tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-51279771752984853732024-03-08T15:03:47.475-08:00Episcopal Journey of HopeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.comBlogger112125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-31214274314599835812014-01-29T14:30:00.000-08:002014-01-30T10:21:12.587-08:00Blog on FurloughThis Blog, Episcopal Journey of Hope, desires that the American Episcopal Church will reverse 50 years of decline, not end up a boutique church, and remain a meaningful part of this Nation's religious landscape. We have written about our history, theology, philosophy, and our ecclesiastical leaders plus our institutional structures. We trust our Blog has been thought provoking and a catalyst for change.<br />
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Gary Gilbertson<br />
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Our mutual effort with Episcopal Journey of Hope has been for me a very satisfying team effort. As with every aspect of life, this initiative by our mutual decision has finished its purpose for now. I am very grateful for any and all readership and for any number of comments, including critics, as we are all in a free community of conversation. And most especially I will always be grateful for so many kind and great leaders of the past in the Episcopal Church whose witness inspired me in leadership and spiritual courage. May we all go forth in peace. Thanks be the God.<br />
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Ron Reed<br />
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I have thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog. Episcopal Journey of Hope, while recognizing the spiritual and theological realities of eschatology, has nevertheless spoken more often to the hope, or lack thereof, for the future of the Episcopal Church. This is because our colleagues, as former leaders and containers of wisdom through a broad and deep experience in the life of the church, have believed that we had something to say that is both critical and positive about the life of the church. We trust that our musings have fostered an interest and willingness for change so that hope may emerge and the Episcopal Church might grow in the future and be a strong witness in American Christianity.<br />
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Bob Terrill<br />
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Contributing to this blog has allowed me to clarify some of the major issues pertaining to the Episcopal Church. I have really come to two major conclusions about the future of ECUSA. One, we will continue to decrease in membership, consequently, for the greater part we will be a denomination of small congregations, i.e., ranging from 25 to 300 in terms of weekly attendance. It will demand a radical change in life style.<br />
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Two, I fear that progressive Episcopal theology is really grounded on the Romanticism of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's world vision. We have fallen into the tendency of modern and postmodern intellectuals elitists to emphasize ideas such as subjectivity and spirit and reduce theology to the transcendental history of subjective spirit. It is a progressive liberal theological homogenization where the passionate love of humanity blends all ideas of tolerance, duty and truth into a vague oneness. Consequently, we attempt to feed our community on liturgical practices and a humanitarian ethics of social progress. In other words, we are becoming a community of liturgical practitioners without a sacramental or evangelical theology. These are the final thoughts of an Anglo Catholic scholastic.<br />
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A. William McVey<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-75474931873024870442014-01-18T16:07:00.002-08:002014-01-24T08:49:55.559-08:00
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pogo and Common Sense in an Age of Skepticism<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I suggest
that today we are living in an age of skepticism because we have such high
hopes for the future; yet at the same time we have such great fear and
skepticism. When we have the combination of great hopes and fear, then we enter
into a state of skepticism. We have become a people who<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>live with expectations of continuous economic
growth in personal income. We have been told that we are able to achieve the
American Dream. We have been defined by our consumer hopes of comfort and
various levels of affluence. We have become a people of risk takers who look at
the future with little concern for failure. We have been taught by teachers and
preachers to believe in our own abilities to achieve in a land of hope. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>However,
this secular-driven hope over the past few years has begun to appear somewhat
tenuous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An election came and the
streets were filled with hope again. This time the hope was placed in a new
type of political system. But since those celebration days, the world’s
economic and terrorist dilemmas continue to cast a veil of skepticism over the
world. The Western hope of material ease and progress has been challenged.
These new days of anxiety fueled by a culture of skepticism are now being experienced
by wealthy nations as well as the emerging poor nations. We are struggling to
rekindle our hope, and we turn to political rhetoric comprised of convoluted
logic presented by media commentators, clerical and academic skeptics.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A real problem exists when we simply believe
in a hard driven postmodern rational mind. We must, therefore, not see hope as
a mere wish for the gift of a hopeful future based on a solely rational mind.
In the spiritual and moral life, hope is a cardinal virtue, and it is also a
habit of the soul and an action. Dante wrote that on the entrance to hell it is
written, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter herein.” What does it mean to abandon
all hope? It means that we have lost all sense of action. When we lose hope, we
are unable to move; we are unable to become. The root cause of depression and
anxiety is the loss of hope, and we have entered into a type of hell of
skepticism. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>As a preacher and a parish priest, I
cannot change the present American culture; I cannot change the economic
system. I cannot change academia. Nevertheless, I would like to offer some
solid common sense advice for living as a person of faith in a skeptical age. I
will call it the common sense philosophy of Pogo taken from the cartoon series
of Walt Kelly who, I see, as a common sense satirist. The cartoon series is
about the allegorical characters of the Okefenokee Swamp.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pogo: <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Yes, we are immersed in in a skeptical culture. Yes, we live in a media
skeptical Okefenokee Swamp, but as Christians we do not have to become
skeptical. We live by the life of the Spirit that allows us to overcome all
shades of false and unnecessary skepticism. I remember talking to a businessman
when the late recession began. Everyone was so negative and skeptical about the
future of the American economy. At the peak of the recession in a small town,
he purchased a local Ford dealer ship. A local radio reported asked him, “Are
you not nervous about buying a Ford dealership when we are not even sure in
this recession if and when the car market will return.” He answered, “No, at
Bob’s Ford we’re not going to participate in this recession.” He was using
common sense and was really saying that there is reason for caution and fear,
but it does not have to become skepticism in <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>mind and heart.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Porky Pine: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The best break anybody ever gets is bein’
alive in the first place. An’ you don’t unnerstan what a perfect deal it is
until you realizes that you aint gone be stuck with it forever, either.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Here, Porky Pine speaks as an
insightful common sense existential philosopher. He calls our attention to a
basic common sense principle that should shape our attitude towards life, “The
best break anybody gets is being alive in the first place.” Then Professor
Porky Pine explains that we must avoid skepticism and understand what a perfect
deal its. It is by understanding and interpreting the potential and
opportunities that life offers that we avoid skepticism. It is for this reason
that Mortimer J. Adler wrote the book <u>The Time of Our Lives</u> and teaches
that we must interpret, judge and plan, “A certain amount of experience in the
business of living and a certain seriousness of purpose are required for anyone
to understand the problem of making a good life and to judge whether this or
that proposal for its solution is practically sound.” (Adler, Mortimer J, 1996,
P.9)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is no wonder that the preacher
Joel Osteen has thousands of people listening to the constant motif running
through his sermons, “Your Best Life Now.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a skeptical colloquial
expression that I really dislike because it is an attack on a balanced and
common sense approach to life. It goes something like this, “Hi Harry, how are
you doing?” Harry answers, “You know same old, same old!” Harry responds from
the attitude of a skeptical belief system. I have a friend who is a joyful and
happy devout evangelical. He is a country western disc jockey on radio, and he
loves to share western ballads that enrich life. He is very different than
Harry. When I meet him, I ask, “Earl how’s it going?” and he answers, “I am
blessed!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pogo says: “Eventually Porky, I
figger every critics heart’s in the right place.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Porky responds: “If you gotta be
wrong bout somthin’, that’s ‘bout the best thing they is to wrong bout.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Again, we see Porky acting like the common
sense philosopher. Pogo has made a statement that he believes is true that
every critic’s heart is in the right place. Porky has read Mortimer Adler on
the milder forms of skepticism and knows that common sense calls for cautious restraint,
“The fact that we differ in our judgments and change them from time to time
should awaken us to the wisdom of a cautious restraint not to regard our
judgments as certain and secure, as infallible and incorrigible.” (Adler,
Mortimer J. 1981)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is important to note carefully how
Porky responds. He may sound skeptical, but he is actually a common sense
realist. We must first note what he does not answer, “Well, if that’s your
opinion Porky, I guess it is okay. I have my opinion, so I guess we are both
entitled to our opinions.” This statement expresses a popular postmodern common
attitude, but is an exercise relativistic skepticism. It is based on the great
skeptical article of faith that the truth is there is no truth. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Porky may disagree, but he wants to examine
the topic without being skeptical. He approaches Pogo’s opinion with serious
reservation. Even though much of life is unclear, if we approach every
perplexing issue with a skeptical mind and heart then we remain in the
Okefenokee Swamp of skepticism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beauregard is sleeping under a tree,
and he hears a scream, “The Dam is Bus!”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">He answers, “Is we runnin To it or
From it?”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Skepticism makes us spiritually and
mentally lazy. Initially, we think our cool modern skepticism identifies us as
a cool, with it type person. In our skepticism, we only find meaning and truth
within our own subjective consciousness. Like Beauregard, we lie under our
comfortable shady tree in the Okefenokee Skeptic Swamp. It is as if we find a
type of mystical spirituality in the skepticism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Suddenly there is a catastrophe, and
we wake from our slumber. As skeptics, we must confront a harsh objective world,
“The Dam is bust.” We cannot say, “Oh, that is only your opinion.” No, it is
real the dam has bust, and we must have a real response, but we are skeptics,
and we don’t know if we run to it or from it. As the old saying goes, we don’t
know if we are coming or going.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Beauregard freezes because skeptics
in life are only good at working the problem; it is the common sense realist
who knows how to work the solution. Beauregard is a skeptic, and he is not in
the habit of facing the real catastrophes of life. The skeptic is not able to
face reality, especially at catastrophic moments, since he only knows his inner
skeptical perceptions. In a sense, Beauregard does not know the Swamp; rather
the Swamp knows and owns him.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-align: justify; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Miz Beaver: “I’ll tell you son, the
minority got us surrounded.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Skeptics are somewhat loud, arrogant
and militant in their belief system. They become petulant when anyone does not
buy into their skepticism. They are strongly given to proselytizing their
skeptical attitude and beliefs, covering them in a veneer such as it is the
only way an enlightened person should think. Fortunately, there is an innate
common sense in most people that skepticism is a dismal approach to life. The
common sense person must constantly avoid this militant voice that milks the
beauty and innate moral longing for goodness of the person and God’s creation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Porky Pine:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">“That’s only two possibilities. Thur
is life out there which is smarter than we are, or we’re the most intelligent
life in the universe. Either way, it’s a mighty sobering thought.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Unfortunately, it is not a sobering
thought for the true skeptic. There is only one sobering thought for the true
skeptic: i.e. be skeptical about everything. If we are skeptical about any
universal truth then we just have to wake up, dress up and show up. For a
common sense realist, a basic axiom is there is a God, and I am not big and smart
enough to sit on His throne. That is real common sense. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00225346097691546269noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-19637691831977352462014-01-17T16:52:00.000-08:002014-01-17T16:52:25.196-08:00Good Rectors Grow Churches -- Archbishop of Canterbury
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“The reality is that where you have a good vicar (read
rector in the USA), you will find growing churches,” the Archbishop of
Canterbury, the Most Rev. Justin Welby, said on BBC Radio this past month.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Archbishop then told his radio audience
that he was “extremely hopeful” about the future of the Church of England
because many local congregations were increasing in numbers.</div>
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There you have it! Good rectors grow churches!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The American Episcopal Church Official Report
titled “Episcopal Domestic Fast Facts Trends: 2008-2012” declares that over the
last 5 reporting years, 20% of Episcopal Congregations experienced at least a
10% growth in average Sunday attendance (ASA).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Congratulations to those 1400 “good” rectors for leadership in growing
the Church!</div>
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But what about the rest of the story?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about the 3500 rectors leading
congregations where ASA decline by 10% or more during the same period?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Would the Archbishop call them “poor”
rectors?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about the 2000 or more
congregations that can’t afford any rector – good or bad?</div>
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The flat out truth is most bishops are remiss in human resource
management of the Rector Corps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They
make no personal effort to recruit, appropriately educate, evaluate/mentor, or guarantee
adequate compensation for rectors.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Instead they generally delegate one of their most important responsibilities
and dissimulate the results.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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When our Church was 3.6 million members strong we had 10,000
clergy; now we are down to 1.8 million members and have over 18,000
clergy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>An analyst at the National
Church observed, “The problem with the clergy being ordained today is that most
of them can’t grow churches.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
agree.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where is there evidence of non-parochial
and/or non-stipendiary clergy ordained late in life ever being a true factor in
Church growth? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Look around, a diocese
many have only one or two anticipated rector openings in any year but they will
have 15 aspirants in the ordination process with not a single one capable of
leading a growing parish as rector.</div>
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Dioceses are proud of their “home schooled” clergy but
rectors need a full seminary education.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Rector candidates also need progressive assignments so they can be ready
to lead larger growing congregations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But those progressive assignments are not available, often due to late-vocations
“homesteading” in their one and only assignment. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, we all know the covert secret - many
of those assignments a rector needs to gain experience are closed because the
congregation can’t afford the stipend or medical costs for a younger person –
even one that could help them grow. </div>
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The New Testament is clear: “A laborer is worthy of his
wages.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The cost to an average
congregation to have a rector is around $90,000 per year; this includes,
stipend, housing, medical insurance, pension and expenses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rectors testify they work an average of 50
hours a week with some time off for vacations or about 2400 hours per
year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The average work year for most secular
employees is between 1900 and 2000 hours so our rectors are well above average.
