In most parts of Canada, January isn’t the greatest time to hang out by open water. It’s cold, it’s windy, and if you stand still too long, your face will freeze.
Yet it’s worth the discomfort if you’re there for divine purposes. Such was the case for some Indigenous Anglicans who this year picked up the Eastern Orthodox tradition of the Great Blessing of Water. The outdoor event happens on or close to Jan. 19, the feast of Christ’s baptism known as “Theophany.”
The Episcopal bishop in Western Washington, in sharp disagreement with Catholic prelates, believes that same-sex marriage is “a conservative proposal” that should be adopted “not only in our society but in our church.”
“It seems to me we have held our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in a Catch-22,” the Rt. Rev. Greg Rickel, Episcopal bishop of the Diocese of Olympia, argues in a blog post published without fanfare to the diocesan website….
Read it all and take the time to read the bishop’s blog post as well.
Enjoy it all.
The French, I found, seem to have a whole different framework for raising kids. When I asked French parents how they disciplined their children, it took them a few beats just to understand what I meant. “Ah, you mean how do we educate them?” they asked. “Discipline,” I soon realized, is a narrow, seldom-used notion that deals with punishment. Whereas “educating” (which has nothing to do with school) is something they imagined themselves to be doing all the time.
One of the keys to this education is the simple act of learning how to wait. It is why the French babies I meet mostly sleep through the night from two or three months old. Their parents don’t pick them up the second they start crying, allowing the babies to learn how to fall back asleep. It is also why French toddlers will sit happily at a restaurant. Rather than snacking all day like American children, they mostly have to wait until mealtime to eat. (French kids consistently have three meals a day and one snack around 4 p.m.)
Almighty and everlasting God, who didst send thy servant Anskar as an apostle to the people of Scandinavia, and dist enable him to lay a firm foundation for their conversion, though he did not see the results of his labors: Keep thy Church from discouragement in the day of small things, knowing that when thou hast begun a good work thou wilt bring it to a faithful conclusion; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
O Lord, whose way is perfect: Help us, we pray thee, always to trust in thy goodness; that walking with thee in faith, and following thee in all simplicity, we may possess quiet and contented minds, and cast all our care on thee, because thou carest for us; for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord.
–Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)
See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. His voice then shook the earth; but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heaven.” This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of what is shaken, as of what has been made, in order that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire.
–Hebrews 12:12-29
The U6 unemployment rate tabulates not only people without work who are seeking full-time employment but also counts “marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons.”
Now, study this graph of U-6 at the top and look carefully at the other numbers. What do you see? Seasonally adjusted U-6 unemployment is now [for January 2012] at 15.1%. In January 2011 it was 16.1% and in January 2010 it was 16.7%.
Good news–we are moving the right direction. But bad news–to get back even to 2007 levels [in the 8% range] there is a LONG, LONG way to go!
Those of you who are data hounds (like yours truly) will appreciate the table here–KSH.
The front wheels have lifted off the runway. Now, Americans are waiting to see if the economy can truly get aloft.
With the government reporting that the unemployment rate and the number of jobless fell in January to their lowest levels since early 2009, the recovery seems to finally be reaching American workers.
The Labor Department’s latest snapshot of the job market, released on Friday, makes clear that employers have been hiring more in recent months, with 243,000 net new jobs in January. The unemployment rate now stands at 8.3 percent, down from 8.5 percent a month earlier and 9.1 percent as recently as last August.
My experience as a married Catholic priest for 28 years brings to mind several thoughts, both practical and spiritual. First, the church must support new priests’ families financially. During my first years as a married Catholic priest, there were times when we could not pay the heating bill. When I was ordained, it was made quite clear to me that I should not look to the church as my main source of income but rather to a full-time job outside of the church. My parish duties have thus always been secondary.
Secondly, the new priests must be prepared for the spiritual struggles that come with the territory of being a married priest in the Catholic Church. It is difficult for children of priests to hear everyone call their father, “Father.” It is one of my regrets that I could never be a “normal Dad” who was able to attend school functions and sporting events. Priests’ wives often bear the brunt of this special status, for they must allow their husbands to be “priest” at a real cost to themselves and their children.
Claims the Anglican Mission in America has been given a home in the Anglican Church of the Congo are false, the Primate of the Congolese church, Archbishop Henri Isingoma of Kinshasa tells Anglican Ink.
The Anglican Church of the Congo plans to endorse the Anglican Covenant at its forthcoming general assembly, the archbishop said, and would not violate the recommendations of the Windsor Continuation Group and initiate a cross border intervention in the jurisdiction of another Anglican province.
Arch-Bishop Peter Akinola, a retired Primate of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), has urged Christians to remain peaceful and shun retaliatory attacks against their Muslims brothers.
