RI Deputies' letter to Bishop Wolf

A couple of weeks ago myself and the other Rhode Island deputies to the 2009 General Convention, gathered to discuss the proposed covenant for the Anglican Communion. Following our meeting the conversation was summarized in a letter, which we sent to the Bishop as she prepares to head to Lambeth. Our letter is copied below.

Dear Bishop Wolf,

On June 12, the Deputies from Rhode Island gathered to discuss the St. Andrew's Draft of the proposed Covenant. In keeping with the suggestion of President Bonnie Anderson, we would like to share with you some of our discussion as you head to the Lambeth Conference.

We engaged in an hour-long discussion, and it was clear that while we are not in complete agreement, we are of a common mind on some aspects of the proposed Covenant. We did not take formal votes, and this letter is meant to give you a sense of our conversation, as we all continue to discern where God might be calling the church.

We began with a discussion of whether or not it even makes sense to ratify a Covenant, given our identity as Anglican Christians. Our shared opinion was that this would be a significant departure from our heritage. For over 15 centuries, the Church has been guided by the historic creeds. Since the Reformation, Anglicans have been united by a common liturgical expression. And in more recent times, the modern Anglican Communion has found common expression in the Chicago-Lambeth Quadrilateral. We do not believe that a Covenant will add usefully to these existing expressions.

We agreed that we are not a confessional church. Though the 39 Articles bear some aspects of confession, they have never been accorded a place of primacy in this country, nor in most of the Anglican Communion. Even in England, subscription to them is no longer required. More to the point, the Anglican Communion has never been understood as a confessional church.

Generally speaking, then, we believe that the adoption of a Covenant represents an unwelcome change to our identity as Anglican Christians. Even if it were felt that such a document is required, due to changing circumstances, we agreed that now is not the time to adopt a Covenant.

We acknowledge that we are in crisis now, and believe that it is important to move through the crisis first -- before we adopt a Covenant. It would be too important to risk having its adoption driven by a hasty response to a particular crisis. We are also concerned about the process for developing this Covenant. Not all voices have been represented in its creation, which notably lacks GLBT Anglican voices and the voices of women. We wonder if an unjust process can lead to a just document."

With that said, we moved to a discussion of the Covenant itself. Our reading of the present situation is that some kind of document is likely to be circulated to the Provinces of the Communion for adoption. So while we believe this may be an error, we wanted to comment on the text before us.

We had no significant issue with the first two sections, in which the frameworks for agreement are laid out. In fact, if this were adopted, most of us would have no significant objection. Several of us found minor points objectionable, but we could live with those two sections.

The third section was more problematic. Most of us felt that it is inappropriate to create a mechanism for the expulsion of Provinces, especially in the current situation. Most troubling to us, we wish express our strenuous objection to the elevation to curial authority of the Instruments of Communion, particularly those populated solely by bishops. This is the wrong time to consider this significant shift in our polity. We are willing to grant the Archbishop of Canterbury a place of primacy as the primus inter pares of Anglican bishops. This position of moral and spiritual authority allows him to speak to the Communion on matters of great concern. We agree that he may wish to consult with his sister and brother bishops in the Lambeth Conferences. We understand that these bishops may practice their episcopal charism together, as a group. We support the Archbishop of Canterbury in summoning the Primates for mutual support and conversation. We strongly object to either the Primates or the Lambeth Conferences speaking for the entire Communion, made up of laity, bishops, priests, and deacons.

The final section of the Covenant, in which mechanisms for expelling Provinces are spelled out, is obviously problematic for us. We would not wish this to be considered as authoritative.

If there must be a Covenant, we hope it will serve as a means of unity and reconciliation, not of coercion and separation.

Please know that you are in our thoughts and prayers in this important time in the life of our church. We urge you to bear witness to the spiritual vitality of the Episcopal Church, and we look forward to hearing about the faith of our sister and brother Anglicans throughout the world.

Sincerely,

the RI deputies and alternates to the 76th General Convention

GAFCON, Lambeth, etc.

So I got home this morning from Morning Prayer and figured since I haven't got much to do today, and haven't done so in a few days, I would do a little blogging. So I checked my Inbox and looked at some of my usual blogs, and as you might have guessed there was a lot on GAFCON, Lambeth, and all that political craziness going on in the World Wide Anglican Communion. As I read the emails and posts, I found myself caring less and less. Frankly, I'm sick of it. I'm sick of the name of the Church I love being dragged through the mud. I'm sick of the headlines of one lawsuits and court cases, I'm sick of people being banned, I'm sick of people ignoring our Baptismal Covenant, I'm saddened that the motto of the Episcopal Church - "The Episcopal Church Welcomes You" - is no longer true, I'm just sick of it all. I love this Church more than words can describe, and it kills me to see it being torn apart. But, it is time we remember what we are called to do. We are called to be the light of Christ and the salt of the Earth. We need to - as a church - get back to mission and ministry. Today we celebrate the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. They weren't the best of friends, but they still found away to not split the church apart over who should or shouldn't be included. The collect for today is:

Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Today and everyday, let us remember the teaching and examples of Sts. Peter and Paul. Let us come together and stand firm on the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

I know it's really late, but today is the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist. I hope you all had lovely days, and managed to keep your hears!

