Taking ownership of a problem is usually the best way to ensure that it receives proper attention. We share the prayers of many Catholic faithful that the Catholic hierarchy will finally find effective ways to do just that.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Whose problem is it?
Over the weekend, the Washington Post featured an op-ed from bishop Gene Robinson framed as a letter to the pope about the current abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. While Bishop Robinson is careful first to debunk the myth that homosexuals are any more likely to be abusers than the general population, he spends most of his ink describing the detailed process by which his diocese and the rest of the Episcopal Church seek to prevent abuse and to deal with it when it happens. You can read the entire piece here.
Monday, April 26, 2010
The Web We Weave
The fifty or so wardens and other lay leaders who attended last month’s wardens’ conference got a real treat. The afternoon speaker was Patrick Herold, president of Digital Faith, Inc., the firm with which the Diocese has contracted for a new web site that will involve both the diocese and as many of its parishes as are interested in participating. Pat is an interesting fellow; he’s patented several powerful communication technologies, and he got into working with Episcopal Churches during time in Atlanta with the Episcopal Media Center.
The luncheon presentation was nothing less than a capsule history of human communication over the past 10,000 years or so. Think of stories around the campfire – stone tablets – the printing press – telegraph – telephone – the web. That was the substance, but his version was both more eloquent and more humorous.
But as he began digging into what the Diocese is trying to do on the web, Herold made a very important point. “Munch of what folks are trying to do with religion on the web,” he said, “is really very thin. I can put up my sermon or my comment, and folks can comment on what I’m doing. You can call that a community, but it really isn’t.”
And that, of course, is just the point. Pat went on to describe what we’re trying to do with the new diocesan web site. This is not an effort to create a new online community. Instead, it’s an effort to provide a set of tools and information that folks who are already a part of our diocesan community can use to strengthen their relationships with one another. We will do it by sharing, by commenting, and I suspect, by realizing that the joys, challenges, and struggles that we feel locally exist elsewhere as well.
No one congregation has either all the problems or all the talent and solutions. We hope our new site will provide a platform that will help both people and parishes do better in their mission. The new site should be on line in the next week or two. We hope you’ll drop by and participate.
The luncheon presentation was nothing less than a capsule history of human communication over the past 10,000 years or so. Think of stories around the campfire – stone tablets – the printing press – telegraph – telephone – the web. That was the substance, but his version was both more eloquent and more humorous.
But as he began digging into what the Diocese is trying to do on the web, Herold made a very important point. “Munch of what folks are trying to do with religion on the web,” he said, “is really very thin. I can put up my sermon or my comment, and folks can comment on what I’m doing. You can call that a community, but it really isn’t.”
And that, of course, is just the point. Pat went on to describe what we’re trying to do with the new diocesan web site. This is not an effort to create a new online community. Instead, it’s an effort to provide a set of tools and information that folks who are already a part of our diocesan community can use to strengthen their relationships with one another. We will do it by sharing, by commenting, and I suspect, by realizing that the joys, challenges, and struggles that we feel locally exist elsewhere as well.
No one congregation has either all the problems or all the talent and solutions. We hope our new site will provide a platform that will help both people and parishes do better in their mission. The new site should be on line in the next week or two. We hope you’ll drop by and participate.
Friday, April 23, 2010
The Post-Colonial Thing
Youth can sometimes bring a certain innocence to complex issues. So I was intrigued to read a short explication of the trials facing global Anglicanism this morning written by a staffer for, would you believe, the Yale Daily News.
I found this student’s words merely charming until I realized that the writer—female, I think—appeared to be Chinese, and because of her heritage, she had a very particular view of the British. To wit: “If you grew up in America reading about the exploits of Paul Revere, you thought of the British as the redcoats. But since I grew up in China, I thought of them as top hat-wearing drug dealers who peddled yapian by the boatload.”
Well… OK, then.
Despite past quarrels, Americans have always had a sort of affection for all things English. The same, apparently, is not true in other former colonies. I suspect that one form of this post-colonial lashing out is the glee with which the provinces of the southern hemisphere thumb their noses at the Church of England, Rowan Williams, and worst of all, the Americans. At at least one level, this is an argument more about power than theology. You messed with us; now we’ll mess with you.
Now, with that all said, our young Chinese reporter goes on to provide a succinct summary of why the Anglican Communion may shortly be neither Anglican nor a communion. You can read it all here.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Vacation Days
Earlier this week, the vacationing rector of a parish in the diocese received a phone call from the parish office. They had received a call from an area funeral director about scheduling a funeral for a quite elderly woman who had not darkened the door of the church in years. She and her husband—who was hospitalized, recovering from pneumonia—had been married in that church, and he had particularly requested that the funeral be held there on Friday.
