Triduum

I am leaving my “secular” job and now entering into the Triduum of Easter. Tonight, Maundy Thursday services begin the three days of Jesus’ Passion leading to Easter Sunday.
I have been thinking a lot lately of the appeal of High Church liturgy (whether Anglo-Catholic or simply High Church) for many people, particularly younger people, coming out of American-Evangelical/Pentecostal/Charismatic churches. There are an increasing number of young people from these backgrounds migrating to St. Paul’s and our “non-fussy Rite I Anglo-Catholic” church. I really only have to look as far as myself to see this phenomena in action. (Okay, okay, so I’m young in spirit if not so young in fact – age is an attitude of the mind and dependent on perspective – right!?)
I thought the other day, at the Renewal of Vows for the Diocese of Long Island, as Prof. Jim Farwell (my former liturgy professor) was talking about the Triduum liturgies, that it seems that a connection between Pentecostalism (or at least “experiential” forms of Evangelical Christianity) and Anglo-Catholicism is that both are truly experiential. In different ways, of course, by they still share this common aspect.
I don’t know. There is something out there right outside my reach to explain these ambiguous thoughts going through my mind. I’ve been thinking, too, of doing some surveys and asking non-cradle Episcopalians (and particularly the non-High Church) what attracts them to this kind of liturgy/service. A book, perhaps.
So, off to Maundy Thursday and the continuing and deepening discovery of the slow yet persistent work the Seasons of the Church and their liturgies, the Word, and the Sacraments have on the formation of one’s Christian self.

“God and the Founders”

Here are a couple paragraphs from the excerpt appearing in last week’s edition of Newsweek from Jon Meacham’s new book “American Gospel.” Jon Meacham is the managing editor of Newsweek, an Episcopalian, and I’ve heard him speak on a number of television and radio programs. He is good, despite my disagreement with a few of his theological perspectives.
He is commenting on the current issues of faith in public life, the culture wars, and the animosity that seems to inflict much of our current and common life.
“Understanding the past may help us move forward. When the subject is faith in the public square, secularists reflexively point to the Jeffersonian ‘wall of separation between church and state’ as though the conversation should end there; many conservative Christians defend their forays into the political arena by citing the Founders, as through Washington, Adams, Jefferson, and Franklin were cheerful Christian soldiers. Yet to claim that religion has only recently become a political force in the United States is uniformed and unhistorical; in practice, the ‘wall’ of separation is not a very tall one. Equally wrongheaded is the tendency of conservative believers to portray the Founding Fathers as apostles in knee britches.
“The great good news about America – the American Gospel, if you will – is that religion shapes the life of the nation without strangling it. Driven by a sense of providence and an acute appreciation of the fallibility of humankind, the Founders made a nation in which faith should not be singled out for special help or particular harm. The balance between the promise of the Declaration of Independence, with its evocation of divine origins and destiny, and the practicalities of the Constitution, with its checks on extremis, remains the most brilliant American successes.”

(Newsweek, April 10, 2006, Vol. CXLVII, No. 15, p.54)

The donut

This is a good story sent to my seminary class’ Internet group – by Renee Feener, a classmate and now priest at the Cathedral in St. Louis (a great woman!). What I like about the story most of all is the creativity of the professor – whatever it takes to get this stuff across to the next generation. The story itself is somewhat hokie, but good nevertheless.
—– The story…
There was a certain professor of religion named Dr. Christianson, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States. Dr. Christianson taught a required course in Christianity at this particular institution. Every student was required to take this course regardless of his or her major.
Although Dr. Christianson tried hard to communicate the essence of the Gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing more than required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously. This year Dr. Christianson had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going on to Seminary. Steve was popular, well liked and an imposing physical specimen. He was the starting center on the school football team and the best student in the class.
One day, Dr. Christianson asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. “How many push-ups can you do?” Steve said, “I do about 200 every night.”
“200? That’s pretty good, Steve,” Dr. Christianson said. “Do you think you could do 300?”

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Christ Among the Partisans

This Op-ed piece appeared in Sunday’s New York Times. I have said many a time that neither the Republicans nor Democrats are God’s way. The social-gospel liberals who inhabit the Democratic Party are not the way as the Religious Right conservatives of the Republican Party are not the way. The way of Jesus is always a third way. We all need to hear what Wills wrote, else we as those who follow Jesus as the Christ will forever be taken down a path that does not lead to God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven, but down a failed attempt to accomplish the vain efforts of man. I particularly like Wills’ references to things being of “different orders.” I discovered this article by way of Titusonenine.
Gary Wills writes:
The New York Times
April 9, 2006
Op-Ed Contributor
Christ Among the Partisans
By GARRY WILLS
THERE is no such thing as a “Christian politics.” If it is a politics, it cannot be Christian. Jesus told Pilate: “My reign is not of this present order. If my reign were of this present order, my supporters would have fought against my being turned over to the Jews. But my reign is not here” (John 18:36). Jesus brought no political message or program.
This is a truth that needs emphasis at a time when some Democrats, fearing that the Republicans have advanced over them by the use of religion, want to respond with a claim that Jesus is really on their side. He is not. He avoided those who would trap him into taking sides for or against the Roman occupation of Judea. He paid his taxes to the occupying power but said only, “Let Caesar have what belongs to him, and God have what belongs to him” (Matthew 22:21). He was the original proponent of a separation of church and state.

