newSpin 180111

newSpin, the newsletter
January 11, 2018 – Bill Lewellis

TopSpin
• In Haiti, the heroes of burial road … [NYT, 'The Daily' podcast] For some Haitians, death is harder t'o afford than life. The men who tend to the bodies of the unclaimed dead told their stories to a New York Times reporter. So coincidetally, as I was listening to the podcast, my son Stephen suggested it to me as a follow-up meditation on an earlier post of mine about "where everybody is somebody." Listen.

• Where everybody is somebody … The late Bishop Mark Dyer's description of the Kingdom of God.

• Until evacuated itself, CA Episcopal church served as shelter from mudslides  [Episcopal Café] Mudslides in southern California have killed at least 13 as storms hit soil left bare by last year’s wildfires. Montecito has been particularly hard hit. Read on.

• How would Jesus drive? … [David Brooks, NYT, Jan. 4] Over the past several years we have done an outstanding job of putting total sleazoids at the top of our society: Trump, Bannon, Ailes, Weinstein, Cosby, etc. So it was good to get a reminder, from Pope Francis in his New Year’s Eve homily, that the people who have the most influence on society are actually the normal folks, through their normal, everyday gestures being kind in public places, attentive to the elderly. The pope called such people, in a beautiful phrase, “the artisans of the common good.” Read on.

• Joe Biden on what helped him deal with grief … [PBS News Hour, Jan. 4] The day will come when the memory of the person you lost brings a smile to your lip before a tear to your eye. View.

• Boston. Racism. Image. Reality … [Boston Globe, Spotlight] The median net worth of non-immigrant African-American households in the Boston area is just $8, the lowest in a five-city study of wealth disparities. It’s hard to ignore the dramatic contrast to the $247,500 net worth for white households in the Boston area. That borders on insane and absurd. The disparity in Boston just transcends everything, said William A. Darity Jr., a professor of public policy at Duke University who was one of the lead investigators of that study, which involved the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. It’s just staggering. And when it comes to income alone, the imbalance looks like this: For every one black household earning more than $75,000 in the metro region, there are about 21 white ones. Read on

• The Episcopal Café's top magazine posts during 2017 … Here.

• Sexuality, Race and Gender … [RNS, Jonathan Merritt, Dec. 29] Three explosive insights about America’s 100 largest churches. 1. None of America’s 100 largest churches are LGBTQ-affirming. 2. 93% of America’s 100 largest churches are led by a white pastor. 3. Only 1 of America’s 100 largest churches has a female pastor. Read on.

• Cardinal Laws complex role in the contemporary history of clergy sexual abuse … [NCR, Thomas Doyle, Dec. 28] Public awareness of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy actually dates from 1984. It was triggered by the public exposure of widespread sexual violation of children by a single priest in the Diocese of Lafayette, Louisiana, and its systemic cover-up by the church's leadership that lasted well over a decade. Cardinal Bernard Law, who went from in 1974 being bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to in 1984 being named archbishop of Boston, became the most powerful and influential Catholic bishop in the United States. This all came to a screeching halt in 2002. In one day Law became the face of hierarchical treachery and dishonesty when The Boston Globe revealed the systemic cover-up of widespread sexual abuse by Boston priests, most of it his doing. He remained the face of the hierarchy's disgraceful attitude towards the violation of minors and the vulnerable. Even in death – Dec. 15 in Rome – he remains the focal point of the anger and rage of countless victims of sexual abuse by clergy — certainly Boston victims, but also others worldwide. Read on. Also, by NCR staff, here.

• DioBeth Leadership News, Dec. 21 … Here.
• The newSpin Newsletter, Dec. 14 … Here.
• DioBeth General News, Dec. 7 … Here.
• Bishop Search Committee website … Here.

********  [A DioBeth newsletter (General or Leadership) or the unofficial newSpin newsletter is published online on Thursdays in the following rotation: (1) Leadership News, (2) The newSpin newsletter, (3) General News, (4) The newSpin newsletter. If you are not receiving these newsletters by email, be in touch with Paula Lapinski (610-691-5655, [email protected]). If you find something online or in print(or if you'd like to write something) that you think might warrant inclusion in the newSpin newsletter for the sake of many, please send the link or your text to [email protected] ********

Intersection: Religion, Culture, Politics.
• Republicans in Congress are failing America's children … [NYT, Editorial Board, Jan. 8] Children from lower-income families could soon lose access to affordable health care because the Republican leaders in Congress have failed to renew the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This is a travesty. Read on.

