Monday Morning Catch-Up Thread

Fantastic summary—this must have taken forever with all the links.  Thank you Greg—I know there will be new readers who are lost.  Maybe you should make this sticky at the top until this afternoon.

Agree with Sarah on making it sticky.  We’ve posted the link and made it sticky on T19.  Great work Greg.

Two links I probably would have added if it had been me writing the post.
1) Kendall’s proposal.  Of course it’s not an official resolution, but I found it a really helpful “think outside the box” excercise, challenging me to think about what kinds of sacrifices (if any?!) I’d really be prepared to accept for “our side.”  It was very challenging reading, and I was surprised by my attitude to what Kendall wrote— i.e. “we’ve done nothing wrong, why should our side have to sacrifice.”  Problematic attitude to put it mildly!

2) Cherie Wetzel’s Friday report.  She’s the only one I’ve seen to provide details of what +Aspinall and some of the JCC members said.

Greg, you should add a link to Kevin’s excellent interview with Bishop Duncan.  It’s well worth everyone’s time to hear his take on the past few days and the upcoming Common Cause council of bishops meeting.

hanks,

My hope is that people will use this thread to post things they think are worthwhile, so link away…

The folks on the HOB/D listserve (certainly among the most strident of the progressives) have already rejected the Howe proposal in strong terms, calling it “horse manure” and of course insisting that the HOB cannot agree to it outside of a General Convention.  Very predictable.  It does make me feel more confident in my initial positive reaction to the proposal.

Thank you so much for this.  It’s a great service to all of us.  I have followed the conference quite closely throughout but it is helpful to have the tone, your analysis, the links, all the other ‘bits’ summed up into one package.  The round table was super -great to put faces to names- and an excellent conversation.  You can do those anytime you are able!
Thanks again.
Peace, blessings and safety to all of you.

Bill

Bishop Duncan’s interview can be found at:

http://www.standfirminfaith.com/index.php/site/article/6202/

A bit hard to hear, but worth it.

The hymn Once to Every Man and Nation has been on my mind and I thought that I would share the words with those of you who are young enough not to remember the hymn, it is not in the new hymnal (am I showing my age?).  I think it speaks to what is going on!

Once to every man and nation, comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood, for the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision, offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever, ’twixt that darkness and that light.

Then to side with truth is noble, when we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit, and ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses while the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue of the faith they had denied.

By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv’ries ever with the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties, time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward, who would keep abreast of truth.

Though the cause of evil prosper, yet the truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold, and upon the throne be wrong;
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above His own.

Thank you for the roundup.  I spent the weekend at Cursillo where I was serving as a Spiritual Advisor for the first time since I was ordained.  The weekend was wonderful and I spent much more time in prayer for the participants and team than for the HoB meeting.  I appreciate that ability to read a summary of what you all did.  May God bless you and and your work in New Orleans.

YBIC,
Phil Snyder

very good recap. thanks!

Thanks, Greg, great resource.  NancyJ the perfect hymn for today!

I appologize for an off-topic comment, but I want to let the community know that All Saints’ Church - Dale City (Woodbridge), VA broke ground for their new building yesterday.

Bishop John Guernsey presided and in his remarks recalled several biblical examples of stepping out in faith where those stepping out didn’t see how they would ever accomplish what the Lord had set before them.  In each case “Faith was spelled R*I*S*K.”  He concluded that All Saints’ was stepping out in faith as well [“with a building we can’t afford…”], a faith and assurance in God’s provision for His Church…spelled R*I*S*K.

Bishop Guernsey is the rector of All Saints’ and the news media were represented by the Potomac News (the local newspaper) and a camera and reporter from the BBC World News (who arrived late).

Thanks I have been trying to catch up after being out of the country for two weeks (bad timing!!) and no computer

Excellent summary and concept!
It helped me as an interested layperson be able to catch-up to a great degree!
Thanks.

As we all know there is chief among us TESM and the Diocese of Pittsburgh giving the leadership to our orthodoxy in the USA.  Within recognition of that seminary’s founding and constant mission and that diocese’s decades old leadership is the awareness that we have only ourselves to blame for not educating/training/cultivating/growing and developing [call it what we may] and our collective faith in terms that are based on an integrative and unifying view and use of scripture. In not so doing we have become complicit in actions too similar to what we caluminate the TEC about—that is leaving the author of scripture, the Holy Spirit’s leading as to how then shall we live in grace and penitence, wisdom and nurture, comfort and peace, rightousness and strength—all the gifts of the Spirit that lead us to boldly proclaim the Gospel so sinners are called into a redeeming relationship with the Saving Lord.
What I am trying to issue is the prophetic call for all Lord-loving leadership, after the model of TESM and dioPGH, to lead the orthodox in Anglican America to a spiritual discipline,order, worship and liturgical expression that laments our very vision of what is the body of Christ, what is the Church’s self image.  Perphaps a painful but apt analogy, we are called to re-examine our vison of ourselves along these lines, just as the Pearl Harbor type event that 9/11 was called us to re-examine who and what we are as Americans - not an island of conceit unto our global selves.  Consistent with this, our communion with the worldwide Anglican communion will include begging their prayers FOR us, that the grace of the wisdom and nurture of the Holy Spirit come to us for this ‘change of mind’, metanoia-based way forward as the orthodox in this country. This is the way that our witness and actions can rectify our own wrongs, our 20th century m.o. of go-alonging-to-get-alonging, even while we witness and fight the good fight in the complicated process and politics aiming at Lambeth08 or GOC09.  This call is to all our faithful Bps, clergy and laity now so our ‘yeses’ and ‘no’s’ are clear while the necessary legislative steps drag on.  It can very well lead to the spiritual and practical means by which all our sundry orthodox missions themselves find unity and find this rather Old Testament way of seeking to both preserve and restore and seek the Lord’s vision of us as his body, the so-called church. It is the way of humilty, gospel, salvation, light, grace, wisdom and boldness in these dark and troubling times.  Presume nothing less, lest we appear and act like the latter-day revisonist episcopalians from whom we choose to distance ourselves.  By casting ourselves thus we further throw light on their wily ways and water on their fires while calling ourselves and the unsaved to the “higher standards” of the Biblical faith to which we are committed and submit our lives.

hint: a new prayerbook formed over the next 3-5 years may be in order, as a prohetic and unifying deed in which we might all engage to solidify our self-image as ‘church’, and our mission, faith and practice bent not just on defending the faith but proclaiming its saving grace boldly in the best of our centuries-old Anglican traditions.  {attribution requested}