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Calendar of Events updated June 2, 2011

newSpin 110602

The newSpin newsletter, June 2, 2011
By Bill Lewellis
Published Mondays and Thursdays

TopSpin
• The Optimism Bias ... A fascinating cover story by Tali Sharot in the June 6 TIME Magazine asks: Hope isn't rational – so why are humans wired for it? Among my favorite lines: Our brains are constantly being shaped by the future. ... Scientists who study memory proposed an intriguing answer: memories are susceptible to inaccuracies partly because the neural system responsible for remembering episodes from our past might not have evolved for memory alone. Rather, the core function of the memory system could in fact be to imagine the future — to enable us to prepare for what has yet to come. More here. [Bill] My four-word understanding of Eucharist has been "Today we remember tomorrow." Who knew?
• Renewal Assembly II ...  June 11 (9:00 to 1:30) at eight locations across the Diocese. More here and on pages A1 & 8 of the June Diocesan Life. Register here, if you still can. A new video will feature Bishop Paul in conversation with three lay people: Lucy Kitch-Peck on the Gifts of the Spirit in her life; Liza Holzinger of St. Andrew's Allentown on a Congregation detecting the gifts and opportunities the Spirit gives parishes; Warren Shotto of Good Shepherd Scranton on how parish leadership detects the gifts in individuals and calls them forth.
• Courting the Holy Spirit by practicing retail politics ... [Jim Naughton, Episcopal Café] TEC bishop election process explained to UK readers. Here.
• Time to get out of the bubble ... [Andrew Gerns, last Sunday's sermon]
It was for me an Areopagus moment. Maybe you have had one of those? No, huh? I'll bet you might have, and didn't know it. My moment came when I was forced out of my religious bubble and into the real world. Read it here

DioBethSpin
• Diocesan Life, June ... Read or download it here.

• Esther Graf .. [Dean Anthony Pompa] Esther Graf died yesterday evening [May 31] at Gracedale in Nazareth. Esther now joins her husband Fred in the nearer presence of our Lord. Esther’s husband Fred Graf was organist and choirmaster of the Cathedral from 1954 until his retirement in 1992. Esther was a wonderful part of the fabric of this Cathedral for many years in support of Fred’s ministry AND also giving generously of her time and talents to the mission of this Cathedral.  Esther is survived by her son David of Connecticut. Funeral services will take place this Saturday June 4th at 2 p.m. in the Cathedral. Your prayers and your presence are encouraged and welcomed.
• Easter and Fenway Park ... [Bishop Paul] I don’t have the patience or devotion to be a good baseball fan, but for the last 15 years I have worked in an office where baseball is taken very seriously, religiously perhaps. I have observed two things about baseball fans that I admire very much. First, they believe in miracles. In fact they have seen them and wait for the next one regularly. Second – so important for our troubled culture – they believe in next year. Read it all on page A2 of the June Diocesan Life.
• Diane Zanetti, a priest of the Diocese of Bethlehem, is the new executive director of Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley. More here.
• Pottsville's Trinity Center for Children to close June 3 ... [Republican Herald] Due to declining enrollment and a lack of funding, the preschool at Trinity Episcopal Church in Pottsville will close June 3.More here. [Bill] Many thank you all. It took a village to raise 20 years of precious children. Here.
• Renewal Assembly II, Saturday June 11 ...  Above, under TopSpin.
• First Saturday Giant Neighborhood Yard Sales at Trinity West Pittston ... June 4, 8 to 2. The Every First Saturday sales run from May-October with at least 30-40+ vendors and hundreds of the regions neighbors stopping to browse, shop and enjoy our "famous" chili dogs.
• Episcopal News Weekly bulletin inserts ... Download inserts here.
• 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.

