EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF PITTSBURGH ANNOUNCES PRELIMINARY SLATE FOR BISHOP ELECTION

From the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh:

The Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh takes great joy in presenting its preliminary slate of four priests who will stand for election in April to become the next Bishop of Pittsburgh.

The slate is preliminary because the diocese now enters a short period during which names may be added to the ballot by petition.

The preliminary slate was unanimously recommended by the Nominating Committee and unanimously accepted by the Standing Committee. The candidates, in alphabetical order, are:

The Rev. Canon Michael N. Ambler, Jr.
Rector of Grace Episcopal Church
Bath, Maine

The Rev. Dorsey W. M. McConnell
Rector of Church of the Redeemer
Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

The Rev. R. Stanley Runnels
Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Kansas City, Missouri

The Rev. Ruth Woodliff-Stanley
Rector of St. Thomas Episcopal Church
Denver, Colorado

The four were selected from an initial field of 125 names submitted to the Nominating Committee last year. Of those, 62 agreed to enter the discernment process. The committee then narrowed the selection over the course of several months through a review of submitted documents, telephone interviews and face-to-face meetings.

"The Nominating Committee involved itself in a prayerful and intense scrutiny of all the candidates. We then carefully listened and discussed with them whom they chose and how they went about doing so. We are all in agreement about this slate and that the committee did an extraordinary job," said the Very Rev. George L. W. Werner, speaking on behalf of the Standing Committee as its president.

Further details at the diocesan website.

Almighty God, giver of every good gift: Look graciously on your Church, and so guide the minds of those who shall choose a bishop for the Diocese of Pittsburgh that they may receive a faithful pastor, who will care for your people and equip them for their ministries; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

RUTH ETTING - "AMERICA'S SWEETHEART OF SONG"

"If I Could Be With You"

Ruth's voice was lovely; she was beautiful; and she had a great singing style, which was ahead of its time, the 1920s and 1930s. The sound in the video is poor, but you can see her perform and compare her style to that of her accompanist, who sings the song straight.

Below is another video of Ruth singing with better sound quality.



MadPriest is such an inspiration...well, about music, anyway. A few days ago, he posted a podcast of Ruth singing "The Right Kind of Man", which shows off wonderfully well her lovely voice and great style. The first time around, Ruth did not choose the right kind of man, but rather a gangster. Read all about her at Wikipedia.

WHEN I DIE...

Omar Khayyam (5)

When I die,
prepare my body in wine,
and in place of a eulogy
lift a glass!
On Resurrection Day
you’ll find my dust
stirring beneath
the threshold
of the bar.

translated by Juan Cole
From Whinfield 6

Lovely. I'd like such a sendoff.

Image from Wikipedia.

JEFFREY JOHN V. THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND?

From the Guardian:

The Church of England's most senior openly gay cleric is understood to be considering suing his employers for discrimination unless he is made a bishop.

I doubt that Jeffrey John will pursue litigation on the basis of what is stated above. The article includes words such as, "Reports on Sunday suggested..." and "It is thought..." Jeffrey John, along with his reported legal representative, have refused to comment. The Church of England also refuses comment. Much is yet to be known about what's really happening, thus the wording that indicates much less than certainty about the situation by the writer of the article.

A source close to John told the Sunday Times: "This is not a case of demanding something he is not entitled to but a way of resolving the flawed voting process that prevented him being made the bishop of Southwark."

If possible litigation is pending, then the above statement would more likely be the basis for John to pursue legal action against the Church of England, rather than his demanding that he be made a bishop. The Guardian usually does a better job of reporting.

PRAYER FLOWCHART

Thanks to Ann.

A GOOD LETTER TO THE CHURCH TIMES FROM TWO CHURCH OF ENGLAND BISHOPS

From the Church Times:

From the Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee and the Rt Revd Dr Peter Selby

Sir, — Whichever side of the argument you are on there are grounds for real concern about the way the debate about it is progressing. It cannot be good to learn, as we do, that many bishops who are against the Anglican Covenant don’t want to say for fear of seeming disloyal, that diocesan synods are “debating” the issue without hearing both sides of the argument equally presented, and that there is so much boredom and weariness about the whole issue.

