Musings of an Anglican/Episcopal Priest

Month: November 2004 (Page 1 of 2)

Baptism

Baptism

Baptism

My father was Baptized yesterday–it was a great experience to take part in it. One elderly parishoner at St. Paul’s spoke with me afterwards and told me that I’d managed something he was never able to accomplish, his parents it seems, always told him he was full of Sh**, and both died unbaptized.

Only Jesus saves, but the incorporation into Christ’s body of another believer is always wonderful, especially a member of one’s own family.

Baptism My father was Baptized

Baptism

Baptism

My father was Baptized yesterday–it was a great experience to take part in it. One elderly parishoner at St. Paul’s spoke with me afterwards and told me that I’d managed something he was never able to accomplish, his parents it seems, always told him he was full of Sh**, and both died unbaptized.

Only Jesus saves, but the incorporation into Christ’s body of another believer is always wonderful, especially a member of one’s own family.

Whither the Whiskey-pals? As usual,

Whither the Whiskey-pals?

Don't I look Primatial?

As usual, events are outpacing the institution. Whatever will be will be. 815 can’t stop it no matter how fast it spins.


Gay issues slowly erode Episcopal membership
By Julia Duin
THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Episcopalians aren’t making a mass exodus from their church, but dioceses across the country are doing a slow bleed as members realize that a much-anticipated report released six weeks ago has no teeth and that the denomination’s ordination of a homosexual bishop will go unpunished.
The Windsor Report, which sought to resolve the Anglican Communion’s crisis over authority and homosexuality, criticizes same-sex blessings in U.S. and Canadian churches and the ordination last year of Bishop V. Gene Robinson.
But the report also reprimands Third World bishops who have crossed diocesean lines to help marooned conservative parishes.
Within a few days of the report’s release Oct. 18 in London, two Episcopal parishes in Washington state joined the Anglican Diocese of Recife, Brazil.
Other Episcopalians have departed for the Anglican Mission in America, a breakaway group allied with the Anglican bishop of Rwanda. This makes it part of the 70 million-member worldwide Anglican Communion, bypassing the communion’s U.S. affiliate, the 2.3 million-member Episcopal Church.
The Anglican Mission in America (AMIA), based in Pawleys Island, S.C., has created 22 congregations since January. Ten of them include Episcopal clergy who have fled the denomination, along with a “substantial” number of Episcopal congregants, according to AMIA Executive Director Tim Smith.
“We’re busy,” Mr. Smith said. “Phone calls, letters, e-mails, personal visits.”
In its almost five-year history, AMIA has consecrated five new bishops and amassed 72 churches encompassing 15,000 members. Colorado has the most congregations at 12, followed by Florida with nine.
AMIA spokesman Jay Greener says Episcopalians seem to be “in shock.” [read the whole thing]

Don’t forget Advent…. In the

Don’t forget Advent….

Advent Wreath

In the midst of consumer mayhem, it’s difficult to remember the importance of celebrating the seasons of the liturgical year. Tomorrow is the first Sunday of Advent; take the time to wait.

I had an interesting conversation with a friend yesterday. His contention is that people don’t shop on the day after Thanksgiving because they are mad for shopping, consuming and buying things for Christmas–though he’s not denying that people are all those things–instead he says our families are so frayed that people can only stand so much “together time” with thier familes before they woulr rather fight the crowds than spend one more minute with Aunt Maud. I think he may have a point. [for the record I don’t have an Aunt Maud, but if I did, I think I could tolerate her for more than one day :-p .

From the Japery at The

From the Japery at The New Pantagruel:

St. Nicholas, Advent Saint

National Lampoon Season is Upon Us

As the “holiday season” is upon us, the attenuated nature of that nomenclature rises higher in the minds of many Americans than they will freely admit, and even those who regard themselves as the most “traditional” and “conservative” come dangerously

Roberson wins. Well, I got

Roberson wins.

Well, I got to see a heck of a performance last night by the guys at TC. Its the first time I’ve seen them play in person all year and I was impressed. I wish I could see next weeks game against Crest, but I’ll dafinately make the trip to see the championship when they get there. Here’re some selections from the Asheville Citizen-Times article. It was fun to watch.

***********
Mills scored four touchdowns and recorded three interceptions in the Roberson Rams’ 34-21 win over the Ashbrook Green Wave in the N.C. High School Athletic Association playoffs.

Mills finished with 271 yards on 23 carries. He also recovered an onside kick with 3:13 remaining in the game following the Green Wave’s second touchdown in the second half.

“I know it’s going to get tougher and tougher as the playoffs go on,” said Mills, who had another touchdown in the fourth quarter negated by a holding penalty. “You have to bring your A game every time you step on the field or your season will be over. I just wanted to play my A game tonight.”
. . .

Roberson is unbeaten in eight games at L. Guy Ensley Memorial Stadium, where more than 3,000 fans attended the Class 3-AA quarterfinal between the Rams and the Green Wave.

“This is a big win for our team,” Houston said. “But it’s also a big win for T.C. Roberson High School and south Buncombe County. They have been very supportive of us all year.”

Ashbrook had a 13-play, 66-yard scoring drive that spanned 7:44 to start the second half. Senior quarterback Cole Russell capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run. He also threw for 43 yards during the drive.

