To contact us Click HERE
Mitt Romney insulted African-Americans, Hispanics, women and young people on a conference call with donors after the election. He said people from these groups voted for President Obama because he offered them "gifts" - like access to health care, for example, which most other civilized countries provide for all their citizens.
Romney did not realize reporters were on the call. We can only assume his comments reflect his true feelings. Romney was not fit to be President, he does not respect all the people.
I don't see any evidence the Republicans have learned their lesson from this election. Republicans think they can insult minorities and women and win national elections. They think they lost because they did not articulate their values. I think the electorate heard them loud and clear. Their over-riding concern is to protect the super-rich from modest tax increases. They have been obsessed with gay marriage and women's birth control.
The Republicans can't hide their fear of the changing demographics in this country. Bill O'Reilly complains the nation is becoming "less traditional," code for less white privilege. Paul Ryan, in offering his explanation for his ticket's loss, cited high turnout in "urban areas."
The Republicans are con signing themselves to a future of irrelevance, stuck in the angry-white male rhetoric of Limbaugh, Fox News, talk radio, the religious right, and adolescently-selfish millionaires and billionaires.
Our society is maturing and growing more diverse, and is leaving the Republican Party behind in the dust.
31 Aralık 2012 Pazartesi
Christ's Inspiration: Ronald Knox on Colossians 3.16
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Monsignor Ronald Knox's translation of Colossians 3.16 has "May all the wealth of Christ's inspiration have its shrine among you" rather than the more familiar "may the word of Christ dwell in you richly," as in most translations. This translation suggests a spiritual, prophetic, and egalitarian sense for the passage, rather than an individualistic sense based on the written word. See Knox's note on the passage below.
Moses says "I would that all the people were prophets (Numbers 11.29) ." This is fulfilled in the Community of believers.
++++++++++++++++
15 So may the peace of Christ, the very condition of your calling as members of a single body, reign in your hearts. Learn, too, to be grateful. 16 May all the wealth of Christ's inspiration have its shrine among you; now you will have instruction and advice for one another, full of wisdom, now there will be psalms, and hymns, and spiritual music, as you sing with gratitude in your hearts to God.
- Colossians 3.15-16 Knox Bible
Knox's note on Colossians 3.16:
Some take 'Christ's inspiration' as referring to the gospel; but it seems more likely that the Apostle is thinking of Christ as inspiring the utterances of the faithful.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
Moses says "I would that all the people were prophets (Numbers 11.29) ." This is fulfilled in the Community of believers.
++++++++++++++++
15 So may the peace of Christ, the very condition of your calling as members of a single body, reign in your hearts. Learn, too, to be grateful. 16 May all the wealth of Christ's inspiration have its shrine among you; now you will have instruction and advice for one another, full of wisdom, now there will be psalms, and hymns, and spiritual music, as you sing with gratitude in your hearts to God.
- Colossians 3.15-16 Knox Bible
Knox's note on Colossians 3.16:
Some take 'Christ's inspiration' as referring to the gospel; but it seems more likely that the Apostle is thinking of Christ as inspiring the utterances of the faithful.
Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry®
The Holy Spirit will overcome the Church of England's Failure to Approve Female Bishops
To contact us Click HERE
I am extremely disappointed that the Church of England rejected the consecration of female bishops today (Nov. 20, 2012).
Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod’s three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. In separate votes, Church of England bishops voted 44-3 in favor with 2 abstentions, and Church of England clergy voted 148-45 in favor. Forty-two out of 44 dioceses approved the legislation and more than three-quarters of members of diocesan synods voted in favor of it. Both the outgoing Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and his soon-to-be successor Justin Welby, were in favor of the legislation.
I am not going to get into all of the arguments in favor of female bishops now in detail. I will simply list my thoughts about the issue:
For me, having female bishops is a basic issue of human justice, women are 51% of the human race. The Church cannot inveigh against injustice in the world and keep entrenched an unjust system in its own structure.
The Biblical witness says both men and women are made in the image of God; both female and male can image Christ at the altar (see Proverbs 9.1-5). The Bible witnesses to women in ministries of preaching, bible teaching, and prophecy. The are female apostles in the Bible (Romans 16.7), Bishops are suppose to be their successors, aren't they? Why not female Bishops?
Today, female bishops, priests, prophets, and ministers engage in vital ministries across a variety of churches and denominations. The vocation of ministry is a liberating and empowering one for women and for all the people of God. Female Pentecostal preachers, for example, provide a model for women's empowerment in the developing world.
The Church of England already has female priests. The Episcopal Church in the USA already has female bishops, as do the Anglican Churches in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. A woman, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Church of England's supreme governor.
Some will argue that the Church tradition does not allow for it for nearly 2000 years, that the fathers do not allow female bishops, to which I say, the church fathers are wrong about some things. Some thing the fathers say about women can only be described as misogynist, just like some things they say about Jews can only be described as antisemitic. The witness of ancestors should be honored but received critically. The lack of female bishops in most of the last 2000 years is not a compelling argument for me.