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Boys

I was cleaning off my computer desktop (a Mac, of course!) and read this html file. Since I do not have kids, I do think it is hilarious!
BOYS~
Raising Boys (some new ones)
Things learned from raising Boys (honest and not kidding):
1.) A king size waterbed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4
inches deep.
2.) If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they can ignite.
3.) A 3-year old Boy’s voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4.) If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20×20 ft. room.
5.) You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on. When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6.) The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn’t stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7.) When you hear the toilet flush and the wor! ds “uh oh”, it’s already too late
8.) Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9.) A six-year old boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old man says they can only do it in the movies.
10.) Certain Lego’s will pass through the digestive tract of a 4-year old Boy.
11.) Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12.) Super glue is forever.
13.) No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can’t walk on water.
14.) Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15.) VCR’s do not eject “PB &J” sandwiches even though TV commercials show they do.
16.) Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17.) Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18.) You probably DO NOT want to know what that odor is.
19.) Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20.) The fire department in Austin, TX has a 5-minute response time.
21.) The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22.) It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23.) Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24.) 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.
Those who pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without boys do it because:
a) For those with no children – this is totally hysterical!
b) For those who already have children past this age, this is hilarious.
c) For those who have children this age, this is not funny.
d) For those who have children nearing this age, this is a warning.
e) For those who have not yet had children, this is birth control

Final Stages

I received this announcement (see below) this morning from the Anglican Communion Network concerning their intent to replace The Church Pension Group as their source for retirement, medical, life, and property insurances. Since many of them believe that The Episcopal Church is apostate, the Church Pension Group is also by association.
I remember Fr. Wright, long-time history professor at General Theological Seminary (my seminary), who related a story about his mentor. During the controversies surrounding the approval of women’s ordinations in the 1970’s, the more traditional side of the Church, especially a good part of Anglo-Catholics, could not accept the ordination of women to the priesthood. Many clergy and some parishes left and “poped” or “crossed over the Tiber.” Fr. Wright told me that his mentor, who in principle was opposed to the ordination of women, ask him, “Robert, do you know where I stand on women’s ordination?” Fr. Wright’s mentor then added, “I stand with the Pension Fund!”
There were a lot of people who “stood with the Pension Fund” over the years when our Church did things (both liberal and conservative things) that they did not approve of. Now, with this announcement, the Network moves to remove this means by which we often remained together despite our differences until cooler heads prevailed.
This is a final stage in their preparation to form a new denomination after General Convention 2006 in Columbus – if it comes to this, which I hope it does not.
I continue to be assounded by the fact that for so many Christians in this country that despite everything else, and I mean anything and everything else, that we may agree on, the issues of homosexuality and same-sex unions have now become the litmus test of whether one is a Christian or an apostate heretic. So much money, time, energy, and disregard for the impact on the lives of so many is put into recreating a wheel that if taken to its full extent will only lead to more and more division. The Charismatic Evangelical Anglicans and the Anglo-Catholics will not hold together. The pro- and anti-women’s ordination crowds will not hold together. Once division (schism) begins, it will only continue in the schismatic groups. History has shown us this fact. Yet, we waste all the time, money, and energy and learn nothing from history. The forces that oppose the advancement of the Gospel are rejoicing!
Here is the announcement:

Network Announces Retirement Plan for Clergy
The Anglican Communion Network is pleased to announce the rollout, effective April 1, of its Qualified Retirement Plan for clergy. ACN-related clergy who are not in or otherwise eligible for the Church Pension Fund of the Episcopal Church USA (ECUSA) are invited to enroll.
The Plan Provider selected by the Network is American Funds, highly regarded in the investment community with more than 70 years of investment experience. The Plan is a defined contribution plan and provides for annual contributions by employers of up to 20% of compensation. Covered clergy have the option to contribute additionally to the plan in accordance with federal regulations.
Contributions are vested when made, and the benefits, which are transportable, can also be augmented by rolling over into the Plan other portable retirement accounts. The plan was launched on April 1, but arrangements can be made to apply the plan retroactively to January 1, 2006.
Application forms for parishes, clergy and other organizations to join the Network are available online at www.acn-us.org/join. Applications to enroll in the Clergy Retirement Plan can be obtained by contacting Lisa Waldron, ACN Director of Accounting, at lwaldron@acn-us.org or by calling 412-325-8900 x102.
In addition, the Network anticipates announcing a retirement plan for lay employees, property and casualty insurance programs for parishes and organizations, and a group health insurance program before the end of the year. In connection with these efforts, the Network is gathering input from its members to help with the development of a health care benefits plan. Network affiliates and partners are invited to download a health insurance survey form at www.acn-us.org. Completed surveys can be faxed to 412-325-8902 or mailed to 535 Smithfield Street, Suite 910, Pittsburgh, PA 15222.
“We are excited that we are now able to offer the retirement plan for eligible clergy,” said Wicks Stephens, ACN Chancellor. “We hope by year’s end to be able to offer a whole range of benefit options for our Network constituencies, both clergy and lay.”

