I have followed (and agreed with) Alice Linsley's comments for quite some time, as she discussed the crisis facing The Episcopal Church and her reaction (and proaction) toward that crisis, and her ultimate departure into Orthodoxy.
We have shared e-mail and crossposted on several blogs over the past several years, and we commend her courage both to will and to do as she felt led of the Lord.
Here, now, is her story, from interviews on the CBC, posted with the kind permission of Brad Drell.
Chip, cj
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Friday, September 29, 2006
The Essence of the Struggle (and some pretty good solutions)
"Living in Communion : It's Meaning and Maintenance"
Essay by the Rev Dr. Chuck Thebeau, St. John's, New Braunfels TX
Essay by the Rev Dr. Chuck Thebeau, St. John's, New Braunfels TX
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Leaving the Shire -- by Bill Boniface
(A Great Story That All of Us Need To Read )
As faithful Christians sit quietly, a desperate battle rages for the soul of the church. Bill Boniface writes a telling essay on the rising threat to your peaceful parish.
by Bill Boniface, but originally posted to the HoB/D listserv by Maurice M. Benitez, Bp of TX, Retired, used by permission
A short time ago I was attending a church mission partners meeting where
from one in another clearly orthodox and untroubled denomination where
they'd been highly active and involved.
The reply to that simple question was both inspiring and intriguing: "We
decided we had to leave the Shire and join the Battle for Middle Earth."
The husband went on to say that they had watched the battle for the soul
of the Episcopal Church raging from a distance, and after a great deal of
prayer and discernment had felt called by the Lord to come and take an
active part in it. They seemed to clearly comprehend that the battle in
our own Church was but the front line in a war being waged against all
churches - indeed any such forces that serve as moral authorities in an
increasingly confused culture.
"We decided to leave the Shire and join the battle..." That was a
metaphor I hadn't heard before, but which resonated so deeply within me
that I knew immediately that I was in the presence of kindred spirits. My
wife and I had also left the comfortable Shire of a southern Maryland
country parish at roughly the same time to venture across the river into
Virginia. We knew a great army of faithful Episcopal clergy and laity was
coalescing there to fight our denomination's downward slide from faithful
Anglican Christianity into apostasy and irrelevance. We knew that the
battle to save our Church was raging there. And we, too, knew we had to
travel whatever distance was necessary to join them if we were going to
be more than observers of the decline of our lifelong Church. We, too,
had felt the call to "leave the Shire."
Since the day when I first sat down in my new rector's office and
reported for more meaningful duty as a foot soldier in this great battle,
I've learned a great deal more about human nature and modern church life.
Perhaps the biggest revelation to me after spending my entire adult life
next to men and women who had signed on to risk and, if necessary, lose
their lives for a principle was that the Shire has an attraction today
that is almost overwhelming. Indeed many will never leave it. They are
held fast by the compelling, seemingly gravitational forces of Comfort
and Tranquility even in sanctuaries and parish halls where Anglican and
Christian beliefs and ideas have long since faded to make room for a new,
post-modern theology that refutes foundational Christian beliefs and
gives preeminence to Doubt. Anything will be abided as long as it assures
tranquility.
Our friend's metaphor is particularly compelling given its universal
recognition in a society awash in media images. Everyone can immediately
visualize what he means. Four small Hobbits leave behind an idyllic
setting and venture forth from their comfortable existence to join the
Battle for Middle Earth. The very spectacle of that battle is terrifying,
but they know what's at stake and that it isn't just in the faraway
places where the battle is raging that those stakes are so high. They see
clearly that if the battle is lost, all of Middle Earth will be absorbed
by dark forces anathema to their very existence. Even the Shire.
So it is with this great battle for the Episcopal Church. We have more
"havens of tranquility" than we do fields where the battle for Christ's
saving gospel rages. The beliefs that once brought us together in His
name have been redefined into a sort of post-modern self-centeredness -
where our children are taught to believe that it's now more about us than
it is about Him. It's no wonder that we're lulled in great numbers into
valuing our tranquility over the gospel. But make no mistake - to lose
this battle also means to lose the Shire, for what comfort or tranquility
will there be in a crumbling denomination that embraces and even blesses
sin, rejects Christ's transforming and saving message, and misleads its
children?
Martin Luther once said:
"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every
portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the
world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing
Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. To be
steady on all the battlefields besides is mere flight and disgrace if he
flinches at that point."
There is regrettably a lot of "flinching" going on today. Tens of
thousands of our number go about their parish lives as if little or
nothing is happening - taking great care not to rub the tranquility from
their eyes and see that our Church is failing not just us - but Christ.
Every Sunday as we kneel down to worship in the comfort of familiar pews,
another 700 Episcopalians walk away from the Episcopal Church forever.
Our denomination's continuing slide into statistical irrelevance in
numbers should be enough to shake any of us into recognizing the
insidious slide away from the gospel that has brought us there.
I have many, many wonderful friends in the Church who to this day cannot
bring themselves to venture from the Shire - even as they digest reports
of the desperate fight swirling around them. They are otherwise "boldly
professing Christ" in some of the most inspiring ways. They are good and
faithful people. But they fail to go where the battle rages, having lost
sight of the fact that defending the faith is every bit as important as
professing it.
Defending that faith today is no different from the way it was in the
apostles' day. We have to stop merely inviting the misguided to "go to
our Web site." We have to put one foot in front of the other and carry
the saving gospel of Christ to people who are hearing a false gospel that
neither comforts nor saves. If we truly love our neighbors as ourselves
we won't sit in our personal comfort zones as they are abandoned to the
darkness. We must - with God's help and for His sake - go where the
battle rages. We have to leave the Shire.