In other words, full-time rector positions cost congregations about $37.50 per
hour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rector’s actual spendable compensation
will be around $20.00 per hour. Many rectors are well below these numbers and a
few are above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is the bishop’s responsibly
to work to ensure rectors are fairly compensated.</div>
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It is equally true that rectors should work to see bishops are
fairly compensated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s check.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The average cost to a diocese to have a bishop’s
position is $175,000 per year.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Assuming
the same number of work hours per year, the cost per hour to have a bishop is
$72.00 per hour – almost double the cost of a rector.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some suggest adding the cost of the bishop’s
staff into the mix because the staff is doing what the bishop would be doing,
if no staff were available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This could
add another $400.00 per hour to the cost. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The nearly $500 an hour to have a bishop and
staff is mostly raised by assessing congregations who are already stretching to
afford a good rector to help them grow.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>No matter how much we love our bishops and respect the professionalism
of the staff, collectively they are a non-factor in congregational growth.</div>
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As the Archbishop says, we need good rectors to grow churches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time to recruit, appropriately educate, evaluate/mentor,
and guarantee adequate compensation for rectors. This is certainly a critical challenge
being faced by the Church.<o:p></o:p></div>
Goodthunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00553897011460147537noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-61092295222870385522014-01-12T14:16:00.002-08:002014-01-12T14:16:20.285-08:00Another Term?<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recently I received an interesting rumor regarding our Presiding Bishop's plan to run for a second term. Bishop Jefferts Schori, having been ordained and employed for twenty years,certainly must find employment in the Episcopal Church for at least ten more years to receive her full pension. Another term as Presiding Bishop would certainly make a full term period very simple with no job search, disruption of her personal life or professional career trajectory. Such an eighteen year, two term,period would put her third in tenure to +Tuttle and +White in the succession of Presiding Bishops. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I note this rumor because its origin was reliable, the idea of such a possibility historically significant and for its implications regarding the culture and politics of the House of Bishops, General Convention and the Church at large interesting. If Bishop Schori can get herself re-elected, she has managed to gain very substantial power over the years, and/or few other bishops may actually desire this "godly call." In any case, if another nine years is gained by Bishop Schori, what might we expect? Reviewing the activities of her first administration, we can predict more law suits, gyrations of organizational reform and the normal administrative and visitation schedule continuing. In other words, while the numbers regarding Episcopalians and their financial commitments are projected to decline with greater rapidity, the Presiding Bishop will enjoy good pension funding, many interesting trips and sipping gimlets on the pent house balcony facing the East River where this redundant building holds up her apartment. . .</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">However, except for the name change of the actual occupant of the Office of Presiding Bishop occurring via the normal nomination/election processes of General Convention, what difference would it make? The future of the Episcopal Church is not much in the hands of the Presiding Bishop, General Convention or most the denial of most dioceses as demographic studies indicate all too well. Organizational culture inertia of the Episcopal Church and similar Christian denominations are pulling the institutions down. So as one wag reportedly stated on the deck of the Titantic, "Everyone, grab your drink and watch us hit that big iceberg!!"</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Where is the hope here? I hope I am wrong. So prove me so, please. </span>Ron Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18152111587171163605noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-85812882744165386652014-01-01T11:17:00.000-08:002014-01-03T07:25:01.460-08:00Clergy: Beware of Parish ProfilesThe other day I was looking at the positions open that were listed on the Episcopal News Service website. I decided to take a look at one particular parish profile to see if I could discover something about the parish that might be interesting if I were still in the business of looking for a job. I found a parish in a Southwestern Diocese that met that requirement.<br />
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From the November financial report of the parish, I estimated an annual budget of $313,500.00. They have a mortgage of $439,771.00 and endowments of $981,529.00. They had cash on hand of $84,891.00. I thought that this was a pretty stable financial picture and I found myself wishing that all my parishes had that kind of a cash balance when I was serving full time as a parish priest.<br />
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237 communicants were eligible for the survey. In addition to the Rector, there are 8 staff members, no clergy assistance, which tells me that the new Rector should have staff management skills. There is a Saturday evening service with contemporary music, an early and late Sunday service, the latter of which is a traditional choral Eucharist. The parish has two cursillo reunion groups and multiple bible study and prayer groups. So this is probably a "renewal" parish. On the surface it looks like a pretty good job; possibly well paying for one priest, but I found a distinct issue in the profile that needs addressing up front.<br />
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The profile repeatedly mentioned that they wanted the new Rector to attend all functions in the parish. At the same time they want a spiritual leader, a person active in the community, be energetic, focus on growth and encourage parish-wide outreach to the community. 69% of those completing the profile would welcome visits from the clergy and 40% reported that the parish provides adequate pastoral care. Naturally they want great sermons, a priest who ministers to all people and provides counsel to those with spiritual needs. They want their new Rector to love and care for the parish, grow the parish by being active in the community, to foster growth in the parish and "provide guidance for and be a lighthouse to the parish."<br />
<br />
Per the norm, the parish profile tells us a lot about what they didn't like about the former Rector. Most parishes say that they want someone unlike the priest they had before. It looks like the former Rector may have been a bit of a recluse because they emphasized the point that the new Rector should attend all church functions and be active in the community.<br />
<br />
Herein lies the problem. As written in the profile, this is an impossible job. I look at the parish calendar and I found 90 parish events during the month of November, including worship services. Is the new Rector to attend all of them? This is what the profile says. There were 20 liturgies during the month of November. Who is supposed to plan all of them and do them well? The new Rector of course. In addition to all that, the new Rector is supposed to be active in the community, foster evangelism and church growth, and preach great sermons. Where is the new Rector going to find the time to do all of this? This profile is a trap and the job is impossible if you believe the profile.<br />
<br />
Any Rector, with or without a family, is going to have a very tricky time management problem. How do you take time off, be involved with family and friends, and do everything the profile expects you to do? The profile reads like this parish has a boundary problem and wants to consume the new Rector into a whirlpool in which the priest is swallowed up and sucked dry.<br />
<br />
The job probably pays pretty well and the parish probably has solid lay leadership. It is an interview that I would probably accept if I were looking for a job. But I would be prepared to ask pertinent questions that speak to the issues of boundaries and job expectations. When it comes to discussing a contract, I would insist on clear and definite expectations and provisions for time off from the job. I would ask them to prioritize their expectations. I would ask them how they would expect me to attend 90 parish functions, plan and preach excellent sermons, provide pastoral care, visit the sick and shut-in, make parish calls and plan and develop education programs, foster evangelism and outreach to the community. If I were to be called as Rector, I might say no and tell them why. The parish wants a priest who will allow him or herself to be drawn into a vice and squeezed to death. Anyone who takes this job without setting solid boundaries is bound to burn out and have other personal relationship issues. Buyer beware.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-10785847483723184312013-12-27T06:22:00.002-08:002013-12-27T06:22:15.463-08:00
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Christian Moderate Optimism for 2014<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>An attitude
is fundamentally a mental position towards what reality has been, is, and is
about to be. It is the inner disposition of the mind as it is shaped by our
feelings and thoughts about life and how to respond to life. All the choices,
actions and consequences of our lives are shaped by our attitudes. Furthermore,
all attitudes towards life are either positive or negative, or in other words,
all attitudes are about whether the cup is half full or half empty.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I am concerned at the beginning of 2014 about
our basic Christian attitudes to life and God’s creation. In terms of the cup
being half filled or half empty, God has not created us to be “the cup is half
empty” people. If we truly understand the meaning of the incarnation at the
beginning and the end of the day, we are “the cup is half filled” people. The
perception of life as always being half full is what I mean by an “attitude of
rational and emotional moderate optimism”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>A Christian attitude of moderate
optimism means that we should see the cup of life as always being a little
better than just half filled. We should see the cup of life as always being
moderately filled in all the events and situations of life. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I found it most interesting to learn
that the cancer victims who have the best chance of recovery approach their
treatment with a moderate level of optimism. Facing the problems and suffering
of life with an attitude of moderate optimism makes a lot of sense. Just
because a person is an optimist does not mean that one cannot at the same time
have common sense. A false high level of optimism is to have no doubt
whatsoever that a cure will happen. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">At the other extreme is the negative
skeptic who doubts that anything will work. The moderate optimist believes that
if they remain positive and make a sincere effort to work with the treatment,
then God will take care of them. The point is that a Christian lives as a
moderate optimist in all situations. Jesus came so that we might know that God
offers a life where He wants us to know happiness and face life always with
moderate optimism. The Psalmist teaches, “This is the day that the Lord has made;
we will rejoice and be glad in it.” The Psalmist doesn’t say that I will be
happy tomorrow if this and this happens. No matter what is going on in our
life, we must face life as a moderate optimist. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>I read
recently a study from the University of Pennsylvania conducted by
neuroscientists who were studying how Americans perceive God. The study gave me
reason to ponder rather seriously the perception of God in our society, and I
began to realize that there is a need for a discovery of the authentic Jesus of
the Gospel. Approximately 34% percent of Americans perceive God as an
authoritarian who is a God who prefers to demand and punish. He is a God who
also intervenes in this life to punish the wicked and save the believer. This
authoritarian God allows a satanic force to move throughout the world and
attack the non-believer. Twenty five percent believe in a critical God who makes
heavy moral and faith demands on people but does not really engage in
supportive loving relationships with people. It is as if the critical God rules
from afar by sending us critical and negative emails. Third, 12% believe in God
as being a type of distant cosmic force that we cannot know personally, and
this God does not intervene directly in our lives. Finally, it is only 23% who
believe in a loving, benevolent and non- judgmental God who wishes for us to be
happy and live a life of moderate optimism The remaining percentage are
hard-core atheists who have no interest in the question of God whatsoever. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is no wonder that we have so much division
and problems in America. The problems of the nation and individuals living with
negative attitudes come from a belief in the authoritarian, critical and
distant God. No, in 2014 we must pray for the awareness and understanding of a
benevolent God guiding our Episcopal community and our personal lives on a
journey of moderate optimism.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00225346097691546269noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-31584467618007902212013-12-20T17:13:00.002-08:002013-12-20T17:13:58.189-08:00Where Will You Meet God this Christmas?
