The Episcopal Church is an institution in long term systemic decline. Just take a look at the 1997-2007 change in membership numbers documented here or really read thoughtfully the State of the Church report (especially the charts, page 14, page 17, etc.) there.

So: Where is the strategic discussion of evangelism and church growth? A parish involved in healthy evangelism has three things: a good newcomers ministry, a good ministry to the unchurched, and a ministry to the lapsed. In most Episcopal churches if you are very blessed you will find a somewhat adequate newcomer ministry. That is all. What about the unchurched? What about church planting?–KSH

I want to reinforce my premise before I go any further.

So the question I am asking is this: if General Convention 2009 is a school, what is its null curriculum–KSH?

In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Book Silver Blaze we read this wonderful encounter:

I bring this up because I think the most important stories of General Convention are not what is being proposed, nor what is being opposed, but what is entirely missing–KSH.

(1) Comments are supposed to be about the content of the post on the blog. A number of people are doing what I call “leapfrog” comments where they take the basic subject of a post and then leap off on their thoughts about that particular subject. This soon takes the thread too far afield, and makes it incoherent. We really are interested in your thoughts about the content of the posted article, sermon or whatever it happens to be.

(2) There is a continued problem with the tone of posts. Biting sarcasm is not appropriate. Neither is cyncism drifting into despair. Ad hominem comments are to be avoided. Jumping to conclusions without evidence is not helpful. A good example of this latter activity took place on a post about a priest who went to California from Louisiana, whereupon a number of posters made accusations about what the Bishop of Louisiana did or did not know on the basis of no evidence.

(3) Threads are sometimes being diverted because of the subagendas of posters. If you want to interact with another poster on a personal level for example, we can, with their permission, help you do that off blog. But we have posters making numerous comments recently about other posters, their activities and in some cases their ministries. To say this is off the playing field is to put it mildly.

(4) It really would be a good idea if you not only prayed after you wrote your post (which I hope you are doing in a word processing program before you post it here anyway since putting it in WordPress first can cause it to be lost), but also if you considered what someone would think of what you were about to post were they of a very different viewpoint than yours. We have enough “shock jock” stuff and gotcha journalism in other venues, I do not want it here.

In closing, let me say that I very much appreciate each blog reader and the opportunity for this joint endeavor….

Read it all (and if you have a moment the comments are fascinating)

I think the most interesting dynamic heading in to this General Convention is the distance between the two Houses. In the House of Deputies, there is little question of the majority’s desire to overturn B033 (the restraint resolution) and pass a resolution placing the blessing of same sex unions in the Book of Occasional Services. I say this based on the tragic departures of numerous reasserters as well as the shifts in deputations like those from the TEC remnant dioceses of Fort Worth and San Joaquin. I also base it on my overall feel of the deputations.

The Bishops is another matter altogether. Many of them got an earful at Lambeth 2008 about the damage they have caused around the communion. Even more important in my view, the bishops are presiding over many dioceses in which there is much conflict, financial struggle, membership loss, morale depletion, and on and on. The Bishops as a whole do not want to provide a further explicit means for even more controversy. I think they want to bypass B033 and pass a resolution with some kind of circuitous wording trying to state where TEC is now. They also seem to wish to pass a resolution on the same sex blessing matter which allows the current situation of the increasing embrace of the practice to continue, without explicitly adding more fuel to the divisive fires.

That’s a pretty big gap between the two Houses. We’ll see how and if it can be bridged. Right now, based on where things are, I think the institutional reappraisers among the bishops have the upper hand in the very short term. Therefore a more probable outcome is for the overall desire of the bishops to prevail.

But this is the General Convention of the Episcopal Church we are speaking about. Anything can happen. You can only speak in terms of probabilities.

If I were there, I would definitely want B033 on the floor of the House of deputies so it can be overturned. B033 is one of the sadder chapters in the recent history of the Episcopal Church. The way it was handled was shameful in both Houses, in Deputies where at a minimum the spirit of the House was trampled upon, and in the House of bishops where both the spirit and the letter of the law of that House were sacrificed on the altar of expediency. B033 never was even an accurate view of where the Episcopal Church stood, and it misled many in the Anglican Communion to think the situation was other than it was (in other words it was a lie). Many of us””both reasserters and reappraisers by the way””were maligned for voting against B033 at the time, but in retrospect I believe our concerns have been more than vindicated–KSH.

