newSpin 110421
April 21, 2011
The newSpin newsletter, April 21, 2011
By Bill Lewellis
Published Mondays and Thursdays
The Paschal Triduum ... one three-day-long event celebrating one saving dynamic ... even in the midst of death there is life. More here.
View
Below, under "The Episcopal Church" ... •St. Matthew's Passion Gospel presented by All Saints Pasadena, •Webcasts of Good Friday and Easter morning services.
A four-minute message to the LGBT community by Patrick Malloy. Here. [H/T Libby House]
Read
Below, under "Diocese" ... •Ecumenical Chrism Mass makes full-communion history, •Where Charisma and Order meet is where we are born again, sermon by Andrew Gerns at the Chrism Mass, •Bethlehem communicators awarded national recognition, •Six chronically homeless persons to live in apartments next to Grace Allentown by Libby House and Bill Lewellis, •Renewal Assembly II.
Below, under "Spinning" ... •Exodus, cargo of hidden stories, •Larger than life, •Does Hell exist? •One left out.
Below, under "Roman Catholic Church" ... •The Hidden Exodus: Catholics becoming Protestants
Below, under "The Episcopal Church" ... •Healing spirit comes out of pain
Diocese
Maria Tjeltveit's mother ... [Bishop Paul] Sisters and Brothers, I am sorry to tell you of the death of Mrs. Elizabeth Eddy, mother of Canon Maria Tjeltveit. Mrs. Eddy was 89. As other details become available we will share them. Please keep Elizabeth, Maria, and their families in your prayers. May she rest in peace, and may light perpetual shine upon her. Blessings, +Paul
• Ecumenical Chrism Mass in Bethlehem makes full-communion history ... [Episcopal News Service] A traditional annual Chrism Mass, in which clergy renew their ordination vows and anointing oils are blessed, took on a historic note April 14 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem Bishop Paul Marshall invited the Rev. Samuel R. Zeiser, bishop of the Northeastern PA Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church, and the Rev. David E. Bennett, president of the Eastern District of the Moravian Church in North America, to join him in celebrating the Mass at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. More here.
• Bethlehem communicators awarded national recognition ... The Diocese of Bethlehem, for media work during 2010, won Episcopal Communicators Polly Bond Awards in three categories, placed in two categories and received honorable mention in two categories. More Here.
• Where Charisma and Order meet is where we are born again ... Sermon by Canon Andrew Gerns at the Chrism Mass, April 14. Here.
• Calendar of Events, updated April 13 ... Read here. Download here.
• Six chronically homeless persons will live next to Grace Allentown ... [Libby House and Bill Lewellis] On April 20, Grace House at 112 North Fifth Street, Allentown, a newly renovated three-story brick and stucco property next to Grace Episcopal Church, will welcome its first homeless residents. More here.
• In-Formation in Bethlehem ... A newsletter of lifelong Christian formation resources from Anne Kitch. Read the April issue here.
• Diocesan Life ... April. Here. Read online or download as a pdf.
• Deacon Ordination ... Eddie Lopez will be ordained a Deacon, June 24, 7:00 p.m., at St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre. Clergy, White Stoles.
• Grace Kingston seeks full-time Minister of Music ... Here.
• St. Anne's Trexlertown seeks part-time Minister of Music ... Here.
• Trinity Easton to hold Broadway Revue ... May 6, 7, 8. Bring your act. More here.
• Creating a Culture of Peace, community-based training for generating nonviolent power ... Evening of May 19 through the afternoon of the 22. An interactive and experiential training for teens and adults that will prepare you to make a difference in your life, your family, and in the world. At Christ Church, Reading. Cost: $45 (scholarships are available). Registration is open at www.diobeth.org (click on Register for Diocesan Events, at right) and will close on May 13. Sponsored by the Diocesan Peace Commission.
• Grace Montessori Auction raises $16,000 ... [Libby House, executive director GMS and senior warden Grace Allentown] Grace Montessori School held its 14th Annual Scholarship Auction Benefit last Friday night at the Allentown Brew Works. It is with great pleasure that I am able to announce that our scholarship auction benefit raised $16,000 this year. This is the highest number of dollars we have ever raised through this annual event, over its fourteen-year history. Everyone who made a donation for the auctions, bought a raffle ticket, secured a sponsor, made a cash donation, attended the benefit, bid on an item, worked on a committee, oversaw a class project, worked at the auction, or helped with babysitting contributed to the great success of this year’s benefit. The proceeds will help us support 40 children attending Grace Montessori School on scholarship assistance this school year.