• Trump's increasing unfitness … [TNY, David Remnick, Jan. 15 issue] Scandal envelops the President. Obstruction of justice, money-laundering, untoward contacts with foreign governments—it is unclear where the special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation will land and what might eventually rouse the attention of the U.S. Senate. Clearly, Trump senses the danger. A former campaign manager, Paul Manafort, has been indicted. A former national-security adviser, Michael Flynn, has admitted to lying to the F.B.I. and has become a coöperating witness. The President sees one West Wing satrap and Cabinet official after another finding a distance from him. “Where is my Roy Cohn?” he asked his aides angrily, according to the Times, when his Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, defied his wishes and recused himself from the Russia investigation.
   In the meantime, there is little doubt about who Donald Trump is, the harm he has done already, and the greater harm he threatens. He is unfit to hold any public office, much less the highest in the land. This is not merely an orthodoxy of the opposition; his panicked courtiers have been leaking word of it from his first weeks in office. The President of the United States has become a leading security threat to the United States. Read on.

• Nearly 200,000 people from El Salvador …[NYT, Jan. 8] who have been allowed to live in the United States for more than a decade must leave the country, two government officials familiar with the decision said on Monday. It is the Trump administration’s latest reversal of years of immigration policies and one of the most consequential to date. Homeland security officials said that they were ending a humanitarian program, known as Temporary Protected Status, for Salvadorans who have been allowed to live and work legally in the United States since a pair of devastating earthquakes struck their country in 2001.  Read on. Also, NYT Editorial Board, Jan. 9, here.

• President Trump has made 1,950 false or misleading claims over 347 days … [WaPo, Glenn Kessler, Meg Kelly and Nicole Lewis, Jan 2] An update on The Fact Checker's year-long project analyzing, categorizing and tracking every false or misleading claim by President Trump. Read on.


SpiritSpin
• When the carols have been stilled … [Howard Thurman] Here.

• Why won't Ivanka become the Pharoah's daughter? … Here.

• Bishop John Spong: Hell was invented by the church … Here.

• For the Poor and the Neglected … [BCP] Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

• The Book of Common Prayer ... every edition from 1549 to 1979. Here.
• Prayers and Thanksgivings from the BCP ... Here.
• The (Online) Book of Common Prayer ... 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 Daily Office ... from the Diocese of Indianapolis. Here.
• The Prayer Site ... a resource of Forward Movement. Here.
• Speaking to the Soul ... Episcopal Café blog. Sermons, reflections, multimedia meditations and excerpts from books on spirituality. Here.
• Spirit Resources
 ... way below


Columns, Sermons, Reflections, other Spin

 

DioBeth
• Jubilate, Advent 2017 to Last Epiphany 2018, and weekly Prayers of the People … Linked here from Trinity Bethlehem.
Under "More Resources" way below.

• DioBeth Leadership News, Dec. 21 … Here.
• The newSpin Newsletter, Dec. 14 … Here.
• DioBeth General News, Dec. 7 … Here.
• Bishop Search Committee website … Here.


DioBeth Parish and Agency Websites
Under "More Resources" way below.


Episcopal/Anglican
• 2018 likely to be another tough year for the ABC  … [RNS, Dec. 20] If 2017 was a tough year for Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby keeping the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion together, 2018 promises to be tougher still. Read on.

• The Good Book Club … [ENS]  Resources now available. Here.

• The Toolkit of the Public Affairs Office … Way down, under "More Resources," at "Episcopal/Anglican."
• Sermons that work, Weekly bulletin inserts and more … Way down, under "More Resources," at "Episcopal/Anglican."

