THE MUSIC was fine, and the weather was reasonably fine; but many visitors to the Greenbelt Festival in Cheltenham last weekend were talking more about two transatlantic speakers ”” the Rt Revd Gene Robinson and Rob Bell.
Both were appearing there for the first time. Although they come from different points on the Christian spectrum ”” one the Bishop of New Hampshire, the other the founding pastor of Mars Hill, a large indeÂpendent church in Michigan ”” the Greenbelt crowds took them to their hearts. By all appearances, they were quite taken with Greenbelt, too.
Whether it was their presence, or the state of the economy, or some of the music acts, the numbers were up again on previous years. The organisers reckoned that, over the Bank Holiday weekend, 21,000 people attended. About three-quarters had bought weekend tickets and camped or stayed near by; the rest came on day tickets.
…..AND meanwhile, in New Hampshire..
..no priest or parish needs an extra visit from their Simple Country Bishop to plan for their future or their survival,
..no GLBT group needs to be catechized to bring into the local parishes…which apparently do not need more members,
..no young people need to have extra time with their bishop,
..no potential clergy need to have extra encouragement to follow the call,
..no ecumenical relations need to be built up further in order to prove that TEC isn’t that bad after all,
..no church nursery needs to be painted with a painting party hosted by the Simple Country Bishop,
..no clergyperson has an unmet need and therefore more spiritual retreats would be a waste of time,
..AND – BEST OF ALL…..
..the Diocese of New Hampshire is, apparently a well-intact and happy place whose potential has been fully met.
BTW: Generally there would be no media or cameras at these kinds of events, but if such encouragement is needed for Bishop Robinson, then I’m sure that could be arranged.
Enjoy, Rowan, enjoy! You thought: “not in my backyard” didn’t ya? Chickens ,,,,,, home …….. roost ……… crow.
You’ll get used to it. Just make a few minor changes in Christianity and VGR will go back to the USA and spreading the New Thang Gozpell elsewhere.
…..AND meanwhile, in the 7 Dioceses where the bishops are absent visiting the ++Rowan.
..no priest or parish needs an extra visit from their Bishops to plan for their future or their survival,
..no conservative group needs to be catechized to bring into the local parishes…which apparently do not need more members,
..no young people need to have extra time with their bishop,
..no potential clergy need to have extra encouragement to follow the call,
..no ecumenical relations need to be built up further in order to prove that TEC is that bad after all,
..no church nursery needs to be painted with a painting party hosted by the Bishops,
..no clergyperson has an unmet need and therefore more spiritual retreats would be a waste of time,
..AND – BEST OF ALL…..
..the 7 Dioceses are, apparently well-intact and happy places whose potential has been fully met.
Fortunately for them Choir Stall, we know Matthew 18:21-22
Then Peter came and said to him, ‘Lord, if another member of the church* sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?’ Jesus said to him, ‘Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven* times.
BTW: Generally there would be no media or cameras at these kinds of events, but if such encouragement is needed for Bishop Robinson, then I’m sure that could be arranged.
I had no idea that the Greenbelt Festival organizers held the same sway (swish?) over TGC bishops as the Archbishop of Canterbury, or that said Festival was such an integral part of the DioNH’s operation.
#1, One positive thing from this trip,
[blockquote]”..no young people need to have extra time with their bishop…”[/blockquote]
I am glad to hear that.
…and Rob Bell, huh?
The Sunday morning before the trip, one of the ‘seven bishops’ was visiting our parish. Just days before the visit, he had spent several hours meeting with us to help us in our efforts to grow. In spite of the imminent trip to Lambeth, he arrived early, spent a lot of extra time with us, delivered a very practical and exciting sermon, took time to encourage and counsel several clergy. Later that day, he presided at the installation of a new rector at a parish across the diocese from us. None of us had any sense that he had anywhere else to attend to. It was quite a surprise to hear the news of this meeting.
I had the pleasure of meeting Rob Bell a few years ago when he and Brian McClaren (A Generous Orthodoxy) appeared together at an in-house confab at Zondervan Publishing, where my wife was an executive. Both of them provided a lively and provocative insights. Rob’s Nooma series is very interesting and if you get an opportunity, take a look at these short DVD”s. They’re engaging, especially for teenagers and young adults.
Brian from T19: Bravo!
So far no one has stated the obvious re: VGR and the 7 Bishops. It is that VGR’s diocese is in great need of a present bishop…not one who goes on lengthy book tours and gay agenda tours. A trip by 7 bishops to solidify relations with the See of Canterbury IS part of the job description of bishops (since they don’t technically work for an Archbishop or 815)…and if you believe the preamble to TEC’s Constitution, that is.
BRAVO! 7 Bishops for doing your elected duties!
#10 Choir Stall: Bravo!!