Rector's Report 2012: St. John's Episcopal Church

Rector’s Report- 2012

Twenty Twelve has been a blessed year for us at St. John’s. We had six baptisms and four confirmations, and our average Sunday attendance stood at just over 103. Those numbers are well within the average parameters of the years since 2005. But numbers without interpretation are seldom helpful in evaluating who we are, where we have been, or where we are going. And so I offer some other measures which help to round out the picture of life here at St. John’s.
Our finances ended the year in the black.
Average attendance at our weekly Christian Formation events runs in the upper twenties.
We are a regular presence in three nursing facilities and two jails.
Our cooperative meals missions with St. Paul’s Logan involves about 15 parishioners each time.
We give to local pantries and distribute household supplies through the drug court.
We support local schools through job training placement for students and providing cheerleaders a place to practice.
AA and Alanon meet in our undercroft every week.
We participate in community-building activities sponsored by the Mayor’s office, Family Services, and the Fairfield Medical Center.
The Art Walk, community recitals, and the Candlelight Tour allow us to support our community.
Episcopal Parish Health Ministries offers a monthly program here, including a fellowship meal with a speaker, and free blood pressure screening.
We offer three services of Holy Communion and one of Choral Evensong each week, in forms which span the breadth of our Anglican heritage.
Daughters of the King offered a ladies retreat and summer morning prayer in the garden.
Lay readers, altar guild, lectors, ushers, and choristers provide incredible and reliable support for all of our worship services.
Our vestry runs by consensus and votes only where expenditure of funds or canon law requires a recorded vote.
The addition of a Deacon and Licensed Lay Preacher to our preaching rotation has significantly deepened our opportunities to understand the Bible.
Our Vestry does a commendable job staying on budget and planning ahead for the needs of our parish.
Six parishioners from St. John’s participate regularly in Diocesan events and ministries.
We support financially and in prayer several members of parish families who serve as missionaries around the world.
We give regularly to many missions and agencies at home and abroad.
Our office volunteers bring a sense of professionalism and efficiency to our parish operations.
Four members of our parish are actively considering some type of Christian Vocation.
We are one of the few churches in central and southeastern Ohio who worship in the English choral tradition.
We continue to maintain St. John’s building and grounds in a way which shows forth the glory of God and respects the historic nature of Square Thirteen.
We strive to reach out to our community through our website and the rector’s blog.
We remind all who come here of our commitment to Christian unity by welcoming all of the baptized, regardless of denomination, to Holy Communion.
Our parish participates regularly in Deanery and ecumenical activities.
Our youth group meets regularly and has consistent attendance.
You enable me to continue my professional development through annual attendance at “Mere Anglicanism” in Charleston, membership in the Society of St. Alban and St. Sergius, membership in the Communion Partner Rectors, and through regular retreats at the Community of the Transfiguration, an Episcopal Convent in Cincinnati.                                 
We pay all Diocesan asessments in full and on time.
It is my prayer that in the year to come, we might continue to build on this heritage of worship and service, to the glory of God, and to the extension of his kingdom. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Respectfully Submitted,

Bill+

Spiritual Classics of Anglicanism

The Compass Rose of Anglicanism

I was attracted to Anglicanism by many things.  But perhaps its eminent practicality and pastoral realism were for me the greatest draw.  If the writers of the old British situation comedy "Yes, Prime Minister" are right in season one episode seven (The Bishop's Gambit), and theology in the modern church is merely an exercise for justifying not believing in God, then eminent practicality and pastoral realism, growing out of a warm faith in Jesus, based in apostolic orthodoxy, constitute a welcome respite from what often surrounds us.  In any event, I sometimes get tired of arguing with hard headed zealots (both Whigs and pharisees) on the one hand, and pinheads who employ intellectual methodology to redefine the faith on the other.  Perhaps it is better to believe that which I have received from eyewitnesses- that which is contained in Creed and Canon of Scripture.  Perhaps it is better to acquiesce to the faith received than to argue modern notions of piety or interpretation.  Perhaps it is better to live the religion I have known and experienced by faith than to agonize over that which I am not smart enough to understand or industrious enough to discover through honest scholarship.

With these things in mind, I have been considering two books which I have long thought to be among Anglicanism's greatest classics: Wind in the Willows, by Kenneth Grahame, and The Compleat Angler, by Izaak Walton.  Neither book is particularly religious, and the former was written by a neo-pagan, but both describe admirably the nature of Christian life and community within that aphorus ideal which is called "the ethos of Anglicanism."

