Saturday, 19 November 2011
Friday, 18 November 2011
WHEN PRESIDING BISHOPS ERR
From EPISCOPAL NEWS SERVICE:
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said Nov. 17 that she received a Roman Catholic priest into the Episcopal Church despite him admitting an incident of sexual misconduct because she believed "he demonstrated repentance and amendment of life." Questions about Jefferts Schori's decision, made in 2004 when she was bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, arose in June after a plaintiff listed as John Doe 181 filed a lawsuit against Conception Abbey, a Roman Catholic monastery in Missouri. The Rev. Bede Parry was a monk at the abbey in the 1980s and directed a choir. The plaintiff, now an adult, alleged that Parry had sexual contact with him during a 1987 summer choir camp at the abbey. Parry, 69, served All Saints Episcopal Church in Las Vegas since 2000 as organist and later as an assisting priest, but resigned after the lawsuit was filed.
Jefferts Schori said that when Parry asked her to receive him as a priest, he told her about a 1987 sexual encounter he had with "an older teenager." She said in her statement that he "indicated that it was a single incident of very poor judgment." She said she decided to receive Parry as a priest "believing that he demonstrated repentance and amendment of life and that his current state did not represent a bar to his reception." She said she restricted Parry to an assisting role, under the supervision of another priest, and told him that he could not work alone with children. The latter requirement is a restriction the diocese places on all its clergy and laity.
COMMENT: I think it important to stress that Parry was not just received into the membership of the Episcopal Church (which would have been problematical but proper), he was received into the priesthood of the Episcopal Church. It does not matter how many restrictions you put on a priest in a parish setting or how strictly a priest is watched over, that priest will always have opportunities to relate to members of the parish and others in a more intimate way than is usually possible for members of the laity. It just comes with the job and the way many people view the priesthood.
It is my opinion that Jefferts Schori allowed Parry to practice as a priest in the Episcopal Church out of Christian charity and nothing else. It is also my opinion that when Parry told her that he had repented and intended "to sin no more," he was more than likely telling the truth.
However, at the time Jefferts Schori made her decision regarding Parry it was already well understood by society in general that it is always extremely likely that a sexual predator will offend again no matter how much they intend not to or how much they feel guilty about past offences.
Therefore, it is my opinion that Jefferts Schori, and those who advised her at the time, made one huge mistake. It was negligence at such a high level that if a child had been abused by Parry subsequent to his reception as a priest in the Episcopal Church, Jefferts Schori would have possibly been charged with criminal negligence (although I say that from my knowledge of English law, not American law).
This begs one huge question. Should Jefferts Schori continue in any position of authority within the Episcopal Church in which she may well be responsible for making decisions about similar cases in the future? In fact, does this error of judgement mean that she is not to be trusted to make competent decisions in any area of the Church's life?
Second only to the sin of putting the wellbeing of members of her own church and other people at risk is the sin of hypocrisy that raises its ugly head well above the parapet in this case. Can liberal episcopalians in America continue to call for extremely strict measures in other denominations to protect young people from predatory sex offenders, and full accountability of leaders of other denominations if they allow or enable sexual offences to occur and/or cover them up when they take place, if they turn a blind eye to a similar beam in their own collective eye, especially when the person concerned is a high ranking liberal?
Charity may lead us to conclude that we should let the presiding bishop off the hook. But, of course, as I assume above, it was most probably charity that got the Episcopal Church, and Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in particular, into this embarrassing and blameworthy mess in the first place.
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said Nov. 17 that she received a Roman Catholic priest into the Episcopal Church despite him admitting an incident of sexual misconduct because she believed "he demonstrated repentance and amendment of life." Questions about Jefferts Schori's decision, made in 2004 when she was bishop of the Diocese of Nevada, arose in June after a plaintiff listed as John Doe 181 filed a lawsuit against Conception Abbey, a Roman Catholic monastery in Missouri. The Rev. Bede Parry was a monk at the abbey in the 1980s and directed a choir. The plaintiff, now an adult, alleged that Parry had sexual contact with him during a 1987 summer choir camp at the abbey. Parry, 69, served All Saints Episcopal Church in Las Vegas since 2000 as organist and later as an assisting priest, but resigned after the lawsuit was filed.
Jefferts Schori said that when Parry asked her to receive him as a priest, he told her about a 1987 sexual encounter he had with "an older teenager." She said in her statement that he "indicated that it was a single incident of very poor judgment." She said she decided to receive Parry as a priest "believing that he demonstrated repentance and amendment of life and that his current state did not represent a bar to his reception." She said she restricted Parry to an assisting role, under the supervision of another priest, and told him that he could not work alone with children. The latter requirement is a restriction the diocese places on all its clergy and laity.
COMMENT: I think it important to stress that Parry was not just received into the membership of the Episcopal Church (which would have been problematical but proper), he was received into the priesthood of the Episcopal Church. It does not matter how many restrictions you put on a priest in a parish setting or how strictly a priest is watched over, that priest will always have opportunities to relate to members of the parish and others in a more intimate way than is usually possible for members of the laity. It just comes with the job and the way many people view the priesthood.
It is my opinion that Jefferts Schori allowed Parry to practice as a priest in the Episcopal Church out of Christian charity and nothing else. It is also my opinion that when Parry told her that he had repented and intended "to sin no more," he was more than likely telling the truth.
However, at the time Jefferts Schori made her decision regarding Parry it was already well understood by society in general that it is always extremely likely that a sexual predator will offend again no matter how much they intend not to or how much they feel guilty about past offences.
Therefore, it is my opinion that Jefferts Schori, and those who advised her at the time, made one huge mistake. It was negligence at such a high level that if a child had been abused by Parry subsequent to his reception as a priest in the Episcopal Church, Jefferts Schori would have possibly been charged with criminal negligence (although I say that from my knowledge of English law, not American law).
This begs one huge question. Should Jefferts Schori continue in any position of authority within the Episcopal Church in which she may well be responsible for making decisions about similar cases in the future? In fact, does this error of judgement mean that she is not to be trusted to make competent decisions in any area of the Church's life?
Second only to the sin of putting the wellbeing of members of her own church and other people at risk is the sin of hypocrisy that raises its ugly head well above the parapet in this case. Can liberal episcopalians in America continue to call for extremely strict measures in other denominations to protect young people from predatory sex offenders, and full accountability of leaders of other denominations if they allow or enable sexual offences to occur and/or cover them up when they take place, if they turn a blind eye to a similar beam in their own collective eye, especially when the person concerned is a high ranking liberal?
Charity may lead us to conclude that we should let the presiding bishop off the hook. But, of course, as I assume above, it was most probably charity that got the Episcopal Church, and Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori in particular, into this embarrassing and blameworthy mess in the first place.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Perhaps the real truth is I had made an idol of the church,
and that is what I needed to be set free of.
(Lesley Crawley - LESLEY'S BLOG)
and that is what I needed to be set free of.
(Lesley Crawley - LESLEY'S BLOG)
THE PRAYER LIST: 18TH. NOVEMBER 2011
The Prayer List is a daily feature at OCICBW... with an option to light a candle as you pray. If anybody has any concerns they would like included on tomorrow's list please email me with details or leave your request in the comments to this post. I will include relevant photos if provided.
THANKSGIVING
Congratulations to the JESUS IN LOVE enterprise and blog which celebrated its sixth birthday yesterday. Kitt Katt has worked very hard and at great personal expense in her promotion of the website that "promotes artistic and religious freedom and teaches love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or religious faith." I pray, and so should you, that Kitt Katt and Jesus In Love will continue to be blessed by God and that they will continue to bring the work of brilliant gay artists, such as our friend Doug Blanchard, to the wider audience it deserves.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Talking about Doug, our friend, who blogs at COUNTERLIGHT'S PECULIARS, appears to be going through a really stressful time at the moment that is affecting his wellbeing quite worryingly. Please say a prayer or two for him. He's a really nice bloke and doesn't deserve crap in his life.
***
Posted by Ormonde Plater at THROUGH THE DUST:
Murdered this week in the New Orleans area:
11/10 Ralph Lomax 46 M blunt trauma Orleans
11/13 Elijah Grant 23 M shot Orleans
11/13 D'Anjay Nelson 16 M shot Orleans
Please pray for them, their families, and their murderers.
***
Posted at DIOBETH NEWSPIN:
Pray for our young men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for their families:
Sgt. 1st Class Johnathan B. McCain, 38, of Apache Junction, Ariz.
Pfc. Cody R. Norris, 20, of Houston, Texas
Spc. Calvin M. Pereda, 21, of Fayetteville, N.C.
Pfc. Theodore B. Rushing, 25, of Longwood, Fla.
Pray also for the fallen heroes also of our coalition partners, and for the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan who have died, unnamed and unknown to us, and for those who mourn ... and for an end to this endless war.