There was once a little boy who wanted to meet God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He knew it was a long trip to where God
lived, so he filled his backpack with cookies and some cans of Coke and started
on his journey.<br />
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When he’d
gone half a mile or so he met an old woman.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She was sitting in the park just staring at the pigeons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boy sat down next to her and unzipped his
backpack.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was about to take a drink
from one of his cans of Coke when he noticed the old lady looked hungry, so he offered
her some cookies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gratefully
accepted and smiled at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her smile
lit up her who face.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was so
lovely, the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered one of his cans of
Coke.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One again she smiled at him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The boy was delighted!</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>They sat
there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As it grew dark, the boy realized how tired
he was and he got up to leave, but before he’d gone more than a few steps, he
turned round, ran back to the old woman and gave her a hug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She gave him her biggest smile ever.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>When the
boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was
surprised by the look of joy on his face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She asked him, “What did you do today that made you so happy?” He
replied, “I had lunch with God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
before his mother could respond, he added, “You know what? She’s got the most
beautiful smile I’ve ever seen!”</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Meanwhile,
the old woman, also radiant with joy, returned to her home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her son was stunned by the look of peace on
her face and he asked, “Mother, what did you do today that made you so happy?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She replied, ‘I ate cookies in the park with
God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And before her son could respond,
she added, “You know, he’s much younger than I expected.</div>
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<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Is it
strange to think of seeing God as a young boy?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Is it strange to think of seeing God as an old woman?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you said “yes” to these questions then it
will be especially difficult to think of God as a baby!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet that is what Christmas is all about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About, God taking human flesh as a baby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>So where
this Christmas will you look to see God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the face of the old or the young?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In the face of the powerful or in the eyes of a baby – far too young to
even smile?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will you see God in the Liturgy,
the scripture, the music, the art, the decorations?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The shepherds, poor uneducated folk, saw
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Magi, educated rich folk, saw
God. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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What about you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where
will you meet God this Christmas?<o:p></o:p></div>
Goodthunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00553897011460147537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-306866677269533772013-12-05T12:17:00.000-08:002013-12-05T12:17:45.519-08:00Blogs You Like the MostEach Tuesday morning we bloggers and other priests gather for breakfast. Most of us are retired and some have been retired for more than ten years. Others are still active in parish ministry and two are on a diocesan staff. One of us is a retired Bishop and another of us is a Canon to the Ordinary. Together we have hundreds of years of collective experience. We discuss whatever is on our minds and we are pastoral with each other if one of us is hurting. It is a true community of faith that gathers to celebrate our vocations to the priesthood and to share in Celtic-like soul friendships. Of course we also "solve" all the problems in the church and the world. It takes us two to three hours to get this done.<br />
<br />
During breakfast a couple of weeks ago it was mentioned that I should report to you, our readers, which blogs you read the most and those issues you seem to be the most interested in. Therefore, here are the top ten blogs that you read ranked from one to ten.<br />
<br />
<strong>Where have all the Rectors gone?</strong><br />
<br />
<strong>Rectors (Pastors): The Odds are Against You.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Rectors - Resign, Get Fired, Retire.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Rector (Pastor): You're Fired.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Clergy Divorce.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>The Bishop Speaks of a Punctuation Mark.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Let's Get Rid of the Rector: A Priest's Nightmare.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>The Bishop Speaks from the Heart.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>10 Things You Should Know About Fasting.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong>Episcopal Chaos.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
Five of these blogs are concerned with a parish priest's job security. One of them, clergy divorce, is concerned about this very intimate and personal issue which, when it happens, is a personal and parish tragedy. Two blogs are about Episcopal authority and another is about Lenten discipline. The most popular blogs that didn't make it into the top ten are about the decline in The Episcopal Church, how it impacts clergy mission and ministry, and Celtic Christianity as a way to renew and reform the Anglican Church of today. One could safely then draw the conclusion that most of our readers are Episcopal bishops and priests and they justifiably are concerned with issues that pertain to their parish and diocesan ministries.<br />
<br />
It is fascinating to me and other bloggers that you are consistently reading older blogs on a regular basis, even when they didn't make it into the top ten. We are grateful that readership is continuing quite stable and even rising at times. While I don't know any statistics about numbers of readers of religious blogs in the United States, Episcopal Journey of Hope does appear to me to be pretty popular. We have been read in 87 countries. <strong>And there have been over 50,000 pages views, which is more than we could have imaged when we started this little endeavor.</strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />
Thanks for continuing to read our blogs. If there is any subject that you would like us to address, please let us know in the comment sections of the blogs. Maranatha. Come Lord Jesus.<br />
<strong></strong><br />
<strong></strong><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-10093770578574711172013-11-30T12:39:00.000-08:002013-11-30T12:39:49.023-08:00The Bishop Speaks What Are We Thinking Clergy<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">How did
we arrive at this hope stuff? Sometimes I think of this and conclude
we do not have a real understanding of the basic issue. If one is in
the hope business it is a sign that all is not well. Therefore we
must work on that.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The
work then becomes the center of our thinking. It is natural to try
to fix something and hence we have plans and studies and trials and
arguments and fights and votes and meetings and prayers and new books
and better songs and search for the “right” people and look for
more money and get some committes and work very hard and get mad and
sad and tired and wornout and loose track of who and what we are and
the church becomes smaller and people drift away and we pretend
things are well and try to hang on to what we believe without really
knowing what we believe.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">How did
it begin? Well, most of us were introduced to a religion and we tend
to stay there. This religion tends to be what ever is available in a
region/community/nation where we live. We are indoctrinated into a
religion and it is reinforced all around us. People often acquire a
religion without giving a lot of thought to what they are saying they
believe. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Religion
is reinforced throughout our lives by clergy, civic leaders and
families. We believe this is what keeps families together. People
learn that certain ideas, ideologies and practices are to be treated
as vital to our lives and are not to be questioned, but rather
accepted. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Then we
have the issues of death, heaven and hell. We are given answers for
all of these things. We accept them without questioning. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It is
like the old song: </span>
</div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 628px;">
<colgroup><col width="253"></col>
<col width="53"></col>
<col width="310"></col>
</colgroup><tbody>
<tr>
<td valign="TOP" width="253">
You better watch out,<br />You better not cry,<br />Better not
pout,<br />I'm telling you why:<br />Santa Claus is coming to
town.<br />He's making a list,<br />And checking it twice;<br />Gonna
find out<br />Who's naughty and nice.<br />Santa Claus is coming to
town.<br />
</td>
<td width="53">
<br />
</td>
<td valign="TOP" width="310">
He sees you when you're sleeping.<br />He knows when you're
awake.<br />He knows if you've been bad or good,<br />So be good for
goodness sake!<br />Oh, you better watch out!<br />You better not
cry.<br />Better not pout,<br />I'm telling you why:<br />Santa Claus is
coming to town.<br />Santa Claus is coming to town!<br />
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Then it
happens. Santa is not really coming, but the message lives inside of
us and we remember it. Then we might begin to wonder if following
the good and bad rules will determine our salvation. Must we be good
and follow the rules? If things could have been fixed this way, all
would have been taken care of 20 minutes after Moses came down off
the mountain with the 10 commandments. Law is holy, just and true,
but law alone is not an instrument of salvation.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Our
gospel assures us that the whole salvation work has already been
done, once and for all, by the birth, death and resurrection of
Jesus. We have the story, we are saved. But, there is more than
having the story and telling the story. We need to start living the
story. The Kingdom of God is at hand. It is here and it is for you.
</span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I fear
our worship has become our religion. Throughout the church year our
worship tells the story over and over without much thought about how
we live our lives, how we live in the Kingdom of God. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We say
we gather to praise God, but in truth we gather to tell the story,
over and over. Our praise of God is in our lives. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Ask
yourself this question. “How does a person who believes this story
live and praise God?”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Relax.
You are saved. Everyone has been saved. The Jesus work has been
done. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Now,
all you need to do is live in the Kingdom.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Think
about it. Then, rethink hope. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04195095098734571274noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-74148376651423989132013-11-23T16:21:00.001-08:002013-11-23T16:21:21.982-08:00
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Small Size Parish Homes and the
Episcopal Future<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A Method<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
blog is the result of an </span>in-depth analysis of a small Episcopal
congregation identity using a cognitive consensus mapping methodology known as
metaphor elicitation. The method is grounded on the findings of neuropsychology
and linguistics, “Metaphors stimulate the workings of the human mind. By one
estimate, we use almost six metaphors per minute of spoken language… For
example, although both halves of the human brain enable literal and figurative
language (which includes metaphor), the right half is more strongly associated
with metaphoric language.” (Zaltman, Gerald, <u>How Customers</u> <u>Think</u>,
p. 37-38)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>According
to most estimates, about 95% of thought, emotions, feeling and learning occur
in the unconscious mind. Most studies of denominational attitudes towards
church selection and congregational worship, educational and formational needs
are based on information gathered through verbal protocols (telephone calls,
group meetings, verbal focus groups and questionnaires) that rely on self-
reflection and self-awareness. These methods, even if conducted extremely well,
only open up 5% of thoughts, emotions and feelings about people towards
religious and spiritual issues.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Therefore,
advanced methods of cognitive consensus maps are the single most important way
of eliciting individual and collective attitudes about just why people are
attracted to the Episcopal denomination or a particular parish. Furthermore, it
is especially necessary when exploring the nature of such a right brain issue
as religious preference to use the methodology of metaphor elicitation. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Study </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>This
study was conducted in a small Episcopal parish with a dwindling weekly
attendance of between 50 to 60 members with a statistical mode age of 70 years.