A Story of Living Together

Wind in the Willows chronicles the everyday adventures of forest dwellers who are very different, and at times even at odds, but who are forced to co-exist by virtue of their geographic proximity to each other.  In simple ways, that proximity over the years allows them to develop a common set of basic values which ultimately transcends their diversity.  Perhaps this lesson of the animals is an idealized reflection of what ought to be in a land where all the King's subjects are in a sense the responsibility of the King's Church, whether they realize it or not.  As weasels and stoats, badgers, rats, moles, rabbits, and otters live together in and around the wild wood and the river bank; so all those who name Christ as Lord, and beyond that all those for whom he died, are called to realize that we share one world, bestowed upon us by a loving Heavenly Father for our own benefit and pleasure.  It behooves us to get along and to care for one another, for God desires our reconciliation to himself and to each other.

The Izaak Walton Window
From Winchester Cathederal's South East Transcept

The Compleat Angler grows out of one of Mater Anglicaina's most difficult experiences, that of the interregnum under Cromwell and parliamentary rule.  What is a good man to do in impossible times?  To follow the example of Christ's apostles and "go a fishing" is perhaps the best thing.  But fishing is more than merely the pursuit of meat for the frying pan.  It consists of true conviviality, of sharing fellowship, wisdom, and material goods with friends and strangers alike.  It is a matter of appreciating the blessings and beauty around us, and sharing them generously with all people in the name of simple civility and grace.

In these uncertain times, when so many things that seemed so sure are vanishing with each ensuing day, I cling to the faith I have received from the Anglican Divines, the Church Fathers, the Apostles of our Lord, and so many other good and godly people.  I suppose I have stopped looking for a perfect church, or state, or institution of any type.  I must be content to live where I find myself, trusting in God, coming to terms with those people, good and not so good, among whom I live, and doing all the good I can in all the ways I can.  Others may be called to other ways, or to other visions of how the faith ought to be lived, but for me, at my age and in my place, the graces and beauties of classic Anglicanism, with all of her lovability and all of her warts, will have to do. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.  AMEN. 

The End? Or The Beginning?

Jesus Christ- Our King and Saviour, My Lord

Rector's Rambling: November AD MMXII

I can't say that I was stunned- perhaps saddened and sickened would be better words.  I had logged on to check my e-mail and the Anglican news servers before going to our October Vestry meeting.  What I had dreaded had at last happened.  My friends in the Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina had left the Episcopal Church.  In the words of one of their own officers:

"October 17, 2012

Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

On Monday, October 15, 2012, Bishop Lawrence was notified by the Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, that on September 18, 2012 the Disciplinary Board for Bishops had certified his abandonment of The Episcopal Church. This action triggered two pre-existing corporate resolutions of the Diocese made on November 1, 2011 and October 2, 2012, which simultaneously disaffiliated the Diocese from The Episcopal Church and called a Special Convention. That Convention will be held at St. Philip’s Church, Charleston, on Saturday, November 17, 2012.

The clergy of the Diocese are consequently called to gather for a special Clergy Day this Friday, October 19th at St. Paul’s, Summerville. Our meeting will begin at 10:30 a.m. and conclude by 4:00 p.m. The clergy of the Diocese are asked to RSVP electronically...

Our time will be spent discussing the significance of the actions taken by the Episcopal Church, our response as a Diocese and the plans for the immediate future. You may read related documents [on the diocesan website].

In Christ,

--(The Rev. Canon) Jim Lewis, Episcopal Diocese of South Carolina"

 

 

The event, so long anticipated with dread, now seems to have been eclipsed by a strange sense of calm.  In the midst of that calm, I picked up Love's Redeeming Work:The Anglican Quest for Holiness, edited by Geoffrey Rowell, Kenneth Stevenson, and Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, and published by Oxford University Press in 2001.  I believe with all my heart that the Holy Spirit led me to this 788 page anthology of Anglican spiritual writings through the ages.  As I read, the question began to take shape in my mind, "what is the church, what is the real nature of Christian community?"  For me, this is not just about South Carolina.  It is about friends and family members who have followed their consciences (and I believe the leading of the Holy Spirit) to the Eastern Orthodox or Roman Catholic Churches.  I will never again be able to receive Holy Communion with them.  It is about friends and family members who have left Anglicanism to attend Evangelical or Fundamentalist churches.  (I believe that they too are following God's leading in their lives.)  Never again will we share that wonderful sense of awe and unity of Spirit which has so often flowed from prayer book worship in antient buildings dedicated to God.  And as the general introduction to the cited work points out, what of those neighbors and friends and others who seek God with their hearts, minds, souls, and strength who have been alienated from formal church structure by the behaviour of us who bear the name of Christ? 

 

I do not believe that "The Church" can be defineed as any mere denominational structure- particularly if that structure can only manage to draw a bit over a half million people on any given Sunday morning for worship.  But such structures may well be localized expressions of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, and without organizational and institutional structures, it does not take long until the "faith received" develops into mere folk religion and good intentions.  It first ceases to be catholic, and the loss of orthodoxy, order, and loving unity is usually not long in coming. 

