EL CINCO DE MAYO - HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GAYLE!

Today is my beloved sister Gayle's birthday. She died six years ago on April 27. We celebrated her life in a memorial service on her birthday, May 5, 2006. After the service, we had a quiet gathering of friends and family. Later that evening, we had a not-so-quiet gathering, in other words, a party. Gayle loved parties, so it was fitting.

She also loved that she shared her birthday with the Mexican celebration. Of course! Another occasion for a party.

¡Viva México! ¡Viva El Cinco de Mayo!

Viva Gayle! May we meet in the kingdom!

Friends of Gayle set up The Dillenkoffer Endowment to provide scholarship grants to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered teens.  We know that it's not easy to come out as a teenager. The consequences, at worst, can be nothing less than deadly. I greatly admire all the young men and women who have the courage to step forward and claim their identities in the face of the difficulties.

If you would like to make a donation, here's the link.

(Reposted from last year with slight editing.)

CHRIST'S PRESENCE

Bro John Anthony

10:28am May 4

Knowing Christ to be present and active within us is the true reward. Our service to others, our generosity, are the manifestation of the life of God, the love of God, the generosity of God active within us. What could be a better reward than God within us?

-Br. Mark Brown
Society of Saint John the Evangelist

Bro John Anthony posted in St. Cuthbert's Cottage

HE HAD A RIGHT TO BE THERE

Occupied Bishop George Packard was arrested again.

I said to Brook on that long march from Union Square to Veterans’ Plaza, “It would be a relief to be arrested just to sit down.” We’re not that out-of-shape; it was the stop and go, creep along, that the NYPD made us do to keep order that wore us out. Truth be told, the crowd—though hefty at fifty thousand strong—was docile. 
....


Despite the fatigue the traverse past Trinity Church brought a wave of continuous and universal disdain. Sad, really, because that parish/corporation—true to the Gospel--could have brought an moment of magnanimity to the Occupy Movement by granting refuge on their vacant Duarte property back on December 17th. What had been an esoteric argument over using church property wasn’t wasted on this endless parade of protesters. They got it.

Very sad, indeed.

So, we wended our way down past the infamous bull on lower Broadway with a surprising left turn toward Water Street. My legs were yearning for the benches around Bowling Green but sometimes the inscrutability of places like Trinity can only be matched by the likes of my young friends of Occupy. Where we were going? Enroute we all received this text message: “New Occupation Assembly at Veterans’ Plaza.”

....

Once there, you can’t help but think of the young men with whom you served. In those days I was an Army platoon leader.

....

I’m probably at the end of God’s list of coincidental places from which to be arrested: church property on December 17th and now the Memorial for my fallen brothers and sisters on May 1st....and so I ignored the police instructions to leave the park.

Thus George was arrested again, although he had every right to rest and remember in Veterans Plaza.  What to say of a system in which a veteran is not permitted quiet time at a veterans memorial?  Read the entire poignant post.

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Since Lawrence O'Donnell suggested that I stay tuned to The Last Word because Alec Baldwin would appear on his show, I have not watched the news on the tee vee.

TWO STORIES OF THE DAY

Hidden Ocean

She held her grief behind her eyes like 
an ocean & when she leaned forward 
into the day it spilled onto the floor & 
she wiped at it quickly with her foot & 
pretended no one had seen. 

Joy of Spring

The birds brought seed & flowers & bits 
of brightly colored string & placed them 
in her hair while she slept so that she 
would remember the wild joy of spring 
when she finally awoke.

From StoryPeople.

OMAR KHAYYAM - LOVERS ARE AT HOME IN HEAVEN AND IN HELL

Seekers of the truth look at the
lovely and the ugly
as the same.
Lovers are at home
in heaven and in hell.
Those who’ve lost their hearts can
dress in satin or sack cloth;
the infatuated
do not know if they are laying
down their heads in clouds or
resting them on earthen bricks.

Translated by Juan Cole
from [pdf] Whinfield 128

I've enjoyed immensely Juan's series translations of Omar Khayyam.

Juan Cole at Informed Comment.

WELCOME, WELCOME, FOCA!

Richard Chartres, Bishop of London

At an evening gathering of over 500 Anglicans in the Emmanuel Centre, Westminster, on Thursday 26 April, the Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (UK and Ireland) hosted scores of senior Anglican leaders from 30 countries who arrived from conference at St Mark’s, Battersea Rise, in a fleet of red double decker buses. They were welcomed by the Bishop of London who encouraged them in evangelism. They also heard of Christian witness amid the terrorism in Nigeria and countries of Central Asia.

I'd say to Bishop Chartres, "Careful, this welcome and encouragement to the FoCA folks to evangelize may come back to bite you."  But what do I know?

Names!  I want names of the 'senior Anglican leaders from 30 countries' in attendance.  Not that I can kick ass after I take names.  I just want to know.

“The Primates of the FCA have assured us that, through instruments now available in this country, including the panel of bishops of the Anglican Mission in England and the FCA UK, those who might otherwise have been under pressure to leave the Church of England can remain within the family of global Anglicanism and be recognized by that body as faithful to the Church of England itself.”

There you have it.

The photo is a still from the video of the bishop's sermon at the royal wedding of Kate and William.

