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.
• A new grants page ... on the DioBeth website.
• Jubilate for Pentecost 2 to the last Sunday after Pentecost ... Hymnody for Pentecost 2 to the last Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday (June 10 to November 25, 2012), published by the Diocese of Bethlehem for our diocesan community and for free distribution to the world, may be downloaded as an Acrobat file. Jubilate is a service of our Liturgy and Music Commission, specifically Canon Cliff Carr who has been doing this for more than 30 years. If you want to get it delivered directly to your inbox, sign-up to receive it under our "Get Connected" link at our DioBeth website.
• Requests for New Hope Grants will be accepted until July 2 ... [Daniel Gunn] The New Hope Grants Committee is ready to receive and consider requests for disbursements from the New Hope Campaign. The total amount we are able to grant for the 2012-13 calendar year is $70,000. This is the last year of major grants. We are inviting Letters of Intent from parishes and Episcopal-related organizations within the Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem. The Deadline for Letters of Intent is 2 July 2012. More here.
• John Felice ... father of the Rev. Faith D'Urbano, died on June 1. Obituary here.
• Bishops Day for Kids ... [Anne Kitch] June 30 in Scranton. July 28 in Bethlehem. More.
• High School Mission Trip ... Here.
• Diocesan Events for 2012 ... Here.
• Diocesan Life, May/June ... Stories on St. Alban's, Sinking Springs, Family Promise at All Saints, birthday bags for the Nazareth Food Bank, our New Hope campaign update from Charlie Barebo, Vocare, Bishop's Day for Kids, the Whitehall Food Pantry, What is a deputy? (for General Convention) and more. Here.
• DioBeth Website ... newSpin Blog ... Re:Create blog for youth and young adults ... Twitter.DioBeth ... Twitter.Kat Lehman ... Facebook.DioBeth ... Flickr, search under dio_beth
• Public news and info lists ... At the Diobeth website, enter your name and email in the "Get Connected" box. You are welcome to subscribe to any or all of these. "Bakery" is our diocesan interactive list.
ParishSpin
• Allentown ... Mediator seeks director of children and youth ministry. Here.
• Dallas ... Prince of Peace seeks organist/choir master. Here.
• West Pittston ... Trinity's FLOODCare efforts continue. “Look, those nice people from Trinity Episcopal are back again!” Here.
• Note to parishes ... Send news summaries and links to Bill.
• Diocesan Life, May/June ... Stories on St. Alban's, Sinking Springs, Family Promise at All Saints, birthday bags for the Nazareth Food Bank, our New Hope campaign update from Charlie Barebo, Vocare, Bishop's Day for Kids, the Whitehall Food Pantry, What is a deputy? (for General Convention) and more. Here.
• Weekly eNewsletters from parishes
Allentown, Grace Church, June 1.
Bethlehem, Cathedral Church of the Nativity, June 1.
Bethlehem, Trinity Church, June 1.
Easton, Trinity Church, June 1.
Trexlertown, St. Anne's Church here, click on "Weekly Calendar."
There may be others. If so, please send me a link.
• Monthly Newsletters from parishes ... Most parishes publish a monthly newsletter that is mailed to parishioners. Many, if not most, of those are available at the parish websites.
• Calendar of Events ... Here.
General Convention 2012 in July
• Understanding the Denominational Health Plan and its implementation ... See above, under TopSpin.
• Understanding General Convention ... [Diocese of Texas] Watch or download a video about General Convention online here or download a comic-book-style booklet here.
• Communication, Structure, How resolutions move through General Convention, What's a deputy, General Convention 101 ... All at the Diobeth GC Deputies blog.
• The Blue Book ... information and resolutions for GC2012 is available for downloading. Here.
• Cliff notes on The Blue Book ... [Episcopal Café] Two deputies have offered "cliffs notes" style commentaries and reflections on the content and resolutions. Liza Anderson, Lay Deputy to General Convention for Connecticut and Scott Gunn, clergy deputy for Rhode Island. Here.
Episcopal/Anglican
• Figurehead needed ... [Editorial, The Guardian, UK] Must be diplomatic, charismatic and a man of evident integrity. (This vacancy is outside the terms of equalities legislation.) Capable of identifying with ordinary people, calming the most intransigent subordinates and representing what is best in Britain's Anglican tradition. Should not be scared of failure. The process of choosing the 105th archbishop of Canterbury has begun ... From Thomas Becket to Rowan Williams, what the long history of troublesome priests indicates is that the obligations of office can transform its holder. There is no guarantee that the successful candidate will actually fulfil the carefully constructed job description the commission has been working on. After all, Dr Williams was supposed to be the liberal who could defuse the venomous debate over gay priests, but backed away from a showdown that he feared might destroy the church. Better, perhaps, that the selection team consider the qualities rather than the politics of the possible contenders. If they are wise they will look for an individual who can distract the church from itself, from the theological wrangling that makes it look so remote from the people it is supposed to serve. More here.