 

And so what am I to do?  What are we to do at Saint John's?  I don't have all of the answers, but here are a few things which cross my mind:

1. I will continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, and that all who are reconciled to the Father receive that gift by his grace.  I will define the terms of this foundational belief in the terms set in Scripture and in the three historic creeds of the Church.

2. I will order my moral life, with God's help and to the best of my ability, after the example and teaching of Holy Scripture, and of our holy Mother the Church.

3. I will worship according to the forms and traditions of The Book of Common Prayer.

4. I will accept and affirm as fellow Christians all who exhibit in their profession of faith the threefold Johannine test (from the First Letter of St. John) of belief in Christ as defined in Scripture and Holy Tradition (the test of Doctrine), of godly behaviour as defined by Scripture (the test of Obedience), and  of mutual love- which is modeled for us by Christ and his saints in Scripture and Holy Tradition (the test of Love).

5. I will honour and respect the decisions of those Christians who believe that our sacramental fellowship and interchangability of orders must be limited for reasons of doctrine or conscience, and at the same tiime, I will maintain our open sacramental ministry at St. John's to all who have been baptised in the Name of the Holy and Blessed Trinity.

6. I will work to remain friends with adherents of other Christian denominations and non-christian faith groups, whatever events may occur, and whatever organizations to which we belong may decide to do.

7. I will not participate in or condone any actions, conversations, or gatherings public or private which exacerbate the divisions which plague the people of God.  If I find myself in a place where such things are going on, I will physically leave the gathering without any expression of anger, and will pray for all those involved in the situation, myself included.

 

Honestly, I don't know what else to do.  The Church will prosper and accomplish the mission given her by Christ, but she looks less and less like the beautiful church I once embraced.  That brings me some real sadness, but it also calls me to see real opportunity for the Bride of Christ to engage the world in new and exciting ways in a new millenium.  I pray for strength to make the transition to what will be, in the full knowledge that Christ is Victorious.  But I will always treasure in my heart the vision of what might have been.

 

To Christ- the true King!

Bill+

 

 

The Problem with The Episcopal Church

I can't say that I enjoyed living and working in Academe all that much.  As a student, everything seemed far too important and I managed to plague myself and those around me with significant moral turmoil bordering on moral outrage on a fairly regular basis.  As faculty, I remember long hours, poor pay, and endless mountains of papers to mark.  But I am still fascinated by the concept of the undergraduate essay- significantly over simplified, somewhat non-sequitor, and filled with a little too much feeling at the expense of clear and factual thinking.  But for all of its shortcomings, the medium has over the years helped a lot of people, myself included, to order our thoughts a bit, and that is an improvement for most of us. 

I've been thinking a good bit over the last few days about the problems (or the problem) which faces my beloved Episcopal Church, and in good undergraduate essay fashon, I humbly offer you my thoughts...

With all due respect to the contention of our Presiding Bishop that the Episcopal Church is healthy, I am compelled by shrinking budgets and shrinking Average Sunday Attendance to disagree.  We will survive, but we are in trouble.  There are priests in my own Diocese of Southern Ohio who maintain that to reverse the trends, we must be more involved in our communities and support movements for justice and human inclusion more vocally.  It seems to me that our Diocese of Southern Ohio is already doing those things.  There are priests in other parts of the church (and I sometimes seem to be among their number) who maintain that a return to traditional values, especially regarding sexual mores, is the only way to recover and to receive God's blessing.  Well, most of those folks do those things as well, and most of their numbers are as disappointing as everyone else's.  It seems to me that the real problem of the Episcopal Church is a problem of authority, particularly as it relates to the Bible.  I would submit that Episcopalians can be categorized in a very oversimplified manner into four primary sub-groups based on their approach to the Bible.  One is well intentioned and devout, but tends to be a bit judgemental at times and can be very hard to get along with.  There are not many people in that group in the American Church.  A second group values Scripture highly and tends to stress the catholicity of our faith as the standard within which the Bible should be understood.  A third group values Scripture highly, but their frame of reference for interpretation seems to be the established canon of enlightenment or scientific scholarship as it is generally understood today in the university community.  Groups two and three are generally nice people who don't like to argue, and hold their (or should I say "our") differences inside and get mad without ever really saying what it is that makes us mad.  Group four has a passing respect for scripture, but their definition of "Gospel" as "Justice," or more specifically as "Civil Rights Movement," leads them to see the Bible as an ancient document which should be carefully considered, but which can and should be set aside if it seems to encourage behaviour which in the opinion of the the group four member fails to "respect the dignity of every human being."  These folks tend to be real crusaders, what in my more curmudgeony moments I would call "damned Whig dictators."