Almighty God, by whose providence your servant John the Baptist was wonderfully born, and sent to prepare the way of your Son our Savior by preaching repentance: Make us so to follow his teaching and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching; and, following his example, constantly speak the truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

If you see this man . . .

If you see the man picture to the right, be careful. He has been banned from GAFCON!! His name is Scott Gunn and he is a trouble maker.

Those at GAFCON have been instructed that if they see Scott or any of the other seven who have been banned to sing "All Hail the Power of Jesus' Name". If you are not firmiliar with it, it's #450 in the Hymnal. But for your entertainment here is a slightly less "orthodox" video of the song.

Lacking Environmental Stewardship

I currently serve on the Environmental Stewardship Task Force of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island. I'm constantly on the watch for Environmental Stewardship resources (p.s. if you know of any please let me know) and I stumbled across this post over atThe Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus.



This is an all too real problem in the Church. God calls on us to be stewards of His creation. It is a wonderful gift He has given us: if we are not careful we will soon waste it all and having nothing left.

Check out the Environmental Stewardship Task Force on Facebook! I'm currently working on a webpage of our own, so hopefully that will be us soon.

Petition to revoke the independence of the United States of America

I was first shown this by Sister Sarah (Society of St. Margaret). It is an infamous "petition" celebrating the diversity between Britain and America. I hear there is an American rebuttal out there. If anyone knows where that is please let me know.


"To the citizens of the United States of America, in the light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories.

Except Utah, which she does not fancy.

Your new Prime Minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair MP, for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections.

The House of Representatives and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire will be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium." Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.

The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour'; skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters.

You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' (pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise."

You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to re-spell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation.

Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up “vocabulary." Using the same thirty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "uhh", "like", and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication.

Look up "interspersed."

There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with bad language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your vocabulary, then you won't have to use bad language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English." We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize."

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier).

You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents --- Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles.

While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon." If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters.

British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness. Popular British films such as the Italian Job and the Wicker Man should never be remade.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task 1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football." There are other types of football such as Rugby, Aussie Rules & Gaelic football. However proper football - which will no longer be known as soccer, is the best known, most loved and most popular. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game.

The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football.

Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which is similar to American "football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like nancies).

We are hoping to get together at least a US Rugby sevens side by 2008.

You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of North America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders," which is baseball without fancy team strip, oversized gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. The 4th of July is no longer a public holiday. The 2nd of November will be a new national holiday, but only in Britain. It will be called "Indecisive Day."

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap, and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.

All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call 'French fries' are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps." Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat.

Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling "beer" is not actually beer at all, it is lager . From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer," and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager." The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine," with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine." This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in the Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From the 10th of November the UK will harmonise petrol (or "gasoline," as you will be permitted to keep calling it until the 1st of April) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon -- get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

16. Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776).

Thank you for your co-operation."

Worthy of Suffering

"As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name." Acts 5:41

I recently attended a Bible study at Grace Church in Providence. We were discussing a section of the fifth chapter of Acts. One of the versus we looked at was the one above. "As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name." The moment I read that verse it jumped out at me. Worthy of suffering? That sounds pretty ridiculous to me.

When one thinks of suffering with a very American mindset, the first thought is to do whatever it takes to overcome that suffering - to get back to a comfortable life. But, as is the case with many things in life the Christian view is opposite of the world view.

Christ died and suffered for us. So to be able to suffer in His name is a way to become closer to Christ. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12).

So let us not fear and spread the Good News. When the persecution and suffering comes let us rejoice and know that it is all part of the journey.

Banned from GAFCON!!

I must say I am incredibly proud of The Rev'd Scott Gunn, priest-in-charge of Christ Church in Lincoln. Scott is one of the GAFCON 8: he and 7 others have officially been banned from GAFCON. Way to go Scott, I must say I want to be banned by GAFCON,too!

On Marriage

I've been thinking a lot about marriage lately. It started with the legal victories in California, and all that has come with it. But, really the majority of it has been this weekend. For those of you who don't know, this weekend was Rhode Island Pride. I'm hoping to post on that soon. But along with all the partying there were booths about very important issues, including marriage equality. In a few conversations I had with people they mentioned the "Religious Right" and their view of "Biblical Marriage". We all know what that the "Biblical Marriage" is supposed to mean - one man, one woman, and a kid or two.

Well, this morning in church we had an interesting reading on marriage. Now I must admit that I did not come up with this on my own, it comes from the sermon preached by my Rector this morning. However as a wise man once said, "Good artists borrow, great artists steal." This morning's reading from the Book of Genesis (Genesis 21:8-21) is the story of Hagar and Ishmael. Sarah has at this point had Isaac and is worried that Ishmael will inherit everything as he is the older son.