The statistical mode age is used rather than the mean or median because it is
more descriptive of the aging sketch of the congregation. The congregation had
been at one time <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>an established pastoral
congregation from the fifties, but it began to decline rapidly in the
nineties.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was located in an urban middle
class neighborhood that had slowly become a working lower class community.
After experiencing a series of deaths of members, it appeared that the parish
would soon close. There was a final effort made to stabilize the situation with
an interim and then a new rector. Although the parish was aging, it had an
extremely youthful spirit. Under the guidance of the interim, the new rector
and vestry, a courageous plan for stabilization was designed.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Before
this study could begin, it was necessary to spend two years attracting some new
members. It was decided to target baby boomers 55 plus who were, for various
reasons, looking for a church. It was necessary to make radical changes in
liturgy, music and educational programs to achieve this immediate goal. After
some new members had become active in the parish, the new vestry decided that
it was time to ask three questions in order to grow: 1) How do we perceive
ourselves? 2) How does our local community perceive us? 3) How do we want to be
perceived?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>In
order to answer this question, the parish began a study in metaphor elicitation
and consensus mapping. A representative sample of members was asked to become
participants in the study. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Each member
was instructed as to how to gather visual images over the period of a couple of
weeks about their likes and dislikes for choosing a spiritual and worshipping
community. Then in a one to one metaphor elicitation technique session each
participant engaged in a one hour to two hour image description probe. The
purpose was to gather data on shared parish archetypes and core metaphors that
allow for the development of a shared deeply felt parish spiritual identity. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Findings </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>The
study is presently in stage two where we are connecting the lines between core
metaphors by means of participant construction of collages. In stage three, we
will then load these collages into digital program and present the findings to
the congregation. We will then begin to construct the congregational narrative
and target-seeker strategy. I am not able in this very short blog to outline
the various core metaphors and narratives findings, but I will offer a few
emerging findings.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">1)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It became apparent in the study that people find
it easier to communicate what they dislike when selecting a particular
Christian community and style of worship.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">2)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The most predominant core metaphor that has
appeared is personal friendship. It appears that in a small parish the
meaningful glue was the metaphor of the TV show Cheers, especially the phrase
“Hi Norm.” New people are attracted to the parish because they sense the gentle
presence of soul friends, as one participant found in the lyrics to the Cheers
song, “Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got. Taking a
break from all your worries sure would help a lot. Wouldn’t you like to get
away? Sometimes you want to go where everybody knows your name, and they’re
always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the
same. You wanna be where everybody knows your name.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">3)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If there is a metaphor that expresses how the
congregation does not perceive itself, it is the church with the huge stage,
electronic screen and over bearing electronic music. However, there were other
metaphors that expressed delightful openness to more mellow modes of
contemporary music. It appears that this congregation and the new members it is
attracting are somewhat counter-cultural when it comes to electronic approaches
to worship. </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">4)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Several of the participants offered, what we
named, “In Your Face” metaphors. There was a strong dislike for a
congregational atmosphere that is overbearing with controversial issues either
on the left or right of theological, ethical or social issues. Yet, there were
many metaphors that stressed the need for the parish to reach out to the needy,
especially persons and situations within the local community where the congregation
is located. These were metaphors of a loving, compassionate touching of those
in need.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">5)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It has
become apparent during this study that there is most often a critical disconnect
between the traditional theological language of the church and the unconscious
longings of the soul for an inspiring and metaphoric language of the deep
structures of the human mind where we hear the whispers of the soul in a small,
spiritually intimate community.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">6)</span><span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Finally, I suggest a certain triangulation
between this study and the study by C. Kirk Hadaway, Director of Research, The
Episcopal Church Center, “Congregation Size and Church Growth in the Episcopal
Church.”.This study is a must read, but it demands a careful read. He clears up
several misconceptions about what size of Episcopal churches grow and where we
find promise for the future. Good analytical triangulation happens when we find
touch points between qualitative and quantitative analysis. Hadaway’s work is
highly reliable because it is an excellent work in descriptive statistics based
on sound categorization. The conclusions seem to verify that there is a unique
identity and promise in small congregations, “In general, the larger the
congregation, the less likely to grow-except for the largest churches (those
over 800 in average Sunday attendance). These very large churches have added
substantially to the growth the Episcopal Church since 1995, but because they
are very few in numbers they do not add as many attendees as churches with ASA
of 100 or less…even though small churches are more likely to grow than larger
churches, not all small churches are likely to grow. Small rural churches are
most likely to decline and newer small churches are most likely to grow
(especially those in new suburban areas). The typical Episcopal congregation
has average Sunday attendance of 80 persons. It is the typical Episcopal Church
that has been our primary source of growth during the last decade.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
study indicates that there is something in the Episcopal cultural DNA that
forms into small church growth. Perhaps it is the energy of the Cheers
metaphor? Perhaps our tag line and brand identity is the metaphor of a
spiritual home something like Ernest Kurtz describes it, “Home is ultimately,
that place where we find the peace and harmony that comes from learning to
accept the imperfections of others. Such a place, such a home, can exist in
various settings, but its ultimate foundation rests jointly within self and
within some group of trusted others. Some places are more conducive to this
experience than others. But wherever and whenever we do attain that sense of
being at home we experience a falling away of tensions, a degree of balance
between the pushing and pulling forces of our lives.” (Kurtz, Ernest, <u>The
Spirituality of</u> <u>Imperfection</u>, p. 232) </span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
conclusion, we might say, “The parish home is where the heart is.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 0.5in;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00225346097691546269noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-79873396803456382552013-11-16T08:40:00.001-08:002013-11-16T08:40:57.818-08:00Hope On the Horizon Now<b id="docs-internal-guid-35fe791b-61c1-ed37-58fb-a185b0c10e12" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Reformation isn’t over. But Protestantism is, or should be</span><span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: #0a0a0a; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From The End of Protestantism by Peter J. Leithart , November 8, 2013</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> First Things @ </span><a href="http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/11/the-end-of-protestantism" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">http://www.firstthings.com/onthesquare/2013/11/the-end-of-protestantism</span></a><span style="background-color: #ede9d0; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a good thing I no longer have to have hope within the Episcopal Church. My hope has gone or lead me to see a different horizon. And that hope is about an essence of Anglicanism. It is the spirit of the historic, active soul which infused the Episcopal Church with spiritual energy.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Around 1996, when I was rector of St. James Church in Wichita,I began to realize that the authentic authority in the Episcopal Church had radically declined. I had experienced bullying for the first time by lay people. As a result, I had to learn about institutionalized systemic pathology. For instance, the St. James vestry organizational chart of 1986 had the vestry as the CEO and the Rector below in line with the Sexton. While I had fully corrected this nonsense by 1997, I knew I had to begin to explore the possibility there was no longer an Episcopal Church as I had known it for nearly 40 years. With the help of my associate and a very learned lay person, I discovered a once thriving form of catholic Christianity among the Celts in Ireland and other nearby regions. I discovered a form of Church organization and spiritual life that was not at all dependent on the Latin, European matrix of central organization with orders of ministry in a hierarchy. This was a whole new experience for me. What struck me was how much I had essentially felt this Celtic soul of Anglicanism from my childhood on. (The reader may go back to early blog essays where I delineate my understanding of the Celtic qualities and differences I had discovered.)</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Two small groups of people with me created two different educational organizations. In the late 90’s, The St. Columba Center for Congregational Development and The Journey of Soul were designed and tested to help fellow Episcopal Church leaders learn from and take on the necessary theology and systemic changes to reconfigure the Church for adaptation to a new spiritual and organizational journey. After testing our idea locally, in other parts of the country and in Canada, we failed. It failed because our Church had already twisted itself into ways and means to coerce a false dialogue. The Church was attempting to achieve an impossible ideological conformity around social and ecclesiastical issues and programs while using the language of inclusion and social justice, clouding its intent to gather waning money, power and social influence.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As readers of this blog know, all the studies and data collections we have cited, indicate the decline of institutional western Christianity. I believe we, who are so motivated, should start to move on and embrace a new order of reform that benefits from the lessons of an historic Celtic Christian spirit that: 1. Does not need our four orders of ministry to be in a hierarchy with a bishop “on top” 2. A sacramentality may once again be focused in proclamation and no longer reduced into ritual/ceremonial conformity to the dying old static hierarchical matrix 3. Where possible, a rapid consolidation of as many assets and resources, becoming networks of mission and ministry as locally organized with bishops facilitating and no longer directing regulatory conformity 4. Of a willingness to work with any and all other local faithful and morally sensitive people who can see their work as venturesome and purposefully discovering the Christ in daily life and work 5. Accepting an awareness, knowledge and understanding of a rapidly digitizing life in networks of communication. </span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From now on, we should be allocating fewer resources into the dioceses which have become increasingly top heavy and dysfunctional. Everywhere and everyone is becoming the centers of Christ in this world. We need to develop models of whole networked global/local models which together unify to become an expanding helical,healing force of spiritual energy and growth, “a noosphere” or a globally connected consciousness, as Teilhard de Chardin described nearly a century ago, a virtual DNA of the Holy Spirit-- </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Divine Numinous Activity--</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> toward the fulfillment of God’s creation in each of its billions of human centers. We need to become Christ in this world so as to become fully and together the spiritual creatures we are drawn to become, surrounding each other in love, justice and adoration where we are finally drawn into full communion with God,”lifting up of the heart and mind to God, asking nothing but to enjoy God's presence.”-- BCP Catechism on Prayer and Worship </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>Ron Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18152111587171163605noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-30403637053983057502013-11-10T22:36:00.004-08:002013-11-10T22:36:23.705-08:00A Veterans Day Tribute
It was 1945 on Iwo Jima, the battle was still continuing,
and Chaplain, Lieutenant, Ronald Gittelsohn, a Rabbi, dedicated a Cemetery for
the 5<sup>th</sup> Marine Division with these words:<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em>Here before us lie the bodies of comrades and friends, men
who until yesterday or last week, laughed with us, trained with us, men who
were on the same ships with us, and went over the side with us as we prepared
to hit the beaches of this island.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some
of us have buried our closest friends here. We saw these men killed before our
very eyes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Any one of us might have died
in their place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indeed some of us are
alive and breathing at this very moment only because men who lie here beneath
us had the courage and strength to give their lives for ours.</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<em>These men have done their job well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have paid the ghastly price of
freedom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here lie men who loved America
because their ancestors, generations ago, helped in her founding because they
themselves, or their own fathers, escaped from oppression to her blessed
shores.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here lie officers and men,
negroes and whites, rich men and poor—together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Theirs is the highest and purest democracy. Any man among us, the
living, who fails to understand that will thereby betray those who lie here
dead.</em></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
God’s Peace to them and to you.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Chaplain, Colonel, Gary Gilbertson, USAF (Ret.)<o:p></o:p></div>
Goodthunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00553897011460147537noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-57742664052551178312013-11-08T14:06:00.002-08:002013-11-08T14:06:58.659-08:00Bullying – a Growing Problem in the Church
This Blog held up the issue of bullying back on April 19<sup>th</sup>
of this year under the title: “Terrorists are Bullies and Bullies are
Terrorists.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In short, <em>both are the
improper use or threatened use of force or violence, physical or verbal,
against persons or groups, to intimidate or coerce.</em> This week the sports community
is aghast at the bullying of professional football players in the NFL.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If even 300 pound athletes can be bullied,
there is no doubt that Rectors can be bullied by parishioners and equally true
be bullied by Bishops and Diocesan Staff persons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(The April 19<sup>th</sup> article is still
available.) <br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Currently this author is collecting illustrations of
bullying in the Church.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The material
will be used in an upcoming publication and may well be included in one of the
presentations at the Annual Episcopal Journey of Hope Conference.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Send materials to <a href="mailto:Rector@garygilbertson.org"><span style="color: blue;">Rector@garygilbertson.org</span></a>.