In my experience, many group one members hail from Evangelical churches.  They tend to be pietists and biblical literalists who seek a link to sacrament and historical continuity- one might say catholicism- by attending the Episcopal Church.  There aren't many of those folks any more, although many of us baby boomers were drawn to the denomination through that portal.  Sometimes they are frustrating, but they have good hearts as a rule, and in Bible Studies and Adult Forums they do tend to keep everyone else honest in their consideration of what the Bible says.  Occasionally they can get out of hand and get very defensive, but that generally mellows with time.

Group two members, in my experience, tend to be drawn from group one, from Rome, and from old Episcopal families who are well read in either Anglo-Catholic or Evangelical writers from the UK.  They accept the methodologies of modern scholarship as a rule, but are unwilling to consider a clear break with the past.  They have often flirted with Orthodoxy or Roman Catholicism in their spiritual journey, and speak reverently of Tradition and the Church Fathers.  They are very good at being offended, and often rather enjoy being cast as the persecuted minority of Western Anglicanism.  Often, they are Anglophiles.  Their voice is firmly raised in defense of continuity with the Christian past, but they are willing to explore new ideas if they consider them to be within the parameters of the historic church.

Group three members, in my experience, tend to be well educated, but not necessarily in Historic Theology and Divinity (although there are some notable and distinguished exceptions.)  They value the past, but their orientation is to the future.  They tend to take the latest findings of the scientific community very seriously, and seek to understand the traditional Christian message in light of God's revelation in the natural world.  They can tend to be a bit trendy in a past tense sort of way (remaining permanently ensconsed in 1968 or in the expansive 80's.)   They love resolutions and really do believe that people care what they think.  They often see themselves as the appointed voice of those who cannot or will not speak for themselves.

Groups two and three in my opinion represent the heart and soul of historic Anglicanism.  Both groups say that Scripture trumps and that occasional pastoral consideration should characterize our work among those God has created.  Two tends to look to tradition as they remember it while Three looks to the present and future as they would like to imagine it.  Both groups are so similar that they fight like siblings, which they are.  But at the end of the day, both fit within the framework of Classic Anglicanism, because at the end of the day, they seek to live within the framework of a proper understanding of Scripture (even though they may disagree on what that proper understanding is.)

Group four is in my opinion a real problem for our Communion, because at the end of the day it replaces the authority of Scripture with other sources of authority.  The argument often goes something like this: "I know what the Bible says, but I have a friend who does that or is that, and he is a really good person.  I can't believe that a loving God would exclude him from fellowship in the church.  We must accept and honor my friend and people like him as they are."  Then follows a demand that in the name of justice, the main body of believers must accept the behaviour of the friend as normative and acceptable.  Those who refuse or hesitate are called judgemental  and rigid.  Many in group four are motivated by a high level of evangelistic zeal, and tend to be emotional and coercive.  Their emotional vitality sways many, particularly in group three, with non-sequitor and anecdotal arguments.  They tend to be long on rhetorical skills and perhaps a bit short on logical order.  They are politically astute and tend to flourish on committees and commissions.  They thereby obtain influence far beyond their actual numbers.  While they do call the larger Church to remember the disenfranchised and marginalized, which is a good thing, they also depart from the historic Anglican understanding by removing Scripture from its place of authority and declaring it to be advisory in nature.

Herein lies the problem with the Episcopal Church, in my humble opinion.  A group of folks, group four to be specific, along the way have jettisoned the primacy of Scripture, and have organized and agitated so successfully over the last few decades that large numbers of people have agreed to hear their public message without considering their presuppositions and methodologies.  The result has brought a rot to the heart of Western Anglicanism, (indeed it could be argued to the heart of Protestantism in general,) which transcends any agruments about sex or political endorsements or liturgical and structural reform.  We have replaced the authority of Scripture with the concensus of the culture, or at least of a portion of it.  I believe our problems will only worsen until we correct the heart of the matter and affirm clearly (and submit to regularly) the authority of the Bible as God's revealed will for his church and for all mankind.

