St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church

DIVIDED FLOCK
Episcopal Church Dissidents Seek Authority Overseas Amid Rift Over Gays, Conservatives Go Global;
Bishops Made in Africa

By ANDREW HIGGINS
September 20, 2007; Page A1

To the Editor:

Re “Denying Rights in Nigeria” (editorial, March 8):

I am embarrassed to learn that an archbishop of the Anglican Communion, the Most Rev. Peter J. Akinola, is a major supporter of the odious Nigerian legislation designed to deny basic human rights to gay and lesbian people.

The Revealer shares two interesting stories: in the Washington Post, an article on Stephen Prothero's book on Religious (il)Literacy. Susan Jacoby writes:

Greetings everyone,

You have probably heard about the actions of the Episcopal Churches in Virginia recently. Eight churches in Virginia have voted to "disassociate" with the Episcopal church, and the diocese of Virginia.

The presenting issue is, in part, about sexuality. The claim is that the Episcopal church has left the faith, and the Episcopal Church cannot be trusted with the souls of its congregants. How one sees authority, scripture and culture are all reflected in these decisions. I think that they are incorrect for a variety of reasons, but if they want to leave, they should be able to go.

The presiding bishop continues to be focused on serving the marginalized and reconciling the people. The bishop of Virginia was noted, especially, for being exceptionally generous and magnanimous. It made little difference.

I have some philosophical trouble both with the concepts of sexual "identity", and that God has a peculiar interest in sex. Scripture seems clear, however, that envy is seriously corrosive; it demands that we should keep our promises; and that abundance (in children or wealth, for example) is good. These truths orient the faithful life much more comprehensibly than ideas about the purity of one's genital activity.

9:30am on Saturday, december 23rd Art Bonagura needs some help making gift bags for the homeless men in the soup kitchen.

Advent IV Services on December 24th at 9:30am
Christmas Eve on December 24th at 4:00pm and 11:00pm
Christmas Concert at 10:30pm.
Christmas Day at 9:30am

Family Party on January 1st at 4-8. Hosted by the Vermas, who baptized Meera on January 1st last year - RSVP the office at 914-949-5577 or fr gawain at 914-572-4962.

In the Media:
Mark Sisk on faith

Comedy Central critiques the U2charist. (requires broadband).

While nastiness is clearly unproductive, the norm of niceness can tie churches up in knots. This is, of course, in the context of church life heavily reliant on the good will of volunteers and many in official but unpaid roles.

I have found that we at St. Barts have been fairly good at talking, handling conflict, and engaging each other. I do think that not everyone will be happy about the direction of the parish, but through conflict we can move forward productively.

Read it all.

Well, we got some press, although I think there is some confusion. There are two writers for the blog: Joanne Campo, our diligent seminarian at GTS; and myself, stbartswp, the Rector.

The Rev. Gawain de Leeuw at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church in White Plains has a Web log, or blog, about life as a pastor. The journal takes on a personal tone with entries on how he spent Thanksgiving or the relief he felt finishing a paper, making him more relatable to his readers.

"Blogging allows a lens into church life for people who find churches obscure and strange," he said.

Today is my "study" day, which is the time I use to read many of the materials sitting on my desk. I'm working on a long article for the Anglican Theological Review on recent books on economics. There are deep contradictions between the impulses of family values, capitalism and tolerance. Capitalism can, when it is regulated and raises livings standards, foster tolerance. It can also, when it feeds envy, corrode communities and "family values".

Tolerance suggests a risk-taking about community that contradicts the impulse for security that "family values" implies. It is a tension that is inavoidable (but the church, ideally, makes it manageable). I desire both strong families and magnanimous families. But I am not an idealist that the two are easy fits.

Thanksgiving eve service was quiet - four people. The next day I spent the day with my father's sister's family, and the next day with my mother's brother's family. They live 15 minutes away from each other near Princeton. The drive down was horrible, but the return was very pleasant. I played the song "manteca" about five times.

On Saturday morning I did gravesite funeral, where I was asked if his body is now resurrected, or would it be resurrected on the last day, when Jesus returns. I said that I didn't have an answer to that question just yet. "Bill is surely part of God now," I said. "And when you remember him, he becomes alive." I don't think this answer was satisfactory to her.