This is a major proposal with potentially serious consequences for this and future generations of Anglican Christians, and for those ecumenical partners with whom we are in conversation. Nothing will be worse than for the Covenant to be yawned through at a July Synod preoccupied with debating the ordination of women as bishops, passed and then put in a drawer — only for us to discover that those who now brand it “toothless” then use it and propel the Communion into a litigious and factious future.

The Archbishop of Canterbury made it clear in his Advent letter that such is not his purpose. But the proposed Covenant cannot now escape the identity it has acquired as an instrument of exclusion. He also asks what is the alternative; we respond that the alternative to having a Covenant is not having one, and this is a time to hold fast to Anglicanism’s inherited culture of inclusion and respectful debate which is our way of dealing with difference rather than require assent to procedures and words that have already shown themselves to be divisive.

In short, if we can agree it we don’t need it and if we need it we won’t agree it. We believe that the Covenant is to be resisted. But, above all, our plea is for a debate that is candid, even-handed, and open. If it comes to the General Synod, it should do so as its seriousness deserves, as the principal business.

JOHN SAXBEE
PETER SELBY

The Archbishop of Canterbury is trying to railroad the Anglican Covenant through the Church of England General Synod quickly, before too many people in the church have a chance to study the document closely and note what harm may result for the Anglican Communion and for the Church of England if the covenant is adopted. The Anglican Communion Office sends out only pro-covenant materials, which is not right and not fair, because the members of Synod need to hear from both proponents and opponents of the document in order to vote wisely.

Thank you, Bishops Saxbee and Selby for speaking out. Isn't it time for the other bishops who doubt the wisdom of adopting the covenant to lend their voices to the debate? I like very much the answer the bishops give to Archbishop Rowan's statement that there is no alternative to the covenant:

...we respond that the alternative to having a covenant is not having one and this is the time to hold fast to Anglicanism's inherited culture of inclusion and respectful debate....

Amen and amen!

Thanks to my English friend, Neal Terry (aka themethatisme), who sent me the letter which can now be viewed on the website of the Church Times.

STORY OF THE DAY - OLD SPIRIT

The feel of his spirit was too old for most
people to understand & when he walked
by they would look up & say O, the sun
went behind a cloud, or, the moon must
be full & so he walked for a long time by
himself with no one to talk to.

From StoryPeople.

PONDERISMS - PART 2

11. How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

12. Who was the first person to look at a cow and say, 'I think I'll squeeze these dangly things and drink whatever comes out'?

13. If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a song about him?

14. Why does your OB-GYN leave the room when you get undressed if they are going to look up there anyway?

15. If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?

16. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, then what is baby oil made from?

17. Do illiterate people get the full effect of Alphabet Soup?

18. Does pushing the elevator button more than once make it arrive faster?

19. Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?

20. Do you ever wonder why you gave me your email address?

If you remember, my brother-in-law sent me twenty ponderisms, but I know some of you have short attention spans, so I divided them to post in two parts.

♫ THOSE CLERGY WIVES ARE BREAKING UP THAT OLD GANG OF MINE ♫

From Sara Ritchey at the New York Times:

On Sunday, the Vatican announced the creation of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, a special division of the Roman Catholic Church that former Episcopal congregations and priests — including, notably, married priests — can enter together en masse.
....

Nonetheless, the Roman Catholic Church is prepared to house married priests in numbers perhaps not seen since the years before 1123, when the First Lateran Council adopted canon 21, prohibiting clerical marriage.
....

By the time of the First Lateran Council, the priest’s wife had become a symbol of wantonness and defilement. The reason was that during this period the nature of the host consecrated at Mass received greater theological scrutiny. Medieval theologians were in the process of determining that bread and wine, at the moment of consecration in the hands of an ordained priest at the altar, truly became the body and blood of Jesus Christ. The priest who handled the body and blood of Christ should therefore be uncontaminated lest he defile the sacred corpus.

Damn! You know, having grown up in the Roman Catholic Church, I knew this, but to see it spelled out again is revoltingly shocking. Remind me about the Incarnation. Did it really happen? Did Jesus really defile himself and become human like us? Did he truly hang around with contaminated women? Did Jesus allow the woman who was a known sinner wash his feet and dry them with her hair?