Be assured that non-attribution and confidentiality will be respected and
protected.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is time the Church faced
up to this major issue! <o:p></o:p></div>
Goodthunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00553897011460147537noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-34770110022829253942013-11-03T13:29:00.005-08:002013-11-03T13:29:59.730-08:00Reflections on the EpiscopacySeveral responses to our recent blogs about reducing bishops and dioceses made the assumption that Episcopal Journey of Hope authors are against bishops. Bishop Daniel Martins defended the "esse" of bishops by misquoting Ignatius of Antioch when he wrote, "where the Bishop is, there is the Church. Actually, a more precise translation of Ignatius is this: "Where the bishop is present, there let the congregation gather. Just as where Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church."<br />
<br />
This translation, which is more accurate than Bishop Martin's, leaves the traditional Ignatian teaching less precise and more open. It introduces a more spiritual approach to the development of the threefold ministry of bishops, priests and deacons. For Ignatius, the authority of church officers is not derived from a chain of teaching chairs (Irenaeus) or from a succession of ordinations (Augustine) but from the fact that their offices are the earthly representation of a heavenly pattern. This does not negate the fact that we Anglicans have inherited the Augustinian tradition and therefore, as Anglicans, we follow the Roman teaching. At Episcopal Journey of Hope we are aware of this and we subscribe to the fact that bishops are essential to the life of the church. We may question the number of bishops we have in TEC, but we do not deny the fact that Episcope is of the essential to the life of Anglicanism.<br />
<br />
Recently I found a set of preliminary papers for the last Lambeth Conference, 2008, that were written by Anglican theologians throughout the world. In one of the papers, "The Significance of the Episcopal Office for the Communion of the Church, Inter Anglican Theological and Doctrinal Commission, October 2007," presented ten theses with explanations on the theology of the Episcopate. I give the these to you without the theological comments. You can find the entire text if you "google" theology of the episcopate. It goes without saying that these theses were written for bishops and therefore present a bias in this regard.<br />
<br />
<em>Thesis One: The Bishop serves the koinonia of the gospel into which the baptised are incorporated by God the Holy Spirit.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Two: The bishop's evangelical office of proclamation and witness is a fundamental means by which those who hear the call of God become one in Christ.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Three: The bishop is a teacher and defender of the apostolic faith that binds believers into one body.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Four: The Bishop has oversight (episcope) of the household of God for the good order of the Church.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Five: The bishop is called to coordinate the gifts of the people of God for the building up of the faithful for the furtherance of God's mission.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Six: The bishop serves the koinonia of the gospel through care, encouragement and discipline of the pastors of the Church.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Seven: The bishop serves the koinonia of the gospel through a ministry of mediation to recall the broken and conflicted body of Christ to its reconciled life in him.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Eight: The catholicity of the episcopal office connects the baptised across boundaries of culture, class, gender, race and lands and enables the church to realize its oneness in Christ.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Nine: The bishops serves the collegial life of the Church through the nurture of strong bonds with bishops of the Anglican Communion and those who share episcope in other Christian traditions.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>Thesis Ten: A diocesan bishop is given responsibility to episcope in the particular place where the bishop is the principal pastor.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
While realizing that these theses represent the traditional Roman and Anglican nature of the Episcopacy, I personally reserve judgment on their theological significance. There merely reflect the theology inherent in the Episcopal Ordination service. What is significant for Episcopal Journey of Hope is that they <strong>do not</strong> <strong>give a detailed format</strong> about how Episcopacy should function in modern society. For us the hope for the church of the future is that at least in TEC we can reorganize our diocesan structures in such a way as to reflect the reality of our size.<br />
<br />
For further information go to the Lambeth webpage: <a href="http://www.lambethconference.org/">www.lambethconference.org</a>. Click on documents and scroll down to <u>Section G: Anglican Bishops, Anglican Identity, Section 104, The Service we Offer as Bishops.</u><br />
<br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<em></em><br />
<br />
<em></em><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-52454514388320228512013-10-26T11:18:00.004-07:002013-10-26T11:18:49.429-07:00The Bishop Speaks of Finding Hope<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Parsifal
is the legendary knight who sought the Holy Grail. The Grail was the
chalice used by Jesus at the Last Supper, and for Parsifal it
symbolized a contact with the holy, with spiritual reality. His
quest for the Grail was a quest for the truth about life and
immortality.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Now,
the secret of the Grail was held by an old king, but this king was
suffering from a mysterious illness, and his whole kingdom was cast
under this same spell. The palace and its gardens were in decay, the
springs of the kingdom were drying up, trees would not bear fruit,
and even the animals were no longer bearing young. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Knights
from all over the realm arrived every day seeking news of the king's
health. Then one day Parsifal arrived – poor and unknown. He paid
no attention to courtly custom and politeness, but made straight for
the king's chamber, and without greeting or inquiry about the king's
health, said: “Where is the Grail?” As if to say, “Where do I
find the Holy? . . . Where is the truth about the meaning of life?”
</span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The
king said: “It is here.”</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In
that instant, everything was transformed. The king rose from his bed
and was well. Springs brought forth water, vegetation began to grow,
animals were with young, and the castle was restored. Parsifal's
question regenerated the whole land. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It
seems to me that this parable applys today to many institutions.
They are perishing because there are few seekers of truth, few
adventurers. It is enough, you see, simply to raise the central
questions, to pose the problems, to become a seeker, for life to
return.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">For
a congregation (or diocese) to begin to ask questions inevitably
leads to seeking answers, which leads to thinking, which leads to
vision. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I
have long thought that too many church leaders (mostly clergy
including bishops) operate with answers, which are theirs, which
makes for starting at the wrong place. They do not operate with the
knowledge that they are the newcomers. They must listen to the
people most of whom have not been invited to speak.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Parsifal
is a model which dares us to take the chance of offering hope to the
people by listening to them. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Hope
is not something we capture. It must always be sought. It will hide
or be hidden again and again. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Where
is hope? It is there to be discovered. The rest is up to us.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04195095098734571274noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-21492294832641448772013-10-18T18:27:00.001-07:002013-10-18T18:27:52.394-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Habit of Hope</span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>“I’ve
Grown Accustomed to Her Face” is from the musical, “My Fair Lady”. It was taken
from the novel <u>Pygmalion</u> by George Bernard Shaw. The musical starred Rex
Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. Harrison played Professor Henry Higgins (the phonetics
professor) and Hepburn was Eliza Doolittle. It was about the relationship
between a cultural elitist and a slum girl. Eventually, despite extraordinary
differences, they begin to form a deep bond. When the relationship is
threatened, Higgins cries out, “I’ve grown accustomed to her face. She almost
makes the day begin…her ups and downs are second nature to me now, like
breathing out and breathing in, I was serenely independent and content before
we met, surely I could always be that way again, and yet… I’ve grown accustomed
to her voice, accustomed to her face.”</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here we have the core of the human mystery; it
is that we find lasting spiritual meaning in life to the extent that we develop
the “habits of the heart.” We read in Proverbs 3: “My child, do not forget my
teaching, but let your heart keep my commandments; for length of days and years
of life and abundant welfare they will give you. Do not let your loyalty and
faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet
of your heart…trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your
own insight. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”
We have the teaching of spiritual formation by means of spiritual and virtuous
habits. It is really about the formation of allowing our soul to express itself
by means of the habits of the heart.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Habit is when a practice or a way of living
becomes “second nature to us now, like breathing out and breathing in.” Habit is
defined by Aristotle as a second nature of embodied knowledge; it is the
overcoming our lack of control by pursuing the habit of practicing virtue until
it becomes “second nature” to us. We learn what is right and wrong, but head
knowledge must be turned into heart knowledge by means of practice. Habits of
the heart are a metaphor for embodied practical reasoning. It runs into our very
bones. Knowledge of God must be by means of habit translated into knowledge of
the heart. “My commandments…bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet
of your heart.” Proverbs 3)</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Habit is driven by the energy of the soul that
moves the intellect and the will from abstract reasoning to practical reason
which means that our will is driven by the loving and enlightened heart. “Trust
in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own insight.”
Rationality is deceiving and the will gets weary and lazy; therefore habits of
the heart (practical reasoning) are essential to the spiritual life. Habits are
difficult to change; they make us content and successful in our action.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the spiritual life, we choose between
habits of vice or virtue. It is not within the nature of a person to remain
morally neutral. Spirituality is a call to a life of virtuous habits.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Thomas Aquinas in his book on <u>Ethics</u>,
a habit is a relatively permanent acquired modification of a person that
enables the person when provoked by relevant stimulus, to act consistently and
with ease with respect to the objective. We cannot replace a habit of vice by
means of intellect and the will; rather, habits of vice are only replaced by
habits of virtue. Habit is the mediator between our behavior and the intellect
and will. Aquinas insists that habits are different from instincts because
habits are responsive to reason. By reason, he means the power of decision
making and personal strategizing that changes character. Habit is unlike
disposition in that habits are not easily lost. Habit is not an instinct; it is
far more than a hunch or an insight, a feeling, an urge, a mystical awareness
or therapeutic clarity. It is more than an attitude or a disposition that
easily changes.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Habits
have their great persuasive force over our character because our spiritual and
moral habits are founded on our beliefs. What is a religious belief? “First, it
is something we are aware of; second, it appeases the irritation of doubt; and
third, it involves the establishment in our nature of a rule of action, or, for
short, a habit…the essence of belief is the establishment of a habit, and
different beliefs are distinguished by different modes of action to which they
give rise.” (Pierce Charles Sanders, The Essential Pierce, Vol.1, p.129).</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Habit
defines the indispensable nature of Christian spirituality and the living of a
spiritual and moral life. The Christian life is not an intellectual enterprise.
