newSpin 121224

The newSpin Newsletter, December 24, 2012
By Bill Lewellis
Published weekly, on Monday

TopSpin 
 • Bob Hope's Christmas Show for Pacifists ... [Bishop Paul] Morale in our country is not very high for a number of reasons, some of them tragic. Christmas this year invites us to make a special effort to be where we can hear the angels, worship the child, and like the shepherds, make known to all what they had seen and heard. Jesus the Savior is here, at all times and in all places. Each one of us knows someone who needs to know that. If that someone is us, we know what to do. Read on.
• One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit ... [Associated Press] Producers at Odyssey Networks faced skepticism when they first approached Reading, Pa., about doing a Christmas special in the city. Some residents and leaders assumed it would be yet another exposition of Reading’s problems — its poverty, crime and drugs — broadcast for the world to see. But that wasn’t the story the New York City-based religious media coalition wanted to tell. The result is “One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit,” airing at 11:35 p.m. Christmas Eve on CBS. More here.
• A Christmas Story ... [Nanette Smith] Bethlehem churches take turns each night serving and housing homeless men and women in the “Room at the Inn” project. On Thursday nights, Jo Trepagnier is one of those serving men at Nativity Cathedral. On December 13, what she brought for the men was not something she had made; rather it was from the Church of the Mediator, where she serves as office manager, and it was made by a handful of Raub Middle School students who attend Mediator’s after school Just For Kids program. Read on.

• On the massacre of the Sandy Hook Innocents ...
[Bishop Paul, Monday after Newtown]  The most obvious and yet most painful point in this discussion is that access to firearms is an American dilemma of long standing. ... America is unrealistic about mental health. ... The culture as a whole has been in a tail-spin since the 1950s. Read it all.

[Bishop Ian Douglas of Connecticut: How do we make sense of the Sandy Hook tragedy? ...Episcopal Café]  Connecticut Bishop Ian Douglas comments on the religious questions in the face of the horror of the Sandy Hook killings. Sunday School Director Sue Vogelman speaks to CNN about answering children's questions and praying with them. Read on and watch the CNN clip.

[Bishop Paul re "How do we make sense of the Sandy Hook tragedy?"] Bishop Douglas says some very important and comforting words. I want to take a note from his carefully restrained comment and add that on reflection I think the Cafe's headline is very ambitious. It may just be too much of a stretch to "make sense" of this. I take much more refuge personally in our prayer "in the midst of things we cannot understand, help us to believe...
   Rowan Williams told a great but unpopular truth when the Tsunami struck. The two-line banner headline in the UK papers was "Archbishop: This makes me doubt the existence of God."  Folks did not want to hear that from him. C.S.Lewis said the essentially the same thing in "A Grief Observed." There are moments when meaning and God simply elude us. Sometimes the rush to make sense of things betrays our anxieties more than our faith. We have the greatest authority in the world for saying on occasion, "My God, why have you forsaken me?" ... 
   I think that we nationally, and in parishes, go for the "healing" long before we have felt the depth and the history of the wound. In parishes, at least, that analgesic approach often keeps the cycle of dysfunction going. Analgesia leads to amnesia. Getting to the bottom of things is usually a matter of time, patience, and the willingness of have our feelings.
   It is only in darkness that light is meaningful.  For me, Christmas in this tremendously stressful and disappointing year will be a more tearful reminder that darkness doesn't swallow up the light. People who have been in the middle of the ocean, or in parts of Africa and Australia, or who have visited a mine, know the power of the smallest light to interrupt gloom. The smallest light. You know some of what I have had to deal with in the diocese. And yet a granddaughter came and Facetime with her is my moment of highest delight. We can't schedule it; it depends on how she is getting through the day, but when it comes, all is better.
   That's why I think Jesus Christ is important in all of this. In the gloom of ancient oppression and poverty a "stable lamp is lighted," a child is born, the mother survives, and we end up with Bishop Douglas, knowing that on a path through life, through death, and into the great life, we are not alone. The child takes us by the hand, weeps at our tombs, dances at our weddings, and in the End greets us individually and corporately at the great banquet. That doesn't make sense, either, but it is the hope we've got. We learn it one small beam of light at a time.

[Stephen Prothero] lists six things he doesn’t want to hear in the wake of the Sandy Hook massacre. Here.

