I didn't blog this morning because I was researching in the hopes of making a cogent response to a facebook status thread. I'd like to share that conversation here, but first a little background.
The Episcopal Church doesn't venerate saints in the same way as the Roman Church. We have some Saints, and we celebrate the life and ministry of many saints with lesser feasts and fasts (note the intentional use of capitalization). At the last triennial gathering of TEC the decision was made to move away from our old resource for saint's days, Lesser Feasts and Fasts, and to replace it with a new resource which included all the old saints along with 112 or so new ones called Holy Women Holy Men.
As I was putting together a service for Monday, September 13th, I noticed that different resources listed different saints for that day. My go to site, The Lectionary Page (for which Kelly Pucket should be canonized) is still running off of LFF and names Sept 13 as the Feast of Cyprian, Bishop and Martyr, 258. The Church Pension Fund calendar haniging in our office says Sept 13 is the Feast of John Chrysosotom, Bishop, 407. Bishop John's day used to be January 27th, and Oh by the way, they changed the propers for his feast too.
This got me wondering. First, why the switch happened on September 1 on the CPF calendar (most of our changes occur on the first day of the Church Year, Advent 1) and two, why we needed this new resource in the first place.
My facebook status, snarky as it was, read, "wonders if anyone knows why "they" chose Sept 1 as the date to implement holy women holy men? seems random and confusing, and now I have to buy the stupid $35 book."
As of 11:17am Central Time there are 37 comments on that status. Some were uber cynical, mostly from my high church friends who won't be happy until we're back under Rome and any reference to Calvin or Luther is wiped clean from our history. Some were just funny. Some were a sign of where we stand, seemingly on a precipice, in the Church. Names have been obscured to protect the cynical.
1.MT - Buy a 1954 Marian Missal instead. More holy men and women, and no heretics or non-Christians!
2.PD - "...and now I have to buy..." Do you though, Pankey? Do you?
3.MH - it's far less expensive on amazon... although perhaps you don't have to buy one because PD is sending you his spare as a gift
4.PH - I'm with these two. Get in the habit of opting out now, so you'll feel less awkward when you have to opt out of the 2025 BCP that names the Trinity as Root Mother, Sun Beam and Chocolate Milkshake.
5.TB - I haven't looked at it, so I am not going to pass judgment yet (mark this date down folks, won't happen often!). That being said, and whether he is in Holy Women Holy Men or not, I am really annoyed by the whole Thurgood Marshall as saint thing going on right now. I remember in a Post article a few years ago, they were talking about it and how he rarely attended church (St. Monica's, I think); seems to me that active participation in the Christian community should be part of being a modern saint. Though I could be wrong.
6.MT - Calvin is in there too. My parish opted out of the Hymnal 1982 when that came around, but that could have been a reaction to accepting the '79 BCP and figuring out they were duped.
7.BH - Thanks for reminding me that the damn thing exists! Now I have to delude myself all over again.
8.PD - c'mon, BH, no one believes you had ever stopped deluding yourself.
9.MV - One does not have to implement HWHM, as it is only been authorized for trial use. I have not heard anything from Dio CGC about it...do you know something I don't?
10.BH - Sweet! Then the delusion can continue unimpeded.
11.TB - Eh, I'm not as cantankerous as Tucker. I'm looking over the additions to the Calendar, and most of them are pretty good, actually, but some I have some questions about. Guess the book will tell me about their religious beliefs. Some really good additions though, Isaac Watts and Fanny Crosby, the Dorchester Chaplains, Eric Liddell, Oscar Romero, ... See MoreChristina Rossetti, the Righteous Gentiles; Tucker should be happy to see Byrd, Merbecke, and Tallis, and that George has returned as well. But Jeanne d'Arc, really?
12.PH - I'm a fan of continually adding comments to this status update until Pankey cracks and deletes his facebook. BH I absolve you for your delusion in the name of the one God: potted plant, table lamp, and ham sandwich.
13.JM - hi P.H.
14.PH - Hey JM!! Hope you're doing well. How's M.??
15.Steve Pankey - I'm on my phone so I'll save my cogent (or the best I can muster) response for later and say this - ham sandwich 2012!