Still others will argue that the other Catholic Churches, the Roman Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches, do not have female priests or bishops. With no disrespect intended, those Churches too, need to listen to the Spirit. The Mother of God brought the Christ into the world, but a female Bishop can't defend or preach the Christian faith? The Mother of God can bear God in her body, but a woman cannot bear him in her hands at the Altar?
We trust women to have positions of power and authority as presidents, generals, ambassadors, doctors, lawyers, members of parliament, members of congress, judges, magistrates, but not to be a bishop? Makes absolutely no sense, and makes the Church look embarrassingly backward.
There comes a time when all Christians and Churches need to grow up. The Church's rejection of female Bishops will be seen in the future as the last gasp of male-domination in the Church. Those who will block female bishops won a narrow victory, which will surely be reversed in the years ahead.
The momentum for female bishops is unstoppable. The naysayers have only postponed the final victory for equality in the Church. They won a battle, but have already lost the war. The vote against female bishops is a failure on the part of the Church. The inevitable force of history and the movement of the Holy Spirit will give the Church of England female bishops. And the Spirit is speaking now to all the Churches. Those with ears will hear.
- Lance
 |
| "God created humankind in his image, both male and female he created them." - Genesis 1.27 |
I am extremely disappointed that the Church of England rejected the consecration of female bishops today (Nov. 20, 2012).
Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod’s three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. In separate votes, Church of England bishops voted 44-3 in favor with 2 abstentions, and Church of England clergy voted 148-45 in favor. Forty-two out of 44 dioceses approved the legislation and more than three-quarters of members of diocesan synods voted in favor of it. Both the outgoing Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and his soon-to-be successor Justin Welby, were in favor of the legislation.
I am not going to get into all of the arguments in favor of female bishops now in detail. I will simply list my thoughts about the issue:
For me, having female bishops is a basic issue of human justice, women are 51% of the human race. The Church cannot inveigh against injustice in the world and keep entrenched an unjust system in its own structure.
The Biblical witness says both men and women are made in the image of God; both female and male can image Christ at the altar (see Proverbs 9.1-5). The Bible witnesses to women in ministries of preaching, bible teaching, and prophecy. The are female apostles in the Bible (Romans 16.7), Bishops are suppose to be their successors, aren't they? Why not female Bishops?
Today, female bishops, priests, prophets, and ministers engage in vital ministries across a variety of churches and denominations. The vocation of ministry is a liberating and empowering one for women and for all the people of God. Female Pentecostal preachers, for example, provide a model for women's empowerment in the developing world.
The Church of England already has female priests. The Episcopal Church in the USA already has female bishops, as do the Anglican Churches in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. A woman, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Church of England's supreme governor.
Some will argue that the Church tradition does not allow for it for nearly 2000 years, that the fathers do not allow female bishops, to which I say, the church fathers are wrong about some things. Some thing the fathers say about women can only be described as misogynist, just like some things they say about Jews can only be described as antisemitic. The witness of ancestors should be honored but received critically. The lack of female bishops in most of the last 2000 years is not a compelling argument for me.
Still others will argue that the other Catholic Churches, the Roman Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches, do not have female priests or bishops. With no disrespect intended, those Churches too, need to listen to the Spirit. The Mother of God brought the Christ into the world, but a female Bishop can't defend or preach the Christian faith? The Mother of God can bear God in her body, but a woman cannot bear him in her hands at the Altar?
We trust women to have positions of power and authority as presidents, generals, ambassadors, doctors, lawyers, members of parliament, members of congress, judges, magistrates, but not to be a bishop? Makes absolutely no sense, and makes the Church look embarrassingly backward.
There comes a time when all Christians and Churches need to grow up. The Church's rejection of female Bishops will be seen in the future as the last gasp of male-domination in the Church. Those who will block female bishops won a narrow victory, which will surely be reversed in the years ahead.
The momentum for female bishops is unstoppable. The naysayers have only postponed the final victory for equality in the Church. They won a battle, but have already lost the war. The vote against female bishops is a failure on the part of the Church. The inevitable force of history and the movement of the Holy Spirit will give the Church of England female bishops. And the Spirit is speaking now to all the Churches. Those with ears will hear.
- Lance
Let's Throw Our Demons Off the Cliff by Rev. Winnie Varghese in the Huffington Post
To contact us Click HERE
via Huffington Post Let's Throw Our Demons Off the Cliff by Rev. Winnie Varghese
Priests get asked to do strange things. A few weeks ago I was asked to give the invocation, an opening prayer, at an annual event to celebrate the accomplishments of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Social Responsibility. They believe being a good citizen is good business. I got up to do my three minutes and realized I was looking out at a room filled with nuns -- incognito, but they were nuns. You can tell.
If I prayed five times a day for the rest of my life, I will not have prayed as often as the women who sat waiting for my opening prayer.