Akinola made the plea at a thanksgiving service to mark the 80th birthday of Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte at St Cyprian Anglican Church in Port Harcourt.
One tension PB&F members discussed centered on responding to the financial challenges faced by dioceses while deciding how much money needs to be spent in support of the denomination-wide mission, ministry and infrastructure of the Episcopal Church.
Del Glover, chair of council’s financial committee, told the PB&F group that council had also struggled with what he characterized as the tension between “what’s a reasonable expectation to ask of dioceses and what’s a reasonable expectation for the use of the funds by the [church], and those are two separate issues.”
Another tension concerned paying for the costs of the church’s mission and current structure knowing that there have been many proposals to change that structure and, possibly, redefine the direction and focus of the mission and ministry.
Speakers at the annual National Prayer Breakfast in the nation’s capital usually keep their talks diplomatic. After all, the room is filled with ambassadors, lawmakers from both parties, Cabinet members, and people of various faiths from around the world.
But Eric Metaxas, the featured speaker Thursday morning and the author of biographies on Dietrich Bonhoeffer and William Wilberforce, talked to an audience of 4,000 important people about false religion, human depravity, poverty, slavery, and abortion. But the New York author delivered his sharp commentary with his trademark wit, which kept the audience roaring with laughter. [There is a link provided for video of the event]
The halls of the Washington Hilton, the hotel that hosts the breakfast, were buzzing afterward as people discussed the speech””Metaxas’ speech, not President Obama’s, which followed. Outside the hotel, a protestor asked, “Is it true what I’m hearing, that Eric Metaxas talked about Jesus?”
Seven months after same-sex marriage was legalized in New York State, the Cornell campus still has yet to see a same-sex wedding. Even so, religious leaders and gay rights advocates say, the legislation has already affected Cornell students and faculty.
The Rev. Clark West, chaplain at the Episcopal Church at Cornell University, will perform his first legal same-sex wedding for two Cornell alumni in a year.
“I will be ready, willing, and able to do it” when the time comes, he said. “[There are] a number of openly gay and lesbian students in our community, and if they ever decide to get married, I would be overjoyed at doing a wedding service if they would like me to.”
However far Dr Sentamu has travelled, he still has probÂlems with applying the term “marriage” to any partÂnership other than a heterosexual one. He resists the idea that the state has the power to change the definition of the word, and he is right: Britain has no Académie Française to govern its language. But neither has the Church any control over a word that has, after all, been used figuratively for cenÂturies. As with the word “gay”, the Church has, ultimately, to go along with whatever definition of “marriage” emerges in general parlance.
I believe that marriage is the bedrock of society. It is a gift from God in Creation. It has a public element, a public commitment made to one another and to the community. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Already in marriage, there are the ingredients of stability that children are looking for.
What we shouldn’t do is begin to create comparisons of the different family structures because I think that’s a dead end conversation.
Marriage is in creation, whether you’re Christian or not, there isn’t such a thing as “a Christian marriage” – marriage is marriage is marriage. The faith of course can help support it, but we’ve got to honour the institution of marriage ”“ the Holy Estate.
I’ve known people who were atheists who were very loving and caring in terms of that relationship. The only thing I said to them was it would be much easier if they knew that the source of romance is God.
More than 100 clerics in the dioÂcese of London have written asking for the right to choose whether or not to officiate at civil-partnership ceremonies in church.
A letter sent yesterday to the London diocesan representatives on General Synod states: “We, the undersigned, believe that, on the issue of holding civil-partnership ceremonies in Church of England churches, incumbents/priests-in-charge should be accorded the same rights as they enjoy at present in the matter of officiating at the marriage of divorced couples in church. Namely, that this should be a matter for the individual conscience of the incumbent/priest-in-charge.
“We would respectfully request that our views in this regard are fully represented in Synod.”
The Government has relaxed the rules, so that now a civil partnership ceremony can be registered in a place of worship. It has, however, allowed exemptions, and the House of Bishops has insisted that the clergy observe a complete ban.
(Please note that the above headline is mine, the paper itself has “Church split as senior bishop comes out in favour of gay marriage”–KSH).
Bishop Holtam told The Times: “We are living in a different society. If there’s a gay couple in The Archers, if there’s that form of public recognition in popular soaps, we are dealing with something which has got common currency. All of us have friends, families, relatives, neighbours who are, or who know somebody, in same-sex partnerships.”
For a long time he believed that marriage could only be between heterosexual people. But he said: “I’m no longer convinced about that. I think same-sex couples that I know who have formed a partnership have in many respects a relationship which is similar to a marriage and which I now think of as marriage. And of course now you can’t really say that a marriage is defined by the possibility of having children. Contraception created a barrier in that line of argument. Would you say that an infertile couple who were knowingly infertile when they got married, weren’t in a proper marriage? No you wouldn’t.”
