DioBeth newSpin

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The newSpin Newsletter, June 25, 2012
By Bill Lewellis
Published weekly, on Monday

[Bill] Please know that I have been retired since the end of 2009. I do this weekly newSpin newsletter and the newSpin blog as a volunteer. They are not official instruments of the Diocese of Bethlehem, and they carry no authority. Though I welcome questions and comments about items I include here or on the blog, please direct questions about diocesan policy or diocesan-related issues to Bishop Paul or his staff. Of course, am honored to respond to or refer questions or comments about items in this newsletter. Send comments directly to me, or go to the newSpin blog, click on the current newsletter, and scroll to the bottom. Thanks. Bill

TopSpin 
• Bishop Paul's 16th ... This Friday, June 29, Bishop Paul will mark the 16th anniversary of his consecration as Bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem. More here.

 • Archdiocese of Philadelphia cuts 45 jobs and closes newspaper ... [The Phila Inquirer and Reuters] The beleaguered Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia, beset by criminal and civil lawsuits related to a child sex abuse scandal, is bleeding money. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput announced deep and drastic cuts, including 45 layoffs, the consolidation of several offices and ministries, and the elimination of its 117-year-old print newspaper, the Catholic Standard & Times, a very old reading habit for local Catholics. "It's the end of an era," said Susan Matthews, a former Standard and Times editor who runs the Catholics4Change.com website. "With over a million Catholics in the city, it was not only a source for news but for historical records." Philadelphia now becomes the largest American city without a diocesan publication. The 1.5 million member archdiocese faces a $17 million shortfall in the next fiscal year. That does not take into account another $10 million in legal and investigatory expenses over the past several months. More here.

• Archdiocese of Philadelphia official guilty in clergy sex-abuse trial ... [Philadelphia Inquirer and NCR] Jurors have reached an unprecedented decision in the landmark sex-abuse and child endangerment trial of two Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests. Msgr. William J. Lynn, found guilty on one count of child endangerment, is the first church official nationwide to be tried for enabling or covering up clergy-sex abuse. He was acquitted of two other charges, one of conspiracy and a second count of endangerment. More here and here. [Associated Press] Conscience vs obedience. Here.

Sixteen years with Bishop Paul

By Bill Lewellis
June 25, 2012

[Bishop Paul Marshall will mark his 16th anniversary as Bishop of the Diocese of Bethlehem this Friday, June 29.]

"One thing is clear to me," Bishop Paul Marshall wrote a few years ago to parishioners of the Diocese of Bethlehem. "I have no perception other than that I am called to be here."

On June 29, 1996, the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, bishops of the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America laid hands on Paul V. Marshall, at age 48, ordaining him the 919th Episcopal bishop in the American succession. Friday will mark the 16thth anniversary of his consecration.

"Each phase of life has its challenges," he has said. "The last phase of life, beyond age 60, is said to be marked by the struggle between integrity and despair. Can a person whose body (along with gravity) is increasingly betraying him believe he still has anything important to offer the species? Can someone who cannot compete physically, and to some extent mentally, with younger members of the species dare to lead? I currently believe that God wishes the answer to be yes, but think the “yes” to that question has to be a conditional one. We will need to match continuity with innovation. The final condition is that when it is time to quit somebody will tell me."

“When we put ourselves in God’s hands to be bread,” Bishop Catherine Roskam preached during the 1996 consecration sermon, “God keeps messing around in our lives, elbows deep in flour, never quite finished, making us ever more delicious and nourishing. The process is dynamic, creative, intimate and sometimes painful. It’s not easy being bread ... May the bakerwoman God bake, break and remake you. May Christ the bread of life, feed and sustain you. And may this House of Bread flourish under your care.”

Bishop Paul’s ministry among us has been broad and deep: teacher, pastor, preacher, administrator, author, advocate and participant in ministry with people in the developing world, children and youth, the poor and the marginalized, advocate and reconciler with those within the church who consider themselves progressive as well as those who consider themselves traditionalists, interpreter of family systems theory, communicator within and beyond the diocesan community, a leader who consults with colleagues, and a person whose ministry as bishop proceeds from prayer and a contemplative vision of God’s kingdom.

Over the past few years, especially with our expanded ministry with the Diocese of Kajo Keji in southern Sudan and with the inauguration of the New Hope Campaign for that diocese and the needy among us which has surpassed its goal, his ministry among us has grown even broader and deeper.