The medieval theologians may have been at the moment of deciding that the bread and wine became the true body and blood of Jesus, but they seemed to have forgotten the Gospel in the process.

The priest’s wife was an obvious danger. Her wanton desire, suggested the 11th-century monk Peter Damian, threatened the efficacy of consecration. He chastised priests’ wives as “furious vipers who out of ardor of impatient lust decapitate Christ, the head of clerics,” with their lovers. According to the historian Dyan Elliott, priests’ wives were perceived as raping the altar, a perpetration not only of the priest but also of the whole Christian community.

Whoa! Methinks Peter Damian needed to take a look inside himself. The psychological concept of projection was not known at the time, but Jesus surely gave warning in the Gospel, when he said that we must remove the planks from our own eyes before we judge the peccadilloes of others.

In my lifetime, I remember certain priests recoiling from me during an ordinary conversation. I could see the panic in their expressions, as they thought, "I gotta get away!" Mind you, I was not coming on to them. I promise. But back in the day, the priests were taught in seminary, some of them entering at the tender age of 13, that women were living, breathing, walking, talking occasions of sin. While some priests were clever enough to shed the harmful, nonsensical teachings once they matured, others bought it hook, line, and sinker and hung on.

Pray for the priests and their wives who become part of the RC ordinariate. Pray for all who enter there. The converts may be in for some surprises.

From Wikipedia:

Petrus Cardinal Damiani is a saint and was made a Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo XII in 1828, with a feast day of February 23. His body has been moved six times, each time to a more splendid resting-place. Since 1898, Damian has rested in a chapel dedicated to the saint in the cathedral of Faenza. No formal canonization ever took place, but his cult has existed since his death at Faenza, at Fonte-Avellana, at Monte Cassino, and at Cluny. His feast has since been moved February 21.

The saint is represented in art as a cardinal bearing a knotted rope (the disciplina) in his hand; also sometimes he is depicted as a pilgrim holding a papal Bull, to signify his many legations.

Image from Wikipedia.

OYSTERS RIGHT AND LEFT AND BUBBLES

Pictured above is President Franklin Roosevelt dining at Antoine's Restaurant during a visit to New Orleans in 1937. Seated to the right of FDR is Governor Richard Leche and to his left is New Orleans Mayor Robert Maestri. After the the diners finished the appetizer course of Oysters Rockefeller, Mayor Maestri leaned over to FDR and said, "How ya like dem erstuhs, Chief?" I've always loved the story, which I remember hearing from my father when I was quite young. Though Maestri never went beyond the third grade in school, he was no dumb bunny and played the game of politics skillfully.

All of the above is a lead-in to tell you that the present crop of Louisiana oysters is to die for. I've eaten more than my share of outstandingly tasty raw oysters this year, before Grandpère has a chance to cook them. He now knows to stand guard, because the first taste of an oyster is addictive, and once I start eating, I can't stop. We've had oysters fried (perfectly!), broiled, oyster spaghetti, and oysters in tomato sauce over pasta. All the dishes were delicious, but oysters in tomato sauce was a mistake. The taste of the tomato sauce overwhelmed the taste of the oysters, and why would anyone want to do that? GP admitted that when oysters are as divine tasting as this year's crop, tomato sauce is not the way to go.

Although I've eaten oysters from several different waters, I've yet to to be served bivalves as tasty as the Louisiana variety. The two varieties that came closest in quality, though the flavors were quite different, were from Long Island Sound and the waters off the northwest coast of Scotland.

Read in NOLA.com what New Orleans chefs say about the local oysters as compared to those from elsewhere. They know because for six months after the BP oil spill, Louisiana oysters were unavailable.

Photo (minus the thought bubble) from Wikipedia. The bubble comes courtesy of MadPriest, master bubble maker.

Below is the same photo with an unrequested speech bubble inserted, because I sent wrong instructions to the master bubble maker about which gentleman with FDR should have the thought bubble, which necessitated a redo by MadPriest. The problem is that I have difficulty knowing my left hand from my right. It's true. I have to stop and think if I hear, "Turn left here," and, at times, once I've thought, it's too late to turn. Over the years, I've learned to compensate to a degree, but I still don't always get right and left right...if you know what I mean.

How could I possibly know FDR's (or the master bubble maker's) right hand from his left, when I don't even know my own?