newSpin, the newsletter
March 11, 2013
Bill Lewellis
Published on Monday
Occasionally, abbreviated, also on Thursday
TopSpin
• DioLight ... [Canon Anne Kitch, Acting Archdeacon] Beginning Wednesday, March 13, the Bishop will be sending to all parishes a biweekly mailing called DioLight. This is to be treated as a Pastoral Letter from the Bishop, which must, by canon, be shared with the parish on Sunday. While Pastoral Letters are usually read at all Sunday services, Bishop Paul asks that DioLight be: (1) printed and put into the Sunday bulletins as an insert, (2) distributed through email lists, (3) delivered to the sick and shut in on pastoral visits. Each edition of DioLight will be sent electronically to arrive by Wednesday. It will contain a word of encouragement from the Bishop, a note about ministry in the diocese, and brief news. DioLight will contain plenty of Good News. Please share it intentionally and abundantly.
• An Invitation to the Chrism Mass ... [Bishop Paul] Thursday, March 21, 11 a.m., The Cathedral of the Nativity. In most places in the Christian world, the renewal of ordination vows and blessing of oils for the year are private services. In Bethlehem our liturgy is public, lay people are urged to be present, and there is a free lunch. So why should you accept this invitation?
1) Besides the fact that it is a stunning and uplifting liturgy, it is your chance to be with other members of the diocese as we support and pray for our clergy as they re-commit themselves to to their service to us. It is also the time when together we pray over the oils that are used with the sick and at baptism and confirmation--each time those oils are applied, they represent the prayers of the entire diocese. Those of you with special ministries of healing and teaching will particularly want to be present.
2) It is yet another opportunity to connect with sisters and brothers from around the diocese as we share lunch. The more connection we have, the better we function.
3) Pilgrimage
In some ways, those who travel the farthest for this event will reap the most benefit. When we travel to do something, we change as we go; this is why the ancient practice of pilgrimage still has so much meaning. But whether you are crossing the street or crossing the mountains, making the effort to be at this service will bless you.
To let us know how much lunch to make, your priest will need to know how many are coming, so if you won't be there Sunday to raise your hand at announcement time, let him/her know otherwise, as we need a count on Monday.
I look forward to being with you on this important day. Blessings, +Paul
• Russell Jackson accepts call to San Antonio ... [Dean Tony Pompa] Russell Jackson, our Canon Precentor, organist and choirmaster, has acceptd a call to serve as Director of Music at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in San Antonio, Texas. St. Luke's is a large urban parish with a parochial school ministry that isj worthy of Russell's exceptional gifts and talents. Russell joined the Cathedral staff in June of
1993 and has served this community with steadfast faith, a high sense
of professionalism, and a passion for excellence in sacred music that
has enabled so many of us to experience the holy in our worship and
through musical experiences. More here.
SoulSpin
• The Book of Common Prayer ... every edition from 1549 to 1979. Here.
• Prayers and Thanksgivings from the BCP. Here.
• The Daily Office ... can be read online in Rite I, Rite II or the New Zealand Prayer Book versions. At Mission St. Clare.
• Holy Women, Holy Men ... Download Holy Women, Holy Men as a .pdf file.
• Speaking to the Soul ... An Episcopal Café blog. Sermons, reflections, multimedia meditations and excerpts from books on spirituality. Here.
DioBethSpin
• In-Formation in Bethlehem ... Canon Anne Kitch's March monthly newsletter on Christian formation. Includes ten formation ideas for any parish. Here.
• Beyond words ... [Bishop
Paul served as conference preacher for the June 2012 Association of
Anglican Musicians in Philadelphia. He preached four sermons. This is an
excerpt from the first.] Read "Beyond Words" here. Read "Andante: Starving Artists: A closer look at ourselves, in our desperate moments" here.
• Five Wednesday evenings at the Cathedral with Bishop Paul ... [Began Feb. 20] Some
days we barely survive; other days we thrive. Over five Wednesday
evenings in Lent from 7-8, Bishop Paul invites us to look at some of the
spiritual tools that make for a good day even in troubled
circumstances. With help from scripture, poetry, and music we will look
at five of our many tools: Faith, Wonder, Meaning, Sacrifice, and
Self-examination. More here.
• PA Council of Churches ministry of public advocacy ... [Diana Marshall] March 1 news and action summary here.
• Chrism Mass ... March 21
at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, 11 a.m. Please let
Nanette Smith at 610-691-5655, x222, know by Monday (March 18) how many people are coming
from your parish. See more above, under TopSpin.
• Education for Ministry ... [Cathy Bailey] Here.
• Christophany ... [Ellyn Siftar, Missioner for Youth and Young Adult Ministries] A
Christophany is an appearance, or non-physical manifestation, of
Christ. The Christophany retreat weekend for youth in grades 6-12 will
take place Friday to Sunday, April 19-21, at Pocono Plateau Retreat Center in Cresco. Our mission is related to
our theme, SPARKED! Over these three days we will learn about God's love
for us and how to bring that love into the world as we spend time in
nature in the lovely Pocono mountains and come to know each other
better. Each year the youth council chooses a mission and this year's
outreach project will be to collect items for the Middle School Mission
Team this summer. Online registration at diobeth.org. Further details later. More info here. and here.