***
From THE GUARDIAN:
Two fires tore through a Sydney nursing home filled with bedridden and mentally ill patients before dawn on Friday, killing three elderly people and leaving another 14 in intensive care
From THE MIRROR:
A distraught animal lover went in search of her missing Shetland pony and found he had been decapitated. Patricia Lister, a carer for disabled husband Robert, 58, discovered the head of six-year-old Trigger a mile from his stable on Wednesday. His body has not been found.
Patricia, who also found a duck with its head cut off at her smallholding in Spennymoor, Co Durham, said: “I cannot believe how anyone could do such a thing.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
THANKSGIVING
Congratulations to the JESUS IN LOVE enterprise and blog which celebrated its sixth birthday yesterday. Kitt Katt has worked very hard and at great personal expense in her promotion of the website that "promotes artistic and religious freedom and teaches love for all people, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or religious faith." I pray, and so should you, that Kitt Katt and Jesus In Love will continue to be blessed by God and that they will continue to bring the work of brilliant gay artists, such as our friend Doug Blanchard, to the wider audience it deserves.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Talking about Doug, our friend, who blogs at COUNTERLIGHT'S PECULIARS, appears to be going through a really stressful time at the moment that is affecting his wellbeing quite worryingly. Please say a prayer or two for him. He's a really nice bloke and doesn't deserve crap in his life.
***
Posted by Ormonde Plater at THROUGH THE DUST:
Murdered this week in the New Orleans area:
11/10 Ralph Lomax 46 M blunt trauma Orleans
11/13 Elijah Grant 23 M shot Orleans
11/13 D'Anjay Nelson 16 M shot Orleans
Please pray for them, their families, and their murderers.
***
Posted at DIOBETH NEWSPIN:
Pray for our young men and women who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan, and for their families:
Sgt. 1st Class Johnathan B. McCain, 38, of Apache Junction, Ariz.
Pfc. Cody R. Norris, 20, of Houston, Texas
Spc. Calvin M. Pereda, 21, of Fayetteville, N.C.
Pfc. Theodore B. Rushing, 25, of Longwood, Fla.
Pray also for the fallen heroes also of our coalition partners, and for the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan who have died, unnamed and unknown to us, and for those who mourn ... and for an end to this endless war.
***
From THE GUARDIAN:
Two fires tore through a Sydney nursing home filled with bedridden and mentally ill patients before dawn on Friday, killing three elderly people and leaving another 14 in intensive care
From THE MIRROR:
A distraught animal lover went in search of her missing Shetland pony and found he had been decapitated. Patricia Lister, a carer for disabled husband Robert, 58, discovered the head of six-year-old Trigger a mile from his stable on Wednesday. His body has not been found.
Patricia, who also found a duck with its head cut off at her smallholding in Spennymoor, Co Durham, said: “I cannot believe how anyone could do such a thing.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
MADPRIEST'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
If you found out that your spouse had the opposite view to yourself in respect of same sex marriage in church would you divorce your partner? Or would the both of you somehow learn to live with it?
Thursday, 17 November 2011
THE MIDNIGHT JUKEBOX
I'll be honest with you, I'm not a fan of Anna Coogan's music. It's a bit too poppy for me. But her version of "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is rather good. It's got a nice bit of edge about it. Give it a listen and see if you agree with me.
Anna's WEBSITE.
"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" is a song written, composed and performed by Canadian Gordon Lightfoot to commemorate the sinking of the bulk carrier SS Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior on November 10, 1975. Lightfoot considers this song to be his finest work. One unusual aspect of the song is that it is written in (modern) Dorian mode. (Wikipedia)
THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
In my continuing quest (although I fear it will ultimately be a vain one as he is sure to see through my insincerity) to get onto Tim Chesterton"s FAVOURITE BLOGGERS LIST, here's another serious post.
I received this email from Tracie The Red (to give her her full title as this is a serious question) some while back.
I've been thinking about it for a while and, to be honest, I was stumped by it to begin with. But my riff on my dog club being similar to the Anglican Communion in my LET THEM GET ON WITH IT! has led me to a possible, reasonably coherent answer.
Anybody can make a dog submit to them. All you need is a strong, dominant personality or, if that doesn't work, a big stick. These are the tools employed by the alpha males in wolf packs although the big stick tends to be replaced with big teeth and sharp claws.
But, if you want a dog to do as you tell it at the same time as loving you, making the dog submit is of very little value in the enterprise. The thing is a dog will only be "obedient" to you if it wants to be. If you try to get the dog to do as you say by scaring the living daylights out of it the only thing it will do when you shout "Come here!" is run in the opposite direction.
I have been training dogs for 39 years and I can tell you categorically that the first thing you have to do if you want your dog to be obedient is to persuade the dog to trust you and you can't trick a dog into doing that. Contrary to popular belief dogs don't love their masters whatever. Unless you love your dog your dog will not love you. The loyalty that is observed in dogs with cruel owners is from fear not love and, given the opportunity, the fearful dog will readily transfer its loyalty to a kinder owner. And obedience comes not from the human telling the dog what to do, a one way contract. Canine obedience is all about teamwork. Above all, a dog will be obedient only if its owner is reliable and can be trusted at all times. A dog will just get very confused and panic if you keep changing the way you relate to it and when you ask it to do something it will just go to pieces.
So, there you have it - the difference between submission and obedience (incorporating the difference between God and Allah) doggie style.
I received this email from Tracie The Red (to give her her full title as this is a serious question) some while back.
I've been thinking about it for a while and, to be honest, I was stumped by it to begin with. But my riff on my dog club being similar to the Anglican Communion in my LET THEM GET ON WITH IT! has led me to a possible, reasonably coherent answer.
Anybody can make a dog submit to them. All you need is a strong, dominant personality or, if that doesn't work, a big stick. These are the tools employed by the alpha males in wolf packs although the big stick tends to be replaced with big teeth and sharp claws.
But, if you want a dog to do as you tell it at the same time as loving you, making the dog submit is of very little value in the enterprise. The thing is a dog will only be "obedient" to you if it wants to be. If you try to get the dog to do as you say by scaring the living daylights out of it the only thing it will do when you shout "Come here!" is run in the opposite direction.
I have been training dogs for 39 years and I can tell you categorically that the first thing you have to do if you want your dog to be obedient is to persuade the dog to trust you and you can't trick a dog into doing that. Contrary to popular belief dogs don't love their masters whatever. Unless you love your dog your dog will not love you. The loyalty that is observed in dogs with cruel owners is from fear not love and, given the opportunity, the fearful dog will readily transfer its loyalty to a kinder owner. And obedience comes not from the human telling the dog what to do, a one way contract. Canine obedience is all about teamwork. Above all, a dog will be obedient only if its owner is reliable and can be trusted at all times. A dog will just get very confused and panic if you keep changing the way you relate to it and when you ask it to do something it will just go to pieces.
So, there you have it - the difference between submission and obedience (incorporating the difference between God and Allah) doggie style.
DOG OF THE DAY
From DENVER WESTWORD:
At three and a half years old, Shelby is too young to vote but not to be voted for. Last night, she almost ruined her greatest accomplishment to date when, during announcements at Occupy Denver's 7 p.m. general assembly, she ran into the center of the circle for attention. It would be a short wait until, with a landslide vote, she would earn it. In about five minutes flat, the young Border Collie/cattle-dog mix was elected the occupation's official leader.
The decision, one that earned more than the required majority, is both laughable and pointed. Even in a leaderless movement, the fact that many corporations have power over the rights of their human employees has inspired the group to symbolically strike back. Shelby is a leader among men and a four-pawed iconoclast.
Thanks to Paul(A), the soppy old bugger,
for sending this story to me.
At three and a half years old, Shelby is too young to vote but not to be voted for. Last night, she almost ruined her greatest accomplishment to date when, during announcements at Occupy Denver's 7 p.m. general assembly, she ran into the center of the circle for attention. It would be a short wait until, with a landslide vote, she would earn it. In about five minutes flat, the young Border Collie/cattle-dog mix was elected the occupation's official leader.
The decision, one that earned more than the required majority, is both laughable and pointed. Even in a leaderless movement, the fact that many corporations have power over the rights of their human employees has inspired the group to symbolically strike back. Shelby is a leader among men and a four-pawed iconoclast.
Thanks to Paul(A), the soppy old bugger,
for sending this story to me.
EXTREME ANIMAL CRUELTY
Thanks (although I don't think that's quite the right word)
to Paul(A) for sending this one in.
A THOROUGHLY GOOD SORT
The following is taken from an obituary of a woman who died back in August. However, it has only just been published in THE TELEGRAPH.
Rose Robertson, who has died aged 94, was an SOE agent in Nazi-occupied France and later founded Britain’s first advice and support service for families with gay children.