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The newSpin Newsletter, June 18, 2012
By Bill Lewellis
Published Monday, occasionally also on Thursday 

[Bill] Please know that I have been retired since the end of 2009. I do this weekly newSpin newsletter and the newSpin blog as a volunteer. They are not official instruments of the Diocese of Bethlehem, and they carry no authority. Though I welcome questions and comments about items I include here or on the blog, please direct questions about diocesan policy or diocesan-related issues to Bishop Paul or his staff. Of course, am honored to respond to or refer questions or comments about items in this newsletter. Send comments directly to me, or go to the newSpin blog, click on the current newsletter, and scroll to the bottom. Thanks. Bill

TopSpin
• West Pittston Tomorrow moves forward with plan ... [Sunday Dispatch, Citizens Voice] West Pittston Tomorrow, a group of residents attempting to rebuild the town after the destructive flood last year, unveiled its recovery plan in the auditorium of the Wyoming Area Secondary Center Thursday evening. The plan calls for the construction of protective levees around the river and a new joint library and community center, as well as things like sewer repair and historical status designation of West Pittston by the state, among other things. For many of the items, such as the levees, government approval and huge amounts of funds would be needed. ... In addition to the announced improvements, Rev. John Major of the Trinity Episcopal Church, who began the evening with a prayer, was pleased to announce that the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem donated $20,000 towards the borough’s recovery efforts. Sunday Dispatch and Citizens Voice.

• Flooded neighbors not forgotten: National church and Diocese of Bethlehem build on initiative of parish ... [Diobeth.org] The Diocese of Bethlehem has received a grant $72,796 from Episcopal Relief and Development to implement a plan intended to help residents of West Pittston still recovering from last September’s flooding while also preparing Episcopal churches in the region to respond to future disasters. The grant comes in addition to other assistance and resources. This partnership with ER&D, combined with funds provided by the Diocese will assist the recovery of the West Pittston area and the establishment of a regional disaster recovery and outreach center owned by the Diocese and run through a coordinated effort among the Luzerne County regional parishes. The center will be located in St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nanticoke and is planned to include storage and gathering space in addition to the worship area. See above. The diocesan community is also adopting a parish preparedness initiative. Using resources and training provided by ER&D, each parish in the diocese will establish individualized plans to protect their resources and resume services as quickly as possible during a disaster, while also responding to the needs of their parishioners and the community at large. More here.

• In Nanticoke: Pray with us, Work with us ... [John Major] In just the second week after the restored sign publicly announced that St. George's in Nanticoke is open for Noon Prayer on Thursdays, a most welcome visitor from the southern portion of the diocese answered the call to prayer.  Tom Hyzinski, a former Nanticoke resident who now lives in Orefield and attends St. Stephen's in Whitehall, saw the sign while visiting family in Nanticoke and walked through the open doors of St. George's to join the small but dedicated crew that have been praying Noon Prayer there at each work visit since it was reborn to regional service as a disaster recovery, outreach and prayer space. More here.

• Regional Day of Service planned to commemorate 1972 Agnes Flood ... [Father John Major] On Saturday, June 23, Northeastern Pennsylvania will commemorate the 40 anniversary of the devastating flooding caused by Hurricane Agnes in 1972.  No one who experienced it will ever forget it, especially those who had to evacuate again in September 2011 as the area experienced its second “100 year flood” in less than four decades.  On Saturday, June 23, the Episcopal Churches of the Northeastern Pennsylvania region will commemorate the 40 anniversary of the 1972 flood in a very special way: by dedicating the day to service at a new Regional Recovery and Outreach Center at St. George’s Church on East Main Street in Nanticoke.  With the blessing and encouragement of Bishop Paul Marshall, St. George’s is being reborn as a site to store and distribute disaster supplies, train volunteers and coordinate recovery and resiliency services to help this region in future disasters. More here.

• Taxes, Taxes, Taxes vs Library, Library, Library ... [Addison Bross] Sometimes common sense and the common good can win -- even against what has become (thanks to the Tea Party, et al.) "conventional wisdom." In Troy, Michigan, Tea Partiers recently rallied to shut down the public library rather than pay "big [municipal] government" the 0.7% tax increase needed to keep books available to local readers.  They spent big bucks on an ad campaign and staged rallies and protests to defy such tyranny. A brilliant counter-campaign to save the library used reverse psychology.  It announced a "book burning party" to celebrate individual freedom ("Don't Tread On ME!") and get rid of all those useless, expensive books.  It worked.  Troy's citizens kept their library. Watch the  video (including clever animation) here.