This is Kendall Harmon and Temah.

Elizabeth and Selimah (just home from school) and I went to the new Pixar movie last evening. Fantastic.

That is Abigail on the left, Nathaniel in the middle, and Selimah on the right.

Nathaniel graduates from the Pinewood School today; he plans to attend Boston University in the fall. His sister Selimah flew home from the Millbrook School in southern New York state to be with us, and Abigail drove up from the College of Charleston. Elizabeth and I, well, we just work here as many of you know. It is great to have all the brood under one roof–KSH.

Last night I went with Dad to a benefit concert at Fort Ticonderoga(they did Randall Thompson’s Testament of Freedom, hence the earlier post). We had dinner afterwards and I was chatting with Kay Barton, one of Dad’s many friends, whose son-in-law is the Lake George water keeper. I got quite an education It is a fascinating and demanding job. Find out more about it here–KSH.

Elizabeth and I made it to a showing last evening. Crisp and clever–KSH

I am in Boston looking at Boston University with our middle child, our son Nathaniel.

How do they grow up so fast. His girlfriend, Francesca, is accompanying him..

Obama’s appeals to unity should not be taken for granted, however. Much was made recently of Russian thinker Igor Panarin’s prediction that the US will disintegrate in 2010. While well short of the mark, Panarin put his finger on a painful truth: America has become more divided and frail than many believe. The last two presidents, both baby-boomers who fought the culture wars, were very polarising figures. In Obama many of us see hope for a real oneness that is much needed.

All that said, I have deep concerns, on nothing so much as the issue of the commodification of life so prevalent in America. Obama famously said at Saddleback Church that the exact moment when life begins was a question “above” his “pay grade”. But if there even is a question whether it is life or not surely the error to make is on the side of life, otherwise we are like the hunter who shoots first in the forest and asks questions later.

My other great worry: America is in crisis over what exactly marriage is. Is it a social contract for the fulfilment of personal and sexual needs, or is it a lifelong covenant for the raising of children and of citizens who promote the common good? We seem to be veering ever more strongly in favour of the former, at the expense of the latter.

Read it all.

The following is our annual Christmas letter sent out to friends and family. Authored by my wife Elizabeth (Like most clergy I know, I married up) it may be of interest to some blog readers. For background, my wife is a Family Nurse Practitioner, and we have three dogs, a big black lab, a medium sized orangish puggle, and a small white toy maltese–KSH.

Kendall is a moving target for the dogs since he is never in one place for long (and the dogs follow him from room to room). He can be found running on the elliptical while listening to NPR, using the Apple TV for downloads or catching up on Nightline; at the computer answering email related to various publications and responsibilities or tracking the stock market or updating his blog; walking outside with the dogs throwing the ball; with his head in a book or the Bible preparing sermon texts or articles for journals. Never one to need a great deal of sleep his usually up WAY before dawn and has put in half a normal workday before the rest of the family is awake and coherent.
Elizabeth has switched medical practices and is working part-time in a family practice an hour north of her home in a small town with one traffic light and an IGA food store. Being available to her children and husband for support, talking, errands, counsel and laughter fills her days to the brim and sometimes it overflows in not the easiest of ways.

Abigail spent this summer studying French Literature in Paris, which was a perfect fusion of her love for French and English. She transferred this fall to the College of Charleston as a sophomore, and is enjoying every moment of her new friends and classes. Her American Literature and Literary Studies classes have both refueled her passion for her English major, and she is excited about pursuing this field in the future. After three years of dormitory drama, she finally has her own apartment, which is situated in the old ballroom of a historic Charleston house. She is an active member of a small group with Seacoast church in Mt. Pleasant, and enjoys every chance she gets to drive over the new Cooper River Bridge. Abigail misses the snow of New England and hopes to return North in the future; for now she is looking forward to spring in Charleston and its every-weekend mass exodus to the beach.