In 1965 she took in two young male lodgers. On eventually learning that they were gay and had suffered because of their parents’ homophobic attitudes, Rose Robertson set up Parents Enquiry. This was the first organisation in Britain — and possibly the world — dedicated to advising and supporting parents and their lesbian, gay and bisexual children. She ran it almost single-handedly, without payment, from her home in south-east London until the 1990s.
Rose Robertson typically received 100 phone calls and letters a week — from distressed gay teenagers, many of whom had harmed themselves because of the prejudice they faced, and from parents who were variously distressed, or felt guilty, ashamed and hostile towards their homosexual children. Often she mediated between parents and children, usually with success. A middle-aged, thoroughly heterosexual housewife, she was a reassuring figure.
Rose Robertson opened up her house to gay teenagers who had been thrown out of their homes by their parents, providing them with sleeping bags so that they could stay in her living room.
She also rescued from the sex industry homeless gay youths who had turned to prostitution to support themselves. Amsterdam was a magnet for gay runaways in the 1970s. She made many trips there to bring back teenagers and later persuaded many of their parents to accept them back into the family home.
Occasionally she was verbally abused and physically attacked by irate parents. Usually, she won them round. She was also targeted by homophobes and Right-wing extremists, enduring arson attacks on her home, excrement through the letterbox, abusive phone calls and hate mail.
From the mid-1970s onwards, these attacks eased off. Meanwhile, official reluctance to support gay youths gave way to growing respect for her work. A rising number of referrals came from the police and social services. Authorities which had been wary of supporting gay teenagers, some of whom remained classed as criminals until the age of consent was equalised in 2001, were impressed by her family-oriented approach to reconciling gay children with their parents.
Wow! OCICBW... hereby awards it's first ever LIFETIME
BRICK OF THE DAY
AWARD
What a beautiful lady.
What a beautiful human being.
Thanks to Laura who was first to send the link
to this great woman's obituary through to me.
In 1965 she took in two young male lodgers. On eventually learning that they were gay and had suffered because of their parents’ homophobic attitudes, Rose Robertson set up Parents Enquiry. This was the first organisation in Britain — and possibly the world — dedicated to advising and supporting parents and their lesbian, gay and bisexual children. She ran it almost single-handedly, without payment, from her home in south-east London until the 1990s.
Rose Robertson typically received 100 phone calls and letters a week — from distressed gay teenagers, many of whom had harmed themselves because of the prejudice they faced, and from parents who were variously distressed, or felt guilty, ashamed and hostile towards their homosexual children. Often she mediated between parents and children, usually with success. A middle-aged, thoroughly heterosexual housewife, she was a reassuring figure.
She also rescued from the sex industry homeless gay youths who had turned to prostitution to support themselves. Amsterdam was a magnet for gay runaways in the 1970s. She made many trips there to bring back teenagers and later persuaded many of their parents to accept them back into the family home.
Occasionally she was verbally abused and physically attacked by irate parents. Usually, she won them round. She was also targeted by homophobes and Right-wing extremists, enduring arson attacks on her home, excrement through the letterbox, abusive phone calls and hate mail.
From the mid-1970s onwards, these attacks eased off. Meanwhile, official reluctance to support gay youths gave way to growing respect for her work. A rising number of referrals came from the police and social services. Authorities which had been wary of supporting gay teenagers, some of whom remained classed as criminals until the age of consent was equalised in 2001, were impressed by her family-oriented approach to reconciling gay children with their parents.
Wow! OCICBW... hereby awards it's first ever LIFETIME
BRICK OF THE DAY
AWARD
What a beautiful lady.
What a beautiful human being.
Thanks to Laura who was first to send the link
to this great woman's obituary through to me.
IS LAY PRESIDENCY THE SAME
AS SAME SEX MARRIAGE?
I received a comment overnight on the thread to yesterday's post, LET THEM GET ON WITH IT! For some reason its author removed it, which is a shame because it contained a very good question: Would my "live and let live" suggestion allow lay presidency at the Eucharist?" Without revealing the identity of the person who posed this question I will try to answer it.
Firstly, I would emphasise that I'm not recommending a free for all. That would be silly and we are quite capable of using our common sense when deciding what local practices should be censured and which ones should be allowed. For example, if a local church wanted to replace its Sunday morning Eucharist with a lap dancing session, this may do wonders for the financial standing of that church but, the thing is, it would no longer be a church. It would be a lap dancing club.
However, even turning a church building into a sex club is not a doctrinal matter in my opinion, and nor are same sex marriages, women bishops and lay presidency. These are all ecclesial matters. But, I would suggest that there is a difference in type between, on the one hand, same sex marriage and women bishops and, on the other hand, lay presidency. The former are merely extensions of something the Church already does. The latter would be a distinctly new thing that would turn the Anglican Church into something distinctly different in the same way as getting rid of bishops would.
Not that such a change would matter to God. Jesus instituted the holy communion but he did not institute the offices of the Church. At the beginning of the Christian religion there were no priests or bishops. Then there was a period when either priests and bishops were the same thing or some regional churches had priests and some bishops. What these priests and bishops did in respect of holy communion is not known. The offices of the Catholic church developed over time as did the duties of the officers. And the episcopal system is not universal. Many denominations do not insist that an ordained priest presides at the Eucharist. Personally I do not dismiss the efficacy of sacraments conducted in such churches. But the church order of the Anglican Communion is based on the three fold ordained ministry. I am not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing but it is one of the things that gives an Anglican church it's identity and makes it different from some other denominations.
Therefore, deciding to allow churches that want to instigate lay presidency to do so would be a far bigger and more important decision for the Anglican Communion than allowing churches to marry same sex couples or ordaining women to the episcopate because it would alter the structure of the Church and significantly change its presenting identity.
But this is not to say lay presidency should never be allowed. There is a significant number of local churches that would like to see the Anglican Communion allowing the practice and it will be something that is discussed seriously, probably as soon as we sort out our present disagreements. If lay presidency is eventually allowed (and I do mean allowed - same sex marriage and women bishops have to be allowed as well - I'm not suggesting that we all just do what we like when we like) then I would consider any churches that adopt the practice to be as Anglican as I am. In fact, and this is purely a personal thing, I would be more comfortable taking communion from a female member of the Anglican laity than from a male priest who believes that women can only have a subservient role in the church.
Finally, I do have one practical suggestion. Communion by extension should be allowed at the discretion of parish priests (or their equivalent in provinces without a parish system). I see absolutely no reason why the elements of holy communion that have been prayed over by an ordained priest should not be administered by a member of the laity who has their congregation's permission to do so. This simple change, which is catholic and which has been practiced in various places and situations for two thousand years, would allow our Church to remain active anywhere there was a member of the Church. To refuse to offer the holy sacrament in certain places just because there isn't a priest around to offer it in person is denying people the body and blood of Christ and his real presence among them. As communion by extension is very much just a matter of church order it is, in my opinion, an abomination that we are still arguing over whether or not it should become common practice. And for goodness sake, we are already doing it whenever a member of the laity takes the sacrament to a housebound member of the Church.
Perhaps the allowance of communion by extension should be the next step the Anglican Communion takes before it even begins to consider the issue of lay presidency.
Firstly, I would emphasise that I'm not recommending a free for all. That would be silly and we are quite capable of using our common sense when deciding what local practices should be censured and which ones should be allowed. For example, if a local church wanted to replace its Sunday morning Eucharist with a lap dancing session, this may do wonders for the financial standing of that church but, the thing is, it would no longer be a church. It would be a lap dancing club.
However, even turning a church building into a sex club is not a doctrinal matter in my opinion, and nor are same sex marriages, women bishops and lay presidency. These are all ecclesial matters. But, I would suggest that there is a difference in type between, on the one hand, same sex marriage and women bishops and, on the other hand, lay presidency. The former are merely extensions of something the Church already does. The latter would be a distinctly new thing that would turn the Anglican Church into something distinctly different in the same way as getting rid of bishops would.
Not that such a change would matter to God. Jesus instituted the holy communion but he did not institute the offices of the Church. At the beginning of the Christian religion there were no priests or bishops. Then there was a period when either priests and bishops were the same thing or some regional churches had priests and some bishops. What these priests and bishops did in respect of holy communion is not known. The offices of the Catholic church developed over time as did the duties of the officers. And the episcopal system is not universal. Many denominations do not insist that an ordained priest presides at the Eucharist. Personally I do not dismiss the efficacy of sacraments conducted in such churches. But the church order of the Anglican Communion is based on the three fold ordained ministry. I am not saying this is a good thing or a bad thing but it is one of the things that gives an Anglican church it's identity and makes it different from some other denominations.