Read it all (subscription required). Update – some details are here
Although its doors are still open, Christ Church in Canaan may be in the final months of its existence. The venerable Episcopal church has served the community since 1844 but its congregation has dwindled and it with it, its resources.
If, indeed, the church closes, the effect will ripple through the community. Its faithful congregants will be most directly affected, deprived of the spiritual comfort of a beautiful sanctuary where some of them were baptized and married. A classic stone church, based on the design of Richard Upjohn, the American architect who pioneered the restoration of Gothic architecture for American churches, its construction materials were dug out of Canaan’s rocky hills and it has been a defining presence in the center of Canaan for 168 years….
Holy God, who didst inspire the Dorchester chaplains to be models of steadfast sacrificial love in a tragic and terrifying time: Help us to follow their example, that their courageous ministry may inspire chaplains and all who serve, to recognize thy presence in the midst of peril; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
O Heavenly Father, who hast filled the world with beauty: Open our eyes, we beseech thee, to behold thy gracious hand in all thy works; that rejoicing in thy whole creation, we may learn to serve thee with gladness; for the sake of him by whom all things were made, thy Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
–American BCP
Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation which addresses you as sons? –“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage when you are punished by him. For the Lord disciplines him whom he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers to discipline us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time at their pleasure, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant; later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
–Hebrews 12:3-11
It is quite legitimate that this issue is being raised. However, the unity of the Church and our core mission particularly in these sobering and challenging economic times, must remain paramount. I hope the discussion will continue in a prayerful and respectful way, whilst not distracting from the important ministry our churches are carrying out in their communities.
Christ Church Episcopal may be back home in its Johnson Square building, but squabbling over church property continues.
The Episcopal Diocese of Georgia and Christ Church Episcopal on Monday asked Chatham County Superior Court Chief Judge Michael Karpf to hold the Rev. Marcus Robertson and Christ Church Savannah in contempt of court.
They argue Robertson and Christ Church Savannah have failed to comply with a court order to return a $2 million endowment fund and other property after the two congregations agreed to the return of the historic Johnson Square property in December.
Professors at Elon University in North Carolina, which is no longer affiliated with its founder, the United Church of Christ, agree that understanding religion is clearly an important component to global citizenry, said Peter Felten, an assistant provost at Elon and director of its Center for Advancement of Teaching and Learning. “But,” he continued, “almost all of our faculty will say, ‘It’s just not an important issue in my course.’ ”
While students may not be especially religious in the sense of attending services or identifying with a particular faith, their spirituality in college — the search for meaning and purpose in life, and asking existential questions — is on the rise, recent research has found. Yet the majority of these students also said their professors never encouraged discussions of religious or spiritual matters.
I think of the heroes of my lifetime, leaders from Martin Luther King to Aung San Suu Kyi of Burma, who gave the hopeless hope; people like Bill Gates and Warren Buffett who taught us that the best thing you can do with money is give it away in a noble cause; and the unsung heroes of our hospitals, schools and local communities who daily remind us that happiness lies in what we give to the world not what we take from it. Some of these had power, others didn’t, but what made them great was influence, the way they inspired others and spoke to the better angels of their nature.
Not all of us have power. But we all have influence, whether we seek it or not. We make the people around us better or worse than they might otherwise have been. Worse if we infect them with our materialism or cynicism, better if we inspire them with what Wordsworth called “the best portion” of a good life, our “little, nameless, unremembered acts / of kindness and of love.” That quiet leadership of influence seeks no power but it changes lives. In tough times like now we need it more than ever.
Born in Ireland, Sister Patricia Murray is a Loreto Sister and the Executive Director of an organisation called Solidarity with South Sudan.
As news reports tell of continuing violence and dispute in Africa’s newest nation, Sister Patricia is adamant that its story of hope and peace-building find its rightful place in the news, and in the history of the country, which she says, has enormous potential to develop.
Sister Patricia told Linda Bordoni that “Solidarity with South Sudan” is a consortium of more than 170 religious congregations, and carries forward a number of projects to train teachers, nurses and pastoral personnel in different locations throughout South Sudan.
She explains that “Solidarity” is an act of communion between religious institutes of men and women, which are members of the Unions of Superiors General and the Church in South Sudan under the direction of the Sudan Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
And as is illustrated on the organisation’s website, after decades of civil war, when the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) was signed in January 2005, the bishops of South Sudan invited the USG/UISG to consider the needs of their people. Following a consultative process it became clear that projects related to education, health and pastoral care are needed if the goals of the CPA are to be achieved.