TaleSpin 
• Sudan's peaceful partition at risk ... [NYTimes Op-Ed] A 2005 peace agreement, brokered with American assistance, was supposed to resolve the issues that led to 22 years of fighting between the Arab-dominated North and secessionists in the South. But it has not. In a January referendum, the South Sudanese overwhelmingly voted for independence. But the North’s occupation of the contested border region of Abyei this month could reignite the conflict between North and South — unless foreign powers, especially China, use their leverage to stop it. The international community — particularly the United Nations and the United States — have been spectacularly ineffective in getting the Sudanese government to honor its own agreements. More here.
• Those days of AIDS hysteria ... Morning Call columnist Bill White reminds us that this month is the 30th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS. He includes, toward the end of his column today, a moving poem by Wind Gap poet/playwright/composer/educator Edwin Romond "which carried me back to those days of AIDS hysteria, fueled by prejudice and terrible misconceptions." Find White's column here.
• Coming Out ... [NYTimes Interactive] Gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender teenagers talk about their lives in a weeklong video series and are profiled in an accompanying article. Read stories submitted by users that have been inspired to share their experience or submit your own. Here.
• The New York Times on Climate Change and Chicago
... The New York Times editorial board praises Chicago's proactive adaptation to the climate change which will mean "snowier winters, wetter springs and hotter summers." Long known for its extreme weather conditions, Chicago attempts to save money and lives by "using thermal radar [to pinpoint] the hottest areas and find ways to cool them: removing impermeable blacktop that traps water and heat, building rooftop gardens, planting southern varieties of trees and adding air-conditioning to classrooms." The Kyoto global warming conference hit home with former Mayor Richard Daley, who instigated many of these programs, but pressure also comes from insurance companies. "It would be far better if there were a framework to plan and guide the nation's adaptation to the challenging years ahead," the editors write. "Given the politics on Capitol Hill, we are not optimistic. But at least in Chicago the change is taking hold." [H/T The Atlantic Wire]

TailSpin
• Fraud probe into Rapture campaign? ... The Freedom From Religion Foundation wants California Attorney General Kamala Harris to investigate how many innocent people may have suffered financially, emotionally and physically due to Pastor Harold Camping's $100 million campaign predicting Armageddon on May 21. One believer left $300,000 to Camping's group, which angers her family, according to CNN. More here and here.
• God is not a Christian ... [Huffington Post, Desmond Tutu] Surely it is good to know that God (in the Christian tradition) created us all (not just Christians) in his image, thus investing us all with infinite worth, and that it was with all humankind that God entered into a covenant relationship, depicted in the covenant with Noah when God promised he would not destroy his creation again with water. Surely we can rejoice that the eternal word, the Logos of God, enlightens everyone -- not just Christians, but everyone who comes into the world; that what we call the Spirit of God is not a Christian preserve, for the Spirit of God existed long before there were Christians, inspiring and nurturing women and men in the ways of holiness, bringing them to fruition, bringing to fruition what was best in all. We do scant justice and honor to our God if we want, for instance, to deny that Mahatma Gandhi was a truly great soul, a holy man who walked closely with God. Our God would be too small if he was not also the God of Gandhi: if God is one, as we believe, then he is the only God of all his people, whether they acknowledge him as such or not. God does not need us to protect him. Many of us perhaps need to have our notion of God deepened and expanded. It is often said, half in jest, that God created man in his own image and man has returned the compliment, saddling God with his own narrow prejudices and exclusivity, foibles and temperamental quirks. God remains God, whether God has worshippers or not. More here.
• Improv Everywhere ... Watch Gotta Share for three minutes of fun.

Calendar     
• Diocese of Bethlehem
... Updated May 2. Download here. Updated here.
• Episcopal Church ... Here.

Follow
• The Diocese of Bethlehem on Twitter
... http://twitter.com/#!/Diobeth

• The Diocese of Bethlehem on Facebook ... https://www.facebook.com/DioceseOfBethlehem
• Kat Lehman on Twitter ... http://twitter.com/#!/KatLehman
• Episcopal News Service on Twitter ...  http://twitter.com/#!/episcopal_news

Go 
• June 11, to Renewal Assembly II ... At many locations. See above, under TopSpin.

• July 9, to Called to be Heroes ... Bishop's Day for Kids, grades 1-5, at Church of the Good Shepherd in Scranton. Children in grades 1-5 are invited to spend the day with Bishop Paul, 9:30 to 2:30, and meet some no-so-well-known heroes in the Bible. Discover your own super powers, and enjoy being together. Storytelling, games, Eucharist and more. Also here.