Bill Boniface is a retired U.S. Navy pilot and author of A Senior
Warden's Lament: Why I Left My Liberal Parish .
a new couple had shown up to explore signing on with our team. After
introductions, someone asked them what had brought them to our parishfrom one in another clearly orthodox and untroubled denomination where
they'd been highly active and involved.
The reply to that simple question was both inspiring and intriguing: "We
decided we had to leave the Shire and join the Battle for Middle Earth."
The husband went on to say that they had watched the battle for the soul
of the Episcopal Church raging from a distance, and after a great deal of
prayer and discernment had felt called by the Lord to come and take an
active part in it. They seemed to clearly comprehend that the battle in
our own Church was but the front line in a war being waged against all
churches - indeed any such forces that serve as moral authorities in an
increasingly confused culture.
"We decided to leave the Shire and join the battle..." That was a
metaphor I hadn't heard before, but which resonated so deeply within me
that I knew immediately that I was in the presence of kindred spirits. My
wife and I had also left the comfortable Shire of a southern Maryland
country parish at roughly the same time to venture across the river into
Virginia. We knew a great army of faithful Episcopal clergy and laity was
coalescing there to fight our denomination's downward slide from faithful
Anglican Christianity into apostasy and irrelevance. We knew that the
battle to save our Church was raging there. And we, too, knew we had to
travel whatever distance was necessary to join them if we were going to
be more than observers of the decline of our lifelong Church. We, too,
had felt the call to "leave the Shire."
Since the day when I first sat down in my new rector's office and
reported for more meaningful duty as a foot soldier in this great battle,
I've learned a great deal more about human nature and modern church life.
Perhaps the biggest revelation to me after spending my entire adult life
next to men and women who had signed on to risk and, if necessary, lose
their lives for a principle was that the Shire has an attraction today
that is almost overwhelming. Indeed many will never leave it. They are
held fast by the compelling, seemingly gravitational forces of Comfort
and Tranquility even in sanctuaries and parish halls where Anglican and
Christian beliefs and ideas have long since faded to make room for a new,
post-modern theology that refutes foundational Christian beliefs and
gives preeminence to Doubt. Anything will be abided as long as it assures
tranquility.
Our friend's metaphor is particularly compelling given its universal
recognition in a society awash in media images. Everyone can immediately
visualize what he means. Four small Hobbits leave behind an idyllic
setting and venture forth from their comfortable existence to join the
Battle for Middle Earth. The very spectacle of that battle is terrifying,
but they know what's at stake and that it isn't just in the faraway
places where the battle is raging that those stakes are so high. They see
clearly that if the battle is lost, all of Middle Earth will be absorbed
by dark forces anathema to their very existence. Even the Shire.
So it is with this great battle for the Episcopal Church. We have more
"havens of tranquility" than we do fields where the battle for Christ's
saving gospel rages. The beliefs that once brought us together in His
name have been redefined into a sort of post-modern self-centeredness -
where our children are taught to believe that it's now more about us than
it is about Him. It's no wonder that we're lulled in great numbers into
valuing our tranquility over the gospel. But make no mistake - to lose
this battle also means to lose the Shire, for what comfort or tranquility
will there be in a crumbling denomination that embraces and even blesses
sin, rejects Christ's transforming and saving message, and misleads its
children?
Martin Luther once said:
"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every
portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the
world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not professing
Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ.
Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved. To be
steady on all the battlefields besides is mere flight and disgrace if he
flinches at that point."
There is regrettably a lot of "flinching" going on today. Tens of
thousands of our number go about their parish lives as if little or
nothing is happening - taking great care not to rub the tranquility from
their eyes and see that our Church is failing not just us - but Christ.
Every Sunday as we kneel down to worship in the comfort of familiar pews,
another 700 Episcopalians walk away from the Episcopal Church forever.
Our denomination's continuing slide into statistical irrelevance in
numbers should be enough to shake any of us into recognizing the
insidious slide away from the gospel that has brought us there.
I have many, many wonderful friends in the Church who to this day cannot
bring themselves to venture from the Shire - even as they digest reports
of the desperate fight swirling around them. They are otherwise "boldly
professing Christ" in some of the most inspiring ways. They are good and
faithful people. But they fail to go where the battle rages, having lost
sight of the fact that defending the faith is every bit as important as
professing it.
Defending that faith today is no different from the way it was in the
apostles' day. We have to stop merely inviting the misguided to "go to
our Web site." We have to put one foot in front of the other and carry
the saving gospel of Christ to people who are hearing a false gospel that
neither comforts nor saves. If we truly love our neighbors as ourselves
we won't sit in our personal comfort zones as they are abandoned to the
darkness. We must - with God's help and for His sake - go where the
battle rages. We have to leave the Shire.
Bill Boniface is a retired U.S. Navy pilot and author of A Senior
Warden's Lament: Why I Left My Liberal Parish .
Thursday, July 06, 2006
An Open Letter...
This belongs in the "Why Didn't I Think of It" file!
A truly insightful open letter to us all from Jesse Davis, of Tuscon, borrowed from "Virtueonline"
A truly insightful open letter to us all from Jesse Davis, of Tuscon, borrowed from "Virtueonline"
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
One of the Best Articles to come from GC06
borrowed without permission from Tony Clavier+
A POST MILLENIAL CHURCH
I attended my first General Convention in 1970. It met in Houston. That Convention was a curious mixture of old-time Episcopalian religion and the new time liberation Gospel. We sang hymns from the 1940 Hymnal. The Presiding Bishop wore a black chimere with his rochet and scarf. I think there was a bit of experimental liturgy, but not much.
The American Church Union, from which now stems Forward in Faith and Affirming Catholicism, put on a High Mass in a local church, using the Anglican Missal. The Bishop of Texas, looking bemused, presided, dressed in choir habit, while smoke billowed around him. There were no women priests, let alone bishops.
