FURTHER NEWS ON ST. MATTHEW'S EPISCOPAL CHURCH IN HOUMA, LA

Good news from St. Matthew's Episcopal Church in Houma, LA, the church which was destroyed by fire:

Dear People of St. Matthew's:

When the Vestry and School Board met Wednesday night I was so relieved and thrilled to learn that our precious chalices and patens were protected by the fire safe. The vestry had decided several months ago to purchase that safe to house the vessels. Martha Lynn Lewis led that effort, and I am so glad she did! The chalices are in perfect condition, although they'll need to be cleaned as there's a strong odor of smoke. For now, they are in safe keeping in a vault at South Louisiana Bank.
....

See you in Church,
Fr. Craig (Dalferes)

Mixed news on St. Matthew's from John deSantis at the Daily Comet:

Like a solitary flower in bloom on a battlefield, the mural of Jesus Christ, flanked by animals and smiling children, stands untouched amidst the charred remains of St. Matthews Episcopal Church.

The Nov. 11 blaze destroyed the sanctuary and damaged part of the church school.

At the eastern wall of the structure, the vivid colors of Houma artist Hans Geist’s 2009 mural stand in cheery contrast to the soot-stained rubble at Barrow and Belanger streets. Its colors are fresh as they were the day life was breathed into it.

The mural, painted in 2009 by Geist with the help of children from the school, depicts Jesus with children and animals, below words from Matthew 19:14, “Let the little children come to me.” There has been no official determination made on whether the wall can be saved, although presumptions at St. Matthew’s are that it will have to go due to stability and safety issues.

Photo by Kim Smith/Correspondent/Daily Comet

Hans Geist, 34, is a local artist who, with the help of students from St. Matthew’s Episcopal School, painted the mural on the side of the school.

I am not alone in my hope that a way may be found to save the mural. That the mural survived unblemished could well be a symbol of hope and a reminder for the people of St. Matthew's Parish that God cares for all of the children, even God's grown-up children.

Almighty God, we give thanks for the gift to the parishioners of St. Matthew's of many years of fellowship and worship in their beautiful church building. We ask you to give your people comfort, consolation, and the peace that passes understanding as they grieve the loss of their building. May the people of St. Matthew's remain bound together in love and obedience to you, ever mindful that a church is the gathering of its people to give you praise, honor, and glory. Give them strength and courage to continue in worship and fellowship, as they move forward to rebuild their building. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

POPE BENEDICT - CONDOMS LESSER EVIL FOR USE BEYOND MALE PROSTITUTES

From the AP:

Using a condom is a lesser evil than transmitting HIV to a sexual partner — even if that means a woman averting a possible pregnancy, the Vatican said Tuesday, signaling a seismic shift in papal teaching as it further explained Pope Benedict XVI's comments.

The Vatican has long been criticized for its patent opposition to condom use, particularly in Africa where AIDS is rampant. But the latest interpretation of Benedict's comments about condoms and HIV essentially means the Roman Catholic Church is acknowledging that its long-held, anti-birth control stance against condoms doesn't justify putting someone's life at risk.

"This is a game-changer," said the Rev. Jim Martin, a Jesuit editor and writer.

The news that the use of a condom to prevent infecting one's partner may be applied beyond male prostitutes comes from the Rev. Federico Lombardi:

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told reporters Tuesday that he asked the pope whether he intended his comments to only apply to male prostitutes. Benedict replied that it really didn't matter, that the important thing was the person in question took into consideration the life of the other, Lombardi said.

As I said in the comments at The Lead, "And it took the pope only years to come to this conclusion. However, this IS good news, and it is a game-changer.

Still, I think of those who became infected with HIV and those who died during the years while the pope was making up his mind."

UNAIDS estimates that 22.4 million people in Africa are infected with HIV, and that 54 percent — or 12.1 million — are women. Heterosexual transmission of HIV and multiple, heterosexual partners are believed to be a major cause of the high infection rates in Africa.

Why so long and why was it so difficult for the pope to announce the good news? It seems to me that the principle of the two-fold effect could have been applied much earlier to justify the use of condoms to prevent HIV infection.

