POSTCARDS FROM MY FRIENDS - FAIR AND ACCURATE

It seems that everyone (except me) has posted about Ross Douthat's opinion piece in the New York Times and Jay Akasie's thoroughly mean-spirited column in the Wall Street Journal.

From Akasie:

General Convention is also notable for its sheer ostentation and carnival atmosphere. For seven straight nights, lavish cocktail parties spilled into pricey steakhouses, where bishops could use their diocesan funds to order bottles of the finest wines.

I was in Anaheim for GC2009, and I was obviously not on the A-list for an invitation to the parties.  Akasie says he is Episcopalian, and I'd like to know which Episcopal church he attends.

Others have said that Ross Douthat's column in the NYT was thoughtful and reasonable, but I can't agree.  True, he was not as nasty as Akasie, but still...  Not that TEC is above criticism - I've been critical - but neither columnist paints a fair or accurate picture of the church.  I didn't have the heart to take on either of the columnists, but others did, many others.  Scroll though the posts at The Lead to find the responses.

I'd like to point to posts by a pair of friends of mine, not because the two are my friends, but because I like what Doug Blanchard and Elizabeth Kaeton say about The Episcopal Church, my church.  My friends paint a much more realistic picture of the church I love than either of the writers in major media outlets.

In his post titled "What Ever To Do About the Episcopal Church", Doug says:

September of this year will mark the thirtieth anniversary of my confirmation into the Episcopal Church.  I've joined or participated in congregations in Missouri, Texas, Michigan, Italy, Kentucky, New Jersey, and New York.  In those three decades, I've been pleased to be part of congregations that were never large, but were full of people happy to be there, people from many different generations and classes.  Religious life was always a serious matter of education and prayer with Sunday school, adult education, Bible classes, pastoral training for laity, hospital partnerships, prison ministries, food pantries, hot meal programs, programs for homeless kids, Benedictine spiritual groups, prayer groups, house congregations, etc.  These congregations were always busy and full of life.  Most striking about all of them is that the majority of their members, including the clergy, were converts.

'Tis true; 'tis true.  Many of the members of my congregation also chose to be members of the Episcopal Church.  Read it all.

Next Elizabeth's post titled  "Postcard from Nineveh".  Already, I like the title.

The main thesis of the recent attacks have to do with holding up the recent actions of the General Convention of The Episcopal Church - authorizing liturgical blessings for the covenants made between people of the same sex, changing our canons to disallow discrimination based on gender identity and expression, etc. - as an example of why Christianity is in decline.

Elizabeth paints a picture of the church of the future, which I believe is spot on.

I don't think the church of the future is going to look anything like it does now.

I suspect it's going to look smaller, less bound to buildings and structures, more directed to caring for others than maintaining ourselves, more committed to following an unknown path to the future than cherishing dusty old maps that lead us over and over again to the past.

Of course, you should read the entire post.

UPDATE: And if you want even more on Ross Douthat, Paul (A.) says...

Our friend Slacktivist has posts on Douthat responses here, here, and here. The second of these posts posits an interesting proposition: Automobile-shaped development has produced an automobile-shaped ecclesiology. All are worth perusing.

QUESTION OF THE DAY - PEACE OR NO PEACE?

Has the US ever been at peace since the end of World War II?  I do not refer only to declared wars,  but rather to any fighting in which US military forces were involved, either overtly or through surrogates.

They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace’,
when there is no peace.

(Jeremiah 6:14)

THREE CHEERS FOR THE REV

Not all local Episcopal Church leaders agree with a recent letter from the diocesan bishop strongly opposing same-sex blessings, but the said they will comply.
....

The fourth area church, All Saints Episcopal Church on Hilton Head Island, staked a more moderate stance, but the Rev. Richard Lindsey, the church's rector, said the congregation will comply with Lawrence's views.

"I stand solidly behind the (national) Episcopal Church," he said. "That's not to say I'm not loyal to my bishop, but I tend to disagree. ... We will honor where he stands because we are part of his diocese and he is our bishop."

The church's website states it is a "welcoming, inclusive" church, and Lindsey said he was not surprised with the General Convention's decision because it is the direction the national church has been headed for more than a decade.

"This is the tip of the iceberg," he said. "The real issue is about how we read scripture, about how we interpret God's Word today. God has given us indications we need to have a broader understanding of creation and a broader understanding of how humans are formed."

The cheers are for the Rev. Richard Lindsey's courage in speaking publicly of his loyalty to the national church and of his disagreement with the position of Bishop Lawrence on same-sex blessings. 

The text of Bishop Lawrence's letter may be found at the link above.

H/T to Kurt Wienser at The Lead.

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/07/17/2137637/beaufort-episcopal-church-reactions.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/2012/07/17/2137637/beaufort-episcopal-church-reactions.html#storylink=cpy

WALKING ON WATER

Paddy had long heard the stories of an amazing family tradition. It seems that his father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been able to walk on water on their 18th birthdays.

On that special day, they'd each walked across the lake to the pub on the far side for their first legal drink.

So when Paddy's 18th birthday came around, he and his pal Mick, took a boat out to the middle of the lake, Paddy stepped out of the boat...and  nearly drowned!

Mick just barely managed to pull him to safety.

Furious and confused, Paddy, went to see his grandmother.  'Grandma,' he asked, "Tis me 18th birthday, so why can't I walk 'cross the lake like me father, his father, and his father before him?"

Granny looked deeply into Paddy's, troubled brown eyes and said, "Because ye father, ye grandfather and ye great-grandfather were all born in January, when the lake is frozen, and ye were born in August, ya fookin idiot!"

Don't blame me.  Blame a friend who shall not be named.

ONE MORE TIME...

Must-have button for GC12

...an appeal for donations to help with expenses for lodgings for Malcolm French, Moderator, and Lionel Diemel, US Convener, of No Anglican Covenant Coalition, who attended General Convention 2012 of The Episcopal Church in Indianapolis.  Everyone who was present at the convention commended Malcolm and Lionel for their dedication and hard work.  They are short a few hundred dollars on their expenses for lodgings, and any amount you can give will help.  With a donation of $25.00, you are eligible to receive a button like the one pictured above.

Use the "Donate" button below.  You do not need to join PayPal to make a donation. 

FOR NO ANGLICAN COVENANT COALITION EXPENSES AT GC12

 

OMAR KHAYYAM - "WINE LOOSENS EVEN CAST-IRON SHACKLES'

Wine-bibbing makes people
       less full of themselves,
and wine loosens even
    cast-iron  shackles.
If satan had only
    tippled every night,
he would not have been cast down
         from heaven for his pride.

Translated by Juan Cole
from Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat, [pdf] Whinfield 313/ Arberry 1949

BISHOP MARK LAWRENCE WRITES A LETTER

Following the early departure from General Convention 2012 of all but two of the deputation from the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina, Bishop Mark Lawrence wrote a letter to the congregations in the diocese.

Some of you have actively followed the decisions of the 77th General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Others have been blissfully unaware that our denomination even had a General Convention. We have. And the actions taken mark a significant and distressing departure from the doctrine, discipline and worship of Christ as this church has received them.

Read the letter in its entirety at the link above.

THANK YOU, SISTERS!

Message to Nuns on the Bus from members of Congress.

SAYS IT ALL

From ASBO Jesus.

"BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS"

I hereby command you: Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9

Psalm 100

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;
serve the Lord with gladness
and come before his presence with a song.
Know this: The Lord himself is God;
he himself has made us, and we are his;
we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
go into his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and call upon his Name.
For the Lord is good;
his mercy is everlasting;
and his faithfulness endures from age to age.