newSpin 100819
August 19, 2010
Trinity Easton receives $25,000 from UTO ... The United Thank Offering of the Episcopal Church awarded the Diocese of Bethlehem a $25,000 grant for a newly renovated kitchen for Trinity Episcopal Church's Lunch Program in Easton. The grant was one of three, the largest, awarded for projects in Pennsylvania. The UTO awarded 69 grants for 2010 for a total of $2,163,740.93 for the mission and ministry of The Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion. The grants were awarded to projects in 43 Episcopal Church dioceses, 11 companion diocese relationships and 15 international provinces. Find the complete list of grants here. Find more information on UTO here.
Tradition speaking to contemporary hearts ... "I am grateful," Bishop Paul Marshall said a few years ago in an address to our Diocesan Convention, "to be part of a church that strives to represent the very best of the Christian tradition in ways that speak to contemporary hearts. I am humbled by the gracious fact that the Episcopal Church is so often also a place of refuge for divorced people, intellectual people, artists and many others who are, in fact, no longer welcome at the Lord's Table in other communities. The thing that compels me about the story of Jesus is that he spent his time teaching -- and eating with -- outcasts, that he sought them out and was even accused of being their friend. I am grateful to be a member of a church less and less interested in its former glory and more and more interested in the poor, the oppressed and all the people whom it is easy to discount or despise. I am grateful to be a member of a church that does not run away from difficult issues or deceive itself about the complexity of biblical interpretation."
Diocesan Life, September ... Download it here. The file size is 3MB and requires Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0 or higher.
Spinning ... [Bill Lewellis, [email protected]] (1) "There is no one more dangerous than the storyteller," writes E. L. Doctorow in City of God. "I'll emend that," he continues, "there is no one more dangerous than the storyteller's editor." Doctorow is referring to how Augustine derived Original Sin from Genesis 2-4. (2) Another sign of the end times? Coupons come to the Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition. To its affluent readership, the insert has recently offered $1 or 50-cent discounts on items such as Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, Air Wick air freshener and Red Baron microwave pizza. (3) Traveler's anxiety. (4) When I pray, coincidences happen, and when I don't, they don't. [Attributed to William Temple] (5) No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it. [Albert Einstein] (6) An old Quaker story tells about a visitor coming into the silence of a Friends' Meeting for worship and asking the person next to whom he sat, "What time does the service begin?" The Quaker's response: "When the worship is over." (7) To reduce religion to belief or morality is to reduce religion to superstition/magic or judgmentalism. Obviously, hyperbole. The trick, however, is to determine where reality fades and hyperbole begins. Reductionism (i.e. "nothing but"), however, usually destroys anything it attempts to explain.
Pray for our young men and women ...who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan. More here.
Why Rome scorns resignations ... [John Allen, National Catholic Reporter] Four broad reasons why the Vatican is always reluctant to see a bishop resign under fire: First, the Vatican doesn't want to feed impressions that public opinion and media hostility can bring down a bishop. ,,, Second, allowing a bishop to resign, even if it's entirely merited, can create an avalanche which buries other bishops who don't share the same level of responsibility. ... Third, the Vatican also tends not to remove problem bishops because, in the institutional culture of the church, retirement has traditionally been seen as a reward for a job well done. A retired bishop has all the privileges of rank and few of the burdens, so the tendency is not to let a man walk away until he has cleared his desk.Fourth, and perhaps most fundamentally, the Vatican does not like the idea of a bishop resigning for poor performance because, in their view, it's bad theology. ... More here.
Some RC bishops questioning clerical culture ... [Tom Roberts, National Catholic Reporter] In statements, speeches, interviews and at least one pastoral letter, bishops in various parts of the world have begun raising provocative questions about whether something intrinsic to the Roman Catholic church -- perhaps its clerical culture, its manner of governance, its exercise of authority, or a combination of such elements -- has either caused or abetted the priest sex abuse tragedy. More here.The slow, whining death of British Christianity ... [Johann Hari, columnist, GQ and The Independent] Only six percent regularly attend a religious service. More here. [H/T to Jim Naughton, Episcopal Cafe]
ENS Weekly Bulletin Inserts .. [Episcopal News Service] For those who live on the Gulf Coast, it's not a question of whether a natural disaster will strike, but rather when the next one will come, says the Very Rev. James "Bo" Roberts, rector of St. Mark's Church in Gulfport, Mississippi, one of six churches in the Diocese of Mississippi that Hurricane Katrina destroyed on August 29, 2005. ENS Weekly bulletin inserts for Aug. 29, 2010 look at the situation in the Gulf Coast area five years after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the area and as the aftermath of the massive BP oil spill continues to threaten recovery efforts. Full text here. Downloaded inserts here.
Pennsylvania bishop returns to divided diocese, says he's listening to lay, clergy leaders, repeats intention to stay ... By Mary Frances Schjonberg, Episcopal News Service] Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania Bishop Charles Bennison returned to the diocesan offices in downtown Philadelphia Aug. 16 amid continued calls for his retirement or resignation. "We do not believe that Bishop Bennison has the trust of the clergy and lay leaders necessary for him to be an effective pastor and leader of the Diocese of Pennsylvania, nor that he can regain or rebuild the trust that he has lost or broken," the diocesan Standing Committee said in a letter posted to the diocese's website in the late morning. "We believe that it would be in the best interest of the diocese that Bishop Bennison not resume his exercise of authority here." More here and here and here.