Nathaniel is currently knee-deep in the college-app period of his life. Juggling which schools take what form and when is it due and who is writing the references and (praise God) no more SAT exams. This fall he was not home much between school, girlfriend and 2 varsity sports – cross-country and swimming. He will adamantly state that he hates to not have something to do and so we mostly keep in touch by text messaging with a nightly check-in. At present he is considering a double major of economics and computer science but recognizes this may change (as in “have you ever heard of ocean engineering? I was reading up on it and it sounds fascinating!”)

Selimah has transitioned to a boarding school this year and is currently at the Millbrook School in Millbrook NY. Adjusting to freezing weather and lifestyles that may be radically different from hers has pushed her out of her comfort zone but she continues to be resilient with a wry sense of humor. She continues to ride Aherlow, her Irish Sport Horse, who is boarded near the school, and she has discovered the racquet sport of squash this fall, making it onto the junior varsity team. Her competitive drive gets its outlet in smashing the ball. She is also a worker at the Trevor Zoo on the school campus and is currently working with the otters this term and previously tended to the black and white lemurs. The future may hold some kind of animal training or husbandry for her as a work profession.

Elizabeth and I went last night. Enjoyed it. A thought provoking story, and well acted, especially by the two leads–KSH.

We just had a 3.6 Richter scale earthquake. Ugh.

People in the early twenty-first century seem to struggle to be thankful. One moving story on this topic concerns a seminary student in Evanston, Illinois, who was part of a life-saving squad. On September 8, 1860, a ship called the Lady Elgin went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later he died in California at the age of 81. In a newspaper notice of his death, it was said that not one of the people he rescued ever thanked him.

Today is a day in which we are to be reminded of our creatureliness, our frailty, and our dependence. One of the clearest ways we may express this is to seek to give thanks in all circumstances (Philippians 4:6).

I am sure today you can find much for which to give thanks: the gift of life, the gift of faith, the joy of friends and family, all those serving in the mission field extending the reach of the gospel around the world, and so much else. I also invite you to consider taking a moment at some point today to write a note of thanksgiving to someone who really made a difference in your life: possibly a teacher, a coach, a mentor, a minister or a parent. You might even write to the parish secretary, the sexton, or the music minister in the parish where you worship; they work very hard behind the scenes.

”“The Rev. Canon Dr. Kendall S. Harmon is the convenor of this blog and takes this opportunity to give thanks for all blog readers and participants and to wish everyone a blessed Thanksgiving

Took our son Nathaniel on the tour and information learning seminar at Columbia University. Gee, it is an impressive place.

Spent time in the bookstore (say you are surprised). They had a book by Columbia graduates remembering their time at school. I remembered that Alexander Hamilton and Teddy Roosevelt went there, but how did I blank out on Thomas Merton? You learn something new every day–KSH.

I was in the Big Apple this week with my family. We went to see In the Heights on Broadway. My heavens, it is no wonder the play won the Tony for best choreography–KSH.

Happy-Go-Lucky starring Sally Hawkins. Elizabeth and I saw it last night. Terriific. Ideal for adult small groups to go see and discuss, or for you to go to with friends and discuss. Thought-provoking, moving, funny and touching. Put it on your list–KSH.

There are a lot of reasons, but in my view the main ones are these:

The question is: was it more of the former or the latter? My answer is more of the latter. Mr. Obama is for hope and change. But hope for what exactly? Change of what kind exactly? He almost became a Rorschach test on which people projected their various dreams and aspirations. But he mainly won because he is not George Bush. There is really a huge range of possibilities of what kind of a President he will be–he could be very good, or very poor, or many places in between. We shall see. But he–and we–will discover very quickly that governing is MUCH harder than campaigning–KSH.

Kendall, Bless you for your work and ministry, but I’m having to take your site out of my news reader and of my bookmarks. The anger of so many commentators has become too much for me, and anger is contagious.

The sheer hatred directed against ++Rowan is especially depressing, at a time when I don’t need anything else Anglican to lower my spirits. I don’t know how we reasserters expect others to be attracted to the Gospel if in “standing firm” for it we exemplify so few of the fruits of the Spirit.

We are going through another one of those cycles again where some commenters are failing to observe the blog guidelines. I know there are stresses in the Anglican Communion and the global economy, and that a major election is roughly a week and a half away. But if you wish to comment could you please–PLEASE–stick to the topic of the thread and keep in mind that what matters is not simply what you say but how you say it. Disagreement–including with yours truly–is fine; I am not running a blog echo chamber here, I expect people to think for themselves and understand I post things I agree with and those I don’t. What I refuse to give up on is the need for courtesy and civility, and with some commenters it is once again falling by the wayside. Thanks–KSH.

