“Fr. Joshua Whitfield has given us an essay celebrating parochial fidelity as a sine qua non of ecclesial life. Rather than giving you a reductive summary (as I have already done), I offer an excerpt: This new rhythm of parochial life (of daily prayer and regular eucharistic celebration) is also the primary mode of catechesis, the socializing of the eucharistic gift. For instance, the Psalter, which is the beating heart of the office, is that […]
David Simmons, posting a letter to his parish on his blog Ayiailuvatar , amplifies something I asserted but didn’t fully develop in my blog post on Episcopal Cafe yesterday. (It’s on the point that Unity should be seen as a biblical truth): “In John we read, ‘The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one.’ Christian Unity is not something achieved when Christians […]
I have my monthly post published on Episcopal Cafe today. It’s an attempt for to write out my thinking on what it means to be a catholic-christian in a time when the Church is clear and present danger of schism: “In the days leading up to the meeting I came across a reply to a comment on someone’s blog. The original post mentioned that ‘Rowan Williams was willing to sacrifice biblical truth for the sake […]
DC Toedt, who almost always makes me stop and think has posted his thoughts on the logic being used by folks commenting on the recent communique from the House of Bishops. I think his point about making arguments using the logical tactic of the “excluded middle” is impoverishing the conversation is very very well taken: “Concerning this week’s House of Bishops report, ‘liberal’ blogger Scott Gunn writes, and traditionalist über-blogger Kendall Harmon agrees: ‘If we […]
“Father Jake” writes on his blog about his amazement that the House of Bishops managed to issue a statement that both Bishop Gene Robinson (of New Hampshire) and Bishop MacPherson (of Western Louisiana) could agree to sign on to: “…While some conservative bishops had left the meeting early to hold their own meeting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, there was some favorable comment from both sides. ‘We have been a bit clearer about what we have done,’ […]
Great post from Scott Gunn on InclusiveChurch.net today, reflecting on the sermon given last night in New Orleans by the Archbishop of Canterbury: “Among progressives, I can see that we often fail to maintain a sense of gratitude. We talk about respect, but it’s sometimes a code for the furtherance of our own agenda. We talk about thanksgiving, but we rarely acknowledge the fact that who we are comes from God, and it is contingent […]
“Father Jake’s” site has a post detailing some of the proposals people are bringing to the House of Bishop’s meeting in New Orleans (that begins today) “It’s hard to keep track of all the supposed plans that are to be presented to the House of Bishops. Here’s a few that I’ve heard about; Dr. Williams will no doubt arrive in New Orleans with some kind of proposal. Stephen Bates uses stronger language, suggesting he ‘will […]
Graham King in an essay on the website “Fulcrum” and “Covenant-Communion” has posted a meditation that tries to put the controversy of today into the larger historical context of Anglicanism: “‘Edge’ has several meanings, literal and figurative. These include, ‘sharpened side of blade’, ‘brink of a precipice’, ‘critical position or moment’ and ‘boundary line’. When people are ‘on edge’ they are ‘excitable or irritable’. The verb, ‘to edge’, means ‘to furnish with a border’ and […]
Father Stephen, explains the meaning of Saint Seraphim of Sarov’s most famous quote: “acquire the Spirit of Peace and a thousand souls around you will be saved”. As part of Father Stephen’s explanation he writes: “Some words from the great saint for the little things of the day: You cannot be too gentle, too kind. Shun even to appear harsh in your treatment of each other. Joy, radiant joy, streams from the face of him […]
So I’ve spent the last few days in beautiful Milwaukee Wisconsin as a guest of the Diocese of Milwaukee and working as part of the Moravian-Episcopal Full Communion dialogue team. We’re getting to the final stages of a proposal that would allow the U.S. expressions of our two world-wide communions to enter into full communion with each other, and reconcile our ministries and ministers. We spent part of our time talking about the goings-on in […]