16.JM - he is great- growing up too fast. He is really attached to B, of course
17.MT - I think PH needs a holy day. It would be called Saint P's day and we could have parades for him and hang the Texas flag from our steeples and drink beer while wearing preppy clothes. I know BH is down.
18.JM - we'd have to drink diet coke
19.TB - Hmm, if PH had a holy day, we'd have to change the name of the book back to "Lesser Feasts..."
Spankey, it's kind of you to let us run rampant on your status update! So kind and generous, what of model of Christian community building!
20.PD - So, beer, diet coke, and looking sharp? This might be just what it takes to get me to actually care about saints days. Throw in this ham sandwich you keep mentioning and I'm in.
21.PH - Ok fine PD ham sandwich is in. You can't eat him yet though. He needs to win the presidency first.
22.PD - Right - because as we know, attaining political office is a sure sign that you're divinely inspired. (as long as I voted for you.)
23.MS - There is a survey from Church Publishing for users of HWHM. It is an opportunity to make your feelings known in a way that might have an impact. Or, talk to your delegates to the 2012 convention. If they don't hear from you, they will probably move the book from trial status to ordinary use. The survey is here –https://www.psychdata.com/s.asp?SID=136205
24.CA - Hey, I couldn't find the top of the thread, what are we talking about?
25.DS - Opting out.........
26.KT - You win. Most comments for an update. Save the $35 and take me and L out to dinner.
27.KT - BTW, I like your updated pic. Very convincing of your status.
28.PC - I do like a nice ham sandwich...so I'll be thinking about buying the 2025 version...
29.PC - what about a MLT...mutton lettuce and tomato sandwich, with the mutton nice and juicy?
30.PH - MS, i'd guess they'll move the book to ordinary use whether or not i fill out a survey. And that's ok. I will always observe a Saint's Day for Ham Sandwich in my heart.
31.MS - PH, for the past 2 GC's I choose to sit in the liturgy committee discussions (instead of some o f the other groups that generated the interest of the press) What I learned is they do their work the best they are able and repeatedly have to deal with groussing from the masses after the fact, when we all have the opportunity to give them input. It is frustrating for them. I think we should all purchase the right to complain by becoming active in the work as it is done. They have given us the vehicle to make inputs -- lets do it.
32.Steve Pankey - The reason I am interested is that I am in charge of the Monday morning Eucharist at our clergy conference on Sept 13 which used to be the feast of Cyprian but is now John Chrysostom. Which should I use, I wonder?
The reason I am annoyed is not who they included (though there is a great piece on the criteria change that each of us should readhttp://www.episcopalcafe.com/daily/saints/sanctity.php) but the format itself. Nothing says a church striving for relevance in the 21st century like a $35 (or $23 on amazon) 800 page doorstop. Why not an interactive calendar or a downloadable pdf that I can cut an paste?
Additionally, why do I have to buy this book at all? In the corporate world, when the book of Standard Operating Procedures is changed by company executives, the revised versions are distributed to all parties asap. In TEC, however, I have to shell out my own money to buy a book that, at least according to ens, could be scrapped entirely in 2012 (http://www.episcopalchurch.org/79901_112222_ENG_HTM.htm)
When it comes down to it, the switch to HWHM is just one more reason for me to be frustrated with the outmoded way GC and 815 continue to do things. John Ohmer said of the last GC that we were arguing over the best way to build Pontiacs when even GM knew it wasn't time to build them anymore. Or maybe Scott Gunn says it better as we "argue over who is the best horse at the glue factory."
I'm guessing the survey doesn't have a place for these comments, but I'll look at it and hope for the best.
Ham Sandwich 2012!
33.Steve Pankey - another good article http://cariocaconfessions.blogspot.com/2009/05/holy-women-holy-men.html
34.BR - I was going to add something until I saw Steve's closing discussion. Can't say I disagree with anything said here. I haven't seen the text, but the idea behind it really frustrates me.
@MS, thanks for the encouragement to make our thoughts known!