The Bible

I’ve finished reading The Last Word by N.T. Wright. Very good, and while Wright tends toward the more traditional, his comments put both liberals and conservatives in their place, as any good Anglican might do.

“Biblical scholarship needs to be free to explore different meanings. This is not just the imperative of the modern scholar, always to be coming up with new theories in order to gain promotion or tenure in the university. It is also a vital necessity for the church. Any church, not least those that pride themselves on being ‘biblical,’ needs to be open to new understandings of the Bible itself. This is the only way to avoid being blown this way or that by winds of fashion, or trapped in one’s own partial readings and distorted traditions while imagining that they are full and accurate account of ‘what the Bible says.’ At the same time, however, biblical scholarship, if it is to serve the church and not merely thumb its nose at cherished points of view, needs to be constrained by loyalty to the Christian community through time and space. When a biblical scholar, or any theologian, wishes to propose a new way of looking at a well-known topic, he or she ought to sense an obligation to explain to the wider community the ways in which the fresh insight builds up, rather than threatens, the mission and life of the church.
“Such a statement will provide protests – some of which will simply indicate that the protesters are still living within the modernist paradigm, and pretending to an illusory detached ‘neutrality.’ Of course, the church has sometimes gotten it wrong, and tried to demand of its scholars an adherence to various forms of words, to ways of putting things, which ought themselves to be challenged on the basis of scripture itself. The Christian ‘rule of faith’ does not, in fact, stifle scholarship; even if it provokes the scholar to try to articulate that rule with greater accuracy and elegance, that itself will be a worthy task. Those who try to cut loose, however, discover sooner or later that when you abandon one framework of ideas you do not live thereafter in a wilderness, without any framework at all. You quickly substitute another, perhaps some philosophical scheme of thought. Likewise, those who ignore one community of discourse (say, the church) are inevitably loyal to another (perhaps some scholarly guild, or some drift on currently fashionable theology).”
(N.T. Wright, The Last Word, p.135-136)

Bring them Back

It is my understanding that technically all parish clergy in the Church of England are required to read Morning Prayer in their parish churches every morning. Whether they do so or not is something all together different, but again I understand they are supposed to.
Being at The General Theological Seminary, that offers Morning Prayer and Evensong every day, I became spoiled that these ancient monastic offices – the prayers of the hours – where so readily available. I truly came to appreciate them and the slow but deliberate effect they have on us, if we yield ourselves to their transformative power that is.
I do think we in The Episcopal Church need to bring back the Daily Offices! I know that many parish churches and many clergy, as well as lay people, do say the Daily Offices but there is no coordination, it seems. It is my intent when ever and if ever I am able to move closer to St. Paul’s Carroll St. in Brooklyn to begin the practice of reading Morning Prayer in the church once again. It is an Anglo-Catholic parish, after all, and the former home of the Cowley Fathers. Money, like always, keeps things from happening. Whether anyone else wants to participate is irrelevant, although I do hope some will. It is a wonderful way to begin the day.
It is my understanding that technically all parish clergy in the Church of England are required to read Morning Prayer in their parish churches every morning. Whether they do so or not is something all together different, but again I understand they are supposed to.
Being at The General Theological Seminary, that offers Morning Prayer and Evensong every day, I became spoiled that these ancient monastic offices – the prayers of the hours – where so readily available. I truly came to appreciate them and the slow but deliberate effect they have on us, if we yield ourselves to their transformative power that is.
I do think we in The Episcopal Church need to bring back the Daily Offices! I know that many parish churches and many clergy, as well as lay people, do say the Daily Offices but there is no coordination, it seems. It is my intent when ever and if ever I am able to move closer to St. Paul’s Carroll St. in Brooklyn to begin the practice of reading Morning Prayer in the church once again. It is an Anglo-Catholic parish, after all, and the former home of the Cowley Fathers. Money, like always, keeps things from happening. Whether anyone else wants to participate is irrelevant, although I do hope some will. It is a wonderful way to begin the day.
Oh, we now have a new priest in Christ’s Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church – The Rev. Sonia Waters. I attended her ordination to the Holy Order of Priests at Grace Church in Brooklyn Heights this morning. A wonderful service – and I got to see a lot of my former classmates, too. What a deal!