That kind of thing happens to me all the time.
I was there because Sister Simon Campbell of NETWORK was scheduled to be a speaker. Sr. Simone is now a celebrity because of her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She was invited to speak at the convention because of the popularity and effectiveness of the Nuns on the Bus, taking on the moral failings of the Ryan budget.
Like many religious people I found myself in tears during Sr. Simone's DNC speech. She embodied and beautifully articulated what I believe most people of faith believe: our political actions have moral dimensions, primarily in how we care for and empower the poor, the marginalized and the immigrant. As a Christian, I can't help but notice that the diverse books of the Bible seem to beat us over the head from all angles with a simple message -- a primary sin in the eyes of God is social inequity and injustice. The Bible says, over and over, God just hates that and expects us to do something about it at the level of governance, not just the personal level, and even more, God hates those who attempt to approach God in worship but despise the poor. Says so in the Bible in any translation you like.
God through the prophets, poets, scholars and priests who composed the Bible never says we hope those who suffer find a nice guy to help them out. The Bible says the sign of God's sovereignty in our lives is how we organize our public life.
Much of contemporary Christianity has somehow made morality about personal, private matters. There is that component in the Bible, but we should be really clear about proportion. That personal stuff is not a dominant theme, at times those moral proscriptions only apply to priests offering sacrifices at the Temple, which no longer exists, except for the Wailing Wall and these great steps, or is found in the letters of Paul to the first Christian communities, marginalized and without influence to do anything but govern their relationships with one another while waiting to be martyred. In general God seems to be about much bigger things, which is something I look for in a God.
I am proud to see a movement among young evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics speaking out as Christians engaging the political process on issues like climate change (stewardship of creation) and poverty (we're against it, and we don't think the poor are to blame).
I believe followers of Jesus don't have much choice on these issues. We might disagree on what the most effective ways are to provide universal health care, nutrition, education, work, reasonable shelter and retirement for all, but I don't think we can argue that it is an option to let people suffer and die when we have the resources we have in this country to prevent it. Jesus wasn't tough, and he wasn't a banker or businessman. The Son of God didn't come to us as a prince, politician or wealthy landowner. He comes to us the child of poor wanderers, Palestinian Jews, who cross a border into Egypt to keep him safe at a time of political repression. He travelled with humble people, and the desperate and needy followed him in hordes, and he fed and healed them.
Nations reveal their values in how they tax and then spend that revenue. Our current national budget reflects a high priority in defense or attack on behalf of the business and political interests of Americans or however you understand the use of our military, and then a paltry sum allocated for the development of our infrastructure as a nation and the development of our people increasingly gifted to corporations whose profit we seem to believe will cause justice to magically flow. Hasn't been working. It might be worth remembering that a free market and corporate subsidies are not enshrined anywhere in the Christian tradition, and definitely not in the Bible. It says in Acts that the earliest Christians held their property in common and took and gave to one another as was needed. It is the mark of our faith. And because we inherit the entire text, we have in the Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament a remembrance of God's instruction on how to govern a nation, a nation that would have within it foreigners, workers, the desperately poor, widows and helpless orphans. God who is made incarnate in Jesus says, the test of your devotion to me is to make your nation a place of justice for them.
It might sound a little over simplified, but that's because it's really quite simple in the Bible.
Sister Simone Campbell spoke to those convictions at the heart of our shared tradition in one of our largest political forums. I cried through her talk. What has happened to us as a nation that it is so rare and courageous for a Christian to speak the truth of the Christian tradition in public life and challenge us to do better for the poor? That's kind of the area that nuns (and all the rest of us) are supposed to cover. All that praying takes you to the heart of God they say.
It is rare because Christianity is more commonly cynically used in our political life and has been since the rise of the religious right who would have us believe that followers of Jesus are marked by their homophobia, sexism, assorted other bigotries and slavish commitment to a government subsidized "free" market for the wealthy. I just checked, and that last part is totally not in the Bible.
Remember that time when Jesus went to Gerasene and the man possessed by demons came right up to the boat and cried out to Jesus to let him be, afraid that the demons were inherent to who he was. It says Jesus looked at the man, saw him, seemed to really see him and love him and cried out to the demons to leave him. The demons who were about to be homeless asked that they be sent into an, unfortunately nearby, herd of swine. Jesus did as asked. The poor, possessed swine go nuts and run off of a cliff to their death.
So, how about we take our demons -- those bigoted, fearful, destructive ones that rage in our nation, causing us to tear at our own common body and yet feel like an essential part of us -- and send them over a cliff.
++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the 13th Rector of St. Mark’s-Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City. She is a native Texan with family roots in the ancient Mar Thoma church of southwest India (State of Kerala). She serves on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Service Corps. She has been active in peace and justice work as a board member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and a writer for The Witness magazine and Episcopal Life. She is featured in the Via Media and Living the Questions teaching series. She has served as Episcopal Chaplain at Columbia University and UCLA.
