group of Episcopalians with spiritual and cultural differences?

The reality is here. The Very Rev'd. Morris Thompson, Dean of Christ Cathedral in Lexington, KY has been elected and, God willing, will be consecrated Bishop of Louisiana on May 8, 2010.

While appointed committees work to say goodbye to Charles and Louise Jenkins, to manage during the transition and to welcome Bishop-elect Thompson, his wife, Rebecca and his grown children, Virginia and Trey, is there anything we as members of the flock need to do? I contend yes.

Let our prayers for the Jenkinses, the Thompson and the congregations of this diocese be loving and sincere. Let us be open to the leadership of Bishop Thompson, resisting the urge to even think the words, "We don't do it that way."

As Dean Thompson visits the diocese in the winter and the spring of 2010, he is laying the ground work for his episcopacy. ...[We] must do what we can to be ready to welcome Morris Thompson as our leader, shepherd and friend.

Amen, Harriet.

A Note from Bishop-elect Thompson

Dear Clergy and Communicants of the Diocese of Louisiana,

It is with the highest pleasure that I accept your election as 11th Bishop of Louisiana.

I want you to know I am so very impressed with the diocese, both clergy and lay leadership, and look forward to our shared ministry. I have visions of being in each of your parishes and am anxious to get started.

Please know Rebecca joins me with excitement in getting to know you. She's already looking for books and movies that will teach us more about your rich culture. Any suggestions? We know we have lots to learn and are ready for you to teach us.

Our immediate residential plans are to move into 2605 St. Charles Ave. around the first of April. Catching the trolley in front of our home seems surreal. From 2605 our hospitality will extend throughout the diocese. Although we aren't there, you are in our daily prayers and thoughts. The ministry that is unfolding before us is filled with God's mystery and joy. It is this Gift that we share.

May God's grace be with us all in these times of anticipation.

I am as always...
Faithfully yours,
The Very Rev'd Morris K Thompson

May God bless you, Bishop-elect Thompson, and may God bless us here in south Louisiana as we await your consecration as our new bishop.

My two early suggestions for you to get to know us better are:

First: take care about which movies you watch, because films about us so very often get it wrong.

Second: Practice calling the trolleys "streetcars".

NO CHURCH OF ONE

At Trinity Episcopal Church, on Sunday 2C, Caminante preached from the words of Psalm 84. The psalm begins:

How lovely is your dwelling place,
O Lord of hosts!
My soul longs, indeed it faints
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh sing for joy
to the living God.

Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O Lord of hosts,
my King and my God.
Happy are those who live in your house,
ever singing your praise.

Caminante's sermon is lovely. It's worth reading in its entirety. The words I quote below resonated especially with me.

What brought you to church this snowy morning? What compelled you to shovel out, drive through the mush to arrive here to sit on hard pews cushioned by futons? More aptly asked, who brought you here this morning? Can you feel in your heart the words of Psalm 84, ‘How lovely is your dwelling place...’?
....

There is no church of one. We can pray alone at home, outdoors, in whatever place we call sacred but finally we need to come back together. This community, the church, is a sanctuary where we can become vulnerable and search for deep intimacy with God.
No good thing will the LORD withhold from those who walk with integrity.

Shoveling out is not one of my before-church chores, but other than the snow, Caminante describes my reasons for attending church. "...who brought you here this morning?" We can pray anywhere, any time, and God is with us, but we need the time of coming together. At church, I may brush up against fellow parishioners with sharp elbows. Other times it's my sharp elbows that poke the others. Still I cherish the gathering for worship, for hearing the words of the Scriptures and the sermon, and for sharing the Eucharist around the Lord's table. "There is no church of one", but the many become one as we gather in the presence and the name of the Lord.