35.Steve Pankey - @BR - that was not a closing, just my first chance to weigh in since my wall was attacked by crazy clergy (and their spouses)
36.BR - Oh, not a closing? Awesome. Game on and day lost!
37.AJ - not sure what "they" you are referring to, but and quite sure "they" are out to get you and your $35 so...RUN, AAAAA
I love facebook for allowing conversations like this to happen. I love when some of the best minds in the church get together to question why we are doing things. I'd love to know why. So that's what I've been pondering the last 18 hours or so. I hope you enjoyed Church Nerdery at its best.
I'll be sporadic in posting the next two weeks, but know I am thinking about you, dear reader, and praying for your preaching.
Showing posts with label postmodern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label postmodern. Show all posts
July 22, 2010
February 10, 2010
The Cross
The prayer for this weekend points to what Jesus tells his disciples before Peter, James, and John head up the mountain with him. It is that passage that none of us really like to hear, "If anyone would follow me, let him deny himself and daily take up his cross and follow me."
We don't like denying ourselves and we really don't want to take up our crosses, so we put veils over top and try to make it all so easy. "We can't afford Speed Network, but that's my cross to bear." or "I'd love to find a good mate, but eHarmony moves slowly, that's my cross to bear." But that's all just too easy. Jesus' cross almost crushed him before it held him high in the air and suffocated him with excruciating pain. Our cross is not made of toothpicks, but is the full weight of God's great hope for his Creation. Our cross is the burden of sanctification, restoration, and hope. Our cross is turning the world upside down.
Peter, a youngish guy from my diocese, is studying at Sewanee where he sat in on an emerging church seminar yesterday. This being one of my favorite topics, I began a conversation with him on facebook, where he posted this video, orginally created for an AARP video contest that shows better than most, what it means to hope and to carry the weight of the cross meant to turn the world upside down.
We don't like denying ourselves and we really don't want to take up our crosses, so we put veils over top and try to make it all so easy. "We can't afford Speed Network, but that's my cross to bear." or "I'd love to find a good mate, but eHarmony moves slowly, that's my cross to bear." But that's all just too easy. Jesus' cross almost crushed him before it held him high in the air and suffocated him with excruciating pain. Our cross is not made of toothpicks, but is the full weight of God's great hope for his Creation. Our cross is the burden of sanctification, restoration, and hope. Our cross is turning the world upside down.
Peter, a youngish guy from my diocese, is studying at Sewanee where he sat in on an emerging church seminar yesterday. This being one of my favorite topics, I began a conversation with him on facebook, where he posted this video, orginally created for an AARP video contest that shows better than most, what it means to hope and to carry the weight of the cross meant to turn the world upside down.
December 15, 2009
Have you ever read the Magnificat?
I have read or sung Mary's Magnificat hundreds of times in my life as an Episcopalian. Found in Luke 1, Mary's famous song, is sung in response to Elizabeth's version of "Hail Mary." And Mary, unwed teenage mother-to-be that she is, does not disappoint with the "radical" nature of her song.
Whether or not Mary actually sang this song is irrelevant because the early Church did, and what it gives us is great insight into what the Church believed the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus meant for the world. And, we can assume, what it did not mean.
What it meant is:
- God favors the lowly
- God gives mercy to those who fear him - i.e. give him reverence, honor, and respect
- God leaves the proud to be the victims of their own folly
- God makes the powerful weak and the weak strong
- God cares for the poor (and the poor in spirit)
- God keeps his promises
Now, think for a minute about what the Church (not your church, but the Church Universal) says the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus means for the world. Do they sound the same? I doubt it. The Church (at least the part of it that gets press) is usually spouting off about: the end times, homosexuality, your sinfulness, its power position with the power players, etc. To me, this sounds almost exactly the opposite of what Mary (and the early Church) said about God. To me, this sounds like God leaving the proud to be victims of their own folly. To me, it means that preachers need to get about the business of talking about what it means to follow the God that Mary sings about.
It is dangerous and radical and yet no more so than the Son of God being born of a teenage virgin in 1st century Palestine.
Seriously, have you ever read the Magnificat?