Priests get asked to do strange things. A few weeks ago I was asked to give the invocation, an opening prayer, at an annual event to celebrate the accomplishments of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Social Responsibility. They believe being a good citizen is good business. I got up to do my three minutes and realized I was looking out at a room filled with nuns -- incognito, but they were nuns. You can tell. If I prayed five times a day for the rest of my life, I will not have prayed as often as the women who sat waiting for my opening prayer.
That kind of thing happens to me all the time.
I was there because Sister Simon Campbell of NETWORK was scheduled to be a speaker. Sr. Simone is now a celebrity because of her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She was invited to speak at the convention because of the popularity and effectiveness of the Nuns on the Bus, taking on the moral failings of the Ryan budget.
Like many religious people I found myself in tears during Sr. Simone's DNC speech. She embodied and beautifully articulated what I believe most people of faith believe: our political actions have moral dimensions, primarily in how we care for and empower the poor, the marginalized and the immigrant. As a Christian, I can't help but notice that the diverse books of the Bible seem to beat us over the head from all angles with a simple message -- a primary sin in the eyes of God is social inequity and injustice. The Bible says, over and over, God just hates that and expects us to do something about it at the level of governance, not just the personal level, and even more, God hates those who attempt to approach God in worship but despise the poor. Says so in the Bible in any translation you like.
God through the prophets, poets, scholars and priests who composed the Bible never says we hope those who suffer find a nice guy to help them out. The Bible says the sign of God's sovereignty in our lives is how we organize our public life.
Much of contemporary Christianity has somehow made morality about personal, private matters. There is that component in the Bible, but we should be really clear about proportion. That personal stuff is not a dominant theme, at times those moral proscriptions only apply to priests offering sacrifices at the Temple, which no longer exists, except for the Wailing Wall and these great steps, or is found in the letters of Paul to the first Christian communities, marginalized and without influence to do anything but govern their relationships with one another while waiting to be martyred. In general God seems to be about much bigger things, which is something I look for in a God.
I am proud to see a movement among young evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics speaking out as Christians engaging the political process on issues like climate change (stewardship of creation) and poverty (we're against it, and we don't think the poor are to blame).
I believe followers of Jesus don't have much choice on these issues. We might disagree on what the most effective ways are to provide universal health care, nutrition, education, work, reasonable shelter and retirement for all, but I don't think we can argue that it is an option to let people suffer and die when we have the resources we have in this country to prevent it. Jesus wasn't tough, and he wasn't a banker or businessman. The Son of God didn't come to us as a prince, politician or wealthy landowner. He comes to us the child of poor wanderers, Palestinian Jews, who cross a border into Egypt to keep him safe at a time of political repression. He travelled with humble people, and the desperate and needy followed him in hordes, and he fed and healed them.
Nations reveal their values in how they tax and then spend that revenue. Our current national budget reflects a high priority in defense or attack on behalf of the business and political interests of Americans or however you understand the use of our military, and then a paltry sum allocated for the development of our infrastructure as a nation and the development of our people increasingly gifted to corporations whose profit we seem to believe will cause justice to magically flow. Hasn't been working. It might be worth remembering that a free market and corporate subsidies are not enshrined anywhere in the Christian tradition, and definitely not in the Bible. It says in Acts that the earliest Christians held their property in common and took and gave to one another as was needed. It is the mark of our faith. And because we inherit the entire text, we have in the Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament a remembrance of God's instruction on how to govern a nation, a nation that would have within it foreigners, workers, the desperately poor, widows and helpless orphans. God who is made incarnate in Jesus says, the test of your devotion to me is to make your nation a place of justice for them.
It might sound a little over simplified, but that's because it's really quite simple in the Bible.
Sister Simone Campbell spoke to those convictions at the heart of our shared tradition in one of our largest political forums. I cried through her talk. What has happened to us as a nation that it is so rare and courageous for a Christian to speak the truth of the Christian tradition in public life and challenge us to do better for the poor? That's kind of the area that nuns (and all the rest of us) are supposed to cover. All that praying takes you to the heart of God they say.
It is rare because Christianity is more commonly cynically used in our political life and has been since the rise of the religious right who would have us believe that followers of Jesus are marked by their homophobia, sexism, assorted other bigotries and slavish commitment to a government subsidized "free" market for the wealthy. I just checked, and that last part is totally not in the Bible.
Remember that time when Jesus went to Gerasene and the man possessed by demons came right up to the boat and cried out to Jesus to let him be, afraid that the demons were inherent to who he was. It says Jesus looked at the man, saw him, seemed to really see him and love him and cried out to the demons to leave him. The demons who were about to be homeless asked that they be sent into an, unfortunately nearby, herd of swine. Jesus did as asked. The poor, possessed swine go nuts and run off of a cliff to their death.
So, how about we take our demons -- those bigoted, fearful, destructive ones that rage in our nation, causing us to tear at our own common body and yet feel like an essential part of us -- and send them over a cliff.