Evangelism/Stewardship/Church Growth/Migration/ERD

• Episcopal Migration Ministries … Here.
• Episcopal Public Policy Network (EPPN) … Here.
• Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) … Here
• Episcopal Asset Map … Here.
• Additional Resources
 ... way below


People
• The Rev. Charley Day … [Rick Cluett] shown here with his beloved Ginny, was ordained to the sacred order of Priest on December 20, 50 years ago. He has enriched our lives in this diocese for a good number of those years and to me is a model for life long learning and curiosity. In his retirement, he has exercised his ministry as a consummate chaplain and pastor. Congratulations, Charley, on God’s holy calling well lived out. (And I bet you won’t like this public notice!)


In the Media
• St. Peter's Tunkhannock supports Young People in Recovery … [Wyoming County Examiner] For the second year in a row, Young People in Recovery rang in the New Year at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Tunkhannock. Read on

• Abington-area parishes to share priest … [Abington Journal, Clarks Summit, Dec. 26] St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Tunkhannock, and Church of the Epiphany, Glenburn will begin a new ministry relationship in January, 2018. Rev. Lou Divis will remain as the pastor of St. Peter’s and become the pastor of Church of the Epiphany. Both positions are part-time. This is a new era in The Episcopal Church as people become more involved in various ministerial activities with pastoral oversight. Read on.

• St. Stephen's Pro-Cathedral holds annual vigil for homeless … [Times Leader, Wilkes-Barre, Dec. 22, Patrick Kernan] After the brief prayer service — which fittingly ended with a rendition of “Amazing Grace” — the congregation went into the church’s courtyard for a candlelight vigil. Standing in a circle, the congregation read the names of area homeless people who have died since 2001. As each individual read the names on the card they were given, they blew out their candle … The Rev. Brian Pavlac, priest-in-charge at St. Stephen’s, said helping with homelessness is something important to the South Franklin Street church. “It’s something the church has really committed itself to,” Pavlac said, adding there are renovations being made to the church, especially to the bathrooms, to help the homeless community. Pavlac said there is a need in the area for a permanent shelter. But until then, St. Stephen’s is happy to house the traveling homeless shelter run by Catholic Social Services. He said St. Stephen’s houses the shelter more frequently than other local churches. “If one or two things go wrong, anyone could be there,” Pavlac said. “It’s often through no fault of their own. But even if it is, these people still need help.” Read on.

TaleSpin
• A simple question saved their marriage … For years, novelist Richard Paul Evans and his wife Keri struggled with their marriage. Then, one day, they learned to ask each other a simple question: “How can I make your day better?” The question, which Evans wrote about in a viral blog post, saved their marriage. Read on.


Requiescant in pace
• Elizabeth Coken, 98 … a longtime member of Nativity Cathdral, Bethlehem, died on Jan. 6. Obituary.

• Katherine Johnson, 77 … a member and choir member of Trinity Bethlehem, died on Dec. 7. Obituary.

• George Oxenreider, 88 … a member of St. Alban's, Sinking Spring, where he served on the vestry for several years, died December 15. Obituary.

• Jonathan Demme and many more … Several times at the close of the year, I've watched in silent attention the photos and brief videos cable networks collected on entertainment celebrities who died during 2017. Some whose good work and deeds were obvious; others, whose weren't, but not necessarily non-existent. Pray for them. One of those was Jonathan Demme, Oscar-winning filmmaker who observed emphatically American characters with a discerning eye, a social conscience and a rock ’n’ roll heart, achieving especially wide acclaim with “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Philadelphia,”
  I remember Demme best of all for his direction of a 1992 documentary, "Cousin Bobby," about his cousin Robert Castle, a white Episcopal priest who had served an inner-city church in Harlem for many years, and who died in 2012 at 83. Castle was fairly conventional at an earlier stage of his life. Then came the 1960s and social upheaval, and, for him, a crucial and influential friendship with Isaiah Rowley, a Black Panther leader in Jersey City, N.J. At a time when the Panthers were feared and hated, Castle found Rowley to be a natural leader, sane and inspirational, and gradually the white priest was drawn into circles that were alarming to many members of his congregation.
   Castle once spoke at an AIDS Memorial at Nativity Cathedral in Bethlehem. View.