For Presiding BishopJohn Hines so much had been accomplished. A generation of priests, ordinands and lay people had emerged through the baptismal waters of the Civil Rights Movement renewed and converted. They came from all strands of church party affiliation and yet the old factions suddenly became meaningless. They had seen the Promised Land.
Before them lay a vision of the kingdom established here on earth through political and social activism. Blacks were being liberated. Women would soon be freed. Trial liturgies shifted the emphasis from Cranmerian teachings about Justification by Faith to more joyful, community affirming rites. Not much was said about gay rights, for that movement –soon to be the most powerful of all lobbies – was in its infancy.
What was not so clear was that numerically the Episcopal Church had peaked in membership and was even then beginning to decline. All sorts of factors contributed to this decline, one shared by most main line churches. America was changing. The drift of populations to the sun had begun, in which thousands uprooted themselves from community and familiar and church ties, many of whom changed church allegiance once in Florida, California or Arizona, or gave up on the church altogether.
Mixed marriages more and more drew people to mega-churches which began to cater to the present desires and demands of a searching population. Meanwhile the country began to be politically and socially polarized in a manner not witnessed since the Civil War.
In the next ten years the image of the Episcopal Church went through an enormous transformation, perhaps as significant as the Reformation period. Altars were transformed into free-standing Tables. The Liturgy was revised. Bishops began to wear Anglo-Catholic garb, or at least red chimeres and stoles. The laity, female and male assumed what were once priestly liturgical functions. Soon, by the narrowest of votes, women were admitted to all ordained Orders. At first sight most of the changes seemed very Catholic. The Eucharist replaced sung Morning Prayer. Confession to a priest was given liturgical sanction. The reservation of the sacrament became normal.
What did not seem obvious was that a post-millennial theology, in many ways in tune with the politics of the Democratic Party, became the obsession of a large majority of bishops and clergy and of activist laity. More to the point this vision, born in the Civil Rights Movement, became the passion of an entrenched majority of bishops and deputies in General Convention.
And who could doubt that many of the causes espoused were righteous? Racial discrimination had long been the lie to America’s proclaimed ambition to be the land of freedom for all its citizens. The plight of the poor remained a scandal. Legal and social barriers against the equality of the sexes could not be defended. Obviously there was compelling biblical evidence to support a vigorous campaign to outlaw discrimination in all forms. Yet what was not noticed was the simple fact that changing laws does not automatically change people. A just society and the Kingdom is not the same thing.
Liberation and transformation seemed to become synonyms in the Episcopalian vocabulary. The new Gospel seemed to imply that political and social transformation were the equivalent of Baptism. There’s little wonder that some Episcopalians began to believe that anyone might receive holy communion, whether baptized or not. Is there any wonder that the baptismal covenant became, in the thoughts of many to be an egalitarian concept, rather than the outward sign of God’s covenant with his new race, a chosen people? Forgotten was the simple Credal announcement that baptism is for the remission of sins.
Thus on Sunday the election of the first woman Presiding Bishop was hailed by 90% of our Deputies as a moment of liberation for women rather than merely the logical and theological outcome of a determination that women may be called to Holy Orders or that the Bishop of Nevada may have been an obvious choice to make.
What is lost in all this is a firm and Anglican doctrine of the Church and its nature and purpose and a doctrine of salvation. Economic and social change does not imply “moral” change. Those liberated by social action may not be any more or less envious, cruel, selfish, any less transformed than they were when they were slaves of one sort or another. Sin –living as if God isn’t – is as much if not more a reality among the well-fed as among the starving.
Most of all, to attribute to the Holy Spirit actions which divide and fracture the Church, drive from it faithful people, and obscure the biblical vision of the newly restored people of God is nothing short of blasphemy. It may be that many of the issues our church raises are true and just, but to assume that our timetable is God’s purpose at this moment, is both arrogant and bemused. The kingdom is not within us and about us through our own legislative activity, but because “Christ has died. Christ is Risen. Christ will come again.” We further pray, “In the fullness of time, bring all things in subjection under your Christ, and bring us to that heavenly country where with all your saints, we may enter into the everlasting heritage of your sons and daughters; through Jesus Christ our Lord, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the Church, and the author of our salvation.” True the words "that heavenly country" may obscure God purpose to issue in a new heaven and a new earth, to reverse Eden and that we are the first-born of this new creation in Christ.
If the Church in America is merely the Democratic Party at prayer, why not merely attend local party meetings and do good to others? Surely the church is the embassy and presence of God’s kingdom, of his new people, of the country which is and is to be, where, through the renewal of our minds and beings we show forth Christ’s death and passion until he comes again. From these outposts of Christ's Empire, we are called to embrace the world, its peoples and all creation and to call them into a new and vital relationship with God, as, in Christ we care for them and liberate them holistically, healing them in the name of Christ, feeding them in the name of Christ and changing them in the name of Christ. We belong not to one of the varied American cultures, but to the culture of God’s people, the organs and limbs of Christ’s Presence. Until we recapture such a vision, we will have nothing abiding to offer to the watching world.
posted by Fr. Tony Clavier
A POST MILLENIAL CHURCH
I attended my first General Convention in 1970. It met in Houston. That Convention was a curious mixture of old-time Episcopalian religion and the new time liberation Gospel. We sang hymns from the 1940 Hymnal. The Presiding Bishop wore a black chimere with his rochet and scarf. I think there was a bit of experimental liturgy, but not much.
The American Church Union, from which now stems Forward in Faith and Affirming Catholicism, put on a High Mass in a local church, using the Anglican Missal. The Bishop of Texas, looking bemused, presided, dressed in choir habit, while smoke billowed around him. There were no women priests, let alone bishops.