Therefore, deciding to allow churches that want to instigate lay presidency to do so would be a far bigger and more important decision for the Anglican Communion than allowing churches to marry same sex couples or ordaining women to the episcopate because it would alter the structure of the Church and significantly change its presenting identity.
But this is not to say lay presidency should never be allowed. There is a significant number of local churches that would like to see the Anglican Communion allowing the practice and it will be something that is discussed seriously, probably as soon as we sort out our present disagreements. If lay presidency is eventually allowed (and I do mean allowed - same sex marriage and women bishops have to be allowed as well - I'm not suggesting that we all just do what we like when we like) then I would consider any churches that adopt the practice to be as Anglican as I am. In fact, and this is purely a personal thing, I would be more comfortable taking communion from a female member of the Anglican laity than from a male priest who believes that women can only have a subservient role in the church.
Finally, I do have one practical suggestion. Communion by extension should be allowed at the discretion of parish priests (or their equivalent in provinces without a parish system). I see absolutely no reason why the elements of holy communion that have been prayed over by an ordained priest should not be administered by a member of the laity who has their congregation's permission to do so. This simple change, which is catholic and which has been practiced in various places and situations for two thousand years, would allow our Church to remain active anywhere there was a member of the Church. To refuse to offer the holy sacrament in certain places just because there isn't a priest around to offer it in person is denying people the body and blood of Christ and his real presence among them. As communion by extension is very much just a matter of church order it is, in my opinion, an abomination that we are still arguing over whether or not it should become common practice. And for goodness sake, we are already doing it whenever a member of the laity takes the sacrament to a housebound member of the Church.
Perhaps the allowance of communion by extension should be the next step the Anglican Communion takes before it even begins to consider the issue of lay presidency.
Wednesday, 16 November 2011
PAN AM CREATORS COULD HAVE DONE BETTER
But I must say that I think the producers of this show have missed out on having one huge hit on their hands. If I was the director I would certainly have cast Johnny Depp as the handsome captain with John Barrowman as his bisexual co-pilot. And I know it would be a bit anachronistic but surely there was a space in the show for Alan Cumming to recreate his gay flight attendant role. Really, they should put me in charge. I instinctively know what the public wants.
CAPTION COMPETITION
Ellie kindly sent me this photo. I think it definitely requires your best suggestions for an unsuitable caption.
The Queen (God bless Her Majesty) has, to use a well worn English saying, the look of somebody who has just trodden in something rather nasty.
The Queen (God bless Her Majesty) has, to use a well worn English saying, the look of somebody who has just trodden in something rather nasty.
IF YOU'RE UNEMPLOYED,
KEEP IT TO YOURSELF
I've noticed that the latest line that is thrown at me if I'm winning an argument is to try and belittle what I'm saying by stating that it comes out of my situation of being unemployed. I think that the same ploy would not be used if I was black, gay, blind or a woman who had been sexually abused as a child. You don't have to rub the skin of a liberal very hard until you find the lingering prejudices that lie beneath.
LET THEM GET ON WITH IT!
I listen to and enjoy a whole range of different types of music. But there are some that I really do not like at all. Most rap and it's Jamaican equivalent, modern dancehall. That heavy metal music where the vocalist just makes primal scream noises into the microphone. Sopranos warbling. My lack of appreciation for these popular art forms does not effect my happiness much. Okay, occasionally I'll be walking down the street and some boy racer will drive by with hip hop blasting out of his car speakers and sometimes I will switch off a classical music station I am listening to because they've decided to play something I find too screechy. But live and let live, people like different stuff and I can live with that. It's part and parcel of living in an enlightened society. The thing is that, unless I set up a cultic militia and hole up in a compound in Waco, nobody is going to force me to listen to music that I find unpleasant or offensive.
So, why can't it be the same with religion?
I intensely dislike most evangelical doctrine and practice. I believe evangelicals to be heretics and far, far, worse, lacking in anything you could call good taste. I avoid them. I do not go to evangelical churches, I don't read evangelical books and I don't watch evangelical television channels. As is the case with my distaste for rap music, not involving myself in anything evangelical does not affect my happiness in the slightest. I put up with the rare occasion that I am accidentally exposed to it because it is part of the enlightened society I live in. Of course, I would prefer it if there was no such thing as Bible based Christianity just as I would prefer it if there was no such thing as death metal. But as long as there are people who enjoy such things, and as long as their practice of it is not harming anyone else, then I will never campaign for its criminalisation or wiping off the face of the earth.
So, why can't evangelicals be more like me and my live and let live co-religionists? Why do they insist that the rest of us have to, by force if necessary, believe what they believe and do what they do? That's not enlightenment, its slavery.
But, I have to admit that my insistence on being allowed to get on with my religious life as I see fit (as long as it doesn't hurt other people) must cut both ways. If I don't want to be told what to think and do then I would be a hypocrite if I insisted on telling other religious people, whose views I strongly disagree with, what to think and do, no matter how much I believe that me doing so would be for their own good. I expect that most of us around here will agree with that statement. The problem is, because of the way everything that we do effects other people, concessions have to be made in a pragmatic way, just as I have to make concessions for tone deaf Norwegians.
But how would this allowing pragmatism work in practice? Specifically, how would it work within the Anglican Communion at this present time in such a way that the Communion would not be destined to self-destruction and eventual oblivion?
Firstly, there is absolutely no reason why people in the same organisation have to all think the same way about stuff. The experience of the Church of England since the days of Elizabeth I has shown that people of, what amounts to, different faiths can exist together in the same church. Of course, there will be squabbling. There is squabbling in the dog club I belong to but this doesn't mean its members don't all love dogs (we may hate each other at times but we never stop loving our canine companions and if that is not a perfect metaphor for the Anglican Communion I don't know what is) and the arguments rarely lead to people storming off in a huff to set up their own dog club somewhere else. Different dog clubs have different constitutions, different priorities, different ways of doing things. But this doesn't mean that we are not all united by our affiliation to the Kennel Club. It doesn't stop us all competing at the same dog shows run under the auspices of the Kennel Club. The same can be true for different congregations and provinces affiliated to the Anglican Communion. The same has been true for many years. There is no need to mend something that isn't broken, especially when such tinkering will lead to more damage not less.
But what about specific examples of disagreement such as the marrying of same sex couples in church? Well, in the Church of England it has been the case for some years now that previously divorced people can marry in one of our churches. There were rules and guidelines set up but in practice what we now have is a situation where each incumbent decides whether or not they will marry such people depending on their personal moral understanding of the remarriage of divorcees. This is not a perfect situation but it is a compromise that works in practice especially when those incumbents against the remarriage of divorcees in church are willing to point any couple they refuse to marry to the nearest parish priest who will do so. I would suggest that this is the way the marriage of same sex couples should be introduced into the practice of Anglican churches. Nobody would have to change their understanding of the Creeds of the Church in order for this to happen. So what's the problem? Live and let live.
I suggest that the same allowance should be made for congregations who do not want a woman priest presiding at the sacraments within their particular church building. It's annoying, it's offensive to women, it's immoral in my view, it would be illegal in England if the Church of England was a secular employer. But it works in practice and I think it is more Christlike for enlightened Anglicans to allow the continuation of this abhorrent situation than to enforce our enlightened understanding of the Gospel of Christ onto those weaker Christians who can't cope with it as yet. We can live together with such a compromise. It is obvious that we can't live together without such a compromise. We have to decide between pragmatism and idealism but we do have a compromising Messiah to help us with our decision. However, I would most emphatically insist that this compromise can only be allowed if it is permitted by the overwhelming majority of the women in the Church of England. It should not be something that is imposed on the Church by men. The ladies have had enough of that already.
Unfortunately, things are not so simple when we look at the issue of female bishops in the Church of England. The problem we have here is that the understanding that it is normative for a diocesan bishop to have authority over all the priests within their geographically local diocese is a primary component of Anglicanism. If we ditch our understanding of the role of the episcopate our church will become something substantially different. I do not think we can allow priests and congregations to opt out of being overseen by their geographical local bishop.
I fully understand how this would be one huge problem for those who do not think women should have any ecclesial authority over men although the views of such people disgust me. I would understand and respect those priests who would leave their parish to move to a diocese where there is a male bishop in charge or even leave the Church of England altogether. That is the sort of choice all employees in any job have at the end of the day. But I don't really see why, in the real world, it should necessarily mean that all misogynist priests should have to leave their parish. For goodness sake, most priests at some time put up with bishops whose theology they disagree with. Out of my last five bishops, two were evangelical, one a gay man who didn't think women should be ordained to the priesthood, one who was so liberal I doubted that he was a realist in any straightforward meaning of the word and one voted for Margaret Thatcher. If I can put up with a tory as my bishop then any priest can put up with a woman telling them what to do occasionally (especially the married men who really should be used to it). It's not like the vast majority of Church of England priests take the blind bit of notice of their bishops. Again, enlightened Anglicans would have to allow some compromises that would be uncomfortable for them such as allowing suffragan, assistant or visiting male bishops to preside at a certain number of confirmations within the diocese and it would regard a lot of inner strength and self confidence from any woman who became a diocesan bishop. But it is workable. However, I do not think we should go down the separate oversight path for the reasons I explained at the beginning of this section. The world changes around us and if we don't like the changes we are sometimes forced into making hard decisions such as shut up or get out.