Friday was apparently important. Saturday would not do. Not wanting to shorten a planned vacation, the rector arranged for a deacon to officiate.
Two days later, the husband, still hospitalized, took a sudden turn for the worse. He died the next morning. He and his wife had been married just over seventy years.
Early Friday morning, the rector drove back to the church, where the family gathered for a rare double funeral. Commenting on the situation, the rector said, “It was the only thing to do.”
God works in mysterious ways, and he cares for all the sheep, no matter how often they talk with him. We should, too.
Friday was apparently important. Saturday would not do. Not wanting to shorten a planned vacation, the rector arranged for a deacon to officiate.
Two days later, the husband, still hospitalized, took a sudden turn for the worse. He died the next morning. He and his wife had been married just over seventy years.
Early Friday morning, the rector drove back to the church, where the family gathered for a rare double funeral. Commenting on the situation, the rector said, “It was the only thing to do.”
God works in mysterious ways, and he cares for all the sheep, no matter how often they talk with him. We should, too.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Where is Church??
I've just finished reading Phyllis Tickle's popular book, The Great Emergence. It's a real stew, involving of a lot of complex technology, sociology, and theological development. I spend the bulk of my life working the twin frontiers of emerging communication technology and the ways to infuse that technology into education—at all levels. So I was struck by the way the author touches on—but does not fully explore—the ways the Internet has amplified the emergence she describes.
The emerging Christianity Tickle describes is very much parallel to what, in computing jargon, is called a distributed network. In such a system, if I choose to send a piece of information from Point A to Point B, it will always get there, but the route that it takes will almost certainly be different each time. In fact, the network will likely break that information into separate packets, any one of which may take a different route. Yet, they all arrive, and the message remains intact. We oversimplify the impact of this communication revolution—or Tickle's succession of diagrams of emergent Christianity—at our peril. Each affects us on more levels than we probably recognize.
The “unhinging” that Tickle describes centers on the diminution of families (and mothers and grandmothers in particular) as the arbiters of cultural norms. They didn't do this intentionally; they simply got too busy, or too distracted, or separated by too great distances to pay attention to it. The certainty—and the locus—of authority suffers as a result.
Unlike education, Christianity defines itself in communities, and geography has always been the delimiter of those communities. But what happens if I can do Bible study on a wiki, with participants from around the world? Does the German Reformed churchman from Zurich read St. Luke with the same nuance as mine? Will a young Irish Catholic blanch at my comment about Paul's letters? But isn't this a community of faith also? But now, the community now emerges on new terms.
One of Ms. Tickle's most interesting points is that the movement of emergent forces toward some new state usually engenders a counter-reaction. (Think of the few dioceses that have left the Episcopal Church.) To these folks she attributes surprising importance, noting that their presence acts as ballast, keeping things from rolling too far in any one direction.
Throughout her text, Tickle notes that these changes are, in and of themselves, neither good nor bad. “They just are,” she writes. Gee, thanks; now what do we do?
These phenomena are larger than any of us, or our congregation, or our diocese, or even our church. The riddle lies in how we navigate them from here. I'll to explore the potential of these new media connections—for the better or the less better—in upcoming posts.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
DAY 10: Thursday, July 16
From Kate Harrigan (Deputation Chair): “On Beyond Zebra” or On Beyond D025
Much attention has been focused on the passage here of Resolution D025, which reaffirmed The Episcopal Church’s commitment to equal access for all to the process of discernment toward ordered ministry. But a great deal more has been happening here in Anaheim, and over the last few General Conventions, and I have find myself compelled to bring attention to the incredibly compassionate and faithful work of each convention.
Some items the public is not hearing about:
We restored funding to the Millennium Development Goals. These address the needs of people around the globe. While the funding had originally been removed, the church decided that these goals were important enough to “put our money where our mouth is”, even with a tight and sacrificial budget.
We passed legislation that advocates for
These are just a few of the resolutions we passed so that the church may speak and act with a voice of justice for those who have no voice.
We are also passing legislation that broadens the boundaries of our church so that we may share the goodness of God with our brothers and sisters in Christ from the Moravian, the Methodist, and the Presbyterian traditions.
And we are passing legislation that begs us to pay attention to our care of creation to reverse damage to the environment.
The overwhelming voice and work of this convention, and of our Episcopal Church, is the voice and work of inclusion and advocacy – for The LGBT community, for the Latino/Hispanic community, for the indigenous people of our world, for the poor among us, for our brothers and sisters in Christ from other traditions and for God’s earth.