++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the 13th Rector of St. Mark’s-Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City. She is a native Texan with family roots in the ancient Mar Thoma church of southwest India (State of Kerala). She serves on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Service Corps. She has been active in peace and justice work as a board member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and a writer for The Witness magazine and Episcopal Life. She is featured in the Via Media and Living the Questions teaching series. She has served as Episcopal Chaplain at Columbia University and UCLA.
Joe Scarborough's Special Comments on Gun Violence in America
To contact us Click HERE
I was very moved Monday morning, as Joe Scarborough, a conservative Republican and former member of congress, presented his special comment on gun violence in America. His comments come in the wake of the tragedy at the Sandy Hook School in Connecticut.
I applaud Joe for having the courage and good sense to revise some of his previous beliefs publicly. My respect for him has grown immensely, even though I am sure I will continue to have some disagreement with Joe.
Here is some of what Joe said:
“Politicians can no longer defend the status quo, they must protect our children… This is no longer a mystery to people with common sense…[Sandy Hook] changed everything…the Bill of rights does not guarantee gun manufacturers the absolute right to sell military type, high-caliber, semi-automatic, combat assault weapons, with high capacity magazines… It is time our politicians put our children a head of deadly dogmas.” – Joe Scarborough
I have embedded video of Joe's special comments:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
I was very moved Monday morning, as Joe Scarborough, a conservative Republican and former member of congress, presented his special comment on gun violence in America. His comments come in the wake of the tragedy at the Sandy Hook School in Connecticut.I applaud Joe for having the courage and good sense to revise some of his previous beliefs publicly. My respect for him has grown immensely, even though I am sure I will continue to have some disagreement with Joe.
Here is some of what Joe said:
“Politicians can no longer defend the status quo, they must protect our children… This is no longer a mystery to people with common sense…[Sandy Hook] changed everything…the Bill of rights does not guarantee gun manufacturers the absolute right to sell military type, high-caliber, semi-automatic, combat assault weapons, with high capacity magazines… It is time our politicians put our children a head of deadly dogmas.” – Joe Scarborough
I have embedded video of Joe's special comments:
Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
27 Aralık 2012 Perşembe
The Holy Spirit will overcome the Church of England's Failure to Approve Female Bishops
To contact us Click HERE
I am extremely disappointed that the Church of England rejected the consecration of female bishops today (Nov. 20, 2012).
Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod’s three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. In separate votes, Church of England bishops voted 44-3 in favor with 2 abstentions, and Church of England clergy voted 148-45 in favor. Forty-two out of 44 dioceses approved the legislation and more than three-quarters of members of diocesan synods voted in favor of it. Both the outgoing Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and his soon-to-be successor Justin Welby, were in favor of the legislation.
I am not going to get into all of the arguments in favor of female bishops now in detail. I will simply list my thoughts about the issue:
For me, having female bishops is a basic issue of human justice, women are 51% of the human race. The Church cannot inveigh against injustice in the world and keep entrenched an unjust system in its own structure.
The Biblical witness says both men and women are made in the image of God; both female and male can image Christ at the altar (see Proverbs 9.1-5). The Bible witnesses to women in ministries of preaching, bible teaching, and prophecy. The are female apostles in the Bible (Romans 16.7), Bishops are suppose to be their successors, aren't they? Why not female Bishops?
Today, female bishops, priests, prophets, and ministers engage in vital ministries across a variety of churches and denominations. The vocation of ministry is a liberating and empowering one for women and for all the people of God. Female Pentecostal preachers, for example, provide a model for women's empowerment in the developing world.
The Church of England already has female priests. The Episcopal Church in the USA already has female bishops, as do the Anglican Churches in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. A woman, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Church of England's supreme governor.
Some will argue that the Church tradition does not allow for it for nearly 2000 years, that the fathers do not allow female bishops, to which I say, the church fathers are wrong about some things. Some thing the fathers say about women can only be described as misogynist, just like some things they say about Jews can only be described as antisemitic. The witness of ancestors should be honored but received critically. The lack of female bishops in most of the last 2000 years is not a compelling argument for me.
Still others will argue that the other Catholic Churches, the Roman Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches, do not have female priests or bishops. With no disrespect intended, those Churches too, need to listen to the Spirit. The Mother of God brought the Christ into the world, but a female Bishop can't defend or preach the Christian faith? The Mother of God can bear God in her body, but a woman cannot bear him in her hands at the Altar?
We trust women to have positions of power and authority as presidents, generals, ambassadors, doctors, lawyers, members of parliament, members of congress, judges, magistrates, but not to be a bishop? Makes absolutely no sense, and makes the Church look embarrassingly backward.
There comes a time when all Christians and Churches need to grow up. The Church's rejection of female Bishops will be seen in the future as the last gasp of male-domination in the Church. Those who will block female bishops won a narrow victory, which will surely be reversed in the years ahead.