For Presiding BishopJohn Hines so much had been accomplished. A generation of priests, ordinands and lay people had emerged through the baptismal waters of the Civil Rights Movement renewed and converted. They came from all strands of church party affiliation and yet the old factions suddenly became meaningless. They had seen the Promised Land.
Before them lay a vision of the kingdom established here on earth through political and social activism. Blacks were being liberated. Women would soon be freed. Trial liturgies shifted the emphasis from Cranmerian teachings about Justification by Faith to more joyful, community affirming rites. Not much was said about gay rights, for that movement –soon to be the most powerful of all lobbies – was in its infancy.
What was not so clear was that numerically the Episcopal Church had peaked in membership and was even then beginning to decline. All sorts of factors contributed to this decline, one shared by most main line churches. America was changing. The drift of populations to the sun had begun, in which thousands uprooted themselves from community and familiar and church ties, many of whom changed church allegiance once in Florida, California or Arizona, or gave up on the church altogether.
Mixed marriages more and more drew people to mega-churches which began to cater to the present desires and demands of a searching population. Meanwhile the country began to be politically and socially polarized in a manner not witnessed since the Civil War.
In the next ten years the image of the Episcopal Church went through an enormous transformation, perhaps as significant as the Reformation period. Altars were transformed into free-standing Tables. The Liturgy was revised. Bishops began to wear Anglo-Catholic garb, or at least red chimeres and stoles. The laity, female and male assumed what were once priestly liturgical functions. Soon, by the narrowest of votes, women were admitted to all ordained Orders. At first sight most of the changes seemed very Catholic. The Eucharist replaced sung Morning Prayer. Confession to a priest was given liturgical sanction. The reservation of the sacrament became normal.
What did not seem obvious was that a post-millennial theology, in many ways in tune with the politics of the Democratic Party, became the obsession of a large majority of bishops and clergy and of activist laity. More to the point this vision, born in the Civil Rights Movement, became the passion of an entrenched majority of bishops and deputies in General Convention.
And who could doubt that many of the causes espoused were righteous? Racial discrimination had long been the lie to America’s proclaimed ambition to be the land of freedom for all its citizens. The plight of the poor remained a scandal. Legal and social barriers against the equality of the sexes could not be defended. Obviously there was compelling biblical evidence to support a vigorous campaign to outlaw discrimination in all forms. Yet what was not noticed was the simple fact that changing laws does not automatically change people. A just society and the Kingdom is not the same thing.
Liberation and transformation seemed to become synonyms in the Episcopalian vocabulary. The new Gospel seemed to imply that political and social transformation were the equivalent of Baptism. There’s little wonder that some Episcopalians began to believe that anyone might receive holy communion, whether baptized or not. Is there any wonder that the baptismal covenant became, in the thoughts of many to be an egalitarian concept, rather than the outward sign of God’s covenant with his new race, a chosen people? Forgotten was the simple Credal announcement that baptism is for the remission of sins.
Thus on Sunday the election of the first woman Presiding Bishop was hailed by 90% of our Deputies as a moment of liberation for women rather than merely the logical and theological outcome of a determination that women may be called to Holy Orders or that the Bishop of Nevada may have been an obvious choice to make.
What is lost in all this is a firm and Anglican doctrine of the Church and its nature and purpose and a doctrine of salvation. Economic and social change does not imply “moral” change. Those liberated by social action may not be any more or less envious, cruel, selfish, any less transformed than they were when they were slaves of one sort or another. Sin –living as if God isn’t – is as much if not more a reality among the well-fed as among the starving.
Most of all, to attribute to the Holy Spirit actions which divide and fracture the Church, drive from it faithful people, and obscure the biblical vision of the newly restored people of God is nothing short of blasphemy. It may be that many of the issues our church raises are true and just, but to assume that our timetable is God’s purpose at this moment, is both arrogant and bemused. The kingdom is not within us and about us through our own legislative activity, but because “Christ has died. Christ is Risen. Christ will come again.” We further pray, “In the fullness of time, bring all things in subjection under your Christ, and bring us to that heavenly country where with all your saints, we may enter into the everlasting heritage of your sons and daughters; through Jesus Christ our Lord, the firstborn of all creation, the head of the Church, and the author of our salvation.” True the words "that heavenly country" may obscure God purpose to issue in a new heaven and a new earth, to reverse Eden and that we are the first-born of this new creation in Christ.
If the Church in America is merely the Democratic Party at prayer, why not merely attend local party meetings and do good to others? Surely the church is the embassy and presence of God’s kingdom, of his new people, of the country which is and is to be, where, through the renewal of our minds and beings we show forth Christ’s death and passion until he comes again. From these outposts of Christ's Empire, we are called to embrace the world, its peoples and all creation and to call them into a new and vital relationship with God, as, in Christ we care for them and liberate them holistically, healing them in the name of Christ, feeding them in the name of Christ and changing them in the name of Christ. We belong not to one of the varied American cultures, but to the culture of God’s people, the organs and limbs of Christ’s Presence. Until we recapture such a vision, we will have nothing abiding to offer to the watching world.
posted by Fr. Tony Clavier
Monday, May 22, 2006
Are any among you tired?
borrowed from DestinationGod.com,
a ministry of Tim Johnson (yes, he's my boy!)
McDonnough GA
GIVE US YOUR TIRED...
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flameis the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
(Emma Lazarus)
For the uninformed, these words greet every visitor to the shores of the United States of America. Countless millions of immigrants passed by them on their way into America. These words are at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
These are the words of the Declaration of Independence. This document stated the intention of Great Britain’s American colonies to self-govern. Roughly 14% of the 56 men who signed the Declaration had immigrated to America at some point in their life.