• Disaster Preparedness Training
... April 27, 10:00 a.m., St. George's Regional Disaster and Recovery
Center, Nanticoke. Registrations may be made for the workshop by
emailing
jmajordiobetherd@hotmail.com.
• Stewardship and Evangelism Conference ... May 18, location to be determined. Online registration will open April 1 at diobeth.org.
• 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
• A delightful afternoon concert at Trinity Bethlehem ... [Mother Laura Howell] On Sunday, March 17, at 3 p.m., Trinity will host the Nazareth Community Band directed by Ralph Brodt. Standards such as the Light Calvary March, Danny Boy, Evening at the Pops by John Williams, Songs For America by Irving Berlin will be performed. Aram Basmadjian, Trinity's Artist-in-Residence, will join the band on the Baldwin grand piano for George Gershwin”s Rhapsody in Blue. Suggested donation: $15 per person; children aged 12 and under free. Trinity Episcopal Church is located at 44 East Market Street, Bethlehem. For additional information email ron@trinitybeth.org, 610-867-4741 X304.
• Healing Service at Christ Church Reading ... Saturday, March 16, at 10:00 a.m. All are invited. More here.
• West Pittston ... On March 2, Trinity West Pittston hosted nearly forty young families at a special event called Music Around the World. Story and pic here.
• Note to parishes ... Post news summaries and links on Bakery or send them to Bill.
Episcopal/Anglican (beyond DioBeth)
• House of Deputies newsletter ... Here.
• Human Trafficking: A Churchwide Conversation ... a March 6 forum hosted by Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, is now available on line here. Text of PB's address here.
• Episcopal Church Website ... ENS blog ... Episcopal Web Radio ... Episcopal Church on Facebook ... YouTube ... Twitter ... foursquare ... and Linked-In ...
• Anglican Communion Website ... News Service. ... and News Service on Facebook.
Employment Opportunities
• DioBeth seeks Missioner for Communication and Congregational Renewal ... Are
you a digital native, passionate about new ways of communicating
ancient traditions and furthering our diocesan mission to "Live God's
love. Tell what you have seen and heard"? Are you a superb volunteer
coordinator? Can you think strategically? Do you have excellent
communication skills? If so, we want you to become a part of our team.
The Diocese of Bethlehem is currently accepting applications for the
position of Missioner for Communication and Congregational Renewal. This
is a full-time, salaried position working out of Diocesan House.
Deadline for submission of letter of interest and resumes is March 5,
2013. Download job description and details on submission info here.
• Episcopal Positions (NYC/DC) ... Here.
TaleSpin
• Tone Matters ... [Scott Gunn, Vestry Papers] The trick with communication, especially in a parish with so many kinds
of personalities and numerous volunteers, is to strike the right tone.
Email might be the trickiest medium, but the challenge is there in all
communication. I’ve developed a few principles that I try to remember
with my communication in all media. More here.
• Creating congregations of generous people ... [Alban Institute] Here.
• Women's History Month ... [USA.gov] One hundred years ago, suffragists marched on Washington to promote women's rights. In recognition of the anniversary, the National Archives created a Pinterest board where you can view photos, letters, a cartoon, and other documents from that period. Learn about generations of women who've contributed to American society here.
TailSpin
• Catholic bishops opposes Violence Against Women Act. ... [RNS] Five key Catholic bishops are opposing the newly authorized
Violence Against Women Act for fear it will subvert traditional views of
marriage and gender, and compromise the religious freedom of groups
that aid victims of human trafficking. The act, which was signed into law by President Obama on Thursday
(March 7), is intended to protect women from domestic violence, sexual
assault and human trafficking, and allows the federal government to
spend money to treat victims and prosecute offenders. But for the first time since the original act became law in 1994, it
spells out that no person may be excluded from the law’s protections
because of “sexual orientation” or “gender identity” — specifically
covering lesbian, transgender and bisexual women. Read on.
• Are you living in an elitist bubble? ... [BigThink] Take the quiz. Here.
• The lesson you never got taught in school: How to learn ... [BigThink] Here.
• What Would Jesus Brew? ... [WSJournal] Here. [h/t Deacon Larry Holman]
• Quo vadis? ... [America Magazine, James Hanvey] St. Ignatius Loyola was not the first to identify “desolation” and “consolation,” but he teaches us to use them as a school in which God teaches us. One of the great insights of his Spiritual Exercises is not to flee from desolation but to attend to it. God is at work even in a dry, painful and dark time, confronting us with our fears, resistances and un-freedoms, often deep and subtle. No matter how much we love the church, it would be hard not to feel, at least from a European and North American perspective, that we have been living in a time of desolation. This does not detract from the astonishing goodness, commitment and courageous witness that so many “ordinary Catholics” give—the sure sign of the Spirit’s faithfulness. I would identify three desolations that are present in the Western church at the moment: hierarchical leadership, the wound of abuse, and mourning. Of course, they are all related. Read it all.