The momentum for female bishops is unstoppable. The naysayers have only postponed the final victory for equality in the Church. They won a battle, but have already lost the war. The vote against female bishops is a failure on the part of the Church. The inevitable force of history and the movement of the Holy Spirit will give the Church of England female bishops. And the Spirit is speaking now to all the Churches. Those with ears will hear.
- Lance
|
| "God created humankind in his image, both male and female he created them." - Genesis 1.27 |
I am extremely disappointed that the Church of England rejected the consecration of female bishops today (Nov. 20, 2012).
Passage of legislation to allow women to serve as bishops must be approved by two-thirds majorities in the synod’s three houses: bishops, priests and laity. The vote was 132 in favor and 74 against. In separate votes, Church of England bishops voted 44-3 in favor with 2 abstentions, and Church of England clergy voted 148-45 in favor. Forty-two out of 44 dioceses approved the legislation and more than three-quarters of members of diocesan synods voted in favor of it. Both the outgoing Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, and his soon-to-be successor Justin Welby, were in favor of the legislation.
I am not going to get into all of the arguments in favor of female bishops now in detail. I will simply list my thoughts about the issue:
For me, having female bishops is a basic issue of human justice, women are 51% of the human race. The Church cannot inveigh against injustice in the world and keep entrenched an unjust system in its own structure.
The Biblical witness says both men and women are made in the image of God; both female and male can image Christ at the altar (see Proverbs 9.1-5). The Bible witnesses to women in ministries of preaching, bible teaching, and prophecy. The are female apostles in the Bible (Romans 16.7), Bishops are suppose to be their successors, aren't they? Why not female Bishops?
Today, female bishops, priests, prophets, and ministers engage in vital ministries across a variety of churches and denominations. The vocation of ministry is a liberating and empowering one for women and for all the people of God. Female Pentecostal preachers, for example, provide a model for women's empowerment in the developing world.
The Church of England already has female priests. The Episcopal Church in the USA already has female bishops, as do the Anglican Churches in New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa. A woman, Queen Elizabeth II, is the Church of England's supreme governor.
Some will argue that the Church tradition does not allow for it for nearly 2000 years, that the fathers do not allow female bishops, to which I say, the church fathers are wrong about some things. Some thing the fathers say about women can only be described as misogynist, just like some things they say about Jews can only be described as antisemitic. The witness of ancestors should be honored but received critically. The lack of female bishops in most of the last 2000 years is not a compelling argument for me.
Still others will argue that the other Catholic Churches, the Roman Catholic Churches and Eastern Orthodox Churches, do not have female priests or bishops. With no disrespect intended, those Churches too, need to listen to the Spirit. The Mother of God brought the Christ into the world, but a female Bishop can't defend or preach the Christian faith? The Mother of God can bear God in her body, but a woman cannot bear him in her hands at the Altar?
We trust women to have positions of power and authority as presidents, generals, ambassadors, doctors, lawyers, members of parliament, members of congress, judges, magistrates, but not to be a bishop? Makes absolutely no sense, and makes the Church look embarrassingly backward.
There comes a time when all Christians and Churches need to grow up. The Church's rejection of female Bishops will be seen in the future as the last gasp of male-domination in the Church. Those who will block female bishops won a narrow victory, which will surely be reversed in the years ahead.
The momentum for female bishops is unstoppable. The naysayers have only postponed the final victory for equality in the Church. They won a battle, but have already lost the war. The vote against female bishops is a failure on the part of the Church. The inevitable force of history and the movement of the Holy Spirit will give the Church of England female bishops. And the Spirit is speaking now to all the Churches. Those with ears will hear.
- Lance
Let's Throw Our Demons Off the Cliff by Rev. Winnie Varghese in the Huffington Post
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via Huffington Post Let's Throw Our Demons Off the Cliff by Rev. Winnie Varghese
Priests get asked to do strange things. A few weeks ago I was asked to give the invocation, an opening prayer, at an annual event to celebrate the accomplishments of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Social Responsibility. They believe being a good citizen is good business. I got up to do my three minutes and realized I was looking out at a room filled with nuns -- incognito, but they were nuns. You can tell.
If I prayed five times a day for the rest of my life, I will not have prayed as often as the women who sat waiting for my opening prayer.
That kind of thing happens to me all the time.
I was there because Sister Simon Campbell of NETWORK was scheduled to be a speaker. Sr. Simone is now a celebrity because of her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She was invited to speak at the convention because of the popularity and effectiveness of the Nuns on the Bus, taking on the moral failings of the Ryan budget.
Like many religious people I found myself in tears during Sr. Simone's DNC speech. She embodied and beautifully articulated what I believe most people of faith believe: our political actions have moral dimensions, primarily in how we care for and empower the poor, the marginalized and the immigrant. As a Christian, I can't help but notice that the diverse books of the Bible seem to beat us over the head from all angles with a simple message -- a primary sin in the eyes of God is social inequity and injustice. The Bible says, over and over, God just hates that and expects us to do something about it at the level of governance, not just the personal level, and even more, God hates those who attempt to approach God in worship but despise the poor. Says so in the Bible in any translation you like.