In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Columbus. An Italian who made his way to the Americas by way of Spain.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Abraham Lincoln penned these words as a speech to dedicate a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At the time, our country was embroiled in a great conflict over, among other things, the status of certain immigrants (so to speak).
This land is your land This land is my landFrom California to the New York island; From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and Me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, By the relief office I seen my people; As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking Is this land made for you and me?
Somewhere between the opening chorus and closing verse of Woody Guthrie’s great anthem is where we are now as a society. Between the statement, “this land was made for you and me”, and the question, “is this land made for you and me?”
Some would argue that the changes to “the land made for you and me” threaten the very nature of the land. Others want to know whom the “you and me” refers to?
Our country is currently consumed with a debate regarding immigration. Now, in order to not sound like a despicable racist, some try to say it is only about illegal immigration. But, that does sound very much like a ruse to me. And we should not stoop to the “illegals take American jobs”, “illegals only take jobs Americans don’t want”, or “Americans would want the jobs if illegals didn’t lower the market” arguments. None of that is the real issue.
The real issue is can be seen in these facts from World Vision’s Faith In Action Study Bible.
a ministry of Tim Johnson (yes, he's my boy!)
McDonnough GA
GIVE US YOUR TIRED...
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, with conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand a mighty woman with a torch, whose flameis the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame, "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she with silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore, Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
(Emma Lazarus)
For the uninformed, these words greet every visitor to the shores of the United States of America. Countless millions of immigrants passed by them on their way into America. These words are at the base of the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
These are the words of the Declaration of Independence. This document stated the intention of Great Britain’s American colonies to self-govern. Roughly 14% of the 56 men who signed the Declaration had immigrated to America at some point in their life.
In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
Columbus. An Italian who made his way to the Americas by way of Spain.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this continent, a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Abraham Lincoln penned these words as a speech to dedicate a military cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. At the time, our country was embroiled in a great conflict over, among other things, the status of certain immigrants (so to speak).
This land is your land This land is my landFrom California to the New York island; From the red wood forest to the Gulf Stream waters This land was made for you and Me.
In the shadow of the steeple I saw my people, By the relief office I seen my people; As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking Is this land made for you and me?
Somewhere between the opening chorus and closing verse of Woody Guthrie’s great anthem is where we are now as a society. Between the statement, “this land was made for you and me”, and the question, “is this land made for you and me?”
Some would argue that the changes to “the land made for you and me” threaten the very nature of the land. Others want to know whom the “you and me” refers to?
Our country is currently consumed with a debate regarding immigration. Now, in order to not sound like a despicable racist, some try to say it is only about illegal immigration. But, that does sound very much like a ruse to me. And we should not stoop to the “illegals take American jobs”, “illegals only take jobs Americans don’t want”, or “Americans would want the jobs if illegals didn’t lower the market” arguments. None of that is the real issue.
The real issue is can be seen in these facts from World Vision’s Faith In Action Study Bible.
- In some countries of the world over 94% of school age girls are not in school, while over 99% of girls in America are
- The average student-teacher ratio in some areas can be as high as 250 to 1, while in America the ratio is 17 to 1
- Over 90% of American adults are literate, while in developing countries the literacy rate is less than 10%
- Outside of America 5 children die of preventable illness every 15 seconds
- 1 in 7 people in developing countries go hungry, while Americans spend $20 billion a year on ice cream (enough money to feed 83 million children for a year)
- Nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day
- More than 1 billion live on less than $1 a day
- But on a list of the 22 most affluent countries, America ranks last in providing foreign aid to the developing world
Is there any doubt as to why, in the words of Emma Lazarus, “the tired, the poor, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse, the homeless, the tempest-tost” are literally dying in an effort to get to America and possibly make a better life for their family? Can we blame them? Would we not do the same if the situation was reversed, and it was our kid going to bed hungry, without an education or a hope for the future? And would we stop to consider immigration law if our family’s life was at stake?
What would God have to say on this topic? Look in Leviticus 19:33-34. Don't mistreat any foreigners who live in your land. Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, (your ancestors) were once foreigners in the land (too).
Yes, in this era of terrorism, we need to better secure our borders. But many of those who are here illegally are honest, hard-working people. If they have committed no other crime than to be here illegally, we need to practice some civility. Give them a helping hand in their quest to provide the life for the future generations of their family that many of our ancestors provided for us. Remember, it wasn’t too long ago in our country that these statements would have possibly impacted our grandparents and great-grandparents:
- Irish need not apply
- No Chinese
- Catholics not welcome
- Jews not welcome
- Coloreds not served
Keep in mind these words of Scripture from Revelation 7:9, 21:4. After this, I saw a large crowd with more people than could be counted. They were from every race, tribe, nation, and language, and they stood before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands, He will wipe all tears from their eyes, and there will be no more death, suffering, crying, or pain. These things of the past are gone forever.
This land was made for you and me, whoever you and me are, wherever you and me are originally from.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
A Passover Message
Borrowed from Fr. Tom Johnson, Anglican Church of the Resurrection, AMiA, Casper
From a Jews for Jesus newsletter, "Moishe's Musings". Moishe Rosen is the Jews for Jesus founder. Jews for Jesus is a Jewish organization dedicated to helping Jews discover Jesus as the Messiah.
From a Jews for Jesus newsletter, "Moishe's Musings". Moishe Rosen is the Jews for Jesus founder. Jews for Jesus is a Jewish organization dedicated to helping Jews discover Jesus as the Messiah.
Christianity comes out of Judaism, so the two religions have an affinity with each other. Even our celebrations have much in common.
THE MISSING INGREDIENT
The elements that make a thing to be what it is can't be compromised. Bread without yeast becomes matzoh. Oceans without water become very long, very dry valleys of sand. Marriages without love become a version of Hell.