Monsignor Jacques Suaudeau, an expert at the Vatican's bioethics advisory board, said the pope was articulating the idea in church teaching — long practiced by some church officials with regards to condoms — that there are degrees of evil.

"Contraception is not the worst evil. The church does not see it as good, but the church does not see it as the worst," he told The Associated Press. "Abortion is far worse. Passing on HIV is criminal. That is absolute irresponsibility."

The biggie here is that despite past statements to the contrary, the pope now admits that using condoms helps to prevent the spread of HIV infections.

H/T to Ann Fontaine at The Lead.

"THE DOVE IS TRAPPED AND CANNOT TAKE WING"

The piece was created by a TCU art student in the late 1960s who, sadly, did not sign it. Two bronze doves are imprisoned in rings of barbed wire. One dove's wing has been pierced by the sharp wire. Rust has stained the wing, looking like dried blood.

Still, it tries to fly.

But the dove is trapped and cannot take wing.

And I know this is exactly what the proposed Anglican Covenant will do to the Anglican Communion.

It seeks to wrap rings of bureaucratic barbed wire around the Holy Spirit, imprisoning the Spirit in processes of discipline designed to enforce unanimity of theology, of interpretation of Scripture, and who knows what else.

Please visit Katie Sherrod's blog, DESERT'S CHILD, to view the entire powerful post which includes more pictures. The post is from June of this year, but it is timeless and pertinent today as the Church of England General Synod is poised to vote tomorrow on the adoption of the Anglican Covenant.

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION

No Anglican Covenant Coalition
Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity
No Anglican Covenant


NEWS RELEASE
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION GATHERS MOMENTUM

LONDON – As the Church of England General Synod prepares to debate the proposed Anglican Covenant, a group of unlikely campaigners are working hard to ensure that there is a serious debate about the potential risks involved.

Started just three weeks ago after online conversations among a small number of international Anglican bloggers, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition has built on the work of two English groups, Inclusive Church and Modern Church, to set the shape of the debate.

“A month ago, General Synod and the entire Communion were sleepwalking into approving the Covenant without a proper discussion of the issue,” according to Coalition Moderator, the Revd. Dr. Lesley Fellows. “In some places, the Covenant was being presented as a means to punish North American Anglicans. In Britain, the United States and Canada, it was being spun as nothing more than a dispute resolution mechanism. I’ve spoken to many Synod members who were only dimly aware of the Anglican Covenant. An astonishing number of people thought I was referring to the Covenant with the Methodists.”

The week preceding the General Synod debate has seen a flood of articles criticizing the Covenant, including:
an article by Canadian canon law expert the Revd. Canon Alan Perry, challenging the assertion that the Covenant would have no impact on the constitution and canons of member churches of the Communion;
an article by the former Chancellor of the Anglican Church of Canada, the Hon. Ronald Stevenson QC, a former judge of the Court of Queen’s Bench, critical of the lack of clarity regarding the disciplinary procedures in the Covenant; and
an article by the Bishop of the Convocation of American Churches in Europe, the Rt. Revd. Pierre Whalon, challenging the idea of enhancing communion by excluding those who disagree with the majority.

“We are all strongly committed to the Anglican Communion, but we are not convinced that this proposed Covenant will do anything to keep the Communion together,” according to the Revd. Malcolm French, the Coalition’s Canadian Convenor. “Covenant supporters have hurt their case by being dismissive of critics while failing to make a compelling case for this proposed Anglican Covenant. And no one has been prepared to explain the initial and ongoing costs to implement the Covenant.”

Within the last three weeks momentum has gathered to encourage the Church of England to wake up. The first test will come tomorrow, when General Synod debates the Covenant and votes on a motion for initial approval, the first step towards final approval at a later session. Although significant decisions such as women in the episcopate normally require a two-thirds majority, questions should be asked about why the English House of Bishops has proposed only a simple majority for the Covenant.

No Anglican Covenant

The articles referred to, and several others, can be found at: No Anglican Covenant Resources.