Mills thwarted the Green Wave’s next drive on a fourth-and- 14 situation from the Rams’ 33-yard line with his third interception.

“Our defense is No. 1 in the state,” Mills said. “We wanted to show them we are No. 1 in the state for a reason.”

. . .

The Rams led 34-7 at halftime.

[read the whole article]

Why is it that

Why is it that Christian colleges and universities often look much like secular ones, with an overlay of “chapel” and “Christian values”? And why does Christian college curriculum usually mirror or accommodate the academic disciplines, divisions, and curricular “architecture” found in liberal secular universities?

In answer to such questions, this exciting collection of essays boldly challenges the liberal hegemony of higher education. Critiquing the current literature on church-based education for assuming the “naturalness” of liberal categories, these essays present a tantalizing thought experiment that wholly reimagines Christian university education. Essays on the roles of theology, scripture, the sciences, and the humanities “deconstruct the distinctions between fact (science), value (humanities), and application (professional studies) in order to articulate how the politics of the church transvalue such distinctions into the formation of a peaceable kingdom.” (more)

The old ball team makes good. . .

My former High School’s Football team will be playing in the third round of the NC 3AA playoffs on Friday night. I’m looking forward to watching the game, it’s the first of thiers I’ve seen all season. I’m glad to see the program doing so well and congratulate head coach Mike Houston on the job he’s done. He was the defensive coordinator when I played and we enjoyed playing for him.

Here’re their record and stats.

Europe pays the price for

Europe pays the price for cultural naïveté
By William Pfaff International Herald Tribune

Thanks to Kendall for pointing this article out.

PARIS In the realm of European immigration, the damage done by the political correctness of the past is only now beginning to be felt.

In several countries, notably in Scandinavia, a policy of unquestioning tolerance of cultural differences was adopted because to demand assimilation was thought to imply a “racist” claim to superiority, with the inevitable comparisons with Nazi Germany.

In Germany itself, where nationality was long considered ethnic in origin, immigrants originally were excluded from cultural or political assimilation, with the fiction that they were all “guests” who would eventually go home. Instead, their families followed them to Germany, and they now demand citizenship.

France believed in immigration in principle, but pretended to itself that its Muslim North African immigrants would eventually go away. Now, of course, this substantial minority poses a great problem, which the French are belatedly trying to deal with through efforts to integrate the younger generations.

The troubled case of the Netherlands is the most interesting, however, because the Dutch – like the British – said their aim was a multicultural society composed of equals. This was a convenient illusion, or form of hypocrisy, because the Netherlands, like other West European countries, never ceased to believe in the superiority of its own society and to indulge in a high-minded denial of the power of national cultures and religion.

The Dutch gave immigrants the benefit of their generous welfare system. They took for granted the social discrimination and economic disadvantages that immigrants suffered. Their notion that the Netherlands would eventually become a peaceful multicultural society, in which its large immigrant population would melt away, becoming successful, if exotic, Dutchmen and women, was well intended but unrealistic.

As everyone could see, the Netherlands remained a tight and parochial post-Calvinist society. It was not a likely candidate for multiculturalism. Still, no one imagined that this would lead to an explosion of hatred and violence, even though the conformity that the Netherlands expected was profoundly subversive of Muslim religion and culture.


Midwest Conservative Journal

Midwest Conservative Journal: about the invalid baptisms in Australia

You know, I’ve been reading a book for my theology of the atonement class. It’s a feminist book; now, I’m not fundamentally opposed to feminism, I mean, reading newspapers from the 19th century and seeing the court cases listed there convinced me that something had to happen. I even took a “women in the Hebrew Bible” course in college where we studied feminist scholars’ work on the OT. But, I could handle that because they were looking at techinical issues, historical interpretation. I’ve come to a conclusion: when feminists start using sociology or anthropology I break out in hives. It has been a struggle to write a five page synopsis of the first few chapters of this book [which is: Decieving the Devil by Dr. Darby Kathleen Ray] because I want to argue with the foundational assumptions. I can’t critique the content because I think the entire framwork is warped. Things are stated as fact without footnotes and citations (another HUGE issue I have with the book: no footnotes, only endnotes, even when it has a reference, which unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have enough of.) I mean, maybe I’m obsessive about it, but I don’t think you can state things like “over 50% of women have experienced rape or attempted rape in thier life” without ging a source for that–I mean it may be true (I sure pray it isn’t) but give some support, provide an explanatory note describing what parameters were used etc. . .

So why do I say all of this in regard to an article about a modalistic “baptism”? Well, its because I’ve been reading all about the evils of patriarchy and this priest claims he used the terms “creator, liberator, sustainer” because they were “more inclusive, less patriarchal.” Well, I’ve come to another conclusion: the notion of patriarchy isn’t useful anymore…maybe it once was, but its far to broad to be useful–I mean, what is an example of something that isn’t patriarchal? The feminist movement seems to have fallen prey to the same problem that postmodernism in general has: its wonderful at critique and deconstruction but it has absolutly no idea for an alternative or support for the belief that any alternative has existed or can exist. That seems to indicate that the term they use in their critiques is too general and without content. So, in my critique of the book I’m going to point this out. I’ve had to split my paper in two: five pages to summarize what the book says and a second section to deal with my criticisms.

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