Faith, Fact & Fantasy

Please note:  this entry to my blog will be of interest primarily to Episcopalians. I posted the following thoughts to Episcopal Café in response to their entry on the recently released recommendations of TREC, the official group of The Episcopal Church charged to re-imagine especially the government of TEC. [begin my post to Episcopal Café]  That the carefully crafted balance between Catholic and Protestant thought and belief which historically marked The Episcopal Church took a shift toward Catholicism with the Book of Common Prayer 1979 is, by my observation, without question. In the days since the advent of BCP 79 we witness an ever growing consolidation of influence in the Episcopate and a continuing diminishment of influence of diocesan and general conventions. By way of example, witness the morphing of the notion of a "presiding bishop," i.e., a bishop who presides when the House of Bishops meets, to a CEO of TEC, from a "right reverend among right reverends,...

By way of explanation, in the days of yore the first professional/academic degree conferred by a seminary was that of Bachelor of Divinity, or B.D. For those interested in academia, the B.D. was followed by both a Master's degree and a Doctoral degree. Although the nomenclature of the first professional/academic degree was changed to a "Master's" level by the development of the Master of Divinity (M.Div.) in the late sixties and early seventies, along with the development of the advanced professional degree Doctor of Ministry (D.Min.) at about the same time, for academicians one still needs to spend significant time in residential university study in order to qualify to teach in a seminary. Such advanced academic study leads most commonly in this country to a Master of Theology (or Master of Sacred Theology) and a Doctor of Philosophy (or Doctor of Sacred Theology). Here is a simple chart: Collegiate degree = B.A., B.S. or similar (a prerequisite for any of the be...

A personal note: I suspect I am about to disappoint many of my friends and acquaintances with what follows. To those who find themselves disappointed with my words, or with me, I apologize. I do hope, however, that each person who lands on this page will take the time to read and to ponder my thoughts. Thank you! I lived through the Sixties and Seventies, decades which in some sense give definition to the word, 'protest.' I watched the Civil Rights movement unfold, as well as the anti-war movement. I witnessed the murders at Kent State (and yes, I say, 'murders', intentionally). Memories fade with time and I am certain that representatives of the establishment at that time were not pleased with any of the protests, but I remember particularly rather more extreme angst expressed at the some of the behaviors of the Black Panther Party, Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and the Weather Underground. What differentiated the more extreme groups from the larger c...

An online dialogue the other day spurred my thinking so it is time for a post to the blog. I stipulate the following observations as a portion of reality in the world today. There is evil in the world. There is nastiness. Abusive behaviors, manipulative behaviors, and struggles for both power and control are evident. Random acts of violence, to include murder, rape, mayhem, assault, et cetera, exist. Intentional acts of violence, to include shootings, bombings, poisonings, beheadings, lynchings and other activities of terrorists are real. People steal from one another. I do not intend this list to be comprehensive. One can go on and on as the list of nastiness is long and anti-human behaviors seem to be on the increase. Each of us has choice in how best overtly to respond to one of the many provocations cited above. We can respond "eye for eye, tooth for tooth", and in many cases no one will criticize such a choice thinking same to be thoroughly justified. We ...

I've been reflecting on the Latin word, a verb which typically would be listed in a dictionary as: spiro, spirare, spiravi, spiratus If I remember correctly, because Latin is an inflected language, wherein verbs are conjugated, the various endings of the verb meaning various things, unlike English which uses helping words rather than endings, we have: I breathe, to breathe, I have breath, breath Our English word 'spirit' comes as a cognate from the participle, the fourth word listed above, 'spiratus', which translates 'breath'. The Gospels report that Jesus 'breathed on them' as he said, 'receive the Holy Spirit', i.e., 'receive the holy breath.' It is not just a play on words, although it is that, it is rather the recognition that life is defined by respiration (continuous breathing). When breathing stops, life stops. Receiving the Holy Spirit as we celebrate on Pentecost really means that we breathe God into our lives, and that onl...

As one attempts to comprehend the reasons behind the current malaise in major Protestant organizations here in the United States, if not also in other "Western" countries, the question obtains, "why?" Is it possible to look beyond the presenting issues of border crossings and criteria for ordination to point to root issues such as, perhaps, corporate fear and/or the desire to centralize power? Is it possible to dig even deeper, to look for the fundamentals of corporate dysfunction? I postulate that the discomfort which stems from living in an increasingly disordered world may be an important factor in the current dysfunction. Ambiguity is antithetical to the desire for an ordered life yet we live in an increasingly ambiguous world. Instantaneous global communication only serves to heighten the ambiguity. In the early 1970s the Episcopal Church in the dioceses of Maryland and Washington teamed up to offer recent graduates from seminary a two year program of cont...