It is not the acquisition and sharing of spiritual and humanistic insights.
Living a Christian life is a matter of living in a personal and communal lifestyle
of spiritual habits, such as the habit of worship, of prayer, meditation,
spiritual reading, personal and communal interpretation of scripture,
establishing and sharing in intimate Christian friendships, examination of
conscience and acts of loving compassion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Based on the norm of habit in Christian formation we might
ask some easy questions.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Question: What is the
best worship service we ever went to?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Answer: The one we
didn’t feel like going to.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Question: When do we pray best?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Answer: When we don’t feel like it.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Question: What are the most effective acts of charity we
ever performed?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Answer: The ones we did not feel like doing.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Question: When was our commitment to the church the most
pleasing to God?</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Answer: When we were feeling empty and discouraged.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The point is that life as a journey of hope is not about the
feeling of hope, or an intellectual insight into the nature of hope; rather, it
is about developing the spiritual and moral habit of hope.</span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00225346097691546269noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-80732136095385759052013-10-12T07:52:00.000-07:002013-10-12T07:52:08.208-07:00Episcopal Church Achieves Boutique Status
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Preliminary membership numbers released last week by the
Episcopal Church confirm another year of decline.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Last year, 2012, the Church experienced a
4.15% membership loss.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This now reduces
the Episcopal Church to 1.8 million members – a 13% drop in the five years
since 2007 and a 50% loss in the last 50 years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Average Sunday Attendance (ASA), often hailed as the best indicator of
active membership, also nose-dived last year by 4.9% which was called
“staggering” by one reporter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
The Episcopal Church is no longer a part of America’s
religious narrative, according to one commentator.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That bears repeating: “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Episcopal Church is no longer a part of America’s religious
narrative.</i>”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is to say, we are
no longer a meaningful part of the future religious story of America; even the
National Missionary Baptists are bigger than we are and how often do you hear
about them? The best the Episcopal Church can hope for is a place in the “boutique”
culture – joining boutique shops, boutique hotels, and boutique medical
practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boutiques in any endeavor are
upscale, trendy, expensive, exclusive, snobby, and cater to an elite clientele.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Boutiques do not worry about reaching the
masses; a few well-healed patrons and they can survive.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
Consider the recent House of Bishops meeting with the theme
of “Transforming Loss into New Possibilities.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The 148 bishops in attendance considered re-imagining the Episcopal
Church but it is nowhere reported that those same bishops addressed the fact
that they, themselves, will cost the Church over 22 million dollars this year just
for stipend and benefits; their staffs easily triple that number to a cost of
$700,000,000 or more in the next 10 years – pricy even by boutique
numbers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
The bishops heard Dr. Elaine Heath, Perkins School of
Theology, challenge them “…to go into neighborhoods and engage people where
they are, where they live.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s be
fair; scores of good men and good women have been bishops over the last 50
years and they have all understood what Dr. Heath advocates and even after
spending over a billion dollars for bishops and staffs – our membership is down
50%.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
We can play Monday morning quarterback and wish we had
dramatically avoided all the dumb stuff of the last fifty years and instead shrunk
the number of dioceses, reduced the number of bishops, kept multi-millions in
assessment dollars in parish treasuries, and refused ordaining late-vocation,
non-seminary graduates – would our declining situation be different?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps, but we’ll never know.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
We do know that nothing we have done in the last 50 years
has stopped the hemorrhage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Time to bind
up our wounds and actively plan to be the best boutique church on the block.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<o:p> </o:p></div>
Goodthunderhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00553897011460147537noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-11644021245551939722013-10-07T16:22:00.000-07:002013-10-07T16:22:24.631-07:00The Final Resort: To Hope for Hope<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the Faith section of the Saturday Kansas City Star, two articles caught my attention. The one article was about the growing number of part time and unpaid clergy positions, featuring a number of those in the Episcopal Church including Mark Marmon, a fly-fishing instructor and unpaid Episcopal priest (or nearly so),Hitchcock, TX of All Saints’ Church. The other article was about the growing phenomenon of “culture” rather than faith practicing Jews. “A Portrait of Jewish Americans,” by the Pew Research Center indicates that 62% of U.S, Jews surveyed found their Jewishness in cultural values and 15% about religious belief. And then on the same page, a far smaller few lines was on endearing quotes from Pope Francis, ones of solid, humble Christian faith witness. On the next page over, the number of advertisements for religious service occupied 15 to 20% of the printed areas whereas when I first moved here in 2001, probably 75% of the page was ads, if not more. . . </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-5be450c1-952f-409f-b852-87927fb99377" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The landscape of the national and global religious environment has been shifting in my life time since the 1960’s, but the last ten years has been “fast forward.” In my own Diocese of Kansas, we just have inaugurated a seminary in Topeka serving these very same part timers for all of Kansas, West Missouri and Nebraska for occasional and monthly courses, much like what has been happening in Texas for some time. Of course just about all Christian denominations are facing the part time ministry phenomenon because many of our and all denominations’ lay persons are more or less part time themselves, just trailing the Jews and Europeans in general but moving down the same decline. And now occasionally we see the once stellar mega churches folding, as we have locally, as their slice of the lay pie was always based on numbers of folk whose commitments were never really very long term and where no work was ever much done to create reserve trusts or endowments for those inevitable “lean years.” And many established, endowed congregations have withered their reserves for “keeping up appearances” as Mrs.Bucket used to do on her British tv series. My former parish of St. James in Wichita had a trust that I did much to protect of about $1.8million when I left in ‘01 and now has something over $400,000, but that loss is hardly unique among many congregations, dioceses and adjudicatory bodies. General Seminary and the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in NYC are commercializing good size chunks of their land to hold out for “better times,” as 815 2nd Ave. rents out about ¾’s of its space. Many years ago, I was talking with a major fund raising company about St. John the Divine whose research profile of it indicated that by the 1980’s much of the new money they got for projects came from Jews,not Episcopalians, who understood the cultural importance of that institution while wealthy Episcopalians had grown weary of various social tirades coming from the Cathedral location. What an interesting turn of social identity, secular Jews supporting our institutional grandeur. Well, better that than nothing to say the least. . . </span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I am certain some sort question must be arising in the mind of the reader concerning toward what the writer is pointing. The writer is not certain either. . . Some days this author’s very human feelings are so confused by the many turns of events not only of the Church but of the many levels of American governments that seem hell bent to self destruction, of mindless but sober drivers looking at their phones swerving in front of me in full daylight, of my own issues about aging leading toward those concerns around my own “last days.” I just wonder, pray and do what may at last be the final resort of a spiritual journey. . . surrender myself to the will and grace of God as I have tried to understand it through the Christian witness of my beloved Episcopal Church. . . I hope to find hope. And you? </span></div>
Ron Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18152111587171163605noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-88276096713303024432013-09-26T04:01:00.001-07:002013-09-26T05:11:41.216-07:00The Diocese as the Fundamental Unit of the Church? I first heard the notion of the diocese as the fundamental unit of the church back in the 1980s from my bishop. But I never heard a reasonable theology that supported his claim. Practically, I recoiled at this absurd idea thrust upon the church by the bishops who had, under this rubric, either lost touch with reality or suffered form significant amnesia. Anybody with any sense knows that the fundamental unit of the church is the local congregation. The local parish is the place where the people are, and as we all know, the baptized faithful are the church.<br />
<br />
I tried to find a theology that justified the Bishop's idea. I "googled" theology of diocese" and came up with nothing. But I do believe that I remember correctly that the notion that the diocese is the fundamental unit of the church arose accidentally from the 4th century Roman political organizational system. After Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire, the church continued to flourish and grow, and therefore, needed to organize itself to fit the growth. The church thus adopted the Roman form of administrative organization which was the diocese. An early definition of the word diocese means to <em>dwell, occupy, manage, derivative of oikos house.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
In the New Testament the first churches were house churches, relatively small, probably attended by no more than 50 people. Think about that when we consider that an early definition of the diocese was a derivative of the word "house." Jewish Christians also met in synagogues. As the church grew, they used bigger houses and some of them were donated by wealthy Roman citizens who were Christians. This made them "churches" in the modern sense of a public building set aside for worship.<br />
<br />
The early church in the British Isles had no diocesan system. Celtic Christianity was organized around a monastic tradition where the Abbot was more powerful than the bishop. This was a spiritual community united through a communion of friendships and alliances between spiritual leaders and their monasteries. The diocese as an administrative principle in British Christianity was not adopted until after Augustine of Canterbury arrived on British soil in 597 A.D., establishing sees at Rochester in Kent and East Saxon (London).<br />
<br />
Parish priests and their people know that the local parish is the fundamental unit of the church. This is where the baptized faithful assemble for worship, prayer, discipleship and ministry. Our catechism puts it this way: <em>The Church is described as the Body of which Jesus Christ is the Head and all baptized persons are members. It is called the People of God, the New Israel, a holy nation, a royal priesthood, and the pillar and ground of truth. </em>This basic statement says nothing about organizational and administrative structure, but to me implies that the local assembly is the organizing principle of the body.<br />
<br />
While the diocese is the traditional judicatory style of Anglican and Roman Catholics, there is no practical or theological justification for the notion that it is the fundamental unit. Ecumenically it doesn't hold water either. The Methodist are organized in conferences. The Lutherans have their Synods. Ecumenical charity demands that we recognize these and other Christian organizational structures as just as valid as the diocese.<br />
<br />
What planet are the bishops who believe this living on? The local parish has always been the fundamental unit of the church. This is where the action is. If the local parish did not exist, there would be no diocese. The diocese depends on us, not we on them.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-81172202978210688642013-09-22T13:19:00.003-07:002013-09-22T13:19:35.298-07:00The Bishop Speaks from the heart<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Long
ago (1992) and far away (Arizona), I became bishop of a diocese with
65 congregations and a lot of issues. I worked very hard and visited
all of the congregations in one year as was expected of me. This
required me to have more than one visit each weekend. Sometimes I had
one visit, sometimes I had two visits and sometimes I had five
visits. I was in congregations on Saturday and Sunday. I did
confirmation in each of the congregations.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">After
that year, I was exhausted. I did it another year. After that year,
I was exhausted and I did not like confirmation any longer. I would
go to some churches and confirm 20 people, 50 people, 8 people, and
sometimes 1 person. I thought there has to be a better way.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
began to do things which had not been done elsewhere. We reduced the
size of the diocesan staff to 1 bishop, 1 Canon to the Ordinary, 1
archdeacon (a deacon), 1 secretary, 1 finance person, 1
communication person and 2 general staff persons to take care of the
phones and assist others as needed. We eliminated 5 staff positions.
