Statehouse Day

Today is Statehouse Day! In a few hours a couple of hundrend high school students will be taking over the Statehouse to participate in the final event in Model Legislature 2006-2007. I am the Honorable Senator Diamante A. Tavolaro, Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. I'll report back later on how the day goes and if my bills pass.

No election for South Carolina

From the Rev. J. Haden McCormick, President of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina via titusonenine

titusonenine:

"I received a phone call late this afternoon from the Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori giving notification that she was declaring null and void the election of The Very Rev. Mark Lawrence to be bishop of The Diocese of South Carolina. Although more than a majority of dioceses had voted to consent to Fr. Mark’s election, there were canonical deficiencies in the written responses sent to us. Several dioceses, both on and off American soil, thought that electronic permission was sufficient as had been their past accepted practice. The canons which apply are III.11.4(b), pp. 101-102 in the newly published 2006 Constitutions and Canons that require the prescribed testimonial to the consent be signed by a majority of each standing committee."

Read the rest here

... and do keep Fr. Lawrence and his family in your prayers along with the Diocese of South Carolina as it continues its search for a new bishop.


Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has declared “null and void” the election of the Very Rev. Mark Lawrence to be the 14th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina Diocese of SC


The announcement was first made in a letter written by the Rev. J. Haden McCormick, president of the Standing Committee of the Diocese of South Carolina, and posted to the diocesan website late in the afternoon of March 15.

See the full story at ENS

"Just Do It"

Yesterday members of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island gathered for Diocesan Convocation. It was a wonderful day of workshops and fellowship. The day began with prayer, and then a plenary session with the 4 under 40. The 4 under 40 and the 4 priests in the Diocese who are under 40 years old. They are Rev'ds Scott Gunn, Peter Mayer, Greg Lisby, and unfortunatly I can't remember the last one. Well they talked about a variety of things, it was great. But, one of the questions asked towards the end was in relation to how the people in their 20's ad 30's see things. And Scott, I believe, said that the Church needs to stop forming committees and start doing something. Well later in the day I had lunch with Scott Gunn, Peterr (can't think of his last name member of Grace Church Prov.) Greg Lisby, the Bishop, Canon Bob Vanderau, and some ladies form Christ Church Lincoln. Well at one point we were discussing what Scott mentioned in the plenary session. It was then that I realized that what we need to begin doing as a Church is what Nike has been telling us for years. We need to "Just Do It". I could see it all in my mind, and of course shared this with those I was sitting with, I see a partnership between the Episcopal Church and Nike. Now I warn you this is when we got a little silly. We started discussing advertizing options. We could have the Nike logo on clerical collars, and the Bishop's miter is a really big Bill Board, and on that we could put the symbol and verbal logo "Just Do It". But, all kidding aside, it really is time we start doing something. We need to stop sitting around and talking about things, and forming committees and just go out and do it. We must go out and live in Christ . . . transform the world.

The Rainbow Presence

LGBT Episcopalians to be Visible with Rainbow Presence at Easter

On Easter, April 8, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, and supportive allies in The Episcopal Church will wear a sign of the rainbow to Church in response to the February 19, 2007 Communiqué of the Primates Meeting in Tanzania.. This Rainbow Presence will be a visible witness to The Episcopal Church's Welcome of all the children of God and the value of their ministries in church and in the world.

The Rainbow Presence will be a visible sign to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Episcopalians that they have a community of support.. It will also give a human face to the “issue” being discussed by the Primates and the leadership of The Episcopal Church. We believe that decisions about our place in the church cannot be made without knowing who we are and talking with us rather than about us.

The Primates’ Communiqué laid out steps to be taken by the Episcopal Church, specifically by the House of Bishops, by September 30, 2007. We do not agree with the course of action recommended in this Communiqué as it calls for sacrifice of the ministries and loving relationships of gays and lesbians for an illusive false unity. We also do not believe the bishops should take these steps given the clear decisions made by General Convention in its Constitution and Canons.