People who pay attention to the role of The Episcopal Church internationally know that TEC is a member of The Anglican Communion, a voluntary association of various provinces of like-minded Christians who either trace their history to the Church of England, or who wish to be in relationship with same. The Provinces historically hold in common a similar liturgy expressing the Sacraments of Holy Baptism and Holy Eucharist, acknowledgment of the two principal Creeds, the presence of the "historic Episcopate," and the belief that the Holy Scriptures "contain all things necessary to salvation." Although I am no expert in the inner workings of the Anglican Communion, it is my understanding that membership is determined finally by the Archbishops of Canterbury and York. During the second half of the twentieth century and extending to the current time, the relationship of TEC to the AC has been strained due to various actions by TEC which on their face appear to be more ...

There seems to be something about five hundred year spans of time. In the middle of the 11th century East split from West resulting in what today we call The Orthodox Churches and the Roman Catholic Church. In 1517 Martin Luther posited his theses sparking the Reformation resulting in Protestant Christianity. Another five hundred years have passed. Perhaps now Episcopalians need to remind Rowan Williams and the "Covenant" folk that it might be time for yet another "reformation" from central authority. I adore being associated with the Anglican Communion as I have known it, an amalgamation of Christians united by a reasonably common liturgy but not requiring uniformity of faith and belief. The "Covenant" is, protestations from those who advance it aside, an attempt to establish a central authority with the power to decide who is "in" and who is "out" based upon matters of faith and belief. In the middle of the sixteenth...

Those words from Habakkuk* strike me as profoundly and deeply descriptive of the battle royal currently taking place in Christian churches across the globe as the faithful attempt to deal with abusive behaviors within their midst. In my denomination, The Episcopal Church, issues of sexual exploitation first came to this priest's attention in the late 1980s during a conversation with a newly elected bishop who also was a classmate from seminary. A number of us sat in his living room after the consecration and listened to him relate some of the then startling information he was being taught by our church during "baby bishop" gatherings. My jaw dropped at the amount of data concerning the broad category of sexual exploitation which the church was teaching newly elected bishops even while those of us in charge of congregations had not a clue. It would be another several years before the church, in her wisdom, finally began to hold seminars for rank and file clergy on issu...

I am a lad now so many years ago, and my fifth grade teacher is reading her class a story. It is Hans Christian Andersen's, "The Emperor's New Clothes" and seems to paint a picture of an inept, bumbling ruler who, along with many of his subjects, is given over to the power of persuasion by dishonest and mean-spirited men. The men are tailors who tell the emperor they are crafting a new suit of clothes, the finest ever made, fabricated from materials which are visible only to those who are capable and competent. As the emperor parades down the street in the new clothes it takes the intervention of a child, an innocent, to help the emperor realize in his foolishness that he is indeed naked, wearing nothing at all. Some say it is impertinent for a retired priest to question or criticize the Archbishop of Canterbury, and indeed so it might be to some at least foolish. Nonsense. When the Archbishop begins worship without his cope and miter, someone needs to remind him ...

At the outset let me say that Jim Lewis is a friend as well as a colleague, one whom I have known for more than thirty years. I have great respect for him. I should also say that I have met the current Bishop of West Virginia and have great respect for him as well. It is a very hard thing to have hearts rent asunder when two good people find themselves at odds, one with another. I do not know about the "church policy" which was cited in the Charleston Gazette article of May 10, 2010, as being enforced by the Bishop in Jim Lewis' case, to wit: “Clergy who have formerly had a pastoral relationship with a parish will not continue to minister in the former parish in any way.” Unless I am more uninformed than heretofore I have thought, this must be a local policy of the Diocese of West Virginia -- I do not believe it exists in the Canons of TEC. If I misstate the case, I apologize in advance for any error. By tradition one does not provide pastoral responses to people aft...

Football is a sport to which many a male and not a few females are devoted. It gets the blood cursing through the veins, helps us to know we are alive and often generates quite odd behaviors. I remember so very clearly to this day that when the defense of the Baltimore Colts seemed lacking in the days of Johnny Unitas, my genteel, Virginia-bred Mother would rise from the sofa with a blood curdling, "Get him!" Perhaps she thought that yelling at the television would impact the play of the day. Football is an interesting sport with many variations. Here in the USA, professional football is played to one set of rules while collegiate football is played to another. The infraction of 'pass interference' can easily change the outcome of a professional game, but is less likely so to do in a collegiate contest. Football in Canada is played on a field with differing dimensions than in the USA, and in 'arena football' the players are encased in a box. The are man...