Freedom of thought is what separates the Anglican Church from Roman Catholicism and the major Orthodox denominations. I think that it is our most important possession, the bit of the good news of Jesus Christ that we are specifically responsible for. We have been practicing and refining this gift of ours for over 400 years and although we haven't quite perfected our tolerance for differing ideas within our communion we are getting there step by step. We absolutely must not allow any power hungry episcopate's thought restricting covenant or the blackmailing of the Church by power hungry evangelicals to overturn and stop forever the great gains we have made as a communion in our quest to live as if we lived in the very kingdom of God. But to maintain our right to think for ourselves we will have to allow others to think for themselves even when their thoughts are contrary to everything enlightened Christians believe to be the thoughts of God.
A huge thank you to Tim Chesterton for helping
me get my thoughts together for this post.
So, why can't it be the same with religion?
I intensely dislike most evangelical doctrine and practice. I believe evangelicals to be heretics and far, far, worse, lacking in anything you could call good taste. I avoid them. I do not go to evangelical churches, I don't read evangelical books and I don't watch evangelical television channels. As is the case with my distaste for rap music, not involving myself in anything evangelical does not affect my happiness in the slightest. I put up with the rare occasion that I am accidentally exposed to it because it is part of the enlightened society I live in. Of course, I would prefer it if there was no such thing as Bible based Christianity just as I would prefer it if there was no such thing as death metal. But as long as there are people who enjoy such things, and as long as their practice of it is not harming anyone else, then I will never campaign for its criminalisation or wiping off the face of the earth.
So, why can't evangelicals be more like me and my live and let live co-religionists? Why do they insist that the rest of us have to, by force if necessary, believe what they believe and do what they do? That's not enlightenment, its slavery.
But, I have to admit that my insistence on being allowed to get on with my religious life as I see fit (as long as it doesn't hurt other people) must cut both ways. If I don't want to be told what to think and do then I would be a hypocrite if I insisted on telling other religious people, whose views I strongly disagree with, what to think and do, no matter how much I believe that me doing so would be for their own good. I expect that most of us around here will agree with that statement. The problem is, because of the way everything that we do effects other people, concessions have to be made in a pragmatic way, just as I have to make concessions for tone deaf Norwegians.
But how would this allowing pragmatism work in practice? Specifically, how would it work within the Anglican Communion at this present time in such a way that the Communion would not be destined to self-destruction and eventual oblivion?
Firstly, there is absolutely no reason why people in the same organisation have to all think the same way about stuff. The experience of the Church of England since the days of Elizabeth I has shown that people of, what amounts to, different faiths can exist together in the same church. Of course, there will be squabbling. There is squabbling in the dog club I belong to but this doesn't mean its members don't all love dogs (we may hate each other at times but we never stop loving our canine companions and if that is not a perfect metaphor for the Anglican Communion I don't know what is) and the arguments rarely lead to people storming off in a huff to set up their own dog club somewhere else. Different dog clubs have different constitutions, different priorities, different ways of doing things. But this doesn't mean that we are not all united by our affiliation to the Kennel Club. It doesn't stop us all competing at the same dog shows run under the auspices of the Kennel Club. The same can be true for different congregations and provinces affiliated to the Anglican Communion. The same has been true for many years. There is no need to mend something that isn't broken, especially when such tinkering will lead to more damage not less.
But what about specific examples of disagreement such as the marrying of same sex couples in church? Well, in the Church of England it has been the case for some years now that previously divorced people can marry in one of our churches. There were rules and guidelines set up but in practice what we now have is a situation where each incumbent decides whether or not they will marry such people depending on their personal moral understanding of the remarriage of divorcees. This is not a perfect situation but it is a compromise that works in practice especially when those incumbents against the remarriage of divorcees in church are willing to point any couple they refuse to marry to the nearest parish priest who will do so. I would suggest that this is the way the marriage of same sex couples should be introduced into the practice of Anglican churches. Nobody would have to change their understanding of the Creeds of the Church in order for this to happen. So what's the problem? Live and let live.
I suggest that the same allowance should be made for congregations who do not want a woman priest presiding at the sacraments within their particular church building. It's annoying, it's offensive to women, it's immoral in my view, it would be illegal in England if the Church of England was a secular employer. But it works in practice and I think it is more Christlike for enlightened Anglicans to allow the continuation of this abhorrent situation than to enforce our enlightened understanding of the Gospel of Christ onto those weaker Christians who can't cope with it as yet. We can live together with such a compromise. It is obvious that we can't live together without such a compromise. We have to decide between pragmatism and idealism but we do have a compromising Messiah to help us with our decision. However, I would most emphatically insist that this compromise can only be allowed if it is permitted by the overwhelming majority of the women in the Church of England. It should not be something that is imposed on the Church by men. The ladies have had enough of that already.
Unfortunately, things are not so simple when we look at the issue of female bishops in the Church of England. The problem we have here is that the understanding that it is normative for a diocesan bishop to have authority over all the priests within their geographically local diocese is a primary component of Anglicanism. If we ditch our understanding of the role of the episcopate our church will become something substantially different. I do not think we can allow priests and congregations to opt out of being overseen by their geographical local bishop.
I fully understand how this would be one huge problem for those who do not think women should have any ecclesial authority over men although the views of such people disgust me. I would understand and respect those priests who would leave their parish to move to a diocese where there is a male bishop in charge or even leave the Church of England altogether. That is the sort of choice all employees in any job have at the end of the day. But I don't really see why, in the real world, it should necessarily mean that all misogynist priests should have to leave their parish. For goodness sake, most priests at some time put up with bishops whose theology they disagree with. Out of my last five bishops, two were evangelical, one a gay man who didn't think women should be ordained to the priesthood, one who was so liberal I doubted that he was a realist in any straightforward meaning of the word and one voted for Margaret Thatcher. If I can put up with a tory as my bishop then any priest can put up with a woman telling them what to do occasionally (especially the married men who really should be used to it). It's not like the vast majority of Church of England priests take the blind bit of notice of their bishops. Again, enlightened Anglicans would have to allow some compromises that would be uncomfortable for them such as allowing suffragan, assistant or visiting male bishops to preside at a certain number of confirmations within the diocese and it would regard a lot of inner strength and self confidence from any woman who became a diocesan bishop. But it is workable. However, I do not think we should go down the separate oversight path for the reasons I explained at the beginning of this section. The world changes around us and if we don't like the changes we are sometimes forced into making hard decisions such as shut up or get out.
Freedom of thought is what separates the Anglican Church from Roman Catholicism and the major Orthodox denominations. I think that it is our most important possession, the bit of the good news of Jesus Christ that we are specifically responsible for. We have been practicing and refining this gift of ours for over 400 years and although we haven't quite perfected our tolerance for differing ideas within our communion we are getting there step by step. We absolutely must not allow any power hungry episcopate's thought restricting covenant or the blackmailing of the Church by power hungry evangelicals to overturn and stop forever the great gains we have made as a communion in our quest to live as if we lived in the very kingdom of God. But to maintain our right to think for ourselves we will have to allow others to think for themselves even when their thoughts are contrary to everything enlightened Christians believe to be the thoughts of God.
A huge thank you to Tim Chesterton for helping
me get my thoughts together for this post.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
MADPRIEST'S (NON-KINKY)
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Set out to change the world for the better only by accident. If you deliberately seek to change the world you will only end up making it worse.
MADPRIEST'S (KINKY) THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
There are three types of people in the world - sadists, masochists and those kept in bondage because of the powerful and perpetual, unholy alliance between the first two types.
ASPIRATIONAL CHRISTIANITY
"I want young Episcopalian girls to know
that they can aspire to leadership."
(Bishop Mariann Budde, Washington Diocese)
No! No! No!
This is not what it is all about.
Jesus wept!
that they can aspire to leadership."
(Bishop Mariann Budde, Washington Diocese)
No! No! No!
This is not what it is all about.
Jesus wept!
A CONVENIENT STATUTE
From ASSOCIATED PRESS:
A Chilean judge on Monday dismissed a criminal case against a prominent priest accused of molesting children. Judge Jessica Gonzalez said the statute of limitations had expired on the crimes that the Rev. Fernando Karadima is accused of committing against three youths. But she said in her ruling that the allegations are "truthful and reliable."