• Bishop John Smith ... died on June 2 following a two year battle with leukemia. He had been the sixth bishop of the Diocese of West Virginia. Obituary here.
• Episcopal News Weekly bulletin inserts ... Download inserts here.
• Episcopal Church new Website ... ENS blog ... Episcopal Church on Facebook ... Episcopal Church on YouTube ... Anglican Communion website ... Anglican Communion News Service. ... Anglican Communion News Service on Facebook.
TaleSpin
• Do the Jews own anxiety ... [NYTimes, Daniel Smith] Woody Allen vs Soren Kierkegaard. The anxiety all-star team, were it actually to be assembled, would contain at least a couple of Jews — Moses at third, say, and Franz Kafka in right — but plenty of gentiles would make the cut, too. As the self-appointed general manager I’d offer contracts to Charles Darwin, who suffered from debilitating insomnia and panic attacks; to Emily Dickinson, who “lived on Dread” and almost never left the house; to William James, who spent a decade paralyzed by uncertainty, and his sister Alice, a nervous invalid (I’d put them at second and shortstop, respectively, so they could talk to each other); and on the mound, Soren Kierkegaard, who made anxiety not only a way of life but also a central philosophical concept, declaring (with suspicious exaggeration), “The greater the anxiety the greater the man.” In short, the Jews don’t own anxiety and never have. So why do so many people think otherwise? More here.
• A campaign pitch rekindles the question: just what is liberation theology? ... [NYTimes, Beliefs, Mark Oppenheimer] With the complicity of clueless pundits and incurious journalists, conservatives are reducing an important theological movement to an abusive sound bite. More here. [h/t Leadership Education at Duke Divinity]
• I'm as old as the Golden Gate Bridge ... [Bill] Just found out while viewing the fascinating Bethlehem Steel archival video of the building of the Golden Gate Bridge in the 1930s.
TailSpin
• Corbett budget plan axes 'last resort' help for poor ... [Morning Call] 70,000 disabled or struggling Pennsylvanians who can't work stand to lose their only source of income if Gov. Tom Corbett goes through with his plan to slash the state's General Assistance welfare program. "This is truly a last resort program," said Michael Froehlich, a legal aid attorney with Community Legal Services Inc. in Philadelphia. "There is no other program to help pay for rent, transportation or medical co-pays. If you eliminate general assistance, you will increase homelessness. I don't think anyone will dispute this." More here.
• Why I watched a snake-handling pastor die for his faith ... [WaPo] Camera in hand, photographer Lauren Pond watched as Pastor Randy "Mack" Wolford -- the man she'd photographed and gotten to know over the past year -- writhed, turned pale and died, a victim of his unwavering faith, but also a testament to it. The scene has played over and over in her head since then, she writes in the Washington Post, and the questions are weighing on her: "As a photojournalist, what role did I have in this tragedy, and what is it now, in the aftermath? " [h/t Leadership Education at Duke Divinity]
Resources
• In-Formation in Bethlehem ... Canon Kitch's newsletter of lifelong Christian formation resources. May.
• Holy Women, Holy Men ... Download Holy Women, Holy Men as a .pdf file.
• Congregational Resource Guide ... May 1.
• Daily Office ... Lectionary Page ... Lectionary ... Oremus Bible Browser ... Revised Common Lectionary
Opinion/Commentary/Reflection
• Interview with Lisa Miller ... [Odyssey Networks video] Washington Post religion columnist Lisa Miller takes a look at how Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama should discuss their faith while under the national spotlight. Watch the video and discover why she says that, especially in an election season, "religion serves to divide people." Watch video.
• Technology is good for religion ... [WaPo, Lisa Miller] Technology can greatly enhance religious practice. Groups that restrict and fear it participate in their own demise. Here. Separate NYTimes article, Christian Leaders are Powerhouses on Twitter, here.