God through the prophets, poets, scholars and priests who composed the Bible never says we hope those who suffer find a nice guy to help them out. The Bible says the sign of God's sovereignty in our lives is how we organize our public life.
Much of contemporary Christianity has somehow made morality about personal, private matters. There is that component in the Bible, but we should be really clear about proportion. That personal stuff is not a dominant theme, at times those moral proscriptions only apply to priests offering sacrifices at the Temple, which no longer exists, except for the Wailing Wall and these great steps, or is found in the letters of Paul to the first Christian communities, marginalized and without influence to do anything but govern their relationships with one another while waiting to be martyred. In general God seems to be about much bigger things, which is something I look for in a God.
I am proud to see a movement among young evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics speaking out as Christians engaging the political process on issues like climate change (stewardship of creation) and poverty (we're against it, and we don't think the poor are to blame).
I believe followers of Jesus don't have much choice on these issues. We might disagree on what the most effective ways are to provide universal health care, nutrition, education, work, reasonable shelter and retirement for all, but I don't think we can argue that it is an option to let people suffer and die when we have the resources we have in this country to prevent it. Jesus wasn't tough, and he wasn't a banker or businessman. The Son of God didn't come to us as a prince, politician or wealthy landowner. He comes to us the child of poor wanderers, Palestinian Jews, who cross a border into Egypt to keep him safe at a time of political repression. He travelled with humble people, and the desperate and needy followed him in hordes, and he fed and healed them.
Nations reveal their values in how they tax and then spend that revenue. Our current national budget reflects a high priority in defense or attack on behalf of the business and political interests of Americans or however you understand the use of our military, and then a paltry sum allocated for the development of our infrastructure as a nation and the development of our people increasingly gifted to corporations whose profit we seem to believe will cause justice to magically flow. Hasn't been working. It might be worth remembering that a free market and corporate subsidies are not enshrined anywhere in the Christian tradition, and definitely not in the Bible. It says in Acts that the earliest Christians held their property in common and took and gave to one another as was needed. It is the mark of our faith. And because we inherit the entire text, we have in the Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament a remembrance of God's instruction on how to govern a nation, a nation that would have within it foreigners, workers, the desperately poor, widows and helpless orphans. God who is made incarnate in Jesus says, the test of your devotion to me is to make your nation a place of justice for them.
It might sound a little over simplified, but that's because it's really quite simple in the Bible.
Sister Simone Campbell spoke to those convictions at the heart of our shared tradition in one of our largest political forums. I cried through her talk. What has happened to us as a nation that it is so rare and courageous for a Christian to speak the truth of the Christian tradition in public life and challenge us to do better for the poor? That's kind of the area that nuns (and all the rest of us) are supposed to cover. All that praying takes you to the heart of God they say.
It is rare because Christianity is more commonly cynically used in our political life and has been since the rise of the religious right who would have us believe that followers of Jesus are marked by their homophobia, sexism, assorted other bigotries and slavish commitment to a government subsidized "free" market for the wealthy. I just checked, and that last part is totally not in the Bible.
Remember that time when Jesus went to Gerasene and the man possessed by demons came right up to the boat and cried out to Jesus to let him be, afraid that the demons were inherent to who he was. It says Jesus looked at the man, saw him, seemed to really see him and love him and cried out to the demons to leave him. The demons who were about to be homeless asked that they be sent into an, unfortunately nearby, herd of swine. Jesus did as asked. The poor, possessed swine go nuts and run off of a cliff to their death.
So, how about we take our demons -- those bigoted, fearful, destructive ones that rage in our nation, causing us to tear at our own common body and yet feel like an essential part of us -- and send them over a cliff.
++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the 13th Rector of St. Mark’s-Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City. She is a native Texan with family roots in the ancient Mar Thoma church of southwest India (State of Kerala). She serves on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Service Corps. She has been active in peace and justice work as a board member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and a writer for The Witness magazine and Episcopal Life. She is featured in the Via Media and Living the Questions teaching series. She has served as Episcopal Chaplain at Columbia University and UCLA.
Priests get asked to do strange things. A few weeks ago I was asked to give the invocation, an opening prayer, at an annual event to celebrate the accomplishments of the Interfaith Center for Corporate Social Responsibility. They believe being a good citizen is good business. I got up to do my three minutes and realized I was looking out at a room filled with nuns -- incognito, but they were nuns. You can tell. If I prayed five times a day for the rest of my life, I will not have prayed as often as the women who sat waiting for my opening prayer.
That kind of thing happens to me all the time.
I was there because Sister Simon Campbell of NETWORK was scheduled to be a speaker. Sr. Simone is now a celebrity because of her speech at the Democratic National Convention. She was invited to speak at the convention because of the popularity and effectiveness of the Nuns on the Bus, taking on the moral failings of the Ryan budget.