Last year, Chile's Roman Catholic Church was shaken by a series of dramatic televised interviews with the four men who alleged they were abused by the once-influential priest. They said the abuse by Karadima began about 20 years ago when they were between 14 and 17 years old, in his residence at the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in an affluent neighborhood of Santiago.
Karadima is now 81 and the Vatican already has sanctioned him by ordering him to a life of "penitence and prayer."
Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati said, "I'm happy that this is over for everyone."
COMMENT: The arrogance, crassness and downright ignorance of powerful, celibate men never fails to amaze me.
A Chilean judge on Monday dismissed a criminal case against a prominent priest accused of molesting children. Judge Jessica Gonzalez said the statute of limitations had expired on the crimes that the Rev. Fernando Karadima is accused of committing against three youths. But she said in her ruling that the allegations are "truthful and reliable."
Last year, Chile's Roman Catholic Church was shaken by a series of dramatic televised interviews with the four men who alleged they were abused by the once-influential priest. They said the abuse by Karadima began about 20 years ago when they were between 14 and 17 years old, in his residence at the Sacred Heart of Jesus church in an affluent neighborhood of Santiago.
Karadima is now 81 and the Vatican already has sanctioned him by ordering him to a life of "penitence and prayer."
Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati said, "I'm happy that this is over for everyone."
COMMENT: The arrogance, crassness and downright ignorance of powerful, celibate men never fails to amaze me.
THE PRAYER LIST: 15TH. NOVEMBER 2011
The Prayer List is a daily feature at OCICBW... with an option to light a candle as you pray. If anybody has any concerns they would like included on tomorrow's list please email me with details or leave your request in the comments to this post. I will include relevant photos if provided.
THANKSGIVING
Posted by REV MIBI:
Our Vestry voted to call me as their rector, converting me from a term-limited Priest-in-Charge to a stay-until-you-are ready-to-leave-unless-you-do-a-bad-thing call. When it was announced at our annual congregational meeting yesterday, there was much joy and enthusiasm in the room. I'm pleased beyond words.
My blogging friend, Jay Simser, "observed" his seventieth birthday on Sunday. He's a great bloke, so may God grant him many more. Do check out his post "For Today," over on his blog BAILEY'S BUDDY. It's lovely.
Also, Happy Birthday, today, to Mike Kinman, Dean of CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, St. Louis.
A huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my niece, Mrs MP's goddaughter, Jessica, who is 18 years old today. Tonight will be the first time that alcohol will pass her lips (Ha!).
***
Congratulations to Erika Baker's eldest daughter who has just passed her driving tests. I have told Erika that there are mountains in Scotland that even a sherpa in a land rover couldn't drive all the way up and that it is probably safest if we all climb them before eldest daughter starts the engine for her first solo drive.
***
From Strangelove:
We almost lost our smaller Cavalier, Wallace, this week, due to congestive heart failure. He had a cough last week and we took him to our vet, who noted an enlarged heart but clear lungs, and gave us some diuretics. Monday the cough was back and we took him to the vet again early Tuesday when he was having trouble breathing. He had crashed overnight. He had to go into an oxygen tent to keep him alive until we could get him to the specialist. He was in complete CHF with lungs full of fluid, and we didn't think he'd last the night, but the little guy made it and recovered, as much as any Cavalier with CHF can recover.
Well done, Wallace. And Glenna seems to be on the mend as well. She's still squitty and contributing big time to global warming in a very smelly way but she is now eating again. This means I am sleeping again. I hate it when my dogs are poorly. If only they could speak and tell you what is wrong. A huge thanks to those of you who helped us with the vet's fees and those of you who kept Glenna in your prayers.
From AFP:
Three French hostages kidnapped by Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen more than five months ago arrived home Monday after being freed following what tribal sources said was a ransom payment.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Both Our Tracie and her partner, Joe, have gone down with the "damn flu." Thuis is significantly worse than ordinary flu so keep the two of them in your prayers.
Janis' pooch, Bruno has been in the wars recently. He's hurt his back (which is not nice when you have such a long back) and he's been in a lot of pain. He seems to be slowly recovering and we pray that he will back to his normal, happy self very quickly indeed.
From IC PUBLICATIONS:
More than 70 people were killed in violence across Syria on Monday, one of the bloodiest days since an anti-regime uprising began eight months ago.
***
From ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Rival militia clashed for a fourth day on the outskirts of the Libyan capital in the deadliest and most sustained violence since the death of Muammar Qaddafi. Fighters attacked each other late on Sunday with rockets, mortars and machine guns. The fighting, in which at least 13 people were killed since late last week, raised concerns about the ability of Libya's transitional government to disarm thousands of gunmen and restore order after the eight-month civil war.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
THANKSGIVING
Our Vestry voted to call me as their rector, converting me from a term-limited Priest-in-Charge to a stay-until-you-are ready-to-leave-unless-you-do-a-bad-thing call. When it was announced at our annual congregational meeting yesterday, there was much joy and enthusiasm in the room. I'm pleased beyond words.
Also, Happy Birthday, today, to Mike Kinman, Dean of CHRIST CHURCH CATHEDRAL, St. Louis.
A huge HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my niece, Mrs MP's goddaughter, Jessica, who is 18 years old today. Tonight will be the first time that alcohol will pass her lips (Ha!).
***
Congratulations to Erika Baker's eldest daughter who has just passed her driving tests. I have told Erika that there are mountains in Scotland that even a sherpa in a land rover couldn't drive all the way up and that it is probably safest if we all climb them before eldest daughter starts the engine for her first solo drive.
***
From Strangelove:
We almost lost our smaller Cavalier, Wallace, this week, due to congestive heart failure. He had a cough last week and we took him to our vet, who noted an enlarged heart but clear lungs, and gave us some diuretics. Monday the cough was back and we took him to the vet again early Tuesday when he was having trouble breathing. He had crashed overnight. He had to go into an oxygen tent to keep him alive until we could get him to the specialist. He was in complete CHF with lungs full of fluid, and we didn't think he'd last the night, but the little guy made it and recovered, as much as any Cavalier with CHF can recover.
Well done, Wallace. And Glenna seems to be on the mend as well. She's still squitty and contributing big time to global warming in a very smelly way but she is now eating again. This means I am sleeping again. I hate it when my dogs are poorly. If only they could speak and tell you what is wrong. A huge thanks to those of you who helped us with the vet's fees and those of you who kept Glenna in your prayers.
From AFP:
Three French hostages kidnapped by Al-Qaeda militants in Yemen more than five months ago arrived home Monday after being freed following what tribal sources said was a ransom payment.
FOR YOUR PRAYERS
Both Our Tracie and her partner, Joe, have gone down with the "damn flu." Thuis is significantly worse than ordinary flu so keep the two of them in your prayers.
Janis' pooch, Bruno has been in the wars recently. He's hurt his back (which is not nice when you have such a long back) and he's been in a lot of pain. He seems to be slowly recovering and we pray that he will back to his normal, happy self very quickly indeed.
From IC PUBLICATIONS:
More than 70 people were killed in violence across Syria on Monday, one of the bloodiest days since an anti-regime uprising began eight months ago.
***
From ASSOCIATED PRESS:
Rival militia clashed for a fourth day on the outskirts of the Libyan capital in the deadliest and most sustained violence since the death of Muammar Qaddafi. Fighters attacked each other late on Sunday with rockets, mortars and machine guns. The fighting, in which at least 13 people were killed since late last week, raised concerns about the ability of Libya's transitional government to disarm thousands of gunmen and restore order after the eight-month civil war.
If you would like to light
a candle as part of your
prayer, please click HERE,
then click on BEGIN and
follow the instructions.
Our group name is
Laika (case sensitive);
please type this into
the appropriate box
when requested.
Monday, 14 November 2011
REVERENT COMEDY
I watched "Rev" for the first time ever this lunchtime. I shall not watch it again. Not that it was bad. In fact it was stunningly brilliant, a fine piece of British TV. The problem for me is that it is too damn accurate. The story of a parish priest who still believes in God and in the possibility of the Church being a force for good in his locality, up against the companymen of the Church of England (unbelieving archdeacons and pseudo-aristocratic bishops who seem to have no other aim than to keep the Church going simply so they can enjoy the privileges that come with their status) and cynical "Sea of Faith" colleagues who unhappily cling on to their jobs just because there is no other job they can do, is such a truthful depiction of the Church of England that I have been as depressed as hell all afternoon.
I understand that a lot of vicars really love the show. Obviously we have more masochists in the Church than I previously thought. I'm surprised there hasn't been an epidemic of wrist slitting among the "junior staff."
NASTY NUNS
From NEW VISION (Uganda):
Students of St. Teresa Callicuta in Kihiihi Town Council, Kanungu district, have been suspended following a strike at the school where the girls threatened Deputy Headmistress Sister Petronia Kyomugisha accusing her administration of failure to provide enough food to them. 19 girls especially from senior five and senior three became unruly on Thursday last week and refused to eat supper and when Sister Petronia tried to talk to them they threatened to beat her up which prompted her to seek assistance from the Police.