A church with a missing ingredient becomes a social club. The ingredients of the church may not be exactly what you think. You can have a church without pews, without a pulpit, without a preacher, without a doctrinal creed. But all too often, what's really essential is left out. You can't have a church without people--and you can't have a real church without Jesus.
The synergistic relationship between Jesus and His people is what produces a church. Don't confuse the product with the producer. Buildings with steeples, with or without musical instruments, with pews, even with people are not what God wants for a church unless Jesus is the Main Ingredient.
The main ingredient for life is not good health and a strong body. It is not a good education, a good personality, or good connections. Human nature by itself corrupts and corrodes anything about us that is good. The main ingredient has to be the antidote to human nature. That is why the main ingredient is Jesus. He prepares, promotes, and preserves us. He promises us eternal life.
Nowadays, polite society wants to erase the Name of Jesus as though His name were some kind of public obscenity. But they'll never erase Jesus because He is our ground of being, our basis of reality, and the One who gives life--not only that, He's the One who gives our life meaning.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Wisdom from the past
Borrowed from a friend, Fr. Gene Packwood, of St. Barnabas Anglican Parish, Medicine Hat, Alberta --
"Something for a spring day from William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944, from the opening sermon to the Lambeth Conference:
While we deliberate, He reigns;
When we decide wisely, He reigns;
When we decide foolishly, He reigns;
When we serve Him in humble loyalty, He reigns;
When we serve Him self assertively, He reigns;
When we rebel and seek to withhold our service, He reigns
- the Alpha and the Omega which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Amen."
What a powerful idea, He reigns!
Of course, this is NOT NEWS.
We know it, we have known it for ages; but, isn't it great to be reminded from time to time, "He reigns!"
He reigns in every area of our lives, personal, professional, and liturgical.
He reigns!
He reigns in our private and personal prayer, in home Bible study, in mission meetings, in parish vestries, in diocesan council, in synodial conventions, in provincial convocations, He reigns!
Whether or not we want Him to, He reigns!
When it is convenient for us, He reigns; if it works against our own pet desires, He reigns!
When we truly seek Him in our lives, He reigns!
When we are on the run from Him, He reigns!
Child of God or child of satan, He reigns!
So give it up, let Him reign supreme in you!
Pax Christi †
Br Chip+, cj
"Something for a spring day from William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-1944, from the opening sermon to the Lambeth Conference:
While we deliberate, He reigns;
When we decide wisely, He reigns;
When we decide foolishly, He reigns;
When we serve Him in humble loyalty, He reigns;
When we serve Him self assertively, He reigns;
When we rebel and seek to withhold our service, He reigns
- the Alpha and the Omega which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Amen."
What a powerful idea, He reigns!
Of course, this is NOT NEWS.
We know it, we have known it for ages; but, isn't it great to be reminded from time to time, "He reigns!"
He reigns in every area of our lives, personal, professional, and liturgical.
He reigns!
He reigns in our private and personal prayer, in home Bible study, in mission meetings, in parish vestries, in diocesan council, in synodial conventions, in provincial convocations, He reigns!
Whether or not we want Him to, He reigns!
When it is convenient for us, He reigns; if it works against our own pet desires, He reigns!
When we truly seek Him in our lives, He reigns!
When we are on the run from Him, He reigns!
Child of God or child of satan, He reigns!
So give it up, let Him reign supreme in you!
Pax Christi †
Br Chip+, cj
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Tuesday of 1 Lent, 2006
Grant to thy people, Lord, grace to withstand the temptations of he world, the flesh and the devil, and with pure hearts and minds to follow thee, the only true God; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Eucharistic lectionary
Psalm 34.15-22
Isaiah 55.6-11
Matthew 6.7-15
Today we face the largest and most diverse sort of temptations ever seen or conceived by man. Late last night, the governor of South Dakota signed into law a sweeping 'new' anti-abortion law; a law which makes no provision for the sins of incest and rape,with exception only in case of the life threat to the mother.
The greatest sin propounded by this 'fine example of modern legislation' is the inclusion of language which guarantees the 'father' of a rape or incest product full parental rights, if he so chooses. He is given unlimited visitation rights, has the right to determine where and how the child is to be raised, and all totally without any concern or regard for the mother's rights or feelings. This is tacked on possibly to insure his full participation in the fiscal support of the child, but I don't see that as a real plus in this law.
South Dakota has been offered the rare opportunity and priviledge by her governor to spend countless millions of dollars of tax payer monies and endless hours of appellate process, all the way to the Supreme Court, to perhaps, in the end, to lose and have this law rescinded and abrogated by the court systems of this nation.
Child of God, would it not be so much simpler and less expensive to merely let God have his sovereign way in our lives; for our nuclear and extended families and the Church to take back their responsibilities to properly raise children in the 'fear and admonition of God'.
The innocence of youth is no more, and it is solely because we, as adults, have diminished it. Our children must seek elsewhere, the love and affection they need for proper physical, social, and emotional development, care that they should be finding every day, at home or at church; not on the street corners at night, as I observed from my living room window last night, or at school, loosely supervised.
Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, grandparents take back your children and their raising NOW before we lose all controls over the direction our precious children are directed in their early lives! The schools have operated for years 'in loco parentis', in the place of parents, because we and generations before us have allowed it. We have been 'too busy', 'too involved elsewhere', making a living, following a career, to be the parents God has called you to be.
Being a parent is the singularly greatest vocation and avocation in the world, but we have abandoned parenthood, and our children, for too long. What will you do about it? Because it is a question of 'will' not 'can'.
YOU must make a choice to purpose, to 'will', to decide, what you will do with, for and in regard to your children.
So, what do you will? Amen.