I believed we were not responsible for doing things which
congregations could do for themselves. We were there to serve the
congregations. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">We
became stewards of the finances. I declared at the diocesan
convention that we were going to tithe the diocesan budget. We were
going to return 10% of all of the diocesan assessments back to the
congregations. Most people thought it would never happen. I was
determined that it would happen. We looked at some of the things we
were doing as a diocese which could be done easily by congregations
and we stopped doing them. There is more to this story, but for the
sake of blog I will tell you that at the diocesan convention the next
year we presented an envelope to each congregation at the offertory
(we did not take an offering) which was 10% of what they had given to
the diocese as assessment. We returned $140,000 and these people
were stunned. The smallest check was $38 and the largest was
$18,000.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">From
that moment on we were about the business of being different from any
other diocese. It was not a competition. It was about freedom and
excitement. It was about believing that anything we could dream, we
could do. And we did it. If there is interest, I can share more in
future blogs.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Now,
back to confirmation. I told our clergy and congregations I was
exhausted by the schedule and I intended to try something new. I
asked if they would help me. The response was positive and we began
to do regional confirmations. We started on the Saturday after
Easter and concluded on the Saturday before Pentecost. They were big
celebrations with hundreds of people. They knew it was something
important. They knew they were part of something larger than their
parish. They knew the reception after the liturgy was for them and
not the bishop. It was wonderful. We did it for another 10 years.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">The
point is this. It is quite easy for us to find reasons why we cannot
do something. It is easy to keep our heads down and tread through
life. It does not have to be that way.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">My
colleague, Gary, made a case for merging neighboring smaller dioceses
under a single bishop. The first comment I heard was that it cannot
be done because the bishop could not go to all of the churches in a
year. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It is
not a requirement that the bishop is in every church every year. It
is not a requirement that the bishop do confirmation every week. If
we want to be a little frisky, we could even ask the bishops to vote
to turn confirmation over to the clergy. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I will
speak only for myself. I would vote to put confirmation in the hands
of the clergy because it is not necessary for the bishop to do this.
It is not admission to anything which requires those hands. As a
matter of fact, it makes more sense to me to recognize the laying on
of hands of the priest at baptism of a child or adult as being “the
sacrament by which God adopts us as his children and makes us members
of Christ's Body, they Church and inheritors of the kingdom of God”.
That is it.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">This is
no longer the entry into communion as is was in my life. We now say
confirmation is a “sacramental rite” which is a mature commitment
to Christ and the reception of “strength from the Holy Spirit
through prayer and the laying on of hands by a bishop”.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">There
is no reason for us to think the Holy Spirit is only available from
the bishop. I know we have always done it like this and I know lots
of bishops really feel the need to have something which only they can
do, but I must say, it does not make any sense and it does not make a
bishop.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I know
I have a different perspective than many bishops. I saw my role as
being Teacher, Preacher, Evangelist, and Sign of Unity. That is what
I chose to do and I let that lead all of my actions. I was never
thought of as a leader among the bishops. I was never invited to say
a prayer or lead a worship in the House of Bishops. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I had a
wonderful time being bishop in a wonderful place. I have many bishop
friends. But for now, I am just a blog guy with a sense of hope.</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04195095098734571274noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-18630892139125335262013-09-14T09:09:00.001-07:002013-09-14T09:09:07.543-07:00
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Via Media Metaphysics<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A. William McVey<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">In this postmodern culture, where more and more people
describe themselves as spiritual as opposed to religious, I hear “something” statements
like, “Well, there must be something there. There must be something that
explains life. I mean there has to be something.” Usually, such statements are
immediately followed by declarations that the person is definitely not
religious. Furthermore, the same person seems to have a certain arrogant scorn
for any previous religious formation. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It appears that very few seekers of the spiritual “something”
are conscious that Western religious scholars have, since the time of Greek
philosophers, been concerned about the nature of the “something” of the
universe. The Greeks looked for a permanent and foundational reality to believe
in. In other words, they were looking for the foundational something of the
universe which they called “Being.” <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>It was
Aristotle who insisted the metaphysical quest for the divine comprehension of
the universe is found only in grasping the essence of the universe. Knowledge
of the divine “something” is known by means of understanding the workings (the
causation) of the universe. Eventually, this metaphysical teaching of Aristotle,
with the development of medieval philosophy, became the foundational truth for theology
and spirituality; Thomas Aquinas calls it the analogy of being. Up to the
present day, Martin Heidegger continues to reconstruct a modern approach to the
issue of the “Something of the Universe” with a new methodology of
Phenomenological Metaphysics in the classic work <u>Being and Time</u>. In this
modern work, the thrust of Heidegger’s metaphysical inquiry is about the
essence of Being as it is disclosed in time.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The metaphysical has
become in the age of modernity no longer the pursuit of the unchangeable nature
of the universe; rather it is an inquiry into humanity’s divine destiny. The
“Something” has become a question of what is the foundational truth that must
drive the universe and human consciousness. For Christian philosophy, it is the
Catholic expression of metaphysics that has been extremely important.
Scholastic theology has, for example, relied on Christian metaphysics to prove
certain truths called the preambula which are presupposed before revelation and
can be considered reasonable and possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to draw attention to the issue of a
needed Anglican metaphysics because we do have our Catholic side. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suggest in our Episcopal journey of hope in
a postmodern culture that we give serious attention to philosophical theology
and a neo-scholastic approach to metaphysics. My argument is based on two
Episcopal basic philosophical and theological pillars of identity. First, we describe
ourselves as a hermeneutical community who hold that God is revealed through a
triad of scripture, tradition and reason. For this approach to revelation to
have validity we must borrow from the Catholic scholastic philosophy. In other
words, we must have an Anglo- Catholic foundational preambula if we are serious
about the place of reason within the context of revelation. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Note I am using reason here in the sense of a
methodical dialectical pursuit of a metaphysical foundation for theology,
especially spiritual theology, in an age of radical postmodern skepticism of
foundational truth. The second pillar of Episcopal inquiry into the nature of
God’s continuing revelation is the path of the via media (the middle way). It
is John Henry Newman as part of the Tractarian movement who coined the phrase
Via Media. It was a concept used within the parameters of doctrinal theology
that saw Anglicanism has the middle path between a Reformed and Roman Catholic
doctrinal theology of revelation and ecclesial authority.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Anglo-Catholics have strongly assumed the via media identity
not only in matters of doctrinal theology, but we seem to apply it to all
controversial issues. Personally, I find continuing via media identity
extremely promising for our Episcopal journey of hope.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Consequently, I am defining via media as a
practice of more than live and let live, or we agree to disagree because this
thinking is not an exercise of profound reasoning. Via Media might serve as the
basis of an Anglo Catholic, neo-scholastic metaphysics that opens up new
avenues of dialogue within the Catholic and Evangelical community, and
simultaneously provides our Episcopal<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>theology with the real heft necessary in an age when the conversation
once again is about the spiritual nature of Being (the Seeker Something).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I propose that there is the beginning of this philosophical
theology in the American philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some have called Pierce the American
Aristotle, but I like to call him the American scientific scholastic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His philosophy was tremendously influenced by
scholastic realism, especially the works of John Dun Scotus. From this starting
point, Pierce began a reconstruction of religious metaphysics to a scientific
or cosmogonic one.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is metaphysics
about the divine nature of the universe becoming manifested and real over time.
It is really metaphysics of more is yet to be revealed. “I think that the
existence of God, as well as we conceive of it, consists in this, that a
tendency towards ends is so necessary a constituent of the universe that the
mere action of chance upon innumerable atoms has an inevitable teleological
result. One of the ends so brought about is the development of intelligence and
of knowledge; and therefore I should say God’s omniscience, humanly conceived,
and consists in the fact that knowledge in its development leaves no question
unanswered.” <u>(The Essential Pierce</u>, P. 236).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Pierce’s metaphysics is a method of painstaking and
persistent inquiry into the movement of the universe and human conscious to
foundational truth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Humanity in its
questions, disputes, opinions, attitudes, theories and tests is driven to a
final compromise and opinion. Human beings at their best are driven in
intellect, will and soul to the final truth of the universe through a type of
dialectical via media inquiry.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Rosa
Maria Perez-Teran Mayorga writes that Pierce’s metaphysics “…claims that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the drive towards a consensus about things is
as much an actual force or law or power as the gravitational one; it is a
tendency that guides thought in one “fated” or determined direction-the
truth…the very fact that we engage in inquiry presupposes that we will be
persuaded by the right kind of evidence to accept the correct answer… according
to Pierce there is some predisposition, some occult power… we are destined in
the direction of truth, so given enough time, we look likely to arrive at it.