Evangelical Lutheran
• NEPA Synod E-News ... March 8.
• 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
• Jesus Christ with an MBA ... [Reuters] "What they are looking for is Jesus Christ with an MBA." –Thomas Reese, a Jesuit scholar and author of "Inside the Vatican," on the challenge facing Catholic cardinals in selecting a new pope.
• A To-Do List for the Conclave ... [WSJournal] A review of Gustav Weigel's book, Evangelical Catholicism. Mr. Weigel uses the term to describe a church dedicated to
spreading the Gospel rather than its own parochial concerns. The term
suggests priests who help the faithful to know Jesus rather than simply
know about Jesus. Most of all it emphasizes the importance of the
faithful—clergy and laity alike—to be not just followers of a creed but
missionaries in everyday life. For faith to endure in an age of
secularism and of moral and spiritual ennui, it must not be a
Sunday-only affair: Faith must be a fundamental commitment and identity. Read on. [h/t Deacon Larry Holman]
HealthSpin
• CDC Warns of Deadly New Virus ... [DailyBeast] Cue the
collective medical freakout: the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention has warned of a deadly new virus that has killed eight people
and sickened 14 others around the world. No cases of the SARS-like
“coronavirus” have been reported in the U.S., but the CDC is urging
anyone visiting countries in or near the Arabian peninsula to see a
doctor immediately if they have a fever and symptoms of a lower
respiratory illness. Most of the infections have occurred in the Middle
East, but three confirmed cases in the U.K. suggest the virus can spread
from person to person rather than from animals to humans. As if we
didn’t have enough superbugs on our hands. More here. Also here.
• Three smart cures for what ails us ... [BigThink] Stem cell therapy, Portable medical technology and gamification, and Cost control through collaboration and motivation. Read on.
• How Grapefruit Juice could kill you ... [BigThink] We’ve known for over a couple of decades about the grapefruit juice
interaction that affects half of all drugs to some degree, but a paper
recently published has warned that over the last four years there has been a major jump in
the number of drugs that are affected by grapefruit juice to a
dangerous degree. Read on.
• Cataloging health care's excesses ... [NYTimes, Bloomberg News] The cover story in last week's TIME magazine, “Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us,” is a serious,
exhaustively reported piece about the problem the U.S. health care
system has become. The article, by Steven Brill, has created unusual
buzz in Washington; it spares no vested interest. Read on.
• National Episcopal Health Ministries ... has a new website.
• Resources for caregivers ... Here. • Medline Plus ... Here. • WebMD ... Here.
• Alzheimers.gov ... For the people helping people with Alzheimers. Here.
Media/Films/DVD/TV/Books/Music/Tech
• Free eBooks by Project Gutenberg ... Here. • Free Audiobooks from LibriVox ... Here. • Free Audiobooks and eBooks ... Here and Here.
• Google Books ... Millions of books you can preview or read free. Here. • The Online Books Page ... from UPenn. Here.
• More free eBooks and Audiobooks ... [Techlicious] Here.
What's Happening in our parishes? ... Here.
What's Happening around the Episcopal Church? ... Here.
Resources
• In-Formation in Bethlehem ... Canon Anne Kitch's March monthly newsletter on Christian formation ... Here.
• Forward Movement ... Here.
• The Alban Institute ... Here.
• ECF Vital Practices ... Here.
• Faith in Public Life ... Here. A strategy center for the faith community
advancing faith in the public square as a force for justice,
compassion and the common good.
• Religion&Ethics News Weekly (PBS) ... Here.
• The Chalice, a publication of DioBeth's Lifelong Christian Formation Committee created by Joan DeAcetis for older adults and caretakers. Download issues here.
• Weekly Bulletin Inserts from the Episcopal Church ... Here.
• Episcopal Web Radio ... Here.
• Updated Episcopal Church canons and constitution available online ... Here.
• Religion News Service Daily Roundup ... here.
• National Catholic Reporter ... here.
• Back issues of the newSpin newsletter ... here.
• Episcopal/Anglican
(1) The Episcopal Church
(2) Episcopal News Service
(3) Episcopal Café
(4) AngicansOnline.
(5) AnglicansOnline News Centre.
• Daily Office ... Lectionary Page ... Lectionary ... Oremus Bible Browser ... Revised Common Lectionary
*************
You are reading the newSpin newsletter. The newSpin blog, which includes the newsletter and other items, is available here,
where you may comment on anything posted here. When the
newsletter is completed on Mondays
and occasionally on
Thursdays in a somewhat abbreviated form, 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. If you think something about
your parish or agency merits
inclusion, 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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