Response to General Convention Resolution A049

For the sake of my soul as a watchman of the flock of Christ, I hereby publically reaffirm my commitment to the ancient Christian teaching that intimate sexual relationships are not proper except between a man and a woman who are married to each other.  On the authority of Scripture and Holy Tradition, I believe that the General Convention of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Indianapolis, has erred greviously by passing Resolution A049, which authorizes liturgical resources for blessing same-sex unions.  May God have mercy on us all, and guide us to ammend our lives in accordance with the clear teachings of Scripture as received by our Holy Mother the Church from Apostles, Prophets, and our Lord.
Faithfully, and with a broken heart,
Bill+

Sermon for Trinity Sunday: "The Non-Negotables"

Reflection on Trinity Sunday

Preached at St. John’s Lancaster, 3 June 2012

Anglicans are Creedal Christians. I know that much ink has been spilled over the last few years in the American Church making the point that we are not “Confessional Christians,” but we do have a bare minimum that our Anglican Christian Faith calls us to believe. We believe the Creeds, and we say one or another of them at every worship service, at least here at St. John’s. For Baptisms and Offices we say the Apostles’ Creed, and for Eucharist we say the Nicene Creed. For the life of me, I can’t see much of a difference between being creedal and being confessional, unless it is that Creedal Christians vocalize their beliefs with regularity while Confessional Christians read theirs in a book on occasion. Both have something that you must believe if you are to be honestly counted among their number. It all seems pretty simple to me, but then I am not a very nuanced thinker.

Let me illustrate it this way. If I went on four legs, had a long neck, brown and orange spots, a short brushy tail, and little antennae looking things sticking out of my head, you would say that I was a giraffe. If I crawled on my belly, lived under a rock, and left a trail of slime wherever I went, you would say I was a slug. In the same way, if I believed that the Triune God created the world, and that the Father- the First Person of the Trinity, sent the Son, the Second Person of said Trinity to die and rise again for the redemption of all creation, and then sent the Third Person, the Spirit, to enable people to do wonderful things in said creation- If I confessed my sins, acknowledged Jesus as Lord and asked forgiveness, was baptized and said the creeds and received Communion, you would say I was a Christian. Now, if my attitudes and actions did not match the precepts of Jesus and the Bible, you might point out that I was not a very good Christian, but with that bare minimum of qualifications listed above, I would still qualify as a Christian.

We should note here that there are many animals which might be a bit like a giraffe, but are not giraffes. An elephant goes on four legs and has a short brushy tail, but it is not a giraffe. Without the neck it just can’t quite pass itself off as one. A snake lives under a rock and goes on its belly, but it is distinctly different from a slug. In the same way, there are many people who are devoutly religious, and who do many good things, and who help others, and who take their faith very seriously who are not Christians, because they do not believe in the Creeds. That is, they do not believe that God is Trinity in Unity, and that Jesus Christ is who the Bible says he is and did what the Bible says he did- and does. I’m not here to say they are not good people or great neighbors. I have lived by and worked with Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, and others who I would and have trusted with my life and the lives of those I love. They are good people, and many I count as my friends, but they are not Christians, because they do not believe those basic articles of the Creeds.

Like Kathy Heim’s former rector, now Bishop of Atlanta, is fond of saying, “There’s not a lot you have to believe, but some things are non-negotiable.”

Now for a word about believing, about having faith. I believe that the earth’s atmosphere at sea level and for several hundred feet above sea level, under normal conditions, is breathable and will keep me alive. I am not a biologist or a doctor and I have no idea how it works, but I believe it. In the same way, I believe that when a stewardess tells me to put on an oxygen mask, I had better do it, even though I have never been in a malfunctioning aircraft at a high level where anyone told me I needed to take that action. Experience and understanding might enhance my belief, but the are not necessary to its existence. In the same way, I can believe in God, and trust him implicitly for my salvation, even though I don’t have all of life’s answers, even though I don’t understand everything there is to know about God, and even though my experience of him might not be as profound or personalized as I hope it might be some day.

And so how does all of this apply to my life?
A person who is a Christian does not have the liberty of making up their faith as they go, or taking a bit here and a bit there to meet what they perceive to be their own needs. Any person can do that, but at the point that they stop believing in the creeds, they cease to be Christian. If God is who he says he is, then it is pretty important that we submit to him and live our lives on his terms. We can ask questions and have doubts, but at the end of the day we must believe in the Trinity and in the Incarnation, which are the theological names for the items covered in the creeds. To not do so is to not be a Christian. It is by definition to be something else.

As a Christian, you can expect to have doubts, and questions that just don’t seem to get answered, and times when you feel very alone. Those things are normal. Some questions will never get answered in this life, and some doubts will persist, and sometimes feeling alone is something that we can’t escape. But all of those things are based on our own powers of feeling and perceiving and understanding, and our powers are very limited. So we are called by the Bible to push through our doubts and fears and feelings to embrace the facts of the Creeds- of who God is and what he has done for us in Jesus. You see, our faith is not based on feelings or limited human reason, as good and as helpful as those things might be. They are incapable of fully comprehending the greatness of God or his plan for our lives. And so we trust him, embracing “the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”