It is a real fact that there would be a final option were the investigation to
continue long enough.” (From Realism to ‘Realicism’, The Metaphysics of Charles
Sanders Pierce, and p.145) <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally, I
take it that Pierce is a Via Media type person, and there is a Via Media
metaphysics that gives Anglo-Catholic theology real heft and sustaining power
in our Journey of Hope. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00225346097691546269noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-19602871304584298902013-09-05T09:16:00.000-07:002013-09-05T09:16:49.039-07:00Is Redundancy Immoral?by<br />
Gary Gilbertson<br />
Congratulations to the United Methodists of Kansas and Missouri. They openly acknowledged the population movement from rural areas and the resulting decline in the number of Methodist churches in the two states. So like good stewards, on August 23rd, they merged three Conferences: Kansas East, Kansas West and Nebraska, into the new "Great Plains Annual Conference"; please note that they will still have over 1,000 Methodist churches across the two states. So why merge? Their answer: "<em>Our hope is that we'll be stronger, and able to do more in mission by uniting than we could as three smaller conferences."</em><br />
<em></em><br />
The Episcopal Church also has three jurisdictions in the two states: the Diocese of Nebraska, Kansas, and Western Kansas. Could they not be stronger and do more in mission by uniting into one rather than continuing as three smaller jurisdictions? The reality of rural to city movement and the decline of the number of Episcopal churches is as true of us as it is for the Methodists. Even with merger the two states would have only 129 Episcopal congregations with many in the waning moments of life: 50 congregations (39%) have an average Sunday attendance (ASA) of less than 20 members, another 35 congregations (27%) have an ASA of 20-49. At the National level 68% (4,580) of our congregations have an average Sunday attendance under 100 members; in Nebraska and Kansas 66%of our congregations have an average Sunday attendance under 50 members.<br />
<br />
Why have three bishops? Why have three diocesan staffs managing similar programs for so few congregations? If the Methodists can service seven times as many congregations in the same geographical area, why can't we Episcopalians centrally manage 129 congregations in the two states?<br />
<br />
Repeatedly lay-persons suggest the reason we can't merge is the lack of leadership in our bishops and senior clergy. To be fair one of the bishops involved did offer to take one or both of the other dioceses under his wing; nevertheless, when was the last time any bishop challenged a diocesan convention to make merger a major priority? When was the last time a parish delegation pushed legislation for merger? The remnant Diocese of Quincy did retreat back into the Diocese of Chicago last month but that was a move based on financial desperation and not mission; in any case, it is atypical.<br />
<br />
If we used the Methodist example of 1000 congregations as a decent basis for a new jurisdiction - the Episcopal Church in the United States would have only seven dioceses instead of the 100 we have now. The National Church listed just 6,736 congregations in the last reported year of 2011 and that was down 58 churches from the year before; hundreds of these congregations have no priest at all and hundreds more have only part-time clergy - this in spite of the fact that there is no clergy shortage in the Episcopal Church. So why do we need 100 Episcopal dioceses and staffs that are inefficient, or worse, that incompetent that we need so much redundancy? The Methodists merged to be stronger and do more in mission.<br />
<br />
What keeps the Episcopal Church in Kansas and Nebraska from actively working toward merger? What keeps the other 97 diocesan bishops from actively working toward merger? The most common answers do not focus on inefficiency or incompetency but rather that our most senior leaders are "territorial" - "empire builders." If this is accurate, it is a sad commentary that those entrusted with leading the Church are actually about keeping dominion over their domain. As Author David Gibson says, "<em>An organization that was born as a divine kingdom...and flourished by donning the trappings of monarchy does not yield easily to retrofitting." </em>Granted, many in Episcopal Orders are dedicated and committed but many others are aloof and their ministry lacks accountability and transparency; one respected university historian put it this way, "<em>...a betrayal of fidelity enable by arrogance that comes with unchecked power." </em>That may be too strong but it is time for renewal and reorganization.<br />
<br />
History teaches us that change will not originate from those with Holy Orders; it must come from "ordinary" lay people who, face it, have little leverage in a voluntary organization that is proudly defined as hierarchical. Nevertheless, if the Episcopal journey forward is to be one of "hope," the key is in the hands of the laity.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-92029136971827456552013-08-31T13:56:00.000-07:002013-08-31T13:56:46.176-07:00Part III: Where's the Hope (Now)?<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">About 1990, then five years after the final closure of the Venture in Mission Office in the Office of Stewardship Development, as Executive for Stewardship, I began to realize that there was waning interest in supporting stewardship as the main work of the Church from the Office of the Presiding Bishop (Browning). Ellen Cooke, the Vice President and Treasurer of the Episcopal Church and later awarded with five years of prison for her embezzlement at 815, removed from us The Stewardship Report newsletter with the never fulfilled promise of comparable space in Episcopal Life. Then we lost the income from our materials that had been held in a special fund from which we did research and development as we actually made income and were market driven by selling products that congregations actually wanted and used. Through a rather complex organizational/political maneuver the office of stewardship was broken up and dissolved into “offices” controlled by the Rev. Bill Caradine who came in with Bishop Stowe as VP for Mission under Browning about the same time. While the changes were not especially obvious publicly at first the key element that was removed was the source theology of stewardship out of MRI and its replacement by an evangelical theology based on “making a safe place” for people to come to tithing or at least percentage giving. That model prevailed inside the facade of a year round stewardship approach for many years and was finally incorporated into the fine work of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship. </span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid--b28b43c-d61d-d6b6-8952-22598314bbbc" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The importance of the change is that stewardship as the main work of the Church had at its core a deep commitment to leadership development based on personal and systemic transformation of the institutional church into “new creations,” and ones that by bringing hope could help the local, diocesan and national bodies become capable of maneuvering into mission projects that had local authenticity and effectiveness. Unlike most of the work of the staff offices of the Church Center, the Office of Stewardship was itself constantly able to be responsive to defined needs we got from our “customers,” the clergy and people who were leading stewardship and needing our support. One our products, a video which people asked for to help them understand what “815” and the general Episcopal Church actually did in missionary efforts was nominated for an Emmy in the early ‘90’s. We had discovered that no one at 815 actually had consolidated a full listing of all mission projects in one way or another sponsored by “our dollars” because the staff was more interested in their own programs. </span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Once the center core of leadership development and commitment was removed and an evangelical approach inserted, then stewardship education slowly became more and more about personal giving and just a few steps later about institutional maintenance. When the statistics are compared to the timing, it is becomes clear that MRI/VIM modeling of mission growth where new projects, new people and new money emerged was replaced by an increasing cascade of losses, institutional angst, “issue” orientation and demands for greater conformity around them. In short, the Episcopal Church became very self absorbed, much like an ill person who is less able to focus on anything or anyone except themselves. The hope was gone.</span></div>
<br /><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So now, in the chapel of the Episcopal Church Center, the following program is being offered: It’s All About Money! Fund Raising Symposium-- September 26 and 27, 2013 designed to meet survey results. Perhaps it does not sound that noxious until the whole core theology is seen in historic perspective. . . Where’s the hope???</span></div>
Ron Reedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18152111587171163605noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-35275642797187692552013-08-22T07:52:00.000-07:002013-08-22T07:52:28.426-07:00When My Rector (Pastor) ResignedI have been ordained 52 years. My spouse and I have attended and belonged to two different Episcopal Churches since I retired at the end of the year 2000. We've been in our present parish two and a half years. During this brief period of time it has been my privilege not only to mentor my priest but also to become his friend. Even though he is seven years younger than my youngest child, I thought of him as a son. We became very close and when he let me know that he was leaving I became very sad.<br />
<br />
Several weeks ago I had a hunch that it was time for him to update his resume and personal profile, and I was going to talk to him about this at our next luncheon. Then the Rector called me the Sunday before to tell me that he was going to resign the parish and take a position on the staff of a Diocesan Bishop. It was then that I shared with him that I thought it was time for him and his family to move on. Now then, was this the Holy Spirit or mere coincidence? I like the idea that it was the movement of the Spirit of God.<br />
<br />
I moved several times during the 40 years of my active parish ministry. Each time I felt a measure of sadness and grief because I had made good friends with several members of each parish. I missed them for a brief period of time, and many of us remained friends throughout our lives. But I also had the energy and the drive to start up a new ministry in a new place and make new friends. Therefore I moved on to my new set of relationships without a prolonged period of grief about leaving the old parish. The point here is that for me, leaving a congregation as a priest is altogether different than being a parishioner and losing your priest.<br />
<br />
Now I know the immediate sadness of losing a priest <u>AS A PARISHIONER</u>. Sure, I know about the Kubler-Ross stages of grief and I've pastored many folks over the years as they coped with their losses. And at my present age of 76 I've had to manage several acute losses in my own life. But the sadness I feel in the loss of my young priest is surprising, startling and somewhat amazing. I can't believe that it is happening to me because I am deluded enough to think that I'm immune to such things. But the truth is that I was really unprepared for the grief that I felt precisely because I am a member of the parish. At last I can truly identify with members of the parish and I truly understand what they are going through, because I am going through them myself. I also understand in my head that the feelings of grief that I bear are perfectly normal even though it surely doesn't feel good. Because of this my empathy for the congregation is acute.<br />
<br />
Sometime soon the search committee will start a ministry to look for a new rector. But now is not the time to begin. The members of the congregation need time to process their feelings. As a trained interim I know that this is true. As a member of the congregation I know that this is true. As an experienced parish priest I know that this is true. Frankly, I'm clearly not ready for a new priest. But with God's help and the help of other people in the parish, I will process my feelings of grief. I will reach a stage of acceptance, just not now.<br />
<br />
I will trust that the Holy Spirit will guide the vestry and the search committee. But I really hope that they and the diocese do not rush into it. As my friend and fellow blogger Gary Gilbertson says, "that's a recipe for disaster."<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05776475116127746642noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5127977175298485373.post-53947432123459697002013-08-17T08:34:00.003-07:002013-08-17T08:37:46.857-07:00The Bishop Speaks of Love Redefined<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Bishop Speaks of Love Redefined</div>
<div align="CENTER" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Last
Sunday my wife and I recognized our 50<sup>th</sup> anniversary of a
life together. It is a wonderful time to reflect on our journey, to
gather with our family, to be blessed in the worship of the church,
and surrounded with the support and love of the community.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It
was not a blessing of our marriage. It was a blessing of our
relationship.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">A
friend of mine once started a sermon by saying: “I have some bad
news. A terrible case of burnout has forced a sabbatical, if not
full retirement of the word <i><b>Love</b></i>. It is in grave
danger of becoming meaningless, and it needs a rest.”</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">I
agreed with him, but before we completely jettison the word, let's
try redefining it. Let's try to make love more than feelings of
euphoria or just a word which is applied to almost everything from
marriage to pizza and almost any thing else which one might imagine
in between.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In
the early 70's, a chaplain at the University of Maryland wrote a
song. I do not remember the words, but I can still recall the title.
“Love is a Verb.” The point of the song was to help people stop
thinking of love as a feeling, and to begin to see it as a
relationship. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">That
which we do with one another is what love is about. The way we
trust, the way we are open, the way we show our vulnerability, and
the way we accept the good and bad of our partners – this is what
love is all about.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In
one of Flannery O'Connor's short stories “<i>Good Country People</i>”,
she describes an angry, bitter young woman. Originally she had been
named Joy, but as her hatred for the world increased, she changed it
to the most ugly name she could come up with. The young woman called
herself, Hulga.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Hulga
had a wooden leg. As the story unfolds, the reader comes to see how
much the wooden leg had shaped her life. She was ashamed and
embarrassed, hurt by what life had done to her. She did not find
herself to be loveable, and therefore she was unable to love anything
or anyone else.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">In
the story, a man comes to town, charms Hulga, and eventually talks
her into having a date. As the story unfolds, cynical, tough Hulga
finds herself trusting this man enough to do the unthinkable. She
performs an act of love. She takes off her wooden leg and shows him
where it is attached.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It
is a strange story with an even more strange ending, but it points to
something which is true for all of us. </span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">First,
we all have wooden legs. The things which we carry around, our inner
wounds, those parts of ourselves for which we are embarrassed,
ashamed of, memories, secrets we can never share; failures which we
keep to ourselves.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Second,
every now and again, in a loving relationship, we can come clean.
Like Hulga, we can show another person our wooden leg, and share
where it has become attached.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">When
we do that, we have the key to love. Love is that relationship of
vulnerability and acceptance where we can be reacquainted with joy.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">This
is not making confession – it is not a matter of dumping the trash
can on someone else.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">It
is about living with someone in a manner of care which is honorable,
kind and lasting (even as long as 50 years or more).</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">There
are chairs at the table, not withstanding our wooden legs. Love one
another and your love will spread to others.</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">Do
not worry about being perfect. The Jesus job has already been taken.
</span>
</div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif;">AMEN</span></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04195095098734571274noreply@blogger.com4