Ecumenism, Interfaith, Pluralism – or Not
• First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem: Breakaway group seeks new home … [TMC, Dec. 27] The conservative leaders of the fractured First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, who recently lost a court battle for ownership of the sprawling property on Center Street, intend to find a new home, possibly taking a majority of the church’s members with them. In June 2016, a majority of the congregation voted to split from the church’s national denomination, the increasingly progressive Presbyterian Church USA that recognizes gay marriage and allows gay ministers to be ordained. The majority joined the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, or ECO. Read on. Also here.

• More Resources
 ... way below


Evangelical Lutheran Church
• ELCA Website … Here.
• ELCA News Service … Here.
• ELCA Blogs … Here.

Moravian Church
• Moravian Church in North America  Website.  
• Moravian Church Northern Province Website. 
• Moravian Theological Seminary Website.

United Methodist Church
• News Service Here.
• Communication Resources ... Start here.
• Eastern PA Conference website Here.
• Facebook Here.
• Bishop Peggy Johnson's blog Here.

Presbyterian Church USA
• Website ... Here
• News & Announcements ... Here.

Roman Catholic
• Father Gregory Boyle… Sarah Silverman sits down with Father Gregory Boyle to talk about his work with Homeboy Industries. View.

• Monsignor who stole $500K sentenced to federal prison … [PhillyNews, Jan. 3] The church has forgiven Msgr. William Dombrow for embezzling a half-million dollars meant to fund the care of aging and retired priests. The federal justice system, however, showed Wednesday that it was not so ready to absolve him. Read on.

• Diocese of Scranton ... Here.
• Diocese of Allentown ... Here.

• United States Conference of Catholic Bishops ... Here. 
• Catholic News Service ... Here.
• Crux Now ... Here.
 

The Vatican
• Pope upbraids Vatican Bureaucracy: Serve the world, not 'degraded logic of small cliques … [NCR, Dec. 21] Pope Francis again upbraided the high-level Catholic prelates who run the Vatican bureaucracy in an annual pre-Christmas speech Dec. 21, telling them to get beyond what he termed an "unbalanced and degraded logic of plots and small cliques" in order to better serve him, the global church and the world at large. Francis told the cardinals and bishops who run the bureaucracy to not "let themselves be bribed by their ambition" in search for higher office but rather to act simply as antennae that listen for the "cries, joys and tears of the churches of the world" and relay what they hear to him. Most of all, the pope told the prelates the Vatican is not designed to be closed in on itself but to be at the service of the world, especially local bishops, "for whose good it operates and acts." Speaking in the apostolic palace's 16th-century Clementine Hall in his colorful style, Francis warned: "A curia closed up in itself would betray the objective of its existence and would fall into self-centeredness, condemning itself to self-destruction." The pope was speaking Dec. 21 in an annual meeting that under previous pontiffs had simply been a polite encounter to exchange greetings before the holidays. Read on.

• Vatican Information Service blog ... Here.
• Vatican News/Info Portal ... Here.


Health and Wellness
• Forgetfulness and aging: What's normal? … Here.

• Flu shots … Read on.

• More Resources… below.


Media/Print/Films/TV/Music/Tech
• Three Billboards … [Jeffrey Salkin, RNS, Jan. 8] 
The story one of the most religious tales that you will see on the silver screen, and for this alone, it merits your attention. Simply put: The movie is about sin, forgiveness, and redemption. Or, as one of my colleagues said, it was deeply Christian. Yes — but it is also deeply Jewish. Read on.

• Cue the religion scholar! … [RNS, Cathy Lynn Grossman, Dec. 1] Representing faith on the big and small screen. You try boiling down 400 years of religious history into a few seconds. Read on.

• Your Faith, Your Life  … [Church Publishing, Revised Edition of the 2009 book by Jenifer Gamber and Bill Lewellis, Nov. 2017] The everything-you-need to know adult guide to the Episcopal Church that is easy to read but with substance for newcomers, adult formation groups, and lifelong Episcopalians who desire to know more about their church. The language of worship, theology, church structure, sacraments, and discipleship offers a framework to explore the meaning and practice of being an Episcopalian and follower of Jesus. Not just a book of information, but a book for transformation. Read on.
   "Jenifer Gamber and Bill Lewellis have completed a generous update of the 2009 instant classic Your Faith, Your Life, presenting orthodoxy for the 21st century. It's not rewriting orthodoxy to include 21st century ideals, its showing that orthodoxy always included these ideals. New textbooks on physics aren't created because the immutable laws of physics have changed. New discoveries illuminate what was already there: quarks, gluons, earth-like planets. These don't change our view of Newton's laws of gravity, or the 2nd law of thermodynamics. Likewise, Gamber and Lewellis have brought the "new" discoveries of the gospel of inclusion, the Jesus Movement, and the modern Church to a new guidebook of Episcopal identity. Your Faith, Your Life will be the new must have for Confirmation classes, adult education, college ministry, and other formation needs. It offers a simple guide through what it means to be an Episcopal disciple in the 21st century." –– Bill Campbell, Executive Director of Forma 