In his meditation today, the Rev. Frank Wade, our chaplain, helped us to understand that evangelism really means telling our story. The evangelist is the story teller. We are telling our story here, a powerful story of inclusion and advocacy, a powerful story of faithfulness to the Gospel – the Good News – of Christ.
From Patrick Strohl:
Well, we have a budget for The Episcopal Church for the 2010-2012 triennium. After holding two hearings last week, the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance presented a budget reflecting cuts totaling over $23 million from the proposed budget drafted earlier this year. The Convention adopted a $141 million budget, which reflects a reduction of $10.45 per Episcopalian per year.
On the income side, in response to dioceses’ requests, asking will be calculated at 21% of each diocese's operating income for 2010; 20% for 2011 and 19% for 2012. Our Diocese of Central PA was one of only 27 dioceses that met the 21% asking in 2008.
On the expense side, many national programs will be cut, meaning that dioceses and parishes will need to undertake more mission work themselves. Up to 37 out of 180 staff members employed at the New York and regional offices will lose their jobs. Many were told in meetings at convention that their jobs were being eliminated. The House of Deputies halted business after the budget was adopted to pray for those affected by the cuts.
In another cost cutting move, the 77th General Convention to be held in Indianapolis in 2012 has been shortened from ten days to eight. The budget for Episcopal Life was cut from $9.5 million to $3 million, to reflect an eventual move from ten newspaper-style issues a year to a quarterly magazine-type publication, with other media picking up the task of providing timely “news”. Dioceses like ours, who wrap their diocesan newspapers around Episcopal Life, will need to adjust communications strategies.
We are being forced to become leaner, more efficient and more focused. God grant us grace to see and name the abundance that God offers, as we work through the pain of this process.
From Rayelenn Casey, Sign Language Interpreter:
(Editor’s Note: Rayelenn has traveled to Anaheim this convention with her husband, Stephen, who is a clergy delegate, and daughter, Emily, who is a volunteer.)
This is my fifth consecutive General Convention working as a sign language interpreter. I don’t know how many of you are aware of the existence of the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf, a body in the national church that supports ministry with Deaf people, providing, as they say at their popular booth in the Exhibit Hall, “faith experiences for Deaf people in their own language.”
The ECD has no central office or location; instead, it is made up of priests, deacons, and lay people in parishes all over the country from Boston to San Diego, from Alabama and North Carolina, to St. Louis to Upstate New York. The ECD is made up of several fully Deaf parishes as well as “hearing” parishes that offer sign language interpretation. So – the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf has a very strong and very visible presence at General Convention, and it is my honour and privilege to be one of the three interpreters providing interpretation at daily worship services, at committee meetings, in the House of Deputies and even the House of Bishops, in addition to special events.
The ECD’s booth in the exhibit hall is, as I say, popular – it seems everyone loves to learn sign language, so there is always an interpreter stationed there to facilitate conversation between the Deaf people at the booth and passers-by. Deaf people have also testified at committee hearings and served as Eucharistic ministers at worship.
On a personal note, it was for me a pleasure and a sacred responsibility to interpret for Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his address on the global economy last week, and to share the peace with him at worship the next morning. Interpreting liturgy has always been a particular joy for me – and so I am having a wonderful time doing just that at General Convention.
From Kate Harrigan (Deputation Chair): “On Beyond Zebra” or On Beyond D025
Much attention has been focused on the passage here of Resolution D025, which reaffirmed The Episcopal Church’s commitment to equal access for all to the process of discernment toward ordered ministry. But a great deal more has been happening here in Anaheim, and over the last few General Conventions, and I have find myself compelled to bring attention to the incredibly compassionate and faithful work of each convention.
Some items the public is not hearing about:
We restored funding to the Millennium Development Goals. These address the needs of people around the globe. While the funding had originally been removed, the church decided that these goals were important enough to “put our money where our mouth is”, even with a tight and sacrificial budget.
We passed legislation that advocates for
- indigenous peoples who live in the poorest areas of our country;
- lay employees in the church through pension and health plans;
- fair labor laws in the United States;
- equal education for all children;
- protection for victims of domestic violence.
These are just a few of the resolutions we passed so that the church may speak and act with a voice of justice for those who have no voice.
We are also passing legislation that broadens the boundaries of our church so that we may share the goodness of God with our brothers and sisters in Christ from the Moravian, the Methodist, and the Presbyterian traditions.
And we are passing legislation that begs us to pay attention to our care of creation to reverse damage to the environment.
The overwhelming voice and work of this convention, and of our Episcopal Church, is the voice and work of inclusion and advocacy – for The LGBT community, for the Latino/Hispanic community, for the indigenous people of our world, for the poor among us, for our brothers and sisters in Christ from other traditions and for God’s earth.