December 9, 2009
the scandal of the particular
If she isn't famous for it yet, I hope to make Diana Butler Bass famous for asking, "how can we implement one size fits all programs in a world where there are 82,000 ways to order a cup of coffee at Starbucks?"
The beauty of this question is that it is deeply, deeply biblical. John the Baptist preached up and down the Jordan River and he baptized, according to Mark's account "all the people of Jerusalem." He ran into people of all sorts; Pharisees, Sadducees, Moms, Dads, Widows, Orphans, Kids, Adults, Tax Collectors, Soliders and preached his one sized fits all message of repentance and baptism for the forgiveness of sins to them all.
But to the individual he also made it particular. His word of exhortation was not limited to "Be Baptized" but as the Holy Spirit worked in the heart of people, John spoke the truth they needed to hear. He named the sin they had to hand over.
Those who have two coats - give one away.
Those who have food - share it.
Tax Collectors - do your job and take no more than is prescribed
Soldiers - do your job and don't extort or threaten people
See the scandal of the gospel is that the good news is available to you. Jesus died for all humanity, sure, but he also died for you and wants you to change your ways and follow him.
I'm not sure if coffee existed in 1st century Palestine, and I know there couldn't have been 82,000 permutations for it, but even then the gospel was not one-size fits all. It was the good news of repentance for individuals who would, motivated by grace, come together to create the Church, which would, motivated by grace, one day come together to offer again the good news that God cares about you.
October 29, 2009
a quick thought on language
For every week (at least) there is a prayer (The Collect) assigned that may have, at one time, in someone's mind, worked with the theme of the lessons for that week. This week's Collect works. It is All Saints' Day and so, quite obviously, the prayer deals with the Saints. What I find interesting is how often there are words in these prayers that even I, a master's level educated, ordained Priest have to look up.
I understand that I'm not a very literate person. I don't like to read, I find it difficult to do, and so I am at a disadvantage when it comes to vocabulary. But. But, I still think that there is a lot of language thrown around in the Church that is assumed to be understand, and isn't.
For our five15 service we are using the Collect, offering a prayer on behalf of the whole Church, knowing that with 24 hours tens of millions of people will offer the same (well at least a similar prayer). I've taken to rewriting the Collect in an effort to help them be better understood. I just can't ask people to say "Amen" to something they haven't understood. It is like agreeing to a contract that you haven't read.
This week's example is the word "ineffable." I got a text message from my sister when Chase Utley hit his second home run last night that simply said, "no effing way!" I think the root is being used in two very different ways, but again because I have no idea what "ineffable" means, I can't be sure, and as such I don't think my congregation can either.
Ineffable actually means "beyond description" and so our prayer is that we might come to know the joy beyond words prepared by God for those who love him. Yeah, Amen, I want some of that. The other eff? No thanks.
How do you handle the issue of language in your church? What sort of translation do you offer to the various generations who make up your congregation? And beyond word choice in, say, The Collect, how do you make you sermons "speak" to everyone? Language is important. It can do damage or it can empower. It can welcome or it can exclude. It can teach or it can confuse. As those paid to do theology we must be diligent in our role as interpreters for EVERYONE in our midst.
July 20, 2009
I couldn't have said it better... ever.
A great post from The Center Aisle Blog
John Ohmer, a priest in Leesburg, VA, has a great analogy for the bohemith that is the Episcopal Church:
"[W]e’re still trying to make the horseshoe factory of General Convention and 815 (Episcopal Church headquarters) more efficient and responsive so that horseshoes are more affordable for local congregations.
And most of us switched over to automobiles a few years ago."
And most of us switched over to automobiles a few years ago."
July 13, 2009
a word we need to hear
I just finished reading a thoughtful piece by a dear friend on the issue of same sex blessings and the Episcopal Church. The comment conversation that has followed, is, as is to be expected, less than civil. I am also thinking about today's hearings for Justice Sotomayer, and am generally underwhelmed currently at the tenor of conversation in America. As the foolishness of the pseudo-liberal-conservative-divide gets more and more apparent, the adherents of both extremes - fundamentalists and fundaliberals - get more and more angry and less and less charitable, and quite frankly I fear where the escalation will take us. We fancy ourselves sophisticated westerners, but I'm not so sure that fists and guns and bombs won't, at some point, seem reasonable.