There are many different understandings about what the end of time entails. Growing up in a very materialist household, I feel like I'm always translating between metaphor, analogy, imagination and brute fact. I often imagine my father in heaven, trimming the wisteria, to the rhythm of a tito puente. He is surely resurrected in my mind; and I talk about him constantly.

Yesterday Steve Culler, an "independent contractor" fellow I've helped out by giving him work, decided to leave for South Carolina. Recently, he'd been wrongly accused of armed robbery, participating with two other people: my friends at Legal Aid - all pretty cynical and worldly - believed he was innocent. That's because the two other people said that Steve wasn't the third. The third was a fellow who did look like Steve. After nine months in jail, they invented a charge, and let him go for time served. He decided he had enough, and the grandmother who raised him wasn't doing that well in SC. He had the ticket. Did I have some cash? I looked in my pocket and found the honorarium from the gravesite service - $100. I handed it over and gave him a blessing. He said he'll call me, and use me as a reference. Steve is a good guy, a bit too charming, likes the ladies, and didn't deserve 9 months in jail.

But on the up side, our organist, Rita, won the "over-the-hill" American Idol contest for her vocal talents. Bravo Rita! Of course, she isn't really over the hill.

Israel is making an attempt to offer peace to the Palestinians. Hamas is suspicious. This is a positive development that should be taken seriously. The devil is in the details, however, and he has not offered clear boundaries. Sadly, militants continue to needle Israel. Although my sympathies are with those with less power, the actions of Palestinian militias simply affirms the Israeli perspective. I understand the rage, the sadness, the despair, the humiliation - this is why non-violence is so difficult. But it is a form of positive action, the most effective weapon of the marginalized and forgotten, for it says "we are here" which is all that needs to be said. Over and Over.

This week we are getting ready for our Saturday evening cocktail party to raise money for our music program; sending out stewardship information and a newsletter. Now that we have a mission statement, our job is to get the word (The Word!) out. My friend Fr. Young, is sending out a 10,000 person mailing based on encouraging people to serve others, rather than just a service announcement.

A great idea worth stealing.

As a scientist with a Ph.D., what do you make of the Christian fundamentalists who say the earth was created in six days and dismiss evolution as a lot of bunk?

Arthur Brooks on Charitable Giving.

This line of reasoning may partially illuminate popular prejudice against secularists in America (assuming that some of this prejudice is due to a problematic lack of personal charity) and suggest solutions. On the one hand, the problem might seem exogenous: Faith and charity may be part and parcel of the same God-given impulse. In the words of the Koran, "O you who believe! when you consult the Apostle, then offer something in charity before your consultation; that is better for you and purer; but if you do not find, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful" (58.12).

On the other hand, the connection between religiosity and generosity might be more earth-bound: It might be that religion simply has a strong pedagogical (endogenous) influence over giving and volunteering. Houses of worship might teach their congregants the religious duty to give, and about both the physical and spiritual needs of the poor. Simply put, people may be more likely to learn charity inside a church, synagogue, or mosque than outside. If charity is indeed a learned behavior, it may be that houses of worship are only one means (albeit an especially efficacious one) to teach it. Secularists interested in increasing charitable giving and volunteering among their ranks might spend some effort thinking of alternative ways to foster these habits.

Ron Young, the tenant at 50 sterling died in his sleep today. Carlos, Steven, the officer and I prayed with the body.

Later I will go see Peg Moritz at Schnurmacher.

There is no heat in Garmey hall, as the thermostat isn't working. I went in to make a cup of coffee and several aspiring artists came up to me to tell me there was no heat. They asked me what I was going to do about it.

As events in Iran heat up, the Supreme Leader of Iran has issued a Fatwa saying that no Muslim country should own nuclear weapons. The current president is elected. The supreme leader is not. It also seems that the president of Iran is taunting Israel. Personally, I don't think Iran has any designs on attacking Israel, but is simply trying to up the ante before negotiating with the US. This is a tactic used by other countries.

Also - for those interested in using the internet to track spending and finding ways to save money, wesabe is an interesting site.