By the time the Police arrived at the school the nuns who run the school and some of the male teachers had hidden in the nuns residence within the school where they locked themselves.
On realizing that the Police had arrived at the school campus at around 7.00 pm the girls also took refugee in their dormitories where they locked themselves inside and refused to open for the police. However the Police managed to get access to the girls and advised them against doing any mischief or else face dire consequences.
The students told the police that they were being fed on poor food quality, the canteen had hiked prices of the commodities and corporal punishments had become the order of the day.
Students of St. Teresa Callicuta in Kihiihi Town Council, Kanungu district, have been suspended following a strike at the school where the girls threatened Deputy Headmistress Sister Petronia Kyomugisha accusing her administration of failure to provide enough food to them. 19 girls especially from senior five and senior three became unruly on Thursday last week and refused to eat supper and when Sister Petronia tried to talk to them they threatened to beat her up which prompted her to seek assistance from the Police.
By the time the Police arrived at the school the nuns who run the school and some of the male teachers had hidden in the nuns residence within the school where they locked themselves.
On realizing that the Police had arrived at the school campus at around 7.00 pm the girls also took refugee in their dormitories where they locked themselves inside and refused to open for the police. However the Police managed to get access to the girls and advised them against doing any mischief or else face dire consequences.
The students told the police that they were being fed on poor food quality, the canteen had hiked prices of the commodities and corporal punishments had become the order of the day.
WASH YOUR MOUTH OUT WITH SOAP!
From MANILA BULLETIN:
Bishop Arturo Bastes, a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Permanent Council, has called on the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) to go after radio anchors and disc jockeys who use vulgar language in their programs.
Speaking over Church-run Radyo Veritas, the prelate particularly urged the KBP to monitor the evening radio programs in the FM band where most of the youth are tuned in.
“Some of the DJ’s especially in midnight programs are using indecent language and vulgar language. We should use good words on air to help uplift the morality of Filipinos,” he added
From SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER:
Cardinal O’Brien, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, will use his homily on the feast of Christ to warn politicians that ‘insulting, demeaning and attacking one another’ devalues democracy.
The cardinal believes that many members of the electorate are turned off by political ‘slanging matches’ and don’t vote. He will also flag up that the recent bad example set by Scottish politicians may to lead to an overall drop in ‘standards of politeness and decorum,’ especially among the young.
COMMENT: Falling standards of politeness and decorum in Scotland?! Now how is that possible?
Bishop Arturo Bastes, a member of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines Permanent Council, has called on the Kapisanan ng mga Broadcaster ng Pilipinas (KBP) to go after radio anchors and disc jockeys who use vulgar language in their programs.
Speaking over Church-run Radyo Veritas, the prelate particularly urged the KBP to monitor the evening radio programs in the FM band where most of the youth are tuned in.
“Some of the DJ’s especially in midnight programs are using indecent language and vulgar language. We should use good words on air to help uplift the morality of Filipinos,” he added
From SCOTTISH CATHOLIC OBSERVER:
Cardinal O’Brien, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, will use his homily on the feast of Christ to warn politicians that ‘insulting, demeaning and attacking one another’ devalues democracy.
The cardinal believes that many members of the electorate are turned off by political ‘slanging matches’ and don’t vote. He will also flag up that the recent bad example set by Scottish politicians may to lead to an overall drop in ‘standards of politeness and decorum,’ especially among the young.
COMMENT: Falling standards of politeness and decorum in Scotland?! Now how is that possible?
"DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL" IN
THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH
The biggest problem facing the Roman Catholic denomination at this time is the fact that it has nowhere near enough priests to provide anywhere near adequate pastoring for its membership. I was reading the other day about how the Roman Catholic laity in Austria are demanding lay led eucharists (communion by extension) so that they can regularly receive the sacrament. This is not a unique demand, nor is it a novel demand. Liberation theologians in South America were asking for the same lay led services for priestless congregations back in the 1970s.
Throughout the world Roman Catholicism is finding it increasingly difficult to get men to agree to a life without sex, the love of a partner and being able to have thoughts of their own, in order to become an underpaid, overworked fundraiser and enforcer for a tiny, but very influential, European nation's government. In fact, let's be honest here, the only reason there are the number of priests around that there are is that the Roman Catholic hierarchy operates the longest existing "don't ask, don't tell" policy the world has ever known. It is my guess (and pay attention hyperbole spotters there's a biggie coming up) that if they were to strictly enforce the dogma of celibacy and kick out all the priests, gay and straight, who err from the righteous path of no nookie, then they would still have an almost complete compliment of cardinals and bishops (because such people will give up almost anything and everything for such temporal power) but would have so few parish priests that the Vatican would have problems fielding a full side for a football match.
Of course, for a "don't ask, don't tell" policy to work it has to be subject to a "don't ask, don't tell" itself. Basically, the Roman Catholic hierarchy is not going to publicly acknowledge that it has been turning a blind eye to the perfectly natural and understandable failure of its priesthood to keep it zipped in. Therefore, this report from THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD concerning the heartless bullying of an octogenarian priest in Den Bosch diocese in the central Netherlands shows Roman Catholic companymen being refreshingly honest for a change.
81-year-old priest, Father Jan Peijnenburg's 46 year relationship with Threes van Dijck, 85, was unacceptable to other priests, the Den Bosch diocese in the central Netherlands said.
"We are giving him the choice: either he leaves his partner or he leaves the priesthood," said a diocesan spokesman, Michiel Savelsbergh.
But Father Peijnenburg told the daily newspaper AD, through a friend, that the church had known of his relationship for about a decade. In a veiled admission of complicity, the diocese said it had given the ultimatum after Father Peijnenburg wrote a leaflet criticising priestly celibacy which "confirmed what we knew".
Father Peijnenburg has until December 1 to decide but his choice is already made: love over religion.
"Naturally I choose Threes. We are staying together," Father Peijnenburg said.
For getting the bit about love always being more important than cultic legislation, Jan and Threes are OCICBW...'s:
BRICKS OF THE DAY
Throughout the world Roman Catholicism is finding it increasingly difficult to get men to agree to a life without sex, the love of a partner and being able to have thoughts of their own, in order to become an underpaid, overworked fundraiser and enforcer for a tiny, but very influential, European nation's government. In fact, let's be honest here, the only reason there are the number of priests around that there are is that the Roman Catholic hierarchy operates the longest existing "don't ask, don't tell" policy the world has ever known. It is my guess (and pay attention hyperbole spotters there's a biggie coming up) that if they were to strictly enforce the dogma of celibacy and kick out all the priests, gay and straight, who err from the righteous path of no nookie, then they would still have an almost complete compliment of cardinals and bishops (because such people will give up almost anything and everything for such temporal power) but would have so few parish priests that the Vatican would have problems fielding a full side for a football match.
Of course, for a "don't ask, don't tell" policy to work it has to be subject to a "don't ask, don't tell" itself. Basically, the Roman Catholic hierarchy is not going to publicly acknowledge that it has been turning a blind eye to the perfectly natural and understandable failure of its priesthood to keep it zipped in. Therefore, this report from THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD concerning the heartless bullying of an octogenarian priest in Den Bosch diocese in the central Netherlands shows Roman Catholic companymen being refreshingly honest for a change.
"We are giving him the choice: either he leaves his partner or he leaves the priesthood," said a diocesan spokesman, Michiel Savelsbergh.
But Father Peijnenburg told the daily newspaper AD, through a friend, that the church had known of his relationship for about a decade. In a veiled admission of complicity, the diocese said it had given the ultimatum after Father Peijnenburg wrote a leaflet criticising priestly celibacy which "confirmed what we knew".
Father Peijnenburg has until December 1 to decide but his choice is already made: love over religion.
"Naturally I choose Threes. We are staying together," Father Peijnenburg said.
For getting the bit about love always being more important than cultic legislation, Jan and Threes are OCICBW...'s:
BRICKS OF THE DAY
SEXAGENARIANS DESTROY PLANET
From DIE WELT:
Researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute have calculated the average CO2 emissions per capita by age and have found that the most emissions are produced by people in their early to mid sixties.
COMMENT: That must be where the term "old fart" comes from.
Researchers at Germany’s Max Planck Institute have calculated the average CO2 emissions per capita by age and have found that the most emissions are produced by people in their early to mid sixties.
COMMENT: That must be where the term "old fart" comes from.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
WORSHIP AT ST. LAIKA'S
A SERVICE OF REMEMBRANCE
AND RECONCILIATION
WITH HOLY COMMUNION
SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT
AND RECONCILIATION
WITH HOLY COMMUNION
SECOND SUNDAY BEFORE ADVENT
All are welcome to join me in taking communion. There are no exceptions.