But today, in the letter from Paul to the Church in Ephesus, I hear a word of hope. Paul, speaking to Gentiles and Jews, uncircumsized and circumsized gives them this vision - "For [Jesus Christ] is our peace; in his flesh he has made both groups into one and has broken down the dividing wall, that is the hostility between us.
If the majority of American's still profess to be Christian and if Judeo-Christian morality and ethics still, for the most part, define the debates in our government, then why are we ignoring so blatently the fact that as Jesus breathed his last the great curtain of the temple was torn in two; rent asunder? Why do we insist on thinking that God is on my side and not on yours? Why does it have to be and either/or conversation? In Christ there is no east or west, in him no north or south. In Christ there is no either/or. In Christ there is only peace; only walls of division being torn down; only the end of hostility.
On this day my prayer is for the end of hostility in all the world, but most especially in the Church I love and the nation I pledge allegience to. May God remind us all daily of the peace of Christ that could settle even the differences between Jew and Gentile.
July 8, 2009
thankful, again, for social networking
Though most of my thanks goes to my wife, for her great insight into the Gospel text for Sunday. I think she changed my mind (as she is wont to do) and I'll preach Herod, Herodias, and JBap this week. Here's why, becuase if you are sitting in church, you've been where Herod is, and pride and guilt still carry a lot of weight.
14King Herod heard of all this, for by this time the name of Jesus was on everyone's lips. He said, "This has to be John the Baptizer come back from the dead—that's why he's able to work miracles!" 15Others said, "No, it's Elijah." Others said, "He's a prophet, just like one of the old-time prophets." 16But Herod wouldn't budge: "It's John, sure enough. I cut off his head, and now he's back, alive." 17-20Herod was the one who had ordered the arrest of John, put him in chains, and sent him to prison at the nagging of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife. For John had provoked Herod by naming his relationship with Herodias "adultery." Herodias, smoldering with hate, wanted to kill him, but didn't dare because Herod was in awe of John. Convinced that he was a holy man, he gave him special treatment. Whenever he listened to him he was miserable with guilt—and yet he couldn't stay away. Something in John kept pulling him back. 21-22But a portentous day arrived when Herod threw a birthday party, inviting all the brass and bluebloods in Galilee. Herodias's daughter entered the banquet hall and danced for the guests. She dazzled Herod and the guests. 22-23The king said to the girl, "Ask me anything. I'll give you anything you want." Carried away, he kept on, "I swear, I'll split my kingdom with you if you say so!"
24She went back to her mother and said, "What should I ask for?" "Ask for the head of John the Baptizer." 25Excited, she ran back to the king and said, "I want the head of John the Baptizer served up on a platter. And I want it now!" 26-29That sobered the king up fast. But unwilling to lose face with his guests, he caved in and let her have her wish. The king sent the executioner off to the prison with orders to bring back John's head. He went, cut off John's head, brought it back on a platter, and presented it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. When John's disciples heard about this, they came and got the body and gave it a decent burial.
She got to her interpretation by reading Eugene Peterson's translation in The Message. Here it is, see if it doesn't help make sense of why Mark includes it (and moreso why the lectionary folk gave it its own week in Ordinary Time).
24She went back to her mother and said, "What should I ask for?" "Ask for the head of John the Baptizer." 25Excited, she ran back to the king and said, "I want the head of John the Baptizer served up on a platter. And I want it now!" 26-29That sobered the king up fast. But unwilling to lose face with his guests, he caved in and let her have her wish. The king sent the executioner off to the prison with orders to bring back John's head. He went, cut off John's head, brought it back on a platter, and presented it to the girl, who gave it to her mother. When John's disciples heard about this, they came and got the body and gave it a decent burial.
The other piece of all this comes from a convention friend named Marcy. She is quick to point out the larger context of this story - the gap between the sending of the 12 and their return with stories of healings and exorcisms. The kingdom of God is alive and kicking in some places, but at this birthday party of Herod's, well the kingdom of the world is showing its muscle too.