• On the other hand: It's just too easy to be a jerk on the internet ... [Leonard Pitts column] Excerpt: You always think the new technology is going to liberate something shining and profound in humankind. And sometimes, it does. But it also, invariably, becomes a medium by which we release the malignant droppings of our lizard brains. Instead of liberating our best, it liberates our worst. Gauzy TV commercials and futurist essays, you see, tell lies of omission. Every year, there’s an upgrade. Every year, there’s a shiny new doodad. Every year, the hardware changes. Every year, it is supposed to make us better. But the only piece of hardware with the power to do that lies between the ears and its upgrades are the work of a lifetime. Technology will not make us better. There is no app for that. More here. [h/t for the headline, The Morning Call]
Evangelical Lutheran
• NEPA Synod website ... Here. ELCA website ... Here. ELCA News Service ... Here. ELCA's blogs may be found here. See especially "Web and Multimedia Development."
Moravian
• Moravian Church in North America website. Moravian Church Northern Province website. Moravian Theological Seminary website.
United Methodist
• UMC website Here. News Service Here. Communication Resources Start here. Communication newsletter (tips and tools) Here. Eastern PA Conference website Here. Facebook Here. Bishop Peggy Johnson's blog Here.
Roman Catholic
• The butler is in a Vatican jail, vowing to help Vatican scandal probe ... [AP, Nicole Winfield] The biggest scandal to rock the Vatican in decades widened Monday [May 28] with the pope's butler, arrested for allegedly having confidential documents in his home, agreeing to cooperate with investigators - raising the specter that higher-ranking ecclesial heads may soon roll. Few believe butler Paolo Gabriele worked alone to leak dozens of documents shedding light on power struggles, corruption and intrigue inside the highest levels of the Catholic Church. The leaks have tormented the Vatican for months and painted a picture of a church hierarchy in utter disarray. Gabriele, the pope's personal butler since 2006, was arrested Wednesday evening [May 23] after Holy See documents were found inside his Vatican City apartment, adding an unfathomable Hollywood twist to the already sordid Vatileaks scandal. He remains in custody in a Vatican detention facility, accused of theft, and has met with his wife and lawyers. More here. And [NYTimes] The Vatican acknowledged Monday that the newest controversy in B16's papacy was damaging trust in the church, even as it tried to contain a scandal that has sent the Italian news media into a frenzy since the pope’s butler was arrested and accused of leaking the pontiff’s confidential correspondence. Italian news media have suggested that the butler, Paolo Gabriele, could not — and would not — have acted alone, and several newspapers suggested that a cardinal was the guiding force behind the dissemination of the documents. More here. [Reuters] The author of the Vatican tell-all says it was more than the butler. One whistleblower says he was part of a group of some 20 iinformants. Here.
• The landmark Philadelphia abuse trial ... Closing arguments on Thursday (May 31) capped an eleven-week trial. Jury deliberations began on Friday. Today could be the day for a verdict. Find daily reports and complete Phila Inquirer coverage. The Morning Call has also published extensive daily coverage. According to a recent article in the NYTimes, Monsignor William Lynn is the first Catholic Church official in the country to face criminal charges not for committing abuses himself, but for enabling abuses by playing down credible accusations and reassigning suspect priests to new parishes.
• LCWR plans to respond ... [LCWR website] The national board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) held a special meeting in Washington, DC from May 29-31 to review, and plan a response to, the report issued to LCWR by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. They ssy Rome’s charges that the U.S. sisters spend too much time caring for the poor and not enough preaching about sex “was based on unsubstantiated accusations and the result of a flawed process that lacked transparency ... The report has furthermore caused scandal and pain throughout the church community, and created greater polarization.” More here. And, surely, more to come. Also, NCR interview with LCWR president. And here.
• Vatican criticizes U.S. theologian's book on sexual ethics ... [NCR] The Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has sharply criticized Just Love, an award-winning book on sexual ethics by Mercy Sr. Margaret Farley, a prominent Catholic theologian at Yale University. "Among the many errors and ambiguities in this book are its positions on masturbation, homosexual acts, homosexual unions, the indissolubility of marriage and the problem of divorce and remarriage," the congregation's five-page "Notification" said. In those areas, it said, the author's position "contradicts" or "is opposed to" or "does not conform to" church teaching. Farley said, "Although my responses to some particular sexual ethical questions do depart from some traditional Christian responses, I have tried to show that they nonetheless reflect a deep coherence with the central aims and insights of these theological and moral traditions." While the Notification briefly quotes her conclusions on each of the five specific topics that are singled out, followed by a brief summation how those conclusions depart from the church's teaching, Farley said the congregation's critique "does not also consider my arguments for these positions" or the "complex theoretical and practical contexts to which they are a response." In that way it "misrepresents – perhaps unwittingly – the aims of my work and the nature of it as a proposal that might be in service of, not against, the church and its faithful people," she said. More here. Also here, by Jamie Manson: Only weeks after taking a broad swipe at the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has returned to its more typical routine of taking aim at individual theologians. It has become abundantly clear that, particularly in matters related to the pelvic zone, the hierarchy is not interesting in exploring questions or engaging in dialogue. That's a loss for the hierarchy, who would benefit greatly from a close reading of Farley's framework for sexual ethics. But their loss is the Catholic laity's gain, particularly those who have not yet been exposed to Farley's work. As we learned from the 2005 censuring of Jesuit theologian Roger Haight for his book Jesus Symbiol of God and last autumn's condemnation of Sr. Elizabeth Johnson's Quest for the Living God, Roman Catholic bishops have a knack for garnering public interest in some of the most groundbreaking theological and ethical texts being written today.