Coping with crises close to someone else's heart ... [Harriet Brown, NYTimes] Over the last few years, Harriet Brown's family has had their share of crises. First, her daughters were hospitalized with life-threatening illnesses. Then, her mother-in-law died from lung cancer. In that time, Brown and her family observed not only how they dealt with trauma but how their friends, family and community did, too. For the most part, she writes in the New York Times, they were blessed with support and love from friends. But a couple of friends disappeared. We know a lot about how people cope with crisis when it happens to them. But psychologists are just beginning to explore the ways we respond to other people's traumas. [H/T to Duke Divinity Leadership Education]
Can you change the message of the medium? Consider this.
The Episcopal Church Building Fund endeavors to respond to growing challenges of churches being strapped financially due to the expense of maintaining aging buildings. More here.Communication Workshop ... September 11, St. Stephen's Wilkes-Barre, 9:00 to 3:00. Repeat of the June 26 workshop. Registration now open online at www.diobeth.org.
Pre-convention meetings ... September 28 at St. Alban's, Sinking Spring, September 30 at Church of the Epiphany, Clarks Summit, October 5 at Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. All at 7:00 p.m.
Diocesan Convention ... October 8-9, Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Registration now open online at www.diobeth.org.
Daughters of the King Assembly ... October 30 at St. Luke's, Scranton, 9:00 a.m.
Happening 19 ... November 12-14, Kirby House, Mountaintop. Info TK. Registration will open September 17 online at www.diobeth.org. Questions? Kim Rowles, 610-751-3931.
Bishop’s Night with Youth ... Jan. 21-22 at St. John the Divine, New York City. Registration will open online November 22 at www.diobeth.org. Questions? Kim Rowles, 610-751-3931.
California Gay Marriage on Hold as Case Is Appealed ... A U.S. appeals court panel on Monday ruled that same-sex couples could not marry in California while the court considers the constitutionality of the state's gay marriage ban, according to wire reports. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals panel set a relatively aggressive schedule for hearing the case, ordering lawyers to produce a series of briefs between Sept. 17 and Nov. 1. The Monday decision by the appellate panel reverses a ruling last week by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Vaughn Walker, who had said marriages could resume while higher courts considered the matter. More here.
Gay Pride: It's time to get over our homosexuality obsessions ... [Paul Carpenter, [email protected], 610-820-6176, The Morning Call, Aug. 18] Would it be all right to hold a big government-sanctioned festival to ballyhoo heterosexual pride? After all, it takes a tremendous amount of work, effort, skill and sacrifice to achieve heterosexuality. Or does it? Can one take pride in something other than accomplishment? If I walked around with a sign proclaiming how proud I am to be almost 6 feet tall, or if I bragged about my blue eyes, would people respond favorably, or would they point out that I had nothing to do with those marvelous attributes? ... Anyway, we have so many problems and challenges that require our energy. Why waste it on bellowing against sexual relationships among consenting adults? Why waste it holding festivals to brag about being made a certain way when one had nothing to do with being made that way? History is full of people who were believed to be gay and who accomplished great things — from Alexander the Great to Leonardo to Tchaikovsky to Eleanor Roosevelt to J. Edgar Hoover. (Maybe that last one is not such a good example.) I long for a world in which we hold more festivals to celebrate accomplishment and fewer festivals to make noise about things we had no conscious part in achieving. More here. [The headline on the newspaper's website is the one copied above. The headline on the hard copy was Having Gay Pride Fest lacks rationale]
Gay clergy: The state of the debate ... [Religion Link. Resources for Reporters] Saturday will mark one year since the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America decided to allow the ordination of gay and lesbian ministers who are in committed, same-gender relationships. For resources on covering the anniversary, see the August 2009 ReligionLink edition.
Does Hitchens have a prayer? ... Since the dire diagnosis of esophageal cancer a question has arisen over whether to pray for famous atheist Christopher Hitchens. Why should it be a question to pray for a man stricken with disease? One would expect a prayer to leave the heart even before the question entered the head. More here.Are economic conservatives and social conservatives natural allies, sworn enemies, or strange bedfellows? ... [Religion Link. Resources for Reporters] The Tea Party movement is an influential force in electora l politics this year as it channels widespread populist anger over the weak economy and a host of other issues, such as taxes, immigration and the role of government. But how friendly is the Tea Party to Christian ideals, especially those embraced by Christian conservatives? Read more.
Antagonistic people may increase heart attack, stroke risk ... Antagonistic people, particularly those who are competitive and aggressive, may be increasing their risk of heart attack or stroke, researchers report in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association. People who tend to be competitive and more willing to fight for their own self interest have thicker arterial walls, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. More here. [H/T to Diana Marshall]
New Fed Guidance: Seafood safety following the Gulf Oil spill ... Here.
Eat Pray Love's spiritual tourism ... Elizabeth Gilbert's search for nirvana in India is a art of a long tradition of misguided Western spiritual tourism in the country, writes author Gita Mehta. More here.
The holiness of spiritual journey ... [Washington Post] As the summer winds down and vacations wind down, people are back to the
everyday grind, the everyday, "ordinariness" of life. We are also in
the midst of the season of Pentecost, the "Ordinary Time" of our
liturgical season. Do you need to leave home to experience the holy?
The Washington Post's "On Faith" column takes on the question of leaving
home and going on pilgrimage to experience the holy. How does your
spiritual tradition take on the practice of pilgrimage, of spiritual
journey? More here.
Bob Dylan, the Beat Generation, and Allen Ginsberg's America ... [Sean Wilentz, The New Yorker] Excerpt: "Dylan's continuing link to the Beat Generation, though, came chiefly through his friend and sometime mentor Allen Ginsberg. Dylan's link with Ginsberg dated back to the end of 1963, a pivotal moment in the lives and careers of both men. Thereafter, in the mid-1960s, the two would complete important artistic transitions, each touched and supported by the other." More 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 newsletter comes, of course, with some spin from the editor, but 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. Comments may be addressed to Bill.
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