Eucharistic lectionary
Psalm 34.15-22
Isaiah 55.6-11
Matthew 6.7-15
Today we face the largest and most diverse sort of temptations ever seen or conceived by man. Late last night, the governor of South Dakota signed into law a sweeping 'new' anti-abortion law; a law which makes no provision for the sins of incest and rape,with exception only in case of the life threat to the mother.
The greatest sin propounded by this 'fine example of modern legislation' is the inclusion of language which guarantees the 'father' of a rape or incest product full parental rights, if he so chooses. He is given unlimited visitation rights, has the right to determine where and how the child is to be raised, and all totally without any concern or regard for the mother's rights or feelings. This is tacked on possibly to insure his full participation in the fiscal support of the child, but I don't see that as a real plus in this law.
South Dakota has been offered the rare opportunity and priviledge by her governor to spend countless millions of dollars of tax payer monies and endless hours of appellate process, all the way to the Supreme Court, to perhaps, in the end, to lose and have this law rescinded and abrogated by the court systems of this nation.
Child of God, would it not be so much simpler and less expensive to merely let God have his sovereign way in our lives; for our nuclear and extended families and the Church to take back their responsibilities to properly raise children in the 'fear and admonition of God'.
The innocence of youth is no more, and it is solely because we, as adults, have diminished it. Our children must seek elsewhere, the love and affection they need for proper physical, social, and emotional development, care that they should be finding every day, at home or at church; not on the street corners at night, as I observed from my living room window last night, or at school, loosely supervised.
Moms, dads, brothers, sisters, aunties, uncles, grandparents take back your children and their raising NOW before we lose all controls over the direction our precious children are directed in their early lives! The schools have operated for years 'in loco parentis', in the place of parents, because we and generations before us have allowed it. We have been 'too busy', 'too involved elsewhere', making a living, following a career, to be the parents God has called you to be.
Being a parent is the singularly greatest vocation and avocation in the world, but we have abandoned parenthood, and our children, for too long. What will you do about it? Because it is a question of 'will' not 'can'.
YOU must make a choice to purpose, to 'will', to decide, what you will do with, for and in regard to your children.
So, what do you will? Amen.
Monday, March 06, 2006
"House Churches" - Time Magazine feature 3/6/06
This is one model for our plan of growth in the Dakotas, from T19,
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,1167737,00.html
Our purpose is to meet small and develop people, and to reach former clusters who are presently unchurched through closure by ecclesiastical authorities for any reason, including 'small size'.
Come, be a part of a new Anglican wave in the upper midwest!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/
0,9171,1167737,00.html
Our purpose is to meet small and develop people, and to reach former clusters who are presently unchurched through closure by ecclesiastical authorities for any reason, including 'small size'.
Come, be a part of a new Anglican wave in the upper midwest!
Friday, March 03, 2006
Is This Your Church?
A minister was approached by a man who wanted to join the church. “But,” the man said, “I have a very busy schedule. I can’t be called on for any service, such as committee work, teaching, or singing in the choir. I just won’t be available for special projects or to help with setting up chairs or things like that. And I’m afraid I’ll never be bale to go on visitation, as my evenings are all tied up.”
The minister thought for a moment, then replied, “I believe you are at the wrong church. The church you are looking for is three blocks down the street, on the right.”
The man followed the preacher’s directions and soon came to an abandoned, boarded up, closed church building. It was a dead church – gone out of business.
-borrowed from Christ Community Church, Winter Haven aplacetobelong-dot-com
The minister thought for a moment, then replied, “I believe you are at the wrong church. The church you are looking for is three blocks down the street, on the right.”
The man followed the preacher’s directions and soon came to an abandoned, boarded up, closed church building. It was a dead church – gone out of business.
-borrowed from Christ Community Church, Winter Haven aplacetobelong-dot-com
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Friday after Ash Wednesday, 2006
Support us, O Lord, with thy gracious favor through the fast we have begun; that as we observe it by bodily self-denial, so we may fulfill it with inner sincerity of heart; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Eucharistic Lectionary:
Psalm 51.1-10
Isaiah 58.1-9a
Matthew 9.10-17
Is 51.1 "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." KJV
Lent has begun. We are fully involved. It is so very easy at the beginning of this penitential season to be resolute, to maintain our fasting and extra intentions in prayer.
But, God requires much more than a good beginning. If we are to fully access his Divine Mercy, we must be consistent in keeping a good Lent. Our prayers must be more intentional, less scattered. Oh, I know how easy it is to let ourselves be distracted from prayer and merciful works; but think of the joy that can be ours as we come to the end of Lent, to the Great Vigil and know that we, like Paul, have kept the faith, we have run a good race, we have finished the course.
Look to the Psalmist, in verse 10 and 11, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy holy presence: and take not thy holy spirit from me."
Eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hear us today, draw us close to you, inspire us to keep our vows for Lent, help us to remember our the true reason for keeping this holy penitential season; draw us ever closer to you and to your Christ, and give us your Peace in Him. Amen.
Eucharistic Lectionary:
Psalm 51.1-10
Isaiah 58.1-9a
Matthew 9.10-17
Is 51.1 "Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2. Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest." KJV
Lent has begun. We are fully involved. It is so very easy at the beginning of this penitential season to be resolute, to maintain our fasting and extra intentions in prayer.
But, God requires much more than a good beginning. If we are to fully access his Divine Mercy, we must be consistent in keeping a good Lent. Our prayers must be more intentional, less scattered. Oh, I know how easy it is to let ourselves be distracted from prayer and merciful works; but think of the joy that can be ours as we come to the end of Lent, to the Great Vigil and know that we, like Paul, have kept the faith, we have run a good race, we have finished the course.
Look to the Psalmist, in verse 10 and 11, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy holy presence: and take not thy holy spirit from me."