Like many religious people I found myself in tears during Sr. Simone's DNC speech. She embodied and beautifully articulated what I believe most people of faith believe: our political actions have moral dimensions, primarily in how we care for and empower the poor, the marginalized and the immigrant. As a Christian, I can't help but notice that the diverse books of the Bible seem to beat us over the head from all angles with a simple message -- a primary sin in the eyes of God is social inequity and injustice. The Bible says, over and over, God just hates that and expects us to do something about it at the level of governance, not just the personal level, and even more, God hates those who attempt to approach God in worship but despise the poor. Says so in the Bible in any translation you like.
God through the prophets, poets, scholars and priests who composed the Bible never says we hope those who suffer find a nice guy to help them out. The Bible says the sign of God's sovereignty in our lives is how we organize our public life.
Much of contemporary Christianity has somehow made morality about personal, private matters. There is that component in the Bible, but we should be really clear about proportion. That personal stuff is not a dominant theme, at times those moral proscriptions only apply to priests offering sacrifices at the Temple, which no longer exists, except for the Wailing Wall and these great steps, or is found in the letters of Paul to the first Christian communities, marginalized and without influence to do anything but govern their relationships with one another while waiting to be martyred. In general God seems to be about much bigger things, which is something I look for in a God.
I am proud to see a movement among young evangelicals, mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics speaking out as Christians engaging the political process on issues like climate change (stewardship of creation) and poverty (we're against it, and we don't think the poor are to blame).
I believe followers of Jesus don't have much choice on these issues. We might disagree on what the most effective ways are to provide universal health care, nutrition, education, work, reasonable shelter and retirement for all, but I don't think we can argue that it is an option to let people suffer and die when we have the resources we have in this country to prevent it. Jesus wasn't tough, and he wasn't a banker or businessman. The Son of God didn't come to us as a prince, politician or wealthy landowner. He comes to us the child of poor wanderers, Palestinian Jews, who cross a border into Egypt to keep him safe at a time of political repression. He travelled with humble people, and the desperate and needy followed him in hordes, and he fed and healed them.
Nations reveal their values in how they tax and then spend that revenue. Our current national budget reflects a high priority in defense or attack on behalf of the business and political interests of Americans or however you understand the use of our military, and then a paltry sum allocated for the development of our infrastructure as a nation and the development of our people increasingly gifted to corporations whose profit we seem to believe will cause justice to magically flow. Hasn't been working. It might be worth remembering that a free market and corporate subsidies are not enshrined anywhere in the Christian tradition, and definitely not in the Bible. It says in Acts that the earliest Christians held their property in common and took and gave to one another as was needed. It is the mark of our faith. And because we inherit the entire text, we have in the Hebrew Scripture/Old Testament a remembrance of God's instruction on how to govern a nation, a nation that would have within it foreigners, workers, the desperately poor, widows and helpless orphans. God who is made incarnate in Jesus says, the test of your devotion to me is to make your nation a place of justice for them.
It might sound a little over simplified, but that's because it's really quite simple in the Bible.
Sister Simone Campbell spoke to those convictions at the heart of our shared tradition in one of our largest political forums. I cried through her talk. What has happened to us as a nation that it is so rare and courageous for a Christian to speak the truth of the Christian tradition in public life and challenge us to do better for the poor? That's kind of the area that nuns (and all the rest of us) are supposed to cover. All that praying takes you to the heart of God they say.
It is rare because Christianity is more commonly cynically used in our political life and has been since the rise of the religious right who would have us believe that followers of Jesus are marked by their homophobia, sexism, assorted other bigotries and slavish commitment to a government subsidized "free" market for the wealthy. I just checked, and that last part is totally not in the Bible.
Remember that time when Jesus went to Gerasene and the man possessed by demons came right up to the boat and cried out to Jesus to let him be, afraid that the demons were inherent to who he was. It says Jesus looked at the man, saw him, seemed to really see him and love him and cried out to the demons to leave him. The demons who were about to be homeless asked that they be sent into an, unfortunately nearby, herd of swine. Jesus did as asked. The poor, possessed swine go nuts and run off of a cliff to their death.
So, how about we take our demons -- those bigoted, fearful, destructive ones that rage in our nation, causing us to tear at our own common body and yet feel like an essential part of us -- and send them over a cliff.
++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Winnie Varghese is the 13th Rector of St. Mark’s-Church-in-the-Bowery in New York City. She is a native Texan with family roots in the ancient Mar Thoma church of southwest India (State of Kerala). She serves on the Executive Council of The Episcopal Church and the Board of Directors of the Episcopal Service Corps. She has been active in peace and justice work as a board member of the Episcopal Peace Fellowship and a writer for The Witness magazine and Episcopal Life. She is featured in the Via Media and Living the Questions teaching series. She has served as Episcopal Chaplain at Columbia University and UCLA.
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