The order of service is posted beneath the audio file so that you can join in with the service. The words in bold type are the ones we say together.
If you want to physically partake of communion you will require a small piece of bread and a small amount of drink (preferably made from grapes and containing alcohol). You eat the bread after I say “The body of Christ,” and drink the wine after I say “The blood of Christ.” How you view the nature of this part of the service is completely up to you.
Click on the arrow on the player to stream.
Download via the MP3 icon below the player.
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MP3 File
"Flowers Of The Forest" - June Tabor
INTRODUCTION
"When This Bloody War Is Over" - Sods' Opera
GREETING
SENTENCES
CONFESSION
COLLECT
"Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind" - York Minster Choir
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm!
Let us remember before God, and commend to his sure keeping: those who have died for their country in conflict; those whom we knew, and whose memory we treasure; and all who have lived and died in the service of humanity.
They shall grow not old as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
We will remember them.
We will remember them.
"Last Post" - The Band Of The Corps Of Royal Engineers
"Last Post" by Carol Ann Duffy
"Gymnopedie No.3 (Excerpt)" by Satie - Samantha Morton
"Reveille" - The Band Of The Corps Of Royal Engineers
Remember, Lord, your people, who cry to you in their grief.
Remember the fallen in battle, and the innocents who have died.
Remember your power to heal and save.
Remember the fallen in battle, and the innocents who have died.
Remember your power to heal and save.
"I Vow To Thee My Country" - The Salvation Army New York Staff Band
READING
"The Lord Is My Light" - Taize
READING
"O God, Our Help In Ages Past" - Sheffield Cathedral Choir
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come,
our shelter from the stormy blast,
and our eternal home.
Under the shadow of thy throne,
still may we dwell secure;
sufficient is thine arm alone,
and our defence is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
or earth received her frame,
from everlasting, thou art God,
to endless years the same.
A thousand ages, in thy sight,
are like an evening gone;
short as the watch that ends the night,
before the rising sun.
Time, like an ever rolling stream,
bears all its sons away;
they fly forgotten, as a dream
dies at the opening day.
O God, our help in ages past,
our hope for years to come;
be thou our guard while troubles last,
and our eternal home.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Alleluia
Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to John.
Glory to you, O Lord.
GOSPEL
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O Christ.
INTERCESSIONS
"Requiem Peter" - Elyakim Taussig
Gathering our prayers and praises into one, let us pray with confidence as our Saviour has taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name; thy kingdom come; thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
Most merciful Father, accept our prayers that we may know your peace in our hearts, and your love in our lives, through Christ our Lord. Amen.
THE PEACE
"Son Of God, Eternal Saviour" - Sheffield Cathedral Choir
Son of God, eternal Saviour,
Source of life and truth and grace,
Son of Man, whose birth among us
Hallows all our human race,
Thou, our Head Who, throned in glory,
For Thine own dost ever plead,
Fill us with Thy love and pity;
Heal our wrongs, and help our need.
Source of life and truth and grace,
Son of Man, whose birth among us
Hallows all our human race,
Thou, our Head Who, throned in glory,
For Thine own dost ever plead,
Fill us with Thy love and pity;
Heal our wrongs, and help our need.
As Thou, Lord, hast lived for others,
So may we for others live;
Freely have Thy gifts been granted,
Freely may Thy servants give.
Thine the gold and Thine the silver,
Thine the wealth of land and sea,
We but stewards of Thy bounty,
Held in solemn trust for Thee.
So may we for others live;
Freely have Thy gifts been granted,
Freely may Thy servants give.
Thine the gold and Thine the silver,
Thine the wealth of land and sea,
We but stewards of Thy bounty,
Held in solemn trust for Thee.
Come, O Christ, and reign among us,
King of love, and Prince of peace,
Hush the storm of strife and passion,
Bid its cruel discords cease:
By Thy patient years of toiling,
By Thy silent hours of pain,
Quench our fevered thirst of pleasure,
Shame our selfish greed of gain.
Dark the path that lies behind us,
Strewn with wrecks and stained with blood;
But before us gleams the vision
Of the coming brotherhood.
See the Christlike host advancing,
High and lowly, great and small,
Linked in bonds of common service
For the common Lord of all.
Son of God, eternal Savior,
Source of life and truth and grace,
Son of Man, whose birth among us
Hallows all our human race,
Thou Who prayedst, Thou Who willest,
That Thy people should be one,
Grant, O Grant our hope’s fruition:
Here on earth Thy will be done.
Source of life and truth and grace,
Son of Man, whose birth among us
Hallows all our human race,
Thou Who prayedst, Thou Who willest,
That Thy people should be one,
Grant, O Grant our hope’s fruition:
Here on earth Thy will be done.
PRAYER OVER THE GIFTS
The Lord is here.
God's Spirit is with us.
Lift up your hearts.
We lift them up to the Lord.
Let us give thanks to the Lord, our God.
It is right to give him thanks and praise.
Father, all powerful and ever living God...
...as they sing for ever to your glory:
Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.
God of power and might,…
Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:
Dying you destroyed our death,
rising you restored our life.
Lord Jesus, come in glory.
Lord our God, your Son…
...for ever and ever. Amen.
Every time we eat this bread and drink this cup,
we proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.
Jesus, Lamb of God,
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
Jesus, bearer of our sins,
have mercy on us.
have mercy on us.
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
grant us peace.
grant us peace.
This is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
Blessed are those who are called to his supper.
who takes away the sin of the world.
Blessed are those who are called to his supper.
Lord, I am not worthy to receive you,
but only say the word, and I shall be healed.
but only say the word, and I shall be healed.
The body of Christ. Amen.
The blood of Christ. Amen.
"Eternal Ruler Of The Ceaseless Round" - Keble College Choir
Eternal Ruler of the ceaseless round
Of circling planets singing on their way,
Guide of the nations from the night profound
Into the glory of the perfect day,
Rule in our hearts, that we may ever be
Guided and strengthened and upheld by Thee.
We are of Thee, the children of Thy love,
The brothers of Thy well belovèd Son;
Descend, O Holy Spirit, like a dove
Into our hearts, that we may be as one;
As one with Thee, to Whom we ever tend;
As one with Him our Brother and our Friend.
We would be one in hatred of all wrong,
One in our love of all things sweet and fair;
One with the joy that breaketh into song,
One with the grief that trembleth into prayer,
One in the power that makes Thy children free
To follow truth, and thus to follow Thee.
O clothe us with Thy heavenly armour, Lord,
Thy trusty shield, Thy sword of love divine;
Our inspiration be Thy constant Word;
We ask no victories that are not Thine;
Give or withhold, let pain or pleasure be,
Enough to know that we are serving Thee.
Father of all, we give you thanks and praise, that when we were still far off you met us in your Son and brought us home. Dying and living, he declared your love, gave us grace, and opened the gate of glory. May we who share Christ’s body live his risen life; we who drink his cup bring life to others; we whom the Spirit lights give light to the world. Keep us firm in the hope you have set before us, so we and all your children shall be free, and the whole earth live to praise your name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
"Thy Kingdom Come O God" - St.Chad's Cathedral
Thy kingdom come, O God!
Thy rule, O Christ begin!
Break with thine iron rod
the tyrannies of sin!
Where is thy reign of peace,
and purity and love?
When shall all hatred cease,
as in the realms above?
When comes the promised time
that war shall be no more,
oppression, lust, and crime
shall flee thy face before?
We pray thee, Lord, arise,
and come in thy great might;
revive our longing eyes,
which languish for thy sight.
O'er lands both near and far
thick darkness broodeth yet:
arise, O Morning Star,
arise, and never set!
Let us pledge ourselves anew to the service of God and humanity: that we may help, encourage, and comfort others, and support those working for the relief of the needy and for the peace and welfare of the nations.
Lord God our Father, we pledge ourselves to serve you and all your peoples, in the cause of peace, for the relief of want and suffering, and for the praise of your name. Guide us by your Spirit; give us wisdom; give us courage; give us hope; and keep us faithful now and always. Amen.
May Almighty God, who has given us the will to undertake these things, give us also the strength to perform them: for his name’s sake. Amen.
"Let Peace Prevail" - Cooper, Nelson & Early
PRAYER FOR PROTECTION
BLESSING
My sisters and brothers, go in the peace of Christ.
Thanks be to God.
"The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" - June Tabor
CREDITS:
Service from "They Shall Not Grow Old" compiled by Brian Elliott CF,
adapted by Jonathan Hagger
Prayer over the gifts by Jonathan Hagger
Roman Catholic Eucharistic prayer for reconciliation (2)
Other material from "Common Worship" (Church of England)
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