newSpin 100607
June 07, 2010
In our own languages
we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power ...
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts
Schori has issued a pastoral
letter to the Episcopal Church, in which she refers to the Pentecost
letter from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. "The recent statement by the Archbishop of
Canterbury about the struggles
within the Anglican Communion seems to equate Pentecost with a single
understanding of gospel realities. Those who received the gift of the
Spirit on that day all heard good news. The crowd reported, 'in our own
languages we hear them speaking about God's deeds of power' (Acts 2:11). Read
the
PB's letter here and a few reactions here
and here.
[H/T to Episcopal Cafe reporters Peter Carey and Andrew Gerns]
On the Feast of Corpus Christi ... Archdeacon Stringfellow preached on the Feast of Corpus Christi at the Church of the Holy Cross Wilkes-Barre. Read the sermon here.
Who worries you? ... [A column by
Bill Lewellis, published June 5 in The Morning Call] "I have long
regarded people who worry me as saints." Read the column at the
newSpin blog or in The
Morning Call.
Trinity Cathedral Phoenix ... Trinity Episcopal Cathedral sits on a divide in downtown Phoenix, Arizona, between the city's oldest Hispanic barrio to the southeast and the first wave of Anglo suburbs to the northwest. Its location also puts it at the center of the nation's immigration debate. "That the cathedral lives on that fault line physically seems to be too good an opportunity to pass up," said the Very Rev. Nicholas Knisely, Trinity's dean, in a May 31 telephone interview. The opportunity, for the church and the Diocese of Arizona, lies in being "a crossroads ministry and inviting people in from different directions. My hope is that what we're trying to do at the cathedral can spread into the larger community." More here.
Not your Grandma's Evangelicals ... Scholars and religious writers such as Diana Butler Bass, Phyllis Tickle, and Brian McLaren have noted that the tired old stereotypes of liberal, conservative, evangelical, progressive, and traditional seem to be less and less helpful in describing the religious landscape. Time magazine has picked up on the topic and notes the changing ways that young evangelicals are living out their faith. More here and here. [H/T to Peter Carey, reporting at Episcopal Cafe]
Compassion changes everything ... [By Tom Ehrich, at the Huffington Post] mmmmmmm Read more here.
Consecration Sunday Assistance
will be offered at Good Shepherd, Scranton on June 23 at 7:00 p.m.
Please contact Dan Charney at [email protected] or call 610-837-4613 to
register for this event by June 21. Please give the name of your
parish and the names of those attending.
World Refugee Day ... On Sunday, June 20, refugee advocates and organizations, and many faith communities – including the Episcopal Church – observe World Refugee Day. Church members are asked to pray for the uprooted and for a world without the violence, discrimination and oppression that have led to their suffering and displacement. ENS Weekly bulletin inserts for June 13 tell the story of refugee Dadiri Nuro, formerly of Somalia, who was assisted by a branch of Episcopal Migration Ministries in building a new life in Boise, Idaho. Inserts may be downloaded here.
IRS Nears Action on
Church Pensions ... [By Eileen E. Schultz, WSJournal]
The Internal Revenue Service is drafting guidance that could require
employers with religious affiliations to warn workers when their
pensions have lost their federal safety net. Over the past decade, more
than 100 employers, including hospitals, schools, nursing homes,
charities and other nonprofits, have converted their pension plans to
"church plans," a largely unregulated category of pensions that
generally cover clergy and lay employees of churches and synagogues.
Church plans are exempt from federal pension rules, including those that
require employers to fund the plans and insure them with the Pension
Benefit Guaranty Corp., or PBGC, a federal agency that pays the benefits
if a pension plan runs out of money. "They said: 'Hallelujah, I'm a
church plan,' and no longer have to meet funding requirements, or pay
premiums, said Andrew Zuckerman, the IRS's acting director of employee
plans, at a meeting for pension groups this year. The IRS has suspended
rulings on church plans while it develops revenue procedures to address
concerns about the conversions, including whether employees know their
employers dropped the insurance on their plans, a person familiar with
the matter said. Read
more here. [This article will be available to non-subscribers of
the Online Wall Street Journal for only a few more days. H/T to Larry
Holman.]
Disregard invoices
from Ecunet ... Until a year or so ago, the interactive list of the
Diocese of Bethlehem was known as "Bethlehem of Pa" and was maintained
on the Ecunet system. That is no longer so. "Bethlehem of Pa" became
"Bakery" and that list and all of our lists are now maintained at
ChurchPost and Diocesan House. So, if you receive an invoice from
Ecunet, disregard it unless you are interested in certain non-diocesan
lists maintained at Ecunet.
A Communication Workshop will be held June 26 at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem, 8:30 to 3:00. Cost is $10.00 and includes lunch. Open to anyone interested in communication as ministry. Topics include: eNewsletters on ChurchPost, print publications, social networking using Facebook and Twitter, blogging, and communication as ministry. Registration is open online here. Download a brochure here. Register online here.
Brian Pavlac will
be ordained to the priesthood on June 29, 7:00 p.m., at St
Stephen's Wilkes-Barre. A reception will follow.
Bishop's Day for Kids ... The Gospel according to Dr Seuss, July 10 at Good Shepherd Scranton. More info here. Register online here.
Middle School
Mission Trip ... August 5-8, Bethlehem.
Online
registration is open. More info here.
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About the newSpin newsletter ... Composed at least weekly (usually twice a week) by Bill Lewellis, the newSpin newsletter appears as a post within the newSpin blog, but newsletter and blog are not identical. The newsletter currently goes to some 1,000 email addresses on a separate list. The views expressed, seemingly 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. Comments may be addressed to Bill.
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