todaySpin includes local, national, and worldwide news and information for Episcopalians in the Diocese of Bethlehem, with some spin that may be of interest. Please send suggestions for content or style to Bill Lewellis.
todaySpiel: The Opinionator, a guide to the wide world of newspaper, magazine and Web opinion.
todayScope: (1) epiScope links to stories from the mainstream media that reference the Episcopal Church or Episcopalians. (2) EpiscopalCafe ... (3) Episcopal Life Online ...
todayStory
In an unusual appointment, an Episcopal priest will join the senior
management team of a major Roman Catholic hospital. The Rev. Barbara
McCaulley, a priest in the Diocese of Iowa, has been named vice
president for mission and ethics at Mercy Medical Center North Iowa, located in Mason City. [Read the Episcopal News Service story here.]
todaySpirit
The older years are a time for melting into God, for putting down the ragged remnants of
the past, for learning to live in the present and to find it enough,
for learning to live with life as it is and find it enough, for
learning to accept ourselves and all we have learned as a result of it
and finding it enough. [Sister Joan Chittister. Read more here.]
todayScribe
Traditional vs. Contemporary? by Donald Schell ... For the healthy future of our church we’ve got to stop thinking and
talking as if ‘traditional’ and ‘contemporary’ were opposites. This
hackneyed dichotomy reduces us to a lose/lose battle between
caricatured factions – do we want to be a backward-looking
‘traditional’ church bound by nostalgic practices of the last two
hundred years or a ‘trendy,’ ‘relevant’ church whoring in uncritical
embrace of ‘contemporary’ culture. Only a church that’s deeply traditional and truly contemporary can
live fearlessly into creativity and mission. To find our way to deep
traditional roots and a lively present, we’ll need to relearn that the
words ‘tradition’ and ‘traditional’ live in a creative process, an
inspired engagement with our Christian past and discernment of the
God-given opportunities and challenges of each present moment. [Read it all here.]
todayScoop
(1) The Animal Food Bank of the Lehigh Valley, run by Trinity Bethlehem, provides pet food to low-income
families and individuals as well as area animal rescues and humane
societies. Read more here and here.
(2) A new winter of discontent may be stirring, based on the Vatican’s strikingly upbeat approach to U.S. President Barack Obama. The tone from Rome stands in obvious contrast to the ferment in some Catholic circles in the U.S. [Read John Allen's report here.]
todaySaint
Florence Li Tim-Oi, first woman priest in the Anglican Communion. Faced with a specific need for pastoral care in the Diocese of Hong Kong, Bishop Ronald Hall ordained here to the priesthood in 1944. Though this was well received in the diocese, it caused a storm of protest in the wider communion. When pressure was brought to bear on the bishop, she decided to resign the exercise of her ministry in 1946. For
the next 39 years, she served faithfully under very difficult
circumstances, particularly after the Communists took over mainland
China. Towards the end of her life, 1983, she
emigrated to Canada where she was able to resume her priestly duties.
She died in 1992. [Read what Mark Harris posted on his Preludium blog two years ago: The Priest Florence Li Tim-Oi and the Ungenerous Communion. Read more here.]
todayShow
If you missed Joseph Lowrey's inauguration benedictions, you can view it here.
todaySoundbite
"If someone consistently raises our fears and repeatedly harks on what is wrong in an effort to get our votes or our money, we may be in the presence of a scoundrel. If someone reduces patriotism or morality to one issue or a very small cluster of isues, a scoundrel may be at work." [From "Scoundrels Hijack Our Values" in Bishop Paul Marshall's book "Messages in the Mall: Looking at Life in 600 Words or Less"]
newSpin
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Bill Lewellis, Communication Minister/Editor (1986), Canon Theologian (1998)
Diocese of Bethlehem, 333 Wyandotte Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015
Website, Blog, Email (c)610-216-2726, (w)610-691-5655x229, (h)610-820-7673
Be attentive. Be intelligent. Be reasonable. Be responsible.
Be in Love. And, if necessary, change. [Bernard Lonergan]
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