Ishmael is the son of Hagar and Abraham. Now here is the deal with Hagar and Abraham. Sarah still hadn't borne Abraham a son so she told him to have a child with her maid Hagar. So now Abraham has two wives and will eventually have a third.

It was very common for a man to have multiple wives and a few concubines as well. So is this the bible ideal of marriage? One man, and multiple women?

I don't have any big world shattering ideas, but just some food for thought.

Episcopalians and Fabulous

I was so proud a week or two ago when I received eRISEN and saw the information for Episcopalians and Fabulous. It was a calendar of events for pride sponsored by the GLBT group at Grace Episcopal Church in Providence . Many churches in the Diocese have no problem with their LGBT members. I know I'm out at my church to clergy and members and it's no big deal. As my rector said, "To quote Mr. Rogers, 'I love you just the way you are.'" But, here is a church with an actual ministry reaching out to the LGBT community. Way to go guys! I'm very excited to have been invited to join them, and I certainly look forward to celebrating my gay pride and Episcopal pride tomorrow (Saturday June 21) in downtown Providence. If you are around downcity tomorrow over by Kennedy Plaza I encourage you to come stop by and say hello.


Saturday 21 June – 2008 Pride Marketplace

NOON. Come Visit the Grace Church information and welcome table

Saturday 21 June – 2008 Pride Parade

EVENING. Join the LGBT & Friends Alliance of Grace Church

Sunday 22 June – Sunday Worship at Grace Church in Providence

Corner of Westminster and Mathewson Streets in Downcity

Worship with Grace Church in Providence at 8AM and 10AM

Hospitality following the 10AM service courtesy the LGBT & Friends

Alliance of Grace Church

Surprised By Hope

I am currently reading N. T Wright's new book Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church as part of a book study at my church. Imagine my surprise when watching The Colbert Report to see that Stephen Colbert was interviewing Bishop N. T Wright on his book Surprised By Hope. I'm about halfway through the book and it's pretty good: It's interesting stuff.

Check out the video below and the book

The Baptismal Covenant

In honor of the new name of this Blog, I thought it would be appropriate to post The Baptismal Covenant. It has been over a month since we have renewed our Baptismal Covenants. I think many times we all need a little reminder of that which was promised for us and that which we promised for ourselves.

CelebrantDo you believe in God the Father?
People I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth.

Celebrant Do you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God?
People I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

Celebrant Do you believe in God the Holy Spirit?
People I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.

Celebrant Will you continue in the apostles' teaching and
fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the
prayers?
People I will, with God's help

Celebrant Will you persevere in resisting evil, and, whenever
you fall into sin, repent and return to the Lord?
People I will, with God's help

Celebrant Will you proclaim by word and example the Good
News of God in Christ?
People I will, with God's help

Celebrant Will you seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving
your neighbor as yourself?
People I will, with God's help


Celebrant Will you strive for justice and peace among all
people, and respect the dignity of every human
being?
People I will, with God's help

New Title

So the blog - as you can see - has a brand new look. With the new look it's time for a new title. So I'm looking for ideas. Give me the best title and win a prize.

The Gay-After

From The Daily Show

Taize Pictures

I took a ton of pictures at Taize. They can be found here

The beauty of Silence

So as some of you know, I have recently returned home from Taize France. It was a marvelous trip. My experience as a whole is one that transcends words. However, over the past two weeks I have written various reflections as I continue to debrief and reflect on that which I experienced.

Adjusting back to the "real world" has been incredibly difficult for me. Life was just so much easier in Taize. The thing that has been toughest for me to adjust to is the silence - or in my case the lack thereof.

Before leaving for Taize I would avoid silence at all costs. My mind is a scary place, that should not be wandered into for too long. Even the silence during morning prayer, a whole minute or two tops, felt like a lifetime. For those of you who are firmiliar with Taize know there is a lot of silence. The first few services I tried to distract myself. I'd look around the church, sing a song, whatever it took to get through those 10 minutes.

On Tuesday I found myself in a real funk I just couldn't get out of. I'd tried to practice the silence, but the thoughts and other things running through my head were too hard to block out and too painful to deal with. Then someone told me something that I didn't want to hear, but knew to be true. Sometimes we hate to be with our own thoughts, it's unpleasant and hard, but maybe that is just where we need to be. After that I allowed myself - forced myself - to live into the silence. I struggled though the Friday night liturgy to deal with my thoughts. Then something happened, the silence moved me. (I'll speak more of this in a future post.)

I found myself at the end of the trip loving the silence, needing the silence. When I returned home, I hit the ground running. Everything was (and is) different. I found myself craving the silence I had at Taize. The brief moments of silence during Morning Prayer - the moments that used to feel like an eternity - lasts seconds. I found myself going to church randomly during the day to find that quiet space I needed.

I realized how easy it is at home to fill our lives with thousands of things that distract us from what is most important. That silence helped me work though some issues that I needed to face, and I'm thankful for the knowledge of that tool.

I hope that we can all take time and be silent. That we can listen for that small still voice of God calling us. When we allow ourselves to be silent it is then that we can find that powerful voice telling us to not be afraid and that we are loved.