I will take comments on this submitted by email only to at KSHarmon[at]mindspring[dot]com.

Not long ago I received the following email:

Kendall,

I have to say that I’m surprised by what I would call the level of secular/partisan posting on T19 of late.

You are certainly free to post and say whatever you like – it’s your blog. But on a blog which is nominally focused on things Episcopal/Anglican, the number of items posted regarding the federal bailout, politics, and various secular issues may well make readers think that you have a political agenda.

There can well be disagreeing opinions on how the federal government should approach the meltdown of financial institutions, and related topics. When you post items endorsing a particular perspective/resolution, you change the focus of T19 from religion to sociology. Please – think about what your priorities are. And if they’re socio-political – well, that’s fine. But you should say so.

And just to make things clear – I’m a Republican through-and-through; well, actually, a “Libertarian” – I believe in the “Federalist” approach which was envisioned by the Founding Fathers. But I believe that everyone should have the right to make their voices heard – and I fear that you are espousing a position which some may believe equates with doctrine, which is certainly not the case.

My response was as follows:

[Dear xxxxxx]:

This is a response which illustrates (a) a surprising lack of understanding of the blog [“A free floating commentary on culture, politics, economics, and religion based on a passionate commitment to the truth and a desire graciously to refute that which is contrary to it”¦”] and (b) a strange interpretation of the posts themselves.

There is no way I am going not to post about one of the larger financial crises in American history. It is something all Christians have to engage with, and I am not letting my readers off the hook.

I am posting perspectives, also, from both “sides,” hence the J.K. Galbraith piece and the piece saying it all started on Main Street. If you think there is a certain perspective, which it sounds as if you do, I would be interested to know what that is. And please do not confuse the commenters with the main blog entries.

As I have said numerous times, I am registered with neither party; though I grew up in a staunchly democratic family that is only where I began. And for this election, it is very clear the Republicans deserve to lose and the Democrats do not deserve to win.

But my main goal remains the original purpose of the blog, to think and pray all of life through and with Christ. When a major crisis hits, as it does now, then that becomes one of the places the blog will focus.

This has happened numerous times in the past, and will again in the future.

Thanks very much for the response.

Warmly

Go here, then go to grandparents day album and you will see the picture on the top row the third on over from left to right.

Way to go, Selimah!

This reminds me of a church capital campaign where the rector rallies a reluctant majority of the vestry behind it, but not the parish.

Democracy is messy, but the process is set up the way it is for a reason. If something this important doesn’t have a majority of the country behind it, it doesn’t deserve to pass. I hope everyone does better going forward from here–KSH.

Earlier we noted a blog entry from the Bishop of Lichfield about Lambeth 2008 in which he said:

We are told that in the lawsuits in America between parishes and their dioceses it is the dioceses who are the defendants and the conservative parishes who are the accusers.

.

This led one of our blog readers to write the bishop to correct this misinformation. As A. S. Haley has shown comprehensively, the facts are entirely the opposite of this assertion cited by the Bishop of Lichfield.

We now know from conversations with bishops at Lambeth that this was not something isolated to the Bishop of Lichfield, but that other bishops at Lambeth were given this misinformation as well. This raises disturbing questions, namely, who were the TEC bishops giving out this misinformation? And perhaps more important: can we look for reappraising blogs and leaders who claim to care about justice to denounce the injustice of spreading untruths like this at a once a decade bishops meeting? Who were the bishops providing this misinformation and why were they doing so? Can we look for them to come clean and apologize?

And perhaps most importantly, can we look for a denunciation from the national leadership of this unchristian practice at a Christian meeting? TEC often prides itself on its “prophetic” witness, but a close reading of the prophets shows that almost nothing concerns them more than dishonesty and lack of truth–KSH.

Ok, suppose you had to write what you think happened Lambeth 2008 in 20 words or less, written as a headline. What would you say?

Mine is: Rowan Williams tries really hard himself; but is it too little too late for the Anglican Communion?