It is my first semester at the University of Maryland, College Park, and as a budding English major, I am attending a class entitled Structural Grammar. It is a challenging concept for one steeped in more traditional notions of English grammar taught with prep school precision, not to mention six years of Latin grammar under my belt. A noun is no longer "the name of a person, place or thing." In fact a noun is no longer a noun -- it is a "nominal". Nominals are words which function in the grammatical place of a traditional noun, i.e., words which occupy the place of a subject. "Objectives" are words which occupy the place of a traditional noun when used as predicates or objects of prepositions, etc. Most importantly, verbs are no longer action words, nor are they verbs. In lieu of verbs we are introduced to "verbals", words which occupy the place of traditional verbs and which express actions. With verbals, for example, one can "engin...

The Anglican Communion is a voluntary coalition of autonomous provinces linked primarily by a similar expression of worship, the desire to be "in Communion with" one another, and a large dose of good will. In the eyes of some, the Articles of the Lambeth Conference of 1888 helped to shape minimal criteria for participation in this voluntary coalition. Historically each province has been free to proclaim adherence to the Articles without proof of compliance. Of late some of the provinces have passed judgment on the actions of other provinces, calling into question compliance with the minimal criteria, and in some cases severing the ties Communion. It is not the first time that the Church of England, spiritual home of the Anglican Communion, has faced distress. The wisdom of Elizabeth in the mid-sixteenth century required Catholic and Reformed to worship together at the same altar using the same liturgy, in essence enforcing good will. The Book of Common Prayer was the s...

I've owned many an umbrella over the years -- big ones, little ones, folding and fixed, automatic and manual. No matter the type of umbrella, invariably one of the struts breaks rendering the device less suited for its task. Two or more broken struts and the device is just about useless. One common metaphor for Anglicanism is that of a large umbrella under which is gathered and protected a large number of differing points of view -- the result of Catholic and Protestant being "urged" to worship together during Elizabethan times. Seems to me in recent days (read certainly the last fifty years) that the struts of the Anglican umbrella are breaking, one by one, sadly reducing the number who can fit under the umbrella. Anglicanism has always depended upon the good will of all under the umbrella to accept and tolerate diversity. Just as the umbrella needs good struts, Anglicanism needs good will to exist and function properly. It's time to repair the struts!

It is important to be clear. "Ignorance" is a word with connotations which are not always helpful. In this reflection, I use the word simply to describe the state of not-knowing, of being unaware. It is my observation that there are at least two kinds of ignorance -- profound ignorance and elected ignorance. Profound ignorance is the state of simply not knowing due to lack of knowledge or the availability of knowledge. Elected ignorance is the state either of not knowing in the face of available knowledge, or choosing not to believe available knowledge. There are two sub-sets of elected ignorance, benign and insidious (or pernicious). Benign elected ignorance represents a true lack of knowledge -- in the face of available knowledge, choosing not to read and/or study materials one knows exist. Insidious (or pernicious) elected knowledge represents the intentional manipulation of others (or self and others) despite an awareness of and/or study of available knowledge. It is ve...

The headline of the online version of the New York Times caught my eye. "Women in the military ... fitting in." The content of the article discussed the ways in which the military is accommodating the presence of women, and the ways in which women are attempting to "fit in". I wept as I read it. I am an average guy. I like football, I think I understand natural aggressiveness, and yes, when no one is around, I sometimes even watch a boxing match on tv (rarely, but occasionally). When I was a little boy my friends and I played "cops and robbers." I used a pair of Roy Rogers branded, chrome-plated toy six shooters. "Bang, bang, you're dead," was the constant refrain as we attempted to sneak up on the other and "make a kill". I had to say it verbally because at that age I was not permitted to play with real cap guns. Such is the stuff of being a boy in America in the late 1940s, early 1950s. When I reached eighth grade, to my ...

Static or Dynamic? How shall we approach and understand Holy Scripture? I wish this were an easy question but alas it is a question which divides Christianity into quite unfortunate camps each with varying answers to the question, each with its own set of interpretive guidelines (hermeneutic). The historic position of the Episcopal Church, springing as it does from Anglican heritage, is that faith and belief must be based upon a dynamic tension between Holy Scripture, tradition (the magisterium or historic teaching of the Church) and reason. Exalting one aspect of this trinity of tests for faith and belief over the others has proved throughout the five hundred years or so of Anglican teaching to be folly, and has resulted more than once in schism. Those who wish to rely solely upon Holy Scripture have found themselves to be at odds with those who prefer to emphasize the traditions of the church Catholic. There were reasons for the Acts of Uniformity and of Supremacy in 1559 -- peo...