• Former Grace Allentown rector featured in architectural journal for award-winning design ... [GTS News] Father Patrick Malloy, professor of Liturgy and associate dean of General Seminary, is featured in the new issue of Faith & Form, the quarterly journal of the Interfaith Forum on Religion, Art and Architecture (IFRAA), part of The American Institute of Architects, for his leadership of the award-winning liturgical renovation of Grace Church in Allentown, PA. IFRAA will bestow the 2012 Religious Art & Architecture award next June in Denver, Colorado. Grace Church’s project was chosen in the Liturgical/Interior Design category for the 2008-2009 renovation of its worship space, for which Dean Malloy, then rector of the parish, was both the liturgical consultant and “general contractor.” Founded in 1978, the annual IFFRA awards honor the best in architecture, liturgical design, and art for religious spaces. Read on.
• Our Epiphany God ... [Canon Andrew Gerns, written on the 30th anniversary of his ordination to priesthood] Where you see one set ofj footprints is where I carried you ... that long groove is where I dragged you kicking and screaming. Read on.
• Brooklyn church damaged by fire ... [Episcopal Café] Fire at St. Luke and St. Matthew Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, that has been used for superstorm Sandy relief, may be arson. More here.     

DioBethSpin  
• James William Caskey, 91, husband of Dolores for 65 years, died Dec. 21. He was an Army Air Force fighter pilot in World War II, retired Lt. Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, former director of financial aid for Moravian College, long-time Bethlehem resident. An active member of Trinity Episcopal Church, Bethlehem, Jim and Dolores served as volunteers in Trinity Soup Kitchen for 20 years. Burial will take place in Arlington National Cemetery. A Memorial Service will be announced. May the angels lead him into Paradise. Obituary here.
• Jane T. Arrington, 86, mother of the Rev. Jane Arrington Bender (All Saints, Lehighton) died on Saturday, Dec. 15. Obituary here. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.
• Four new deacons ... On Friday, the Feast of St. Thomas, December 21, at the Cathedral Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem. Bishop Paul ordained John Davis (of Good Shepherd, Scranton); Foster Mays (of St. Gabriel's, Douglassville); Andrew Reinholz (of Grace, Allentown) and Kimberly Rowles Reinholz (of Christ Church, Reading) to the order of deacon.
• William Edmund Reinholz, RIP ... [Bishop Paul] I am sorry to announce that early this morning Mr. Reinholz, father of newly ordained Deacon Andrew Reinholz, died at his home in Berks County. A funeral liturgy will be celebrated St. Thomas, Morgantown, on Friday December 28, at 11:00 a.m., with lunch following locally. Please pray for the repose of William's soul and for all who mourn him. May the Christ Child's peace be theirs. Thank you. +Paul
• 12 Days of Christmas for Kajo Keji ... [Bishop Paul] I hope that as we turn our eyes toward the manger, each heart is touched and each eye moistens just a bit as we recall the scene of Christ's entry into the world for us. The Twelve Days of Christmas, from the 25th December right up to Epiphany, are the historic time for Christians to give gifts, just as the three Magi came from afar to bring gifts to the Christ Child. I write to ask for a particularly holy gift for children who live in unimaginable poverty, children who enter the world with about the same advantages the infant Jesus had.  We will once again be the wise ones to assist them. For some years now, it has been our custom to make an appeal throughout the diocese for the children of Kajo-Keji, our sister diocese in Southern Sudan. We help them primarily through education. There are opportunities at every level to be of assistance. Your parishes have received a .pdf flyer with the details. I commend this effort to you, and ask you to help make a difference in the lives of children. Thank you, and God bless you, every one. +Paul [Details on our web site.]
• Free new or redesigned websites for parishes ... [Kat Lehman] If you want to take advantage of the diocesan offer to have your web site redesigned onto a WordPress CMS platform or to have a web site created for you at no cost to you, you need sign up with Post Companies by Dec. 31. This offer is only good until then and we will cover the cost of hosting through December 1, 2013. No time like the present to give your parish a wonderful present of a new web site (especially as it won't cost you a dime for the design or hosting for the first year). Check it out here.
• 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  
• Note to parishes ... Post news summaries and links on Bakery or send them to Bill. 
• Calendar of Events ...  Here and Here.

Episcopal/Anglican (beyond DioBeth)   
• Episcopal Web Radio ... Here.
• Episcopal Church Website ... ENS blog ... Episcopal Church on Facebook ... Episcopal Church on YouTube ... Anglican Communion website ... Anglican Communion News Service. ... Anglican Communion News Service on Facebook.

TaleSpin 
• Building the Great Cathedrals... [PBS, Nova] How did medieval engineers construct magnificent skyscrapers of glass and stone? Airing Dec. 26 at 9:00 p.m. on PBS. More here.
• Odyssey/CBS Christmas produced in Reading ... [Odyssey Networks] Like so many of America’s once bustling industrial centers, Reading, PA, has been on a downward spiral for decades. The city has lost factories, jobs and population. The latest economic recession amplified its burdens. Something that Reading has never lost, however, is hope—hope and an abiding belief in the power of community. One Christmas Story: People Rich in Spirit , a new production from Odyssey Networks, takes viewers to the heart of this small American city for a celebration that reflects the true meaning of the holiday season—hope and caring. CBS will air the one-hour program, without commercials, starting at 11:35 PM on Christmas Eve. Read on. Also see item above, under TopSpin.  