• Diocese of Allentown ... Here. Diocese of Scranton ... Here. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ... Here. Catholic News Service ... Here. Vatican website ... Here. Vatican Information Service blog ... Here. Vatican News/Info Portal ... Here.
Health
• Parish Nurse Training ... [Diana Marshall] In Hamburg, Berks County. June 15-17 and June 22-24. Here. Scholarship funds are available for members of DioBeth parishes.
• Gross grocery bags ... [Real Age] You're trying to do your bit to save the planet by using eco-friendly grocery bags, but if you don't clean those reusable totes frequently and properly, you may be putting your family's health at risk for contracting nasty food-borne illnesses, such as salmonella, listeria, and E.coli O157:H7. A new survey shows that only 15% of Americans regularly wash their reusable grocery bags. Here.
• Managing stress ... [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] Here. [h/t Diana Marshall]
• Medline Plus ... Here.
• WebMD ... Here.
Media/Films/DVD/TV/Books/Music/Tech
• The Book of Acts ... in three minutes.
• Transgender persons tell their stories: Out of the Box ... [Episcopal Café] A documentary giving voice to the witness of transgender people of faith courageously telling their stories of hope, healing and wholeness. "Gender identity and gender expression are issues that can easily be misunderstood and cannot be wrapped up in a neat little box. So the goal of "Out of the Box" was to answer some of the most frequently asked questions. We have been blessed by a truly amazing cloud of witnesses who shared their stories and their lives with us. It has been a privilege to work with them to take this project from a dream to a reality as we offer their voices of witness to the church and to the world." – Louise Brooks, Executive Producer. More here. 27-minute video at YouTube.
• Christmas Eve special about poverty in Reading PA will be on CBS ... [The Reading Eagle] Reading and its struggles with poverty will be the Christmas story this year on CBS. The network has asked Odyssey Networks, a multifaith media coalition, to produce an hour long special to be broadcast on Christmas Eve, said the Rev. Eric Shafer, Odyssey senior vice president and a Berks native. "We've decided to come to Reading to tell 'One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit,' " said the Rev. Eric Shafer, Odyssey senior vice president and a Berks native. "The special will rejoice in the true spirit of Christmas through the words of the Gospel, glorious choral music and the unique character of the community in Reading." Shafer said the Collegiate Churches of New York City have already given a $50,000 grant toward the television production and plan to award an additional $50,000 to help fight poverty in the city. With 41.3 percent of its residents living in poverty, Reading has a larger percentage of residents in poverty than any other U.S. city with 65,000 or more people, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. More here.
Calendar of Events/DioBeth ... Here.
Additional sources of news/info/commentary
• Religion News Service Daily Roundup ... here.
• Faith in Public Life ... here.
• Episcopal/Anglican
(1) The Episcopal Church
(2) Episcopal News Service
(3) Episcopal Café
(4) AngicansOnline.
(5) AnglicansOnline News Centre.
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You are reading the newSpin newsletter. The newSpin blog, which includes the newsletter and other items, is available here. When the newsletter is completed on Mondays and occasionally on Thursdays as well, it is published immediately to the blog and on Bakery and on a ChurchPost list of some 1,000 addresses. Many recipients forward it to many more. Bakery and the blog are interactive. The ChurchPost list is not. The newsletter comes, of course, with some spin from the editor. The views expressed, implied or inferred in items or links contained in the newsletter or the blog do not represent the official view of the Diocese of Bethlehem unless expressed by or forwarded from the Bishop or the Archdeacon as an official communication. If you're wondering why you haven't seen something related to your parish or agency here, it's probably because no one has sent relevant info. Regarding items about your parish or agency as well as feedback on any other items ... send email to Bill.
Bill Lewellis, Diocese of Bethlehem, retired
Communication Minister/Editor (1986-2010), Canon Theologian (1998)
Blog , Email (c)610-393-1833
Be attentive. Be intelligent. Be reasonable. Be responsible.
Be in Love. And, if necessary, change. [Bernard Lonergan]
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