DREADLOCKED BISHOP-ELECT JUSTIN

From Archbishop David Moxon of the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia: "I am delighted to announce that the Rev Justin Duckworth has been chosen as the next Bishop of Wellington. Justin was nominated by an Electoral College ably chaired by Bishop Richard Ellena, and Justin's nomination has since been formally confirmed by the House of Bishops and members of the General Synod.
Justin, who is 44, has been at the cutting edge of mission and ministry in Wellington for 25 years."

Archdeacon Bernard Faull conducted a video interview with the new bishop-elect after his election, which is also at the link above.  During the interview, the two speak of the the juxtaposition of the dreads and the mitre.   Below is a close-up photo of Justin.

Justin's is a fascinating story with sometimes surprising twists and turns.

NACC PLANS NEXT STEPS

No Anglican Covenant Coalition

Anglicans for Comprehensive Unity

noanglicancovenant.org

NEWS RELEASE

 MAY 1, 2012

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

COALITION PLANS NEXT STEPS

LONDON – With diocesan synod voting in the Church of England completed, and with 26 dioceses having rejected the proposed Anglican Covenant, the No Anglican Covenant Coalition is preparing for the next steps in its international campaign, including the appointment of a new Moderator, the Revd Malcolm French, a parish priest in the Anglican Church of Canada. The Revd Jean Mayland, a retired priest, will be the No Anglican Covenant Coalition Convenor for the Church of England.

“We have accomplished what many thought was an impossible task,” said the Coalition’s first Moderator, the Revd Dr Lesley Crawley. “After a full and fair debate, the Church of England has rejected the Anglican Covenant, and it cannot be considered again prior to 2015. As the campaign moves on to other fronts, this is an opportune time for me to hand over the leadership of the Coalition. Malcolm and Jean have been key members of the Coalition from the start, and I am confident the Coalition will experience continued success under Malcolm’s leadership.”

“Lesley stepped up to lead the Coalition with courage and commitment,” said French. “As we move forward, I will look to Lesley’s example of empowering leadership. The defeat of the Anglican Covenant in the Church of England has changed the playing field in the rest of the Anglican Communion. We are confident that a fair debate on the merits will lead to the defeat of the Covenant in several more Communion churches, just as we saw in the Church of England.”

Over the next six months, several more churches will consider the proposed Covenant, including the Scottish Episcopal Church, in June, and The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church in Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia, both in July. Canadian dioceses have begun studying the Covenant in preparation for General Synod 2013.

A model General Convention resolution has been prepared to assist General Convention deputies in the Episcopal Church who may wish to submit a resolution on the Covenant. The model resolution, along with other supporting material, is available at the No Anglican Covenant website (noanglicancovenant.org/resources.html).

The No Anglican Covenant Coalition is an international group of Anglicans concerned about how the proposed Anglican Covenant would radically change the nature of the Anglican Communion.

noanglicancovenant.org

The Revd Malcolm French (Canada)
The Revd Jean Mayland (England)
The Ven Lawrence Kimberley (New Zealand)
The Revd Canon Hugh Magee (Scotland)
Dr Lionel Deimel (USA)

TRUST, MONIES, GOSPEL - DIOCESE OF SOUTHWARK

Adrian Worsfold, at Pluralist Speaks, writes of the recent news from the Southwark Good Stewards Trust, in the Diocese of Southwark in the Church of England, which believes itself to be misrepresented:

...the Directors have issued the below Frequently Asked Questions, ahead of the official Trust launch and reception. The Directors hope that the FAQ's may be of interest to members of churches of other Dioceses where there is also widespread concern about revisionism.

The first question is of particular interest:

1.  Does the Trust mean one particular tradition of the church will just be serving themselves?

No.  The Trust is open to applications from any Incumbent within the Diocese who can genuinely sign The Jerusalem Declaration (see below). 

I will not cover the FAQs one by one, but regarding the first question, is The Jerusalem Declaration another creed?  Signing the declaration seems to be the ticket to get in the door of the Trust.  According to The Jerusalem Declaration:

3. We uphold the four Ecumenical Councils and the three historic Creeds as expressing the rule of faith of the one holy catholic and apostolic Church.

But that's not quite enough to assure the exclusion of Anglicans who accept the historic Creeds, but may yet be categorized as revisionists.

What will this mean for the Diocese of Southwark and other dioceses in the Church of England, should the concept spread, as it is likely to do?  The member churches will still be part of the diocese, according to the answer to question No. 5.

5.  Is the Trust ‘separatist’ ?

The Trust seeks to support parish churches of the Diocese which are orthodox, whatever their particular tradition.   There is nothing separatist about it.  

Is the intention to take over the Church of England from within?  Is this the beginning of an attempt to turn the Church of England into an evangelical fundamentalist church?  But wait!  Will the alliance between the two groups, fundamentalist evangelicals and Anglo-Catholics, hang together?

Further in answer to question No. 5:

Rather its intention as its name implies, is that members should be 'Good Stewards’ of the monies the Lord has given them, and be ‘Good Stewards’ of the apostolic Gospel which  has been entrusted to them, within a particular Diocese, for the sake of the salvation of future generations.  

 So.  It's about the monies and the Gospel with the monies mentioned first.  How will the monies of the Diocese of Southwark be affected as churches ally with the Trust?

As you see, I have a few questions that are not answered by the FAQ list on the website of the Trust.  I assume that the authorities in the Diocese of Southwark may have a few questions of their own.