Faith, Fact & Fantasy

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...