• Religion&Poitics fit for polite company ... Religion & Politics is an online news journal, dedicated to the two topics thought unfit for polite company. It is a project of the John C. Danforth Center on Religion & Politics at Washington University in St. Louis. "We feature articles from scholars and journalists who proceed from a single premise: that for better and for worse, religion and politics converge, clash, and shape public life. These intersections happen everywhere, from our homes to our courts, from the statehouse to the schoolhouse, in the lab and on the battlefield. We strive to publish a range of views, rather than promoting a specific political perspective. We honor frank and respectful debate. We inform these discussions by taking the long view, providing historical context, critical analysis, and thorough research with compelling writing." Here.

• Camp Noah ... is a free day camp offered by our Lutheran sisters and brothers for children affected by disasters. June 25-29 in Nanticoke. More here.

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The newSpin Newsletter, June 11, 2012
By Bill Lewellis
Published Monday, occasionally also on Thursday 

TopSpin
• Nanticoke church reborn as regional recovery and outreach center: Repairs underway, roofer needed ... [John Major and Janine Ungvarsky] Last week, the Diocese of Bethlehem announced the partnership with Episcopal Relief & Development that will enable the diocese to make giant strides forward in disaster relief and preparedness efforts. Read the diocesan release below. The centerpiece of this effort is a new regional disaster recovery and outreach center that will be housed in St. George's Church in Nanticoke. Returning this church to service and sustaining it in mission and ministry will be a cooperative effort of the parishes in the Luzerne County region of the diocese and there will be many opportunities for Episcopal parishes as well as ecumenical partners to join forces in these efforts -- watch for upcoming announcements seeking volunteers for a yard sale, clean up, landscaping and other projects to prepare the center to serve our neighbors in need. More here.

• Renewed Good Shepherd Church welcomes new priest ... [Scranton Times-Tribune, Laura Legere] The first full-time priest in seven years at the Church of the Good Shepherd announced a vision for the congregation on a portable sign at North Washington Avenue and Electric Street: "All are welcome and we really mean it." The installation of the Rev. Peter Pearson as rector offers stability and leadership to the Green Ridge Episcopal church that has redefined itself through community outreach and service in recent years. Since its last full-time priest and many members of the congregation left to join the Roman Catholic Church in 2005, the church has largely been led by its lay members with the help of interim priests on Sundays. It survived and began rebuilding by committing itself to community service, especially through programs to offer meals, clothing, haircuts and health screenings to the homeless, working poor and struggling senior citizens. In 2008, the church received a $200,000, five-year New Hope grant from the Diocese of Bethlehem to expand those programs. More here.

• Flooded neighbors not forgotten: National church and Diocese of Bethlehem build on initiative of parish ... [Diobeth.org] The Diocese of Bethlehem has received a grant $72,796 from Episcopal Relief and Development to implement a plan intended to help residents of West Pittston still recovering from last September’s flooding while also preparing Episcopal churches in the region to respond to future disasters. The grant comes in addition to other assistance and resources. This partnership with ER&D, combined with funds provided by the Diocese will assist the recovery of the West Pittston area and the establishment of a regional disaster recovery and outreach center owned by the Diocese and run through a coordinated effort among the Luzerne County regional parishes. The center will be located in St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nanticoke and is planned to include storage and gathering space in addition to the worship area. See above. The diocesan community is also adopting a parish preparedness initiative. Using resources and training provided by ER&D, each parish in the diocese will establish individualized plans to protect their resources and resume services as quickly as possible during a disaster, while also responding to the needs of their parishioners and the community at large. More here.

• The summer – and our lives – begin and end with Our Lady ... [Archdeacon Stringfellow] The summer in very truth begins with The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (May 31) and has well entered its decline with the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15). When this discovery dawned on me, I began to see the season as a figure for life, for living well, and for letting life take its Providential course. Summer is much more than baseball. Here.

• $20,000 paid to pedophile priests to leave priesthood ... [ABC-TV News] Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the archdiocese of New York is keeping quiet today after his old diocese, the archdiocese of Milwaukee, confirmed that under his leadership in 2003 the church paid individual sums of $20,000 to priests accused of molesting children. The archdiocese of Milwaukee confirmed to the Associated Press Wednesday that the church paid the priests money to voluntarily sign papers to leave the priesthood because it was cheaper and faster than removing them by other administrative routes, which would have included going through the Vatican. "In 2002, the Church affirmed that priest offenders should no longer be functioning as priests in any capacity and having someone seek laicization voluntarily is faster and less expensive and it made sense to try and move these men out of the priesthood as quickly as possible," Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf told local news station WTMJ-TV. More here.

The Summer—and our Lives—Begin and End with Our Lady

Howard Stringfellow
4 June 2012

The summer in very truth begins with The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (May 31) and has well entered its decline with the Feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary (August 15). When this discovery dawned on me, I began to see the season as a figure for life, for living well, and for letting life take its Providential course. Summer is much more than baseball.