Websites, Podcasts and Blogs
• The Episcopal Café … Here.
• AnglicansOnline … Here.
• Diocese of Bethlehem … Here.
• The Episcopal Church … Here.
• Episcopal News Service … Here. Story here.

• The Axe Files with David Axelrod … This podcast includes revealing interviews with key figures in the political world. David Axelrod is the founder and director of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. Recent interviews with Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich (especially good), Preet Bharara, Steve Kerr, Frank Bruni, Kathleen Seebelius, Donna Brazile, Tony Blair, Christiane Amanpour, Susan Rice, Ta-Nehisi Coates.

• The Daily … Twenty minutes a day, five days a week, hosted by Michael Barbaro and powered by New York Times journalism. An especially good one recently was the December 19 edition wherein Catherine Porter, a New York Times reporter, talked to the heroes of Burial Road, the men who tend to the unclaimed bodies of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Here.


Varia
• The Five People … [Podcaster Tim Ferriss] You are the average of the five people you most associate with.

• Oprah's Golden Gloves speech … [NYT, Jan. 7] Oprah Winfrey accepted the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement with a rousing acceptance speech that began as a personal reflection and ended as a call to arms. Read on.

Abbreviations of Sources
AM … America Magazine
AO … Anglicans Online
AP … Associated Press
BCP … Book of Common Prayer
CJR … Columbia Journalism Review
COM … Commonweal
CN… Crux Now
CNS … Catholic News Service
DoB… Diocese of Bethlehem
EC … Episcopal Café
ENS … Episcopal News Service
ERD … Episcopal Relief & Development
MC … Morning Call, Allentown
NCR … National Catholic Reporter
NYM … New York Magazine
NYT … New York Times
R&P … Religion&Politics
RNS … Religion News Service
TA … The Atlantic
TEC … The Episcopal Church
TLC … The Living Church
TNY … The New Yorker
WaPo … Washington Post
WSJ … Wall Street Journal

newSpin? … I decided years ago to call this newsletter and its related blog newSpin. The "S" in the middle suggests that some items are newS; others, Spin; others, both. Items I include as well as how and how often I present them are clues to my leanings. I think all of us spin. There's a lot more spin in the world of news than most editors own up to. Watch out for that upper case S in the middle. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Paul might be said to have spun "the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God" [Mark 1:1]. We continue to spin that good news, as we experience and dance with the Risen Lord.
   The newSpin newsletter is uploaded to the newSpin blog and posted on a newSpin list of some 2,000 addresses every other Thursday. Many recipients forward it to others. It 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, the Standing Committee, the Canon to the Ordinary or the Archdeacon as an official communication. Comments are welcome on Bethlehem Episcopalians (if you have joined that interactive FaceBook group).

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]

More Resources

DioBeth
• Look online every Thursday for a Diocese of Bethlehem newsletter or for newSpin … Every Thursday in the following rotation: (1) The Leadership News, (2) The newSpin newsletter, (3) The General News, (4) The newSpin newsletter. The Leadership News and the General News are official publications of the Diocese of Bethlehem. They include news, info, features and events relating to our diocese and parishes. The newSpin newsletter you are now reading is not an official publication – and will usually not duplicate news, info and features relating to our diocese and parish as found in the official newsletters. It is a relatively lengthy eclectic sampling of items related to religion – at times not, at times not so clearly – that the editor thinks readers might find to be of interest. It has been a kind of hobby of a onetime communication minister, the work of a volunteer who in retirement enjoys and dedicates time to do the research required. The newSpin newsletter is always posted on the newSpin blog. If you wish to receive it by email, please send a note to [email protected]

• Jubilate, Advent 2017 to Last Epiphany 2018, and weekly Prayers of the People … Linked here from Trinity Bethlehem are Jubilate, a resource for hymn selection, and weekly Prayers of the People which may be used in place of the forms found in the Book of Common Prayer. Both are prepared by Canon Cliff Carr, priest associate. They are available in Word (.doc) and .pdf formats.