In just a few moments, two of our siblings in Christ will be presented for Holy Baptism, and we will all be asked to stand and renew our own belief in the Faith we have received from Jesus Christ. As they begin this life of public following of God as Christians, I hope that all of us will be able to consider anew what it means to do the same, and commit ourselves to continue in the Faith of Christ Crucified. Come to this place, to this font, to this altar with all of your doubts and imperfect understanding, but come with your faith intact. God will meet you and give you the ability to believe. Realize that that belief does not depend on your ability to form it or embrace it. It is the gift of the Holy Ghost to all who come with yearning hearts. “Consider the mustard seed, which is the tiniest of all the seeds, and yet when it is sprouted it grows into a bush which is big enough for birds to nest in.”  The act of faith- your act of faith, which among other things includes your desire to trust in a loving God, is like that grain of mustard seed. Come today with what you have, and don’t worry about what you don’t have. God’s gift will grow in your heart and mind as you follow him in obedience, and repentance, and humility.

In the Name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost. AMEN.

Memory Work is Good for the Soul

Rector’s Rambling April 2012

Holy Week will soon be upon us. Some of you may remember that on the first Sunday of Advent, I challenged the parish to read those Bible passages suggested by Scripture Union in their “Essential 100 Bible Reading Plan” http://www.e100challenge.org.uk . Our target date for completion is Good Friday. Many people at St. John’s have taken that challenge seriously, and I believe our level of Bible literacy has increased as a result. In addition, I hope the regular discipline of Bible reading now seems more accessible to many of us here at the parish. Many of you know Betty Pugh, a long time parishioner of St. John’s. Although Betty is legally blind, she uses a special super magnifier and reads the Bible through on a regular basis. She asked me to suggest a list of Bible verses which Christians might memorize to their profit. I thought it was a good idea, and so here they are.

Some Favorite Memory Verses:

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Matthew 28:19
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Romans 3:23
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Acts 1: 8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:


Romans 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Romans 12:1
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

These are just a few favorite Bible Verses. For a longer list, you might want to visit http://topverses.com , where you can access favorite Bible verses in many different translations.


If you have not already done so, I would also suggest you work on learning the Ten Commandments and Apostles’ Creed, reproduced here as they appear in “The Book of Common Prayer- 1979” http://justus.anglican.org/resources/bcp .

The Decalogue: Traditional (BCP page 317-318)

God spake these words, and said:
I am the Lord thy God who brought thee out of the land of
Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have none
other gods but me.

Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the
likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth
beneath, or in the water under the earth; thou shalt not bow
down to them, nor worship them.

Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.

Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.

Honor thy father and thy mother.

Thou shalt do no murder.

Thou shalt not commit adultery.

Thou shalt not steal.

Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Thou shalt not covet.


The Apostles’ Creed (BCP page 66)

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord;
who was conceived by the Holy Ghost,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, dead, and buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven,
and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Ghost,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

Faithfully,
Bill+

What Do They Want?

Sixth Sunday After Epiphany, Year B

Preached at St. John’s Lancaster, 12 February, 2012

II Kings 5:1-19

Just what do they want from us? It is a fair question. Some would say that I must put aside the position held by our holy Mother the Church through the ages that no man comes to the Father save through Jesus Christ. They would say that to hold Christianity as uniquely true while saying that other religions when believed sincerely will not lead to God is a hateful and narrow minded doctrine. Others would say that whatever my own beliefs might be, I must be willing to put them aside for a higher good. That is essentially what the government has been telling our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters over the last two or three weeks. Still others would say that if I say that only the baptized should be permitted to receive Holy Communion, I am excluding people from the kingdom of God and proving myself to be mean spirited and into controlling others. Others would say that if I refuse to redefine that understanding of marriage which has been held by Christians and Jews- and Muslims and Zoroastrians and Hindus and even Pagans throughout human history- that I am judgmental and arcane, and even hateful. There are those in our own denomination who would ask those questions or make those statements. And yet as your priest, as a priest of Jesus Christ, I must answer with Article XX of the Articles of Religion that “it is not lawful for the Church to ordain any thing that is contrary to God’s Word written, neither may it so expound one place of Scripture, that it may be repugnant to another. Wherefore, although the Church be a witness and keeper of Holy Writ, yet,… it ought not to decree any thing against the same.” And with St Paul in his second Epistle to the Thessalonians I would say “stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught.” (II Thessalonians 2:15)