Good stuff. Thanks for all the help everybody. Keep the thoughts coming.
May 21, 2009
your Word is Truth
The NRSV translates John 17:17 as "Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth."
The original manuscript of John's Gospel had no punctuation and no capitalization; it barely had spacing. And so, much of what is done to make it fit our sentance, paragraph, chapter, verse paradigm is guess work. I'm wondering this week if John might have meant one thing, while the translaters read another.
What if John 17:17 actually read, "Sanctify them in the Truth, your Word is Truth."
Really a small typographical difference, one the casual reader might notice only to think, "hey there's a typo in that verse," but a difference that makes a huge impact on the High Priestly Prayer. What this latter version says, is that Jesus is Truth with a capital "T". There are many truths (lowercase "t") out there. The big bang theory is a truth. Evolution is a truth. Creationism is a truth. Intellegent design is a truth. All, it seems, have a bit of the Truth within them, but all contextually obligated and all falling short of the fullness of the Truth.
Jesus, on the other hand, has the fullness of the Truth within him. So much so that what he speaks is Truth. Make them one - Truth. Protect them from the world - Truth. As you sent me, I am sending them - Truth. These are not moral and religious obligations we are to try to live up to, they are Truth we are called to live into.
So, for example, instead of trite and polite ecumenical conversation as we try to be "one" church, why don't we hear each other with a spirit of charity looking for the bit of Truth that exists in the other, because we are one Church. We do not create Truth, but live into it. Those attempts we make at creating Truth by holding tightly onto truth lead only to pain, violence, pride, and sin. Living into the Truth, however, well that leads to joy, glory, and holiness.
March 18, 2009
I love Facebook
The new, new Facebook is really awful, but without it, discussion threads like this might never happen.
Thanks to all my friends who have been so very helpful in pulling together my thoughts for Sunday.
Steve Pankey hopes E-Fel can help me understand Numbers 21.4-9
March 12, 2009
idol worship
Bishop Mark Dyer says that every 500 hundred years the Church holds a giant rummage sale.
Phyllis Tickle (among others) says the classified ad space has been purchased, and the sale is ongoing.
The lessons for this Sunday say that it is and will be ok.
The OT lesson, the 10 Commandments, reminded me this morning of how often the Church makes idols of things; the Bible (KJV or otherwise), the Book of Common Prayer, collars, vesteture, narthex(es), altar rails, etc. Because we associate this stuff with the worship of the LORD, it often finds its way into our "sacrosanct" category - the stuff we can't live without.
At some point, however, it becomes hard to discern what we are actually worshiping. Is it stained glass windows, altar rails, and organ music or the LORD? If you try to eliminate any of the first three, you'll quickly find that the last is just an innocent bystander.
Jesus turned over the tables in the Temple because the system had become an idol - they went through the motions to get their card punched, and plenty of people were willing to make some money helping others assuage their guilt.
What would Jesus thrash with a whip of cords in our day and time? What has become an idol? Who are our moneychangers?
March 9, 2009
history is important
As an arrogant emergent, I am often accused of throwing out the baby with the bath water. As a relative conservative, this makes me laugh. As a theologian it makes me cry.
History is important to the faith.
The story of salvation is one of history - a story told and retold and re-retold over and over again.
Take, for example, the 10 Commandments. The core of the covenant between God and the people of Isreal begins with history - I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. REMEMBER!?!?!?
The story of the past cannot be thrown out. It is too rich. It is too important. It carries too much weight. God created out of nothing. God saved for no real reason. God forgives. God wants to restore. We need to hear these things over and over again. We need to be reminded of the story, the history, of the faith. As NT Wright says, without a knowledge of the history, there is nothing to draw on to improv.
History is important
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I am in love with my new nickname!
Anyway, that has Lenten possibilities, with confession?
But I am not going to be able to delve into it until at least Thursday! Still, this has potential, right? So don't wimp out and go with John!! Although you can tie it in since Jesus refers to the bronze serpent, and here's what Olsen says about that: "Thus, the cross in John's Gospel, like the pole with the bronze serpent, signifies both the posion of death as well as the life-giving power of God for all those who believe and look to God for healing and new life"