Revd. Dr. Lesley Fellows (England) +44 1844 239268
Dr. Lionel Deimel (USA) +1-412-512-9087
Revd. Malcolm French (Canada) +1-306-550-2277
Revd. Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand) +64 3 981 7384
Revd. Hugh Magee +44 1334 470446

PLEASE PRAY FOR ZOE

From my brother-in-law:

Once again I'm asking for prayers for Zoe. She most likely has a tumor in the nasal/brain cavity - and has been on 3 different meds - all to no avail. Looks like it has now generated a neurological problem - she stumbles and falls - or her back legs give way and she immediately drops to the ground. Don't know how much longer - going back to vet this am for her observation.

Frank

Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless Zoe. By the power of your love, enable her to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen. --Franciscan prayer

THE ANGLICAN COVENANT - "GOVERNANCE BY HURT FEELINGS"

From Jim Naughton at The Lead

The covenant is a document that sets forth a system for adjudicating disputes based on criteria that are almost entirely subjective and ad hoc. In this peculiar system, one can do nothing that offends another province in the Communion, and anything that does not. Offense is judged not by analyzing the act, but in analyzing the response to the act. This is governance by hurt feelings, a system in which power flows to those who complain the loudest and the most frequently. The covenant lacks any of the safeguards, contained in most civil codes, to protect the accused from frivolous accusations. Hence there is no cost and much potential benefit in lodging complaints simply to keep one’s theological adversaries on the defensive. There is great incentive for them to behave in similar fashion.

Jim's words in first paragraph seem so obvious that they should not need saying, but, just as obviously, they do. That the covenant will be a recipe for enabling the tattlers, complainers, and busybodies to stir up trouble was plain to me from the beginning, but not everyone views the document in a similar light. "Governance by hurt feelings" sums up the future of the Anglican Communion if the Anglican Covenant is adopted by a majority of the provinces. I predict that the Standing Committee of the Anglican Communion will be quite busy handling complaints, large and small, and adjudicating whether the complaints are worthy of their attention. "The squeaking wheel gets the grease" is a truism that, all too often, applies.

The rest of Jim's essay is sobering, indeed, with its reminder of the implementation of the "pastoral scheme" for the Episcopal Church at the 2007 Primates Meeting in Dar es Salaam.

A SWINGING FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING

 

For our closing hymn this morning, we sang "Soon and Very Soon". A young member of our church community decided he wanted more freedom to groove than he had in the pew, and off he went to give us a show. He had the moves, so he's a little blurry.

 

He chose to groove sitting down for a while.

 

I'm done. Show's over.

He was adorable. The whole congregation left smiling.




Andrae Crouch introduced by Tennessee Ernie Ford

A TEACHER STORY - THE STAPLER

Having served his time with the Marine Corps, a man became a school teacher and a week before school started he injured his back. He was required to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body.

Fortunately, the cast fit under his shirt and wasn't even noticeable.

On the first day of class, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in the school.

Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window wide and sat down at his desk.

When a strong breeze made his tie flap, he took a stapler and stapled the tie to his chest.


He had no trouble with discipline that year...

Dedicated to Doorman-Priest.

Blame Doug.

STORY OF THE DAY

decided that being tolerated was not
enough of a reason to stay (2nd story):
suitcase of essentials which means he
left a lot more stuff than he first thought

I fear that the story is all too true.

From StoryPeople.

"THE DRUIDIC COVENANT - A PARABLE"

Lesley Fellows at Comprehensive Unity:

Once upon a time the Archdruid Rowan lived in his house in the woods in England. He had thirty-seven children, and they had all left home and were spread across the world, but they all came home at Christmastime.

One Christmas, one of the children spoke up at the dinner table, her name was Cassandra. She had always been a girl who knew her own mind and didn’t follow convention, but her announcement was to shock some of her brothers. ‘Daddy, I’m a lesbian’, she said. The dinner table immediately went quiet, and you could hear a pin drop. All the children knew that Miles and Lucas hated gays, and called for the death penalty for homosexuals in their own countries. Marcus spoke up, ‘Maybe this is the moment to mention that I am bisexual’. All hell broke loose, cruel and vindictive language was used, and some of the children stormed off. It was a mess.
....

Yes, I give you a teaser. If you want to read the rest of Lesley's parable, you know what to do.

"Comprehensive Unity" is the No Anglican Covenant blog.

The Revd Lesley Fellows is a priest in the Church of England and blogs at - Surprise! - Lesley's Blog.