Today’s first lesson from Second Kings Five is most instructive regarding what others may want from us and what God wants from us. Naaman was a very successful Syrian general who was highly favored by his master, who like Naaman was a pagan, or one who worshipped the old nature gods. While the Scriptures are not explicit with details, some Jewish and early Christian scholars believed that God had employed Naaman’s military prowess to destroy the power of Ahab and Jezebel as a punishment for their ravages against the prophets of God. But while Naaman was blessed, he had a major problem. He had leprosy, that dreaded skin disease which in all of its forms rendered the sufferer unclean and eventually led to their rejection by human society in that era. His wife had a young Israelite slave girl who said to her mistress, “there is a prophet in my homeland who could heal your husband.” Now in those days, it was common for people, especially rich people to travel to foreign places to seek medical treatment. We have documents which show the precise nature of such travel and the diplomatic protocols which accompanied such trips. But when the King of Israel received the letter from the King of Syria paving the way for the trip, he was terrified because he thought the Syrians were just looking for some excuse to invade their Israelitish neighbors. When Elisha heard about the king’s dilemma, he sent a message to the king and said, “Let him come to me that he may know that there is a prophet in Israel.” Naaman arrived in all of the glory attendant upon his office, and came with faith that this Israelite prophet would pray for him or do some thing which would bring about his healing. He was furious when Elisha refused to receive him, and merely told him to go and wash seven times in the River Jordan. The General exploded! He was not accustomed to being treated in such a fashion. He named the rivers of his own homeland, all larger and clearer and more beautiful than the Jordan, and the Bible tells us that “He went away in rage.” But his staffers spoke to him and said, “My Lord, if the prophet had demanded of you some great quest, you would have complied, so why not do this simple thing?” And he did. “and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a young boy, and he was clean.”

Most modern scholars see this passage of Scripture as part of a larger group of stories having to do with the power of God, and so it is, but the Fathers of the Early Church saw it as much more. Ephraim the Syrian, writing in the mid-fourth century, notes that Naaman’s pride filled him with a spirit of rebellion, which is a sin against God and the leprosy of the soul. Indeed, Naaman, like all of us needed to be healed and delivered from that disease by Christ’s power, and therefore he is sent to Jordan, which is a prophetic pre-figuring of the coming baptism into Jesus Christ which is to bring all nations to purification “through the bath of regeneration, whose beginning was in the river Jordan, the mother and originator of baptism." Naaman offered the prophet rich gifts, because in his pride, he could not imagine that deliverance was the free gift of a loving God. (ACCS V 167-68) Origin, writing in the early third century in Alexandria, points out that a man like Naaman does not, could not understand the great mystery of the Jordan, because true healing comes from the Lord Jesus alone, and Naaman persisted in the error of his pride. (Commentary on John in ACCS V 168) Bishop Caesarius of Arles, writing in the early sixth century, points out that Naaman is a representative of all of us gentiles, who presume “on our own free will and …merits; but without the grace of Christ” we cannot possess health. It is as we submit to the way of Christ in humility and are baptized that we listen to the advice of Elisha and are “freed from the leprosy of the original and actual sins… Gentiles, although old by reason of their former sins and covered with the many spots of iniquity as with leprosy, are renewed by the grace of baptism in such a way that no leprosy of either original or actual sin remains in them. Thus, following the example of Naaman, they are renewed like little children by salutary baptism, although they have always been bent down under the weight of sins.” (Sermon 129:4-5 in ACCS V 168-69)

And so you see, according to our holy Mother the Church, Naaman, and all of us have received the grace of God because some prophet of God stood firm against our demands that the Gospel message be changed to become more palatable to us who wandered about in our own pride and sin. But because there was a man, or we might say a people, who was faithful to the revealed Word of God, the leprosy of sin was done away and healing came to the nations. Whatever people may want us to say or do, our hearts and our minds, our beliefs and our actions and our words must be carefully conformed to the Word of God, which is the authentic eyewitness account of the acts of God in this world. It is there that we find the record of the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, who is our salvation. My brothers and sisters, in this age there are many who would have us to change, or at least substantially modify, this Good News which has been entrusted to us. This we must never do. Might we, like those who have gone before proclaim the Faith we have received with love and respect for all people, knowing that true healing, real deliverance, and genuine salvation are found only in the Name of Jesus. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. AMEN.

Conference Videos Now Available

Many thanks to Anglican TV for posting the presentations from Mere Anglicanism 2012.  The presentations may be viewed here: http://anglican.tv/category/tags/events/mere-anglicanism-2012

Evangelism, True Repentance, and Obedience: A Formulae for Success

Rector’s Rambling- February 2012
Pictures from Charleston- Text Follows

Archbishop Kwashi of Jos, Nigeria

St. Philip's- The Mother Church of The Carolinas and the Carribean

Bishop Lawrence of South Carolina

The High Altar at St. Philip's

Bishop Chartres: The Lord Bishop of London

The Great East Window: Ecce Agnus Dei

Bishop Nazir-Ali of Rochester

Last month before Rebecca and I left for “Mere Anglicanism,” a friend asked where we were going for the conference. When I answered “Charleston,” he responded, “West Virginia?” I was puzzled and replied, “Why would anyone go to West Virginia in January?” But Charleston, South Carolina is another story. She is truly a beautiful city any time of year. Described by locals as that place where “two rivers meet to form the Atlantic Ocean,” I can understand why the locals love their home, and why so many have stayed here for so many generations.

