With significant sadness, the Vestry of the Cathedral Church of the Advent has accepted the resignation of Andrew Pearson as our Dean and Rector. Andrew has discerned that the ongoing tension he feels serving in the Episcopal Church makes him no longer able to serve as the spiritual leader of the Advent. Although saddened, we are grateful for the significant gifts which he has shared with us for nearly ten years, and remain confident that those gifts will continue to be exercised for our Lord’s kingdom, leading people to Christ. In that sense, we are excited for him and continue to love and support Andrew, Lauren, and their girls, wishing them Godspeed as they move to this next chapter in their lives.

Andrew’s last Sunday as our Dean and Rector will be May 16. He will preach at both services, and also teach the Dean’s Class. We look forward to a reception for Andrew and Lauren that afternoon, after the 11:15 service, in the Rector’s Garden.

Although the Advent has its own tension with the Episcopal Church, we are hopeful that the new leadership of Bishop Glenda Curry has provided an opportunity to build a foundation for a continued and generational peace between the Advent and the Diocese. Accordingly, the Vestry of the Advent appointed a team to talk with Bishop Curry to find a better, amicable path forward while protecting the essential attributes of the Advent. During these discussions, the Bishop has affirmed the Advent’s ability to express its theology and its ability to call, develop, and maintain clergy who are committed to the Advent’s theological expression.

Read it all.

While there’s plenty that’s ungodly about the vicissitudes of digital culture, it would be foolish to ignore increasingly popular formats. Father Mike Schmitz’s “Bible in a Year” became one of the most downloaded shows in Apple’s podcast app. Tens of thousands of Jews who hadn’t been to a shul in years now tune in weekly to listen to “Unorthodox,” the world’s most popular Jewish podcast. This is as an invitation to every rabbi, priest and minister in America to do as good spiritual shepherds have always done and come meet their flock where they graze.

For some worshipers, these new platforms will be as far as they ever get on their religious journey. That alone would be a significant victory, considering such folks otherwise wouldn’t be engaged. But for others, a new app or podcast might unlock the door to a much more serious, embodied commitment.

Anyone curious about the future of religion should think about how habits changed over the past year—and consider which ones will stick. With Covid-19 forcing people of faith to stay home, religious communities saw a huge uptick in virtual attendance. Many of those routinely tuning in online hadn’t been regular attendees of in-person services. Why would the same folks who stayed away when church was a mere five-minute drive suddenly attend through Zoom? Convenience only counts for so much.

Services offered during the pandemic were just that—religious services. They were not, as so many felt compelled to offer before the pandemic struck, social gatherings with thin religious veneers. For decades houses of worship had flourished with the American suburb, serving as a focal point of communal life. In Jewish circles, this is known as “a shul with a pool,” suggesting that congregants should see the synagogue as the destination for everything, from Sunday school to a quick swim. This model is fading, and organizations that focus on the heart of the matter—the prayers and rituals and rites—are likely to reap the rewards.

Read it all (my emphasis).

Brick-and-mortar religious communities are shrinking, but digital worship is growing, writes @AriLamm https://t.co/qBEz42folg

— WSJ Editorial Page (@WSJopinion) April 30, 2021

Shortlists for top posts in the Church of England should include at least one minority ethnic candidate as part of a raft of measures to address the “alarming” lack of senior clergy of colour, according to a report out last week.

The report, From Lament to Action, published by the Archbishops’ anti-racism task force, added that people responsible for senior appointments should undergo anti-racism recruitment training, and that 30 per cent of nominees for the Church’s leadership training programme should come from ethnic minorities.

The report brought together 47 recommendations that had not been acted upon from decades of previous reports on how the Church could address racism within its ranks. The recommendations, or “actions”, focused on areas of education, training and mentoring, investing in minority ethnic young people and reforming governance structures, as well as increasing the participation in the Church by clergy of colour.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby and the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, who together commissioned the report, said: “Racism is a sin … and we are determined to make sure there is no room for it in the Church.

“But it is here. We have seen, time and time again, people being bullied, overlooked, undermined and excluded from the life of the Church, from the family of God. It breaks our hearts, and we are truly sorry.”

Read it all.

Church of England lays out plan to tackle racism: a report says shortlists for top posts should include at least one minority ethnic candidate as part of a raft of measures to address the lack of senior clergy of colour. By @abigailfrymann https://t.co/QtavBlEVSQ #synod

— The Tablet (@The_Tablet) April 29, 2021

THE first female archdeacon of colour in the Church of England, the Ven. Wilhelmina (Mina) Smallman, has said that the Archbishops’ Taskforce’s report on racism in the Church “reads really well”. If, however, the Church failed to put its recommendations into practice, she said, “I can’t see that any person of colour will trust that anything will ever change.”

The report, From Lament to Action, was published on Thursday of last week — Stephen Lawrence Day — by the Archbishops’ Anti-Racism Taskforce (News, Leader Comment, 23 April). It brings together 47 previously ignored “actions” from reports published over more than three decades.

In their response to the report, the Archbishops of York and Canterbury acknowledge that churchgoers of colour had been “bullied, overlooked, undermined and excluded from the life of the Church, from the family of God”.

The report was dedicated to the memory of Mrs Smallman’s two daughters, Nicole Smallman and Bibaa Henry, who were murdered last summer (News, 19 June 2020). Their funeral was conducted by the only black bishop in the House of Bishops: the Bishop of Dover, the Rt Revd Rose Hudson-Wilkin.

Read it all.

Implement race proposals or lose trust, says C of E’s first female archdeacon of colour https://t.co/jV1anB8uzW

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) April 30, 2021

Gracious God, we bless thy Name for the vision and witness of Sarah Hale, whose advocacy for the ministry of women helped to support the deaconess movement. Make us grateful for thy many blessings, that we may come closer to Christ in our own families; through Jesus Christ our Savior, who livest and reignest with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Episcopal Church also commemorates Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, Editor & Prophetic Witness, 1879

Editor of Godey's Lady's Book, Sarah Hale used her position to support improvements in family life/the status of women & successfully campaigned for a uniform Thanksgiving Day in US pic.twitter.com/cLzpiwKO6L

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) April 30, 2021

Let us praise and thank God for all great and simple joys;
For the gift of wonder and the joy of discovery; for the everlasting freshness of experience;
For all that comes to us through sympathy and through sorrow, and for the joy of work attempted and achieved;
For musicians, poets and craftsmen, and for all who work in form and color to increase the beauty of life;
For the likeness of Christ in ordinary people, their forbearance, courage and kindness, and for all obscure and humble lives of service;
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost ever world without end.

–Robert W. Rodenmayer, ed., The Pastor’s Prayerbook: Selected and arranged for various occasions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1960)

Sunrise over Sunset Beach, South Carolina. Photo from Mark Head. #scwx pic.twitter.com/UWKblkkWMq

— Storm Spotter Johnny Caudle (@wxcaudle) April 21, 2021

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

–Colossians 3:1-4

Last Sunrise of April 2021 pic.twitter.com/wku6EP03Pj

— Dee McCarthy (@stokerslodge) April 30, 2021