• Renewal Assembly II ... Saturday, June 11 (9:00 to 1:30) at eight locations across the Diocese. Church of the Redeemer, Sayre; St. Paul’s, Montrose; Good Shepherd, Scranton; St. Stephen’s Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre; St. Peter’s, Hazelton; St. Mary’s, Reading; St. Stephen’s, Whitehall; and, St. George’s, Hellertown. More here. Register at www.diobeth.org (click on Register for Diocesan Events, at right). Registration will close on June 1. A new introductory video will feature Bishop Paul and lay people. Watch Assembly I video, with Bishop Paul, Mother Laura Howell and Father John Francis, at YouTube, split into two parts, or all in one at Vimeo. Length of video is 23:30.
• Jesus loves a growing seed ... North Carolina Bishop Michael Curry will keynote our 2011 Stewardship and Evangelism Workshop, Saturday, May 14 (9:00 to 3:00) at St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral, Wilkes-Barre. The theme: Jesus loves a growing seed. Bishop Curry is a nationally recognized preacher known for his vivid and exciting spiritual messages packed with humor and thought-provoking ideas, encouraging listeners to think more fully about their spiritual lives and responsibilities as Christians. Participants will leave with something of value in their minds and hearts. Registration is open at www.diobeth.org (click on Register for Diocesan Events, at right) and will close April 30 or when 300 have registered. Cost per person, $10,00, includes breakfast sacks, beverages and lunch. More here. More about Bishop Curry here and here.
• Episcopal News Weekly bulletin inserts ... Bulletin inserts for Easter Sunday: An Easter Message from the Presiding Bishop. Download inserts here.
• Cathedral Church of the Nativity ... This week's notes. April 15. This Nativity Weekly is created with ChurchPost, built entirely by churches for churches, available free to parishes of the Diocese of Bethlehem. Ask Kat about ChurchPost.
• DioBeth Website and newSpin Blog
• Public news and info lists ... At the Diobeth website, enter your name and email in the "Get Connected" box on the right hand side. You are welcome to subscribe to any or all of these. "Bakery" is our diocesan interactive list.
Spinning
• Exodus: cargo of hidden stories ... [Krista Tippett, On Being] In this week’s show, we hold the Exodus story up to the light and turn it — like a jewel, the ancient rabbis would say. And Avivah Zornberg tells us what she sees: astonishing detail, hues of meaning, and a cargo of hidden stories. We follow Zornberg and find ourselves addressed, whoever we are. This story, among all the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, has proven itself a bearer across time of near-universal themes. More here.
• Larger than life? ... [Episcopal Cafe, Marshall Scott] We are in a season when we contemplate all that God has done. We set the Passion, Crucifixion, and Resurrection in the context of “the mighty acts of God.” However, central to our faith – indeed, central to our salvation – is the fact that these events were not larger than life. It was God in human scale who came among us, to sit at table and welcome even the least. It was not a projection but God seen with our own eyes who accepted that most universal and most terrifying of human experiences, suffering and death. When Jesus rose that that we might rise with him, we encountered it not in the shaking of the earth or the parting of the skies, but in one mistaken for a gardener and in a companion on the road. For all our temptation to the larger image and the false intimacy of the big screen, that was not God’s way. Instead, our salvation was accomplished in events that, for all their cosmic consequences, were recognizably, almost frighteningly familiar – and certainly not larger than life. More here.
• One left out ... [Religion News Service] The Nazi regime beheaded three clergymen of the north German city of Luebeck in quick succession in 1943. Three RC priests and one Lutheran pastor. Their commingled blood spawned an ecumenical cooperation between the city’s majority Lutherans and minority Catholics that still lasts. The Vatican will beatify three in June. More here.
• Amazon to launch library lending for Kindle books ... [USA Today] The world of Kindle reading soon will get bigger: Later this year, Amazon will launch library lending for Kindle books, from over 11,000 libraries in the U.S. The Kindle Library Lending feature will be available for all Kindles and Kindle apps, Amazon said. You'll be able to check out a Kindle book from a local library and start reading on any Kindle device or Kindle app. More here.
• Does Hell exist? ... [TIME Magazine cover story, Jon Meacham] As part of a series on peacemaking, in late 2007, Pastor Rob Bell's Mars Hill Bible Church put on an art exhibit about the search for peace in a broken world. It was just the kind of avant-garde project that had helped power Mars Hill's growth (the Michigan church attracts 7,000 people each Sunday) as a nontraditional congregation that emphasizes discussion rather than dogmatic teaching. An artist in the show had included a quotation from Mohandas Gandhi. Hardly a controversial touch, one would have thought. But one would have been wrong. A visitor to the exhibit had stuck a note next to the Gandhi quotation: "Reality check: He's in hell." Bell was struck. Read it all here.
Wisdom Found: Stories of Women Transfigured by Faith ... The publicity for this book edited by Lindsay Freeman and published by Forward Movement speaks of "forty bright, insightful, faithful and eloquent women" who share their hearts and faith. Freeman says "they are some of the most talented writers I've ever worked with." One of them is Canon Anne Kitch. More here and here.