TailSpin
• 'The Vatican' on Showtime ...   [HuffPost]   Showtime has ordered up a new drama, “The Vatican.”
• Trappist monks of Assumption Abbey bake 25,000 fruitcakes per year.  

HeadSpin
• Billboards are the latest front in the Christmas wars ... [RNS] Here.

Evangelical Lutheran 
• 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
• Ministry with Our Elders (Senior Adults) ... [Moravian Continuing Ed] A course for clergy, parish nurses, secretaries of congregations, pastoral care visitors, and other caregivers. Luther Crest (800 Hausman Road, Allentown) will host a Moravian Theological Seminary course on Mondays, January 21 through February 25, 2013, 1:30-4:30 p.m. This six-week course is designed for clergy and laity who want to become more effective in ministry with the senior adults with whom they serve. Participants will have an opportunity to improve their skills of communication with older adults, as well as gain an understanding of the life issues that confront them. The course will cover the following topics: grief, dynamics and issues of dementia and aging, caring for the caregiver, life review, spirituality and faith, visitation and communication skills, effects of aging on family systems, and community resources. Cost for this 1.8 CEU course is $60 (payable to Moravian Theological Seminary, 1220 Main Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018-6650); early bird registration is $50 (by January 7, 2013). For more information, please contact Luther Crest's Chaplain Dianne Kareha (610-391-8210) or go to http://moravianseminary.edu/continuing-ed.html. 
• 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 
• Secularizing pressures hit Polish church ... [National Catholic Reporter] When a Polish bishop was arrested in late October for drunkenly crashing his Toyota into a street lamp, it was the latest incident to scratch the church's once-pristine image in Europe's most Catholic country. Bishop Piotr Jarecki, a Warsaw auxiliary, apologized to local Catholics and offered his resignation to Pope Benedict XVI. But the indiscretion embarrassed a church already smarting under the pressure of public disillusionment, which shows little sign of abating. Read on.
• Swiss Abbot makes fiery appeal for church reform ... [NCR] A fiery appeal for church reform by an influential Swiss abbot has attracted widespread attention throughout Europe, and has, moreover, been welcomed by the future president of the Swiss bishops’ conference. Fifty-year-old Abbot Martin Werlen, leader of the Abbey of Einsiedeln and himself a member of the Swiss bishops’ conference, first voiced his appeal in a sermon on the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council in October. The sermon was later published in a 39-page brochure that sold out within three days and is now in its third edition. Titled “Discovering the Embers Under the Ashes,” it echoes remarks by Cardinal Carlo Maria Martini in his last interview before his death Aug. 31. Referring to the state of the church today, Martini spoke of his sense of powerlessness and how Catholicism’s “embers” were “hidden under the ashes.” Werlen said he is alarmed by the present state of the church. “The situation of the church is dramatic, not only in the German-speaking countries,” he said. “It is dramatic not only because of the rapidly decreasing number of priests and religious or because of plummeting church attendance. The real problem is not a problem of numbers. What is missing is the fire! We must face the situation and find out what is behind it.” Read on.
• Diocese of Allentown ... Here.  Diocese of Scranton ... Here.  United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ... Here.  Catholic News Service ... Here.  Vatican website ... Here.  Vatican Information Service blog ... Here.  Vatican News/Info Portal ... Here.

Health   
• Resources for caregivers ... Here.
• Medline Plus ... Here.
• WebMD ... Here.
• Alzheimers.gov ... For the people helping people with Alzheimers. Here.

Calendar of Events/Diocese of Bethlehem ... Here and Here.

Calendar of Events/The Episcopal Church ... Here.

Resources   
• Speaking Faithfully ... [Episcopal Café] A new book, Speaking Faithfully: Communication as Evangelism in a Noisy World by Jim Naughton and Rebecca Wilson of Canticle Communications. An attempt to persuade the church to bring the techniques and insights of mass communications to bear on the challenge of evangelism. The acknowledgements include those who have worked with the Episcopal Café since it's inception including Bishop Nick Knisely and Canon Andrew Gerns. More at Religion News Service.
• In-Formation in Bethlehem ... November  and December issues of Canon Kitch's newsletter of lifelong Christian formation resources.
• Forward Movement ... News and Notes, November.
• Holy Women, Holy Men ... Download Holy Women, Holy Men as a .pdf file.
• Congregational Resource Guide ... Here.
• ECF Vital Practices ... Here.
• Faith in Public Life ... Here. 
• The Book of Common Prayer ... every edition from 1549 to 1979. Here.
• The Daily Office ... can be read online in Rite I, Rite II or the New Zealand Prayer Book versions. At Mission St. Clare.
• 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.

Additional sources for news/info/commentary
• 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 

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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, 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]