Pray
• The Daily Office ... with the Mission St. Clare.

• For our young men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for their families. Here.

Health
• A curious case of foreign accent syndrome ... [NPR] When Karen Butler went in for dental surgery, she left with more than numb gums: She also picked up a thick foreign accent. It wasn't a fluke, or a joke — she'd developed a rare condition called foreign accent syndrome that's usually caused by an injury to the part of the brain that controls speech. Karen Butler could get her American accent back with intensive speech therapy, but she likes her new one. More here.
• Doctors behaving badly ... [NPR Health Bog] Here. [H/T Nick Marshall]
• Spit it out, but not on camera ... [Salt Lake Tribune] Faith leaders go to bat for big-league smokeless tobacco ban. Here.
• Don't let food poisoning spoil your picnic ... [MedlinePlus] Here. [H/T Diana S. Marshall]
• What I did on my summer vacation ... [MedlinePlus] Make sure watching TV isn't their most memorable activity. Here. [H/T Diana S. Marshall]

Tech
• iCloud ... [WSJournal] Amazon and Google were first out the gate with cloud music players, but Apple seeks to outdo the competition Monday when it unveils its iCloud music player. Unlike Amazon and Google’s products, which require the player to upload his or her music, Apple has worked out deals with the major record labels so that users can listen to music without manually uploading or transferring songs. The iCloud player will simply scan a user’s existing library and then provide access to those songs from any computer. Apple is still trying to work out deals with film and television studios to make their products compatible with the cloud. More.
• Follow Kat Lehman on Twitter ... Here.

TV
• 'Father Oprah' gets TV talk show ... [Minneapolis Star Tribune] The Rev. Alberto Cutie, a former Roman Catholic priest who dramatically departed from the church to get married and continue his priestly ministry in the Episcopal faith, now has his own television talk show. It premieres July 11 for a 5-week test run on six Fox-owned stations, including KMSP. It will be a daily, hour-long show during its test run and airs at 1 p.m. The show features Cutie’s comments on various topics and current events, in-depth interviews and special guests. Here.

Episcopal/Anglican
• Lexington Bishop Stacy Sauls named church's COO ... [ENS] Here.
• Fifth video in Healthy Congregation series features Boston's 'Common Cathedral' ... [ENS] Here.
• The oppressive myth of unity in the Anglican Communion ... [Episcopal Café] Here.
• Episcopal Church
Website and News Service. Follow the Episcopal News Service on Twitter.

• Anglican Communion News Service ... on Facebook.

Moravian
• Moravian Church in North America website   • Moravian Church Northern Province website  • Moravian Theological Seminary website 

Evangelical Lutheran
• Part-time position available at NEPA Synod Office ... Here.
• NEPA Synod website
... Here. 
• Synod E-News
... May 20. Sign up to receive the weekly newsletter by email here.
• ELCA website ... Here

• ELCA News Service ... Here. 
• ELCA's blogs
may be found here. See especially "Web and Multimedia Development."

United Methodist
• May 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.

Roman Catholic
• Belgians to sue Vatican ... [Reuters] Belgians molested by Catholic priests will go ahead with their legal proceedings against the Vatican for damages despite an offer by local bishops to compensate them, their lawyers said on Wednesday. Pope Benedict enjoys diplomatic immunity but other Vatican officials and Belgian bishops will be summoned to testify in the case, lawyer Walter van Steenbrugge said. Here.
• Ordinariate gets going ... [National Catholic Reporter] In England, the only country so far where the ordinariate is up and running, almost a thousand ex-Anglicans, composed of groups of laity with 64 of their pastors, of whom 54 have applied to become Catholic priests, have come over in the first wave. The ordination of the former Anglican clergy is being fast-tracked for Pentecost. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is calling the shots, for the local Roman Catholic bishops had wanted these clergy to undergo a year’s preparation. Here.
• China may soon add fuel to its long-running feud with the Vatican by consecrating a bishop not approved by the Holy See. Here. [H/T RNS]
• 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) Facebook.DioBeth
(6) 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.

*************
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.

Bill Lewellis, Diocese of Bethlehem, retired
Communication MInister (1985-2010), 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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