(I thought of this when I was reading the previously posted article. It is only very slightly edited from its orignial form as a post on the blog in 2004–KSH).

Andrew Adam covers an absolutely taboo topic with some helpful comments, including this truth:

One of the problems at the seminary level is that very few people preach a half-decent sermon in their first dozen, two dozen, perhaps hundred sermons. Overall, the standard of preaching in the Episcopal Church is pretty low, so some people preach sermons that aren’t nearly as bad as the average; but most folks need more than three or four practice sermons in seminary to make significant strides toward fluency and grace in preaching.

I [Kendall Harmon] would submit that the question ought to be why the Episcopal Church is not repenting over our pitiful preaching. Most Episcopal preachers today think they are terrific, and in most cases they aren’t good at all, or worse than that.

And repent and pray for better preaching, and for better preachers, in ECUSA. Heaven knows we need them–KSH.

In his memoir “The Pastor” (2011), Eugene Peterson identifies one of the most serious threats to biblical preaching””a “pragmatic vocational embrace of American technology and consumerism that promised to rescue congregations from ineffective obscurity” but that “violated everything””scriptural, theological, experiential””that had formed my identity as a follower of Jesus and a pastor.”

The obsession with measurable “results,” the rebranded promise of some technique or strategy: Preachers are bombarded with this stuff every day (four keys to success, six marks of a healthy church, seven principles of growth). Many ignore it and get on with their work in “scripture, sermon, and sacrament.” Praise God for that.

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With the sounds of protests echoing across campus, President Barack Obama knew his 2009 commencement address at the University of Notre Dame would have to mention the religious issues that divided his listeners.

“The ultimate irony of faith is that it necessarily admits doubt,” he said. “It is beyond our capacity as human beings to know with certainty what God has planned for us or what he asks of us.”

With this sweeping statement, Obama essentially argued that religious faith contains no rational content and, thus, offers no concrete guidance for public actions, noted Thomas Farr, director of the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University. This would shock America’s Founding Fathers or anyone else who has used religious doctrines and arguments in favor of human equality or in opposition to tyranny….

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It seems to me, from my now thirty years in Melbourne Diocese, that the hierarchy, supported by many of the clergy, have launched into politics and socio-economics, not because they are aflame with the Gospel, but as a last ditch attempt to find relevance in society. Hence the recent attack on the banks appears to be a natural extension of this process.

Unless Anglicanism can set out on the difficult journey of faith recovery, we can expect to hear more about ageing gracefully, the violence of Melbourne’s CBD, climate change and the evils of banking and gambling. But don’t expect to hear too much of Jesus ”“ nor of contentious moral issues. An Anglicanism of compassion without faith and sound doctrine is no longer a church but a socio-political organisation.

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A Mobile man will be the first of thirty former Anglican priests to make history this summer.

Mobile Archbishop Thomas J. Rodi will ordain Matthew Venuti as the first member of the U.S. based Catholic Oridnariate of the Chair of St. Peter. Venuti is a former Episcopal priest.

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Feuding local Anglicans have closed the book on a four-year legal dispute over ownership of three parishes, including one in St. Catharines.

The Anglican Network of Canada and Anglican Diocese of Niagara reached a negotiated settlement that saw the three congregations that split from the diocese in 2008 turn over the keys to the parish properties.

Read it all and there is more there as well.

Joyce Meyer, Max Lucado and Andy Stanley were not well known inside Twitter’s offices. But they had all built loyal ranks of followers well beyond their social networks ”” they were evangelical Christian leaders whose inspirational messages of God’s love perform about 30 times as well as Twitter messages from pop culture powerhouses like Lady Gaga.

Fifteen percent of adult Internet users in the United States are on Twitter, and about half of those use the network every day, according to a report published this week by the Pew Research Center. But Twitter is always looking for ways to add new users. And so, with this new insight, the company sent a senior executive, Claire Díaz-Ortiz, on a mission: to bring more religious leaders into the Twitter fold.

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Oxford is not a college town ”” it is the college town. Its namesake university’s 38 colleges are so steeped in scholarly history they make Harvard and Yale seem like baby-faced freshmen. To wit: Oxford’s New College was last considered “new” in the 14th century. (Even the obsolete term “New World” is newer.) Students here get into the act, many dressing in tweed coats, sometimes even with elbow patches, and ordering pints of cask ale at pubs that have been in business for nearly four-fifths of a millennium. But Oxford has a modern side, too: night spots blare house and electronic music; restaurants serve modern takes on local food and exotic ethnic cuisine; and comfortable boutique hotels and bed-and- breakfasts beat medieval lodging houses for comfort any day. (Just don’t ask for a place to hitch your horse.)

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On the final day of the meeting Bishop Michael Doe presented a report on the future of the Anglican Communion’s representation at the United Nations in New York and Geneva.

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Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we who keep the feast of the holy martyrs Blandina and her companions may be rooted and grounded in love of thee, and may endure the sufferings of this life for the glory that shall be revealed in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

O Holy Ghost, giver of light and life, impart to us thoughts higher than our own thoughts, and prayers better than our own prayers, and powers beyond our own powers, that we may spend and be spent in the ways of love and goodness, after the perfect image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

–1 Timothy 6:6-8

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Job growth was weak in May. Just as bad: the type of jobs the economy did manage to add….

…the job growth is coming entirely from workers getting part-time jobs. The number of Americans working full-time fell by 266,000 in May, erasing all the gains of the past three months. The total employment figure only rose because 618,000 more people got part-time jobs. Many of those people would rather be working full-time: The number of people classified as “part time for economic reasons” ”” meaning they’re working part-time because they can’t find a full-time job ”” rose by 245,000 to 8.1 million.

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…the diversity of the Washington economy is an illusion, for each of its business sectors is to some degree a creature of the region’s single great industry–the federal government. According to a 2007 report by the Tax Foundation, for every dollar in taxes Washington sends to the federal government, it receives five in return. Fuller says that over the past 30 years, the federal government has spent $860 billion in the D.C. region, two-thirds of that since 9/11.

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Said [Defense Secretary Leon] Panetta: “Well, there’s no question that if a cyber attack, you know, crippled our power grid in this country, took down our financial systems, took down our government systems, that that would constitute an act of war.”

The comment takes on added resonance given the scoop in David Sanger’s new book, “Confront and Conceal: Obama’s Secret Wars and Surprising Use of American Power,” to be published by Crown on Tuesday and excerpted in today’s New York Times.

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