Eternal God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hear us today, draw us close to you, inspire us to keep our vows for Lent, help us to remember our the true reason for keeping this holy penitential season; draw us ever closer to you and to your Christ, and give us your Peace in Him. Amen.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Lenten Studies at St. Francis Mission
St Francis Mission, of the Anglican Mission to South Dakota, announces a Lenten Study Series, to be held at the Mission, meeting at 346 South Chicago Street, Hot Springs SD, twice each Sunday, at the 11:00 am and 6:30 pm services.
The series will begin the First Sunday of Lent, March 5, 2006,and continue through the Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday), April 9, 2006, and will address in detail the 39 Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church; and the three historic Creeds of the Church, the Apostle's, Nicene, and Athanasian, according to the Rev. Charles Johnson+, cj, missioner for the Anglican Mission to South Dakota.
For further information: respond on this blogsite, e-mail sdanglican@gwtc.net, or phone Br Chip+ at 605+745-5586.
The series will begin the First Sunday of Lent, March 5, 2006,and continue through the Sunday of the Passion (Palm Sunday), April 9, 2006, and will address in detail the 39 Articles of Religion of the Anglican Church; and the three historic Creeds of the Church, the Apostle's, Nicene, and Athanasian, according to the Rev. Charles Johnson+, cj, missioner for the Anglican Mission to South Dakota.
For further information: respond on this blogsite, e-mail sdanglican@gwtc.net, or phone Br Chip+ at 605+745-5586.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Welcome to The South Dakota Anglican
We serve in the southern Black Hills of South Dakota to restore a 're-emergent' traditional Anglican presence, with a 'twist', among the disenfranchised Episcopal, Anglican, Catholic, and Lutheran peoples of South Dakota, who are interested in a return to the old liturgy, with a serious thrust of biblical preaching..
As ordained clergy in the Anglican Province of Christ the Good Shepherd, and the Diocese of St. Paul the Apostle, and as a professed Third Order Franciscan, of the Company of Jesus, we are committed to the simple life, serving those who are hurting in any way, working in the hospitals and jail, and with the truly disenfranchised and homeless, to bring them spiritual and physical comfort in this life by clothing and feeding them, and a hope for the future by 'preaching as Francis preached...sometimes using words'.
The Anglican Mission to South Dakota seeks no more than "to reach and to teach in the Name of Jesus Christ" through the use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the 1979 Prayer Book, either rite, or the Anglican Service Book. Scripture may be the Authorized (King James) Version, the New King James, the Revised Standard or the New Revised Standard.
We presently operate 'house-churches' in several communities in western South Dakota, but are comitted to receiving congregations into fellowship as missions or parishes, and re-opening or otherwise providing sacramental coverage for congregations closed and abandoned by their ecclesial authority from the Nebraska panhandle into North Dakota.
All real and personal properties of each mission or congregation is held by that mission, none devolves to any higher authority, and all clergy in the Province are 'non-stipendary', which simply means, we support our selves by our outside labors, and all offerings and receipts are used for the support of the mission of Christ.
We are tithers; ten percent of individual family income goes to the congregation for mission and operating expenses; and of that, ten percent of the tithe goes to the diocesan office in Dallas for travel and mission expenses, leaving each congregation ninety percent of their collections to be use for the spread of the Gospel in each locale.
We are also strongly mission oriented. Each mission or congregation is encouraged to be proactive in their own greater community, and for each member to have a lay apostolate in the Name of Jesus, to truly reach and to mediate the needs of our neighbors (Mt 22.37-40) as we pattern our lives after St. Francis of Assisi.
We welcome any inquiries, referals, or comments, as we seek to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ.
News articles are solicited, please, no copywrited material without the author's permission.
Pax Christi †,
Charles Johnson+, cj
Missioner
sdanglican@gwtc.net
As ordained clergy in the Anglican Province of Christ the Good Shepherd, and the Diocese of St. Paul the Apostle, and as a professed Third Order Franciscan, of the Company of Jesus, we are committed to the simple life, serving those who are hurting in any way, working in the hospitals and jail, and with the truly disenfranchised and homeless, to bring them spiritual and physical comfort in this life by clothing and feeding them, and a hope for the future by 'preaching as Francis preached...sometimes using words'.
The Anglican Mission to South Dakota seeks no more than "to reach and to teach in the Name of Jesus Christ" through the use the 1928 Book of Common Prayer, the 1979 Prayer Book, either rite, or the Anglican Service Book. Scripture may be the Authorized (King James) Version, the New King James, the Revised Standard or the New Revised Standard.
We presently operate 'house-churches' in several communities in western South Dakota, but are comitted to receiving congregations into fellowship as missions or parishes, and re-opening or otherwise providing sacramental coverage for congregations closed and abandoned by their ecclesial authority from the Nebraska panhandle into North Dakota.
All real and personal properties of each mission or congregation is held by that mission, none devolves to any higher authority, and all clergy in the Province are 'non-stipendary', which simply means, we support our selves by our outside labors, and all offerings and receipts are used for the support of the mission of Christ.
We are tithers; ten percent of individual family income goes to the congregation for mission and operating expenses; and of that, ten percent of the tithe goes to the diocesan office in Dallas for travel and mission expenses, leaving each congregation ninety percent of their collections to be use for the spread of the Gospel in each locale.
We are also strongly mission oriented. Each mission or congregation is encouraged to be proactive in their own greater community, and for each member to have a lay apostolate in the Name of Jesus, to truly reach and to mediate the needs of our neighbors (Mt 22.37-40) as we pattern our lives after St. Francis of Assisi.
We welcome any inquiries, referals, or comments, as we seek to serve our Lord, Jesus Christ.
News articles are solicited, please, no copywrited material without the author's permission.
Pax Christi †,
Charles Johnson+, cj
Missioner
sdanglican@gwtc.net
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