• How Easter killed my faith in atheism ... [Wall Street Journal, Lee Strobel] In the end, after I had thoroughly investigated the matter, I reached an unexpected conclusion: it would actually take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a follower of Jesus. More here. [H/T Howard Stringfellow]
• Khan Academy ... More than 1,800 YouTube tutorials on math, science, finance, history, test prep, lectures and interviews and more. If you click on it, you may become addicted to learning. Here's a PBS NewsHour video on it.
• Japan and Haiti ... Info from Episcopal Relief and Development.
• Intuition isn't just about trusting your gut ... [Harvard Business Review blog] Although CEOs often say they use intuition in making decisions, a researcher has found that the success rate is much higher in areas in which the decision-makers have expert knowledge. More here. [H/T Leadership Education at Duke Divinity]
Go
• April 21-23, to celebrate the Easter Triduum ... At your church.
• May 14, to hear Bishop Michael Curry ... At St. Stephen's Wilkes-Barre. See above, under "Diocese."
• June 11, to Renewal Assembly II ... At many locations. See above, under "Diocese."
Pray
• The Daily Office ... with the assistance of the Mission St. Clare.
• 20 + 1 + 1 = Renewal ... Challenge yourself to pray for 20 minutes daily, to worship for one hour weekly, and to serve others for one day a month. Find Mother Laura Howell's blog here.
• Pray for our young men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for their families. Here.
Know
• That you can join our diocesan interactive list. It's called "Bakery." After all, Bethlehem means "House of Bread." At the Diobeth website, enter your name and email in the "Get Connected" box on the right hand side.
Why
• If you don't see your parish news or events ... If you think news or events regarding your parish merit sharing with the diocesan community and you have not seen mention of these in the newSpin newsletter, that may be because no one has sent the info to Bill. Of course, you may also post your info directly on Bakery. I may then post it on the newSpin blog and reference it here as well.
Health Ministry
• Mindful meditation workshop ... The Health Ministry at Prince of Peace Episcopal Church in Dallas will present a free workshop on mindful meditation on Wednesday, May 4, from 6 to 7 p.m. The workshop, organized by Prince of Peace Parish Nurse Trish Wright, will be conducted by Cathy Mascelli, who has a Master’s degree in social work and is the employee wellness coordinator for the University of Scranton. To register, contact the Prince of Peace office. 570-675-1723. More here.
The Episcopal Church/Anglican Communion
• Healing spirit comes out of pain ... [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] For his first assignment as a Catholic priest in 1985, the Rev. Jay Geisler was sent to St. Titus Church in Aliquippa -- a town that was suffering from the decline of the steel industry. Of the parish's 7,000 members, about 1,000 adults were jobless. Father Geisler, of East Pittsburgh, a former steelworker, began drinking alcohol with the men as they confided in him their loss of hope and self-worth, and their concern for their families' futures. "I was so powerless. I didn't know how to help them," Father Geisler recalled. Within a year, he had to enter an alcohol recovery program. But -- just as with his steel working background -- this experience would prove a "perfect fit" for the challenges that followed, he said. He went on to counsel the mentally ill, homeless and incarcerated and also worked in economically depressed parishes in the Mon Valley. But this time as an Episcopal priest. More here.
• St. Matthew's Passion Gospel ... [All Saints Pasadena] During this 13-minute presentation of the Matthew Passion Gospel, done on Palm Sunday at All Saints Pasadena, CA. It is done in the Italian Commedia dell Arte style utilizing masks at some places. View it as a meditation piece. It may be like hearing the Passion Gospel again, for the first time. [H/T Scott Allen]
• Stations of the Cross ... The Episcopal Church Office of Communication is providing an online venue to observe Stations of the Cross throughout Holy Week on the front page of the Church website. The video of the Stations of the Cross originated in 2010 from St. Mary The Virgin Episcopal Church in New York City and features prayers and music. The Rev. James Ross Smith is the officiant. Stations of the Cross are the penitential reenacting with prayers and reflections of Jesus Christ’s way to the cross on Calvary. The Stations of the Cross are contained in the Book of Occasional Services.
• Webcasts of Good Friday and Easter morning services ... [Episcopal News Service] The Episcopal Church's Office of Communication has announced it will live webcast the Good Friday service and the Easter Day festive morning celebration from Grace Episcopal Church in New York City. The live webcasts will be available on the homepage of the Episcopal Church website. Following the live webcasts, the videos will be available on demand. More here.
• Task Force addresses issues of older adults, offers resources ... [Episcopal News Service] Here.