• Look online … for the Diocese of Bethlehem Facebook Page, Facebook Group (Bethlehem Episcopalians) and Twitter feed.

• Bethlehem Episcopalians … is a Facebook group for conversations about mission, spirituality, Christian formation, and more that has replaced the old Bakery email list. Bethlehem Episcopalians is an open group. Anyone can join and items that you post can be shared by group members on their own Facebook pages. This offers each of us the opportunity to reach a larger audience with news and conversations about what God is doing in our diocese." Join the Facebook group. Includes more than 425 members

• DioBeth website
• Stumbling into the Sacred ... [Reflections on seeing God in the everyday by Canon Anne E. Kitch]
• newSpin blog ... including the newSpin weekly by Bill Lewellis.
• Facebook Page  … Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem
• Facebook Group … Bethlehem Episcopalians
• Twitter …
• Flickr
• YouTube
• Vimeo
• LinkedIn

Center for Congregations ... The "Using Resources" series of publications by the Center for Congregations is designed to help congregations make the most effective use of capital funds, consultants, architects, contractors, books, congregation management software, and more.
• Congregational Consulting ...  More information on how to contact the consultants can be found here and at http://www.congregationalconsulting.org/ .
• Church locators ... Here.
• ECF Vital Practices ... Here.
• The Chalice, a publication created by Joan DeAcetis for older adults and caretakers. Download issues here.
• Weekly Bulletin Inserts from the Episcopal Church ... Here.
• Calendar of events in our parishes ... Here.

DioBeth Parish and Agency Websites
• Allentown: Episcopal House … Here.
• Allentown: Grace … Here.
• Allentown: Grace Montessori School … Here.
• Allentown: Mediator … Here. Refugee Community Center … Here.
• Allentown/Bethlehem: St. Andrew … Here.
• Athens: Trinity … Here.
• Bethlehem: Nativity Cathedral … Here. Emergency Shelter … Here.
• Bethlehem: New Bethany Ministries … Here.
• Bethlehem: Trinity … Here.
• Bethlehem: Trinity Soup Kitchen … Here.
• Carbondale: St. James-St. George … Here.
• Clarks Summit/Glenburn: Epiphany … Here.
• Dallas: Prince of Peace … Here.
• Douglassville: St. Gabriel … Here.
• Easton: Trinity … Here.  ARK Soup Kitchen … Here.
• Emmaus: St. Margaret … Here.
• Forest City: Christ Church … Here.
• Hazleton: St. Peter … Here.
• Hamlin: St. John … Here.
• Hellertown: St. George … Here.
• Honesdale: Grace … Here.
• Jermyn: St. James/St. George … Here.
• Jim Thorpe: St. Mark/St. John … Here.
• Kingston: Grace … Here.
• Lebanon: St. Luke … Here.
• Lehighton: All Saints … Here.
• Milford: Good Shepherd … Here.
• Montrose: St. Paul … Here.
• Morgantown: St. Thomas … Here.
• Moscow: St. Mark … Here.
• Mountain Top: St. Martin-in-the-Fields … Here.
• Mount Pocono: … Here.
• Nanticoke/Alden Station: St. Andrew … Here.
• Nazareth: St. Brigid … Here.
• Palmerton: St. John … Here.
• Pen Argyl: St. Joseph … Here.
• Pottsville: Trinity … Here.
• Reading: Christ Church … Here.  SPARK … Here.
• Reading: St. Mary: … Here.
• Sayre: Redeemer: … Here.
• Schuylkill County: North Parish … Here.
• Scranton: St. Luke: … Here.
• Sinking Spring: St. Alban … Here.
• Stroudsburg: Christ Church … Here.
• Towanda: Christ Church … Here.
• Trexlertown: St. Anne … Here.
• Tunkhannock: St. Peter … Here.
• Whitehall: St. Stephen … Here.
• Whitehall: St. Stephen School … Here.
• Wilkes-Barre: St. Clement/St. Peter … Here.
• Wilkes-Barre: St. Stephen … Here.
• West Pittston: Trinity … Here.
• Wind Gap: St. Mary … Here.
[Bill] Please let me know if your website is not listed above. Also, let me know if you would like me to highlight something on your site. Please note, also, that a few of the websites need to be updated. Thanks.]