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The newSpin Newsletter, June 4, 2012
By Bill Lewellis
Published Monday, occasionally also on Thursday 

TopSpin    
• Flooded neighbors not forgotten: National church and Diocese of Bethlehem build on initiative of parish ... [Diobeth.org] The Diocese of Bethlehem has received a grant $72,796 from Episcopal Relief and Development to implement a plan intended to help residents of West Pittston still recovering from last September’s flooding while also preparing Episcopal churches in the region to respond to future disasters. The grant comes in addition to other assistance and resources. This partnership with ER&D, combined with funds provided by the Diocese will assist the recovery of the West Pittston area and the establishment of a regional disaster recovery and outreach center owned by the Diocese and run through a coordinated effort among the Luzerne County regional parishes. The center will be located in St. George’s Episcopal Church in Nanticoke and is planned to include storage and gathering space in addition to the worship area. The diocesan community is also adopting a parish preparedness initiative. Using resources and training provided by ER&D, each parish in the diocese will establish individualized plans to protect their resources and resume services as quickly as possible during a disaster, while also responding to the needs of their parishioners and the community at large. More here.

• Rhode Island elects Nicholas Knisely ... [ENS] The Very Rev. Nicholas Knisely was elected on June 2 to be the 13th bishop of the Diocesse of Rhode Island. Knisely, 51, dean, Trinity Cathedral in Phoenix AZ and onetime rector of Trinity Church Bethlehem, was elected on the first ballot out of a field of five nominees. Here.

• $20,000 paid to pedophile priests to leave priesthood ... [ABC-TV News] Cardinal Timothy Dolan of the archdiocese of New York is keeping quiet today after his old diocese, the archdiocese of Milwaukee, confirmed that under his leadership in 2003 the church paid individual sums of $20,000 to priests accused of molesting children. The archdiocese of Milwaukee confirmed to the Associated Press Wednesday that the church paid the priests money to voluntarily sign papers to leave the priesthood because it was cheaper and faster than removing them by other administrative routes, which would have included going through the Vatican. "In 2002, the Church affirmed that priest offenders should no longer be functioning as priests in any capacity and having someone seek laicization voluntarily is faster and less expensive and it made sense to try and move these men out of the priesthood as quickly as possible," Archdiocese spokeswoman Julie Wolf told local news station WTMJ-TV. More here.

• Understanding the Denominational Health Plan and its implementation ... [Canon Andrew Gerns, Episcopal Café] The Rev. Susan Snook, Vicar of Church of the Nativity, Phoenix, Arizona, writes a detailed analysis of the current state of the Denominational Health Plan passed by General Convention in 2009 and the proposals coming before Convention this summer. This is one of the things that General Convention will do that will have a practical effect on every Episcopalian in every congregation. So while this is an issue that doesn't elicit high-minded theology or generate tons of blog and twitter traffic taking sides, there is incredible anxiety out there about the DHP because it is such a bread and butter issue. There are a number of proposals coming before this summer's Convention including proposals to dlay implementation or suspend it altogether; proposals to allow insurance to be purchased from providers other than the DHP; and, proposals to equalize premiums across all the dioceses. More here.

• A commentary on the Episcopal Church budget commentary ... [Episcopal Café, Jim Naughton] Late Friday afternoon the Episcopal Church’s Office of Public Affairs released a commentary on the church's draft budget including a foreword by Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, commentary by Bishop Stacy Sauls, the church’s chief operating officer, and a line-by-line explanation of the budget produced by Kurt Barnes, the church’s treasurer, in consultation with Bishop Sauls. The budget, and the process that produced it have been the source of much anguished commentary across the church ... I am concerned about how news about the budget is communicated to the church. The core of the documents released on Friday (Pages 4-20) sometimes read less like a comprehensive, evenhanded overview of the budgeting process than an attempt by one side in what I think was a principled dispute to assign blame for the woe that has befallen us in this process to the other. The Executive Council emerges from the report as incompetent and incapable of conducting the church’s business. Individuals who advocated cutting the diocesan asking from 19% to 15% are singled out by name, and cast in an especially poor light ... It appears to me that the Presiding Bishop, the chief operating officer and the treasurer (the three highest paid officers of the Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society) have crossed a line here. They have used one of the church’s most effective channels of communication to subtly damage the reputations of volunteers who disagreed with them. Intentionally or otherwise, they have sent a message that there is a public price to be paid for opposing them. If this practice continues it will harm the church more than any budget crisis ever could. More here.