• Episcopal Church Website and News Service
The Moravian Church in North America
• Bruce Sanguin at Moravian Seminary ... [Moravian Theological Seminary, Steve Simmons, Dir of Continuing Education] In our Continuing Education program, we aim to balance big picture concepts with practical, how-to application; and we’re especially happy when we get it all in one person! Bruce Sanguin, who will be our Zeisberger lecturer on Wednesday, April 27, is both a minister in the United Church of Canada with more than 25 years of pastoral experience and a leading voice in the current discussion about the relationship between evolution and theology; and his work moves easily among thinkers as diverse as the Apostle Paul, Ken Wilber, Edwin Friedman, Marcus Borg, Diana Butler Bass, and Peter Senge. He deftly brings “big ideas” like Don Beck’s Spiral Dynamics to bear on the concrete realities of congregational leadership (like how to form leadership teams that actually get things done and how to work with those people whom Wayne Oates tactfully described as “troublesome”) in a way that’s at once inspiring, refreshing, and down-to-earth. I think you’ll find his time with us both practically helpful and personally renewing, and invite you to join us for the 2011 Zeisberger Lectures next Wednesday. For more information and to register for the lectures, please see our weblink.
• Moravian Church in North America website • Moravian Church Northern Province website • Moravian Theological Seminary website
The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
• ELCA website ... Here.
• ELCA News Service ... Here.
• ELCA's blogs may be found here. See especially "Web and Multimedia Development."
• NEPA Synod website ... Here.
• Synod E-News ... April 21. Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter by email here.
The United Methodist Church
• April Communication newsletter ... Here. • UMC website ... Here. • UMC News Service ... Here. UMC Communication ... The United Methodist Church has long been a leader in providing useful resources for church communicators. Start here. • Eastern PA Conference of the UMC website ... Here. • Facebook ... Here. • Bishop Peggy Johnson's blog ... Here.
The Roman Catholic Church
• The Hidden Exodus: Catholics becoming Protestants ... [National Catholic Reporter, Jesuit Father Thomas Reese] The number of people who have left the Catholic church is huge. We all have heard stories about why people leave. Parents share stories about their children. Academics talk about their students. Everyone has a friend who has left. While personal experience can be helpful, social science research forces us to look beyond our circle of acquaintances to see what is going on in the whole church. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life has put hard numbers on the anecdotal evidence: One out of every 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic. If they were a separate denomination, they would be the third-largest denomination in the United States, after Catholics and Baptists. One of three people who were raised Catholic no longer identifies as Catholic. Any other institution that lost one-third of its members would want to know why. More here.
• B16 bemoans secularism in the West ... [Reuters] Pope Benedict lamented the widespread abandonment of religion in Western countries at a Holy Thursday ceremony, saying the heartlands of Christianity were turning away from their faith. More here.
• For new Mass, closer to Latin, critics voice a plain objection ... [NYTimes, Laurie Goodstein] Throughout much of the English-speaking world, the Roman Catholic Church is preparing its priests and parishes for the most significant changes to the Mass in the more than 40 years since the church permitted English in place of the Latin. More here. [TIME Magazine] Heat-seeking Missal? Fight on liturgy divides Catholics. [H/T Leadership Education at Duke Divinity]
• Vatican Information Service blog ... Here. • United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website ... Here. • Catholic News Service ... Here. • Diocese of Allentown website ... Here. • Diocese of Scranton website ... Here.
Additional sources of news/info/commentary
• Religion News Service Daily Roundup ... here.
• Diocese of Bethlehem
(1) The DioBeth newSpin blog
(2) The DioBeth website
(3) Twitter.DioBeth
(4) Twitter.Kat Lehman
(5) Public news and info lists: At the Diobeth website, enter your name and email in the "Get Connected" box on the right hand side. You are welcome to subscribe to any or all of these. "Bakery" is our diocesan interactive list.
• Episcopal/Anglican
(1) NewsLine
(2) News & Notices
(3) Infoline
(4) Episcopal News Service
(5) Episcopal Church website
(6) Twitter
(7) Facebook
(8) YouTube
(9) The Lead, Episcopal Cafe
(10) Daily Episcopalian, Episcopal Cafe
(11) AngicansOnline.
(12) AnglicansOnline News Centre.
(13) Anglican Communion website.
(14) Anglican Communion News Service.
• Find earlier issues of the newSpin newsletter here and recent ones in the left column here.
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Send info about newSpin to friends you think may be interested ... newSpin is an electronic newsletter that includes news, information and commentary related to the Diocese of Bethlehem, the Episcopal Church, the Anglican Communion and the world of religion ... with some spin, of course, from the editor. Edited by retired communication minister Bill Lewellis and ordinarily published twice weekly, on Monday and Thursday, it is currently received by some 1,200 people, many of whom forward it to many others. To have it emailed directly to you, subscribe at the "Get Connected" box on the right column of www.diobeth.org. Select newSpin under the groups. You may find samples of the newSpin newsletter on the left column of the newSpin blog, www.diobeth.typepad.com.
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 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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