• Data and Analysis from the 2016 Parochial Reports … of the Episcopal Church are available here.

Episcopal/Anglican
• The Episcopal Church website, news service, news service blog,
• Episcopal Café
• AngicansOnline website and news centre.
• The Living Church
• The Anglican Communion website and news service.
• The Daily Scan: Contact [email protected] to add subscribers for news releases, notices, statements, or Daily Scan.
• Free weekly bulletin inserts provide information about the history, music, liturgy, mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church. Find the inserts here.
• Updated Episcopal Church canons and constitution ... Here.
• Forward Movement ... Here.
• Episcopal Web Radio ... Here.
• Episcopal Church Event Calendar ... Here

• The Toolkit … of the Public Affairs Office is located on the Public Affairs pages of The Episcopal Church website here. Among the items are: Topics – topics of interest and dates of importance. Catalog – a list of important topics along with actions taken by The Episcopal Church and General Convention. Getting started - an easy how-to for getting started in preparing materials, media releases, op-eds, etc. For more information contact Neva Rae Fox, Public Affairs Officer, [email protected], 212-716-6080.

• Sermons that work … The Episcopal Church welcomes many different points of view, and sermons offered during an Episcopal service may vary greatly from congregation to congregation. Although there is no “typical” or on'e-size-fits-all sermon for Episcopal congregations, the sermons in this series are selected for their universal qualities so that they may be useful to a wide variety of small congregations without full-time priests on staff, where lay leaders often shoulder the responsibility of delivering the sermons on Sunday. To assist these small congregations, the Episcopal Church offers Sermons That Work, new sermons each week for Sundays and major feast days throughout the liturgical year. Here.

• Weekly bulletin inserts … provide information about the history, music, liturgy, mission and ministry of the Episcopal Church. Here. There's also an archive dating back to 2006.

Ecumenical/Interfaith Relations
• The Episcopal Church … is currently in full communion relationship with the following churches: the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Moravian Church of the Northern and Southern Provinces, the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht, the Philippine Independent Church, and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of India. Coordinating committees support the implementation of some of these relationships, which involve full mutual recognition of ministries and sacraments. Clergy of these churches may serve in Episcopal churches, and vice versa. We also have warm relationships with the Church of Sweden and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bavaria.
   The Episcopal Church is in active dialogue with three traditions: the Roman Catholic Church through the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), and the United Methodist Church. Our dialogues meet regularly to discuss matters of common concern, doctrinal agreements and disagreements, and possibilities for the emergence of full communion relationships. Each diocese of The Episcopal Church has a designated officer responsible for promoting ecumenical and interreligious conversations on the local level. Canon Maria Tjeltveit of the Church of the Mediator in Allentown is the designated officer for the Diocese of Bethlehem. Read on.

• Five major world religions … Khan Academy's tour through five major world religions.  • Buddhism,  • Christianity,  • Hinduism,  • Islam,  • Judaism.  
• Protestant Reformation…  Khan Academy's introduction to the Protestant Reformation

• Five major world religions … Khan Academy's tour through five major world religions.  • Buddhism,  • Christianity,  • Hinduism,  • Islam,  • Judaism.   MOVE UNDER 'MORE RESOURCES'

• Protestant Reformation …  Khan Academy's introduction to the Protestant Reformation  MOVE UNDER 'MORE RESOURCES'

SpiritSpin
• The Book of Common Prayer ... every edition from 1549 to 1979. Here.
• Prayers and Thanksgivings from the BCP ... Here.
• The (Online) Book of Common Prayer ... 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 Daily Office ... from the Diocese of Indianapolis. Here.
• The Prayer Site ... a resource of Forward Movement. Here.
• Speaking to the Soul ... Episcopal Café blog. Sermons, reflections, multimedia meditations and excerpts from books on spirituality. Here.
• The Imitation of Christ ... Available free online.