In his meditation today, the Rev. Frank Wade, our chaplain, helped us to understand that evangelism really means telling our story. The evangelist is the story teller. We are telling our story here, a powerful story of inclusion and advocacy, a powerful story of faithfulness to the Gospel – the Good News – of Christ.
From Patrick Strohl:
Well, we have a budget for The Episcopal Church for the 2010-2012 triennium. After holding two hearings last week, the Joint Standing Committee on Program, Budget and Finance presented a budget reflecting cuts totaling over $23 million from the proposed budget drafted earlier this year. The Convention adopted a $141 million budget, which reflects a reduction of $10.45 per Episcopalian per year.
On the income side, in response to dioceses’ requests, asking will be calculated at 21% of each diocese's operating income for 2010; 20% for 2011 and 19% for 2012. Our Diocese of Central PA was one of only 27 dioceses that met the 21% asking in 2008.
On the expense side, many national programs will be cut, meaning that dioceses and parishes will need to undertake more mission work themselves. Up to 37 out of 180 staff members employed at the New York and regional offices will lose their jobs. Many were told in meetings at convention that their jobs were being eliminated. The House of Deputies halted business after the budget was adopted to pray for those affected by the cuts.
In another cost cutting move, the 77th General Convention to be held in Indianapolis in 2012 has been shortened from ten days to eight. The budget for Episcopal Life was cut from $9.5 million to $3 million, to reflect an eventual move from ten newspaper-style issues a year to a quarterly magazine-type publication, with other media picking up the task of providing timely “news”. Dioceses like ours, who wrap their diocesan newspapers around Episcopal Life, will need to adjust communications strategies.
We are being forced to become leaner, more efficient and more focused. God grant us grace to see and name the abundance that God offers, as we work through the pain of this process.
From Rayelenn Casey, Sign Language Interpreter:
(Editor’s Note: Rayelenn has traveled to Anaheim this convention with her husband, Stephen, who is a clergy delegate, and daughter, Emily, who is a volunteer.)
This is my fifth consecutive General Convention working as a sign language interpreter. I don’t know how many of you are aware of the existence of the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf, a body in the national church that supports ministry with Deaf people, providing, as they say at their popular booth in the Exhibit Hall, “faith experiences for Deaf people in their own language.”
The ECD has no central office or location; instead, it is made up of priests, deacons, and lay people in parishes all over the country from Boston to San Diego, from Alabama and North Carolina, to St. Louis to Upstate New York. The ECD is made up of several fully Deaf parishes as well as “hearing” parishes that offer sign language interpretation. So – the Episcopal Conference of the Deaf has a very strong and very visible presence at General Convention, and it is my honour and privilege to be one of the three interpreters providing interpretation at daily worship services, at committee meetings, in the House of Deputies and even the House of Bishops, in addition to special events.
The ECD’s booth in the exhibit hall is, as I say, popular – it seems everyone loves to learn sign language, so there is always an interpreter stationed there to facilitate conversation between the Deaf people at the booth and passers-by. Deaf people have also testified at committee hearings and served as Eucharistic ministers at worship.
On a personal note, it was for me a pleasure and a sacred responsibility to interpret for Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in his address on the global economy last week, and to share the peace with him at worship the next morning. Interpreting liturgy has always been a particular joy for me – and so I am having a wonderful time doing just that at General Convention.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
...and Still Friends
Some of the more interesting writing coming out of the General Convention this week has been by Daniel Burke, who writes for Religion News Service, and whose spouse is the religion reporter for the York Daily Record here in our diocese. In a report published on BeliefNet recently, he describes two deputies from Virginia who, having voted in opposite ways for D025, remain longstanding friends.
Interestingly, sexuality had little to do with the calculus for the gentleman who voted against the resolution. He has been active in helping the church in Sudan, and he was concerned that the actions of the Convention could further alienate provinces in Africa, thereby endangering a valuable and much-needed partnership. He may have a point.
So, while our collective journey continues, one can only hope that in the long run the Convention's recent actions will strengthen—not weaken—the church's capacity for mission. You can read the entire piece here.
Interestingly, sexuality had little to do with the calculus for the gentleman who voted against the resolution. He has been active in helping the church in Sudan, and he was concerned that the actions of the Convention could further alienate provinces in Africa, thereby endangering a valuable and much-needed partnership. He may have a point.
So, while our collective journey continues, one can only hope that in the long run the Convention's recent actions will strengthen—not weaken—the church's capacity for mission. You can read the entire piece here.
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