We are asking lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual Episcopalians and their supporters to wear something that shows your support: a pin, a scarf, a stole, hat, button or some other piece of rainbow apparel. You can find resources by checking out our Blog at http://rainbow-presence.blogspot.com, and for more information write to Ann Fontaine and Jeffri Harre at rainbopres@yahoo.com.

U2 eucharist sermon

Here is a rough copy of my sermon from the U2 Eucharist. I gave my sermon from the heart not have written anything out or having any notes. So I wrote this a week or so after from what I recalled saying.

Isn’t this fun? Where else, other that the Episcopal Church, can we combine the history and tradition of the Eucharist with the music of Irish rock band U2?

I could go on ad nauseam about the plethora of reasons for why we are all here tonight. But, when it comes down to it we are all here for one reason. One word can tell you why we are here tonight, and why billions of people around the world have joined in this cause. That one word is unity. Tonight I’d like to take a look at this idea of unity from three different points of view.

A few weeks ago we remembered the Lord’s baptism. In my opinion some of the most beautiful and poetic words come from the opening of the Baptismal service. The call and response between the celebrant and the congregation is the perfect verbiage to describe how we are all united as one. The celebrant begins the service by saying, “There is one Body and one Spirit” and we respond, “There is one hope in God’s call to us”. Again the celebrant says to the congregation, “ One Lord, one Faith, one Baptism” and we respond “one God and Father of all.” Those two lines, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism. One hope in God’s call to us.” Those two lines explain why we are all here. We all share in one Lord, one faith and one baptism, and through that we share in the one hope in God’s call to us. It is the hope of that call that draws us here tonight. It is that call that drives us to stand up for those who cannot stand for themselves, to give voice to those who have none, and to be Christ’s light in a seemingly dark world.

For the past two years I have been working with a grassroots organization in the Episcopal Church called Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation. To make it a little easier I will refer to this organization as EGR. At EGR we focus on working to end extreme poverty and hunger via the Millennium Development Goals or MDGs. For this work we have a slogan or catch phrase, and that’s catch phrase is, “The MDGs: the REAL instruments of Unity.” That is really in black and white. By working to ensure the achievement and progression of the MDGs we are uniting as one, acting as one to make the world a better and safer place for all. By making the world a safer place for all of God’s children we are answer his call to us.

Tonight we hear from John’s Gospel one of the most powerful versus in the bible. John 3:16 says in the more familiar version, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that all who believe in him may not perish, but have eternal life.” It’s all right there. We are all united through Christ’s death and the promise of eternal life. But, there is another part of that sentence that is the core of unity. It is nearly impossible to have unity without love. In the verse we are first told the reason why God gives up his one and only son, it is because God loves the world.

As you prepare to receive communion tonight, as you leave this place and go continue on with your life I pray and beg you to work to make the world a better place, to work for the achievement of the MDGs, to save millions of lives from dieing needlessly. Why should you do this? You should do this because we all share One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, and through that One hope in God’s call to us. We live out that call via the MDGs: the REAL instruments of unity. Why do we do all of this? We do this because God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that all who believe in him may not perish, but have life eternal. Amen.

Lent 1

Pasted below is a copy of the sermon that I gave on Feb. 25, 2007 at St. Augustine's Kingston.

It is wonderful to be here with you this morning, and actually a bit of a miracle. I arrived at TF Green at about 1 o’clock this morning after a ten hour lay over in Chicago. I owe a great deal of thanks to my classmates who I traveled with because they unanimously agreed to let me take the first stand by seat of the group so that I could make it here this morning. I would also like to share my congratulations with you on recently receiving parish status. Everyone around the Diocese is extremely proud of all that you have accomplished and all that you will continue to achieve.

Over the past two years I have to travel all over the country. The stories I could share from my mission trip to Arizona last week would keep us here until Easter. But, as I reflected on today’s scripture readings I was reminded of two particularly powerful experiences.

The Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy allowed me to relive an extremely prayerful, and also painful experience form my most recent trip to Maine. Two weeks ago I traveled to South Bristol Maine with the students form Christ Church Lincoln, my home parish, who are to be confirmed in May. I was particularly excited to attend the retreat, because the retreat center we were going to, Tidewater Way, is owned by my former interim rector – John Van Siclen – and his wife Pam. After an amazing and jam packed day, we returned to the Van Siclen’s home for dinner and a movie. The movie John had picked for us was “The Saint of 9-11.” It was an incredible story about a Franciscan Priest who was one of the first killed on that Tuesday morning. I was very nervous to watch this movie, as I had not begun to heal from those events five years ago. The movie began by showing the footage of the attacks. My hands began to shake, my breath became very labored, and my heart jumped into my throat. I tried to hold back the tears, but it was just too hard. When the movie was over John could tell I was in a great deal of pain, so he took me into his office so we could talk. As we talked I began to realize that, for five years I had been trying to heal this wound on my own, not even letting God in. After our long talk I went to bed feeling worse that I did before. The next morning I woke up at around five to watch the sunrise. As I sat on the dock praying and meditating John’s words continued to echo through my head. “The only way to begin to heal is to let God in.” As I started praying to God to enter into my heart the sun began to rise over the trees. It was breath taking. An orange glow hovered over the frozen John’s River, the trees danced in the cold breeze, the silence was deafening, but if I focused and listened really hard I could hear the tide coming in under the icy covering. It was as if God had heard my cry and was letting me know that he had been waiting to fill my heart and soul with his joy and love. This morning we read from Deuteronomy a beautiful message of hope. “We cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers, and he heard our cry and saw our affliction, our toil and our oppression. He brought us out of Egypt with his strong hand and outstretched arm, with terrifying power, with signs and wonders.” God did for me, and does for all of us, what he did for the Israelites so long ago. He brings us out of our own personal Egypt into a land of milk and honey.

I’d like to transition our reflection to our Gospel reading. Luke tells us of Jesus’ temptation in the desert. This temptation to separate from the Father and from our true mission is a temptation currently plaguing The Episcopal Church. Actions taken at this past general Convetion and the results of those actions are in a sense our temptation to separate from the Father and our true mission as a church. We constantly hear of parishes leaving their respective dioceses, dioceses asking for alternative primal oversight, and primates refusing to worship with fellow primates. People leaving, breaking away from our mission to live, worship, and serve together in the name of the Lord. However, experiencing general Convention first hand showed me that as a majority we are repeating Christ’s words through our actions when faced with the thought of schism. Just as Jesus was tempted our leaders are being tempted. We respond to that temptation just as Jesus did. At General Convention when we could have split, we passed legislation to end extreme poverty and hunger via the Millennium Development Goals. When we could have split we joined together in worship and fellowship through the Eucharist. And when we could have split we elected the first female Presiding Bishop in the history of the Anglican Communion. We as a church have followed Christ’s example and have thus far avoided splitting up and instead have focused our energy on the mission and work God has given us to do.

As we begin Lent we are called to look inward and prepare ourselves to share in Christ’s death and resurrection. We must cry out to the Lord so that on Easter day He carries us with a strong hand and an out stretched arm out of Egypt and into the promise land. We must avoid temptation and be mindful of the work God has given us to do. AMEN.

Precious Arizona

Over Feb vacation myself and ten other Mount students traveled to Arizona to work with the Navajo. It was an unbelievable experience, one difficult to put to words. But, I did learn something that I think is important. While we did a lot of work and hung out with the Navajo people a lot, but that isn't the most importnat thing we learned. What happened was that these ten different kids became a family. We learned what it is like to work together and become ONE. It is just like Bono sings in the sone "One". Bono sings about love. And in the son he sings about being ONE. "We're ONE but we're not the same we get to carry each other carry each other ONE." That is what not only mission work, but life is all about. We have the opprotunity to carry each other through the tough times, to work together for a common good. It is not just something Bono calls us to do, it is what God calls us to do. Preicous Arizona may live on or it may not, but what we learned form that week will never be forgotten. We're ONE but we're not the same we get to carry each other carry each other ONE.