Evangelism/Stewardship/Church Growth
• Telling the good news, in the media ... [Jim Naughton and Rebecca Wilson] If the media isn’t telling the stories you want told it is possible (we say very gently) that those stories aren’t interesting or significant enough to warrant coverage. Or, it is possible that you are not presenting them to the media in a way that catches their attention. Or perhaps you have not presented stories to the media at all. It isn’t easy to get your congregation, diocese, conference, or other sort of Christian organization into the newspaper or in online media outlets unless something has gone significantly wrong. It is even harder to get it on television or the radio. But it is possible if you absorb these 10 simple tips. Read on.


Bible&Worship
• The Lectionary ... A collection of Lectionary resources for the Episcopal Church, updated Sunday night. Here.
• Lectionary Page ... A liturgical calendar for upcoming weeks, with links to readings from the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), as adapted for use in Episcopal worship. Here.
• Revised Common Lectionary ... Here.
• The Liturgical Calendar ... BCP, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, HWHM ... Here.
• Oremus Bible Browser ... Here.
• Celebrating the Eucharist, by Patrick Malloy. Google Book
• Enriching our Worship, 1 to 5 ... Free download here.
• The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant: Liturgical Resources for Blessing Same-Sex Relationships [Extracted from Liturgical Resources 1: I Will Bless You and You Will Be a Blessing] Here.
• Collection of worship resources at Diobeth.org ... Including Diocesan Cycles of Prayer for weekly worship, Holy Women Holy Men, and The Text This Week. Here.

Health and Wellness
• Resources for caregivers ... Here.
• Medline Plus ... Here. 
• WebMD ... Here.
• Alzheimers.gov ... For people helping people with Alzheimers. Here.
• Three Free Apps for getting qualified medical advice... [Techlicious] Urgent Care, HealthTap and First Aid. Info and links.
• Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
• Center for Disease Control - Healthy Living
•Church Health Reader
• Eastern Pennsylvania Faith Community Nurses
• Episcopal Mental Illness Network
• Go4Life from the National Institute on Aging at NIH
• National Episcopal Health Ministries
• NEHM Wellness Resource Page 
•Let's Move

News/info/commentary
• Religion News Service Daily Roundup ... here.
• Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project: Daily Religion Headlines ... here.
• Religious Freedom Blog ... a weekly look back at the top stories and developments on religious liberty around the world. Here.
• National Catholic Reporter ... here.
• BBC News Online ... here.
• BBC Religion & Ethics ... here.
• Faith in Public Life ... Here.
• Religion&Ethics News Weekly (PBS) ... Here.
• Religion Research Hub ... ARDA, Association of Religion Data Archives, an especially useful site.
• Back issues of the newSpin newsletter ... here.

Media/Film/TV/Books/Podcasts/Music/Tech
• Spirituality & Film ... Here.
• Spirituality on DVD ... Here.
• Books for Spiritual Journeys ... Here.
• Audios for Spiritual Journeys ... Here.
• Free eBooks by Project Gutenberg  ... Here. 
• Free Audiobooks from LibriVox ... Here. 
• Free Audiobooks and eBooks ... Here and Here.
• Google Books ... Millions of books you can preview or read free. Here. 
• The Online Books Page ... from UPenn. Here.
• More free eBooks  and Audiobooks ... [Techlicious] Here.
• Telling the good news, in the media ... [Jim Naughton and Rebecca Wilson] If the media isn’t telling the stories you want told about your congregation, it is possible (we say very gently) that those stories aren’t interesting or significant enough to warrant coverage. Or, it is possible that you are not presenting them to the media in a way that catches their attention. Or perhaps you have not presented stories to the media at all. It isn’t easy to get your congregation, diocese, conference, or other sort of Christian organization into the newspaper or in online media outlets unless something has gone significantly wrong. It is even harder to get it on television or the radio. But it is possible if you absorb these 10 simple tips. Read on.
• Communicate … Your Ministry, including Bill's Communication Biases and Communication-Evangelism. Here.

Varia
• Insights into Religion ... Here.
• The Alban Institute ... Here.