But sightseeing was not my purpose in Charleston- renewal and revival were. The speakers and preachers were wonderful and included the Principal of Wycliffe Hall Oxford, the Lord Bishop of London, the Vice-Chancellor of Sewanee (my alma mater),the Bishop of Rochester, the Bishop of South Carolina, The Dean of Trinity School for Ministry, and the Archbishop of Jos Nigeria. The worship was magnificent. Evensong featured the Choir of St. Philip’s Charleston singing George Dyson’s Mag and Nunc and Parry’s “ I Was Glad.” Bishop Chartres challenged us to open our lives and our institutions to the leadership and infilling of the Holy Ghost, who was without doubt present in the service. The festival Eucharist featured the choir of St. Helena’s Beaufort, accompanied by the Charleston Brass. Archbishop Kwashi brought tears to our eyes with his godly exhortations to evangelism and Bishop Lawrence shone like Moses as he consecrated and delivered to us the Body and Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. By the time the third of five Communion Hymns rang out the words “Rise Up, O Saints of God,” we all were on our feet, rejoicing in the power of God and filled with what Son-in-Law Matthew calls “South Carolina Happy.” God was in our midst, and the entire conference was transformative. The message was unified and simple.
1. From the time of Augustine and Cuthbert to the great reformers of the 16^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries, to today, men and women who answer the call of Jesus to turn from their former ways and follow God have been used to transform not only lives, but societies.
2. As those same people forsook their sinful ways and conformed their lives to the clear teaching of Scripture, which is the example of our Lord, God used them, and he will use us, to bring the most obdurate sinners to personal confession, repentance, and moral transformation.
3. The cost of following Christ in this way is high, but the results are far-reaching, and ultimately eternal.
4. We who name Christ as Saviour are called to follow him in the knowledge that through us, through our hard work and sacrifice, God will transform the world and to bring all people to himself.
5. It is for this reason that he has called us and redeemed us by his blood.

As we move through the season of Epiphany and into Lent, I pray that we will always see our personal introspection and repentance in light of the call of Jesus Christ for us to evangelize others even as we have been evangelized. Our raison detre, our great purpose in life, is to glorify God by bringing all people to a saving knowledge of Jesus the Christ, who is God’s sole plan for our salvation. We can only do this effectively as we follow Jesus Christ in humility, acknowledging our sins, changing our ways, and working to conform our behaviour to the clear teachings of God’s Word, the Holy Bible. May He send his Holy Spirit upon us anew in the days to come that we might be faithful and obedient servants, bring our friends and neighbors to a saving experience with Jesus Christ, and in turn transform our society into a more just and righteous family, one filled with the hope of heaven.

To Christ- the True King!

Bill+

Mid-winter Musings

Fairfield County is now firmly in the grips of winter.  The truck thermometer read 22 degrees Fahrenheit when I did my chores this morning at the barn.  A light dusting of snow covers the ground, and the horses are very glad to be out of their stalls now that the ground is frozen (they tear up too much pasture when things are muddy and therefore have to stay in the barn until the ground is frozen.)  Just last weekend, Tristan, Chuck, Leo the fat Labrador and I were shooting pheasants in fifty degree weather at Federal Valley.  We bagged six birds, missed two embarrassingly easy shots, and watched one beautiful cock bird glide into the treeline when Leo got excited and galumphed out of range.  It was a good day with lunch at the local ma and pop restaurant, Cardhu, and Dominicanas.  The slower pace of mid-winter life in the countryside always calls me to consider those things that are truly important, and this year is no departure from that rule.

Monday night, Kathy Heim (our organist) conspired with me to offer evensong at the church.  It is a fitting service for the countryside in mid-winter.  After the sentences and confession, we proceeded directly to Phos hilaron by Robert Bridges and Louis Bourgeois, The lessons from the Feast of the Circumcision were answered by Crotch's Mag and Whitneys's paraphrase of the Nunc set to Orlando Gibbons' Song 1.  There was enough plainsong, simplified Anglican chant, and incense for even me, but the most amazing thing about this lovely service was its spontaneity.  I was in the throes of laryngitis, and so was unable to sing or read my accustomed parts.  Kathy chanted, Ivan led the canticles, Frankie and Ann read the lessons, Ivan and Kathy offered thoughts on the lessons, Paul led the state and church prayers,  Ivan offered those prayers requested by members of our congregation, and I merely received the gift of worship from my friends.  I was helpless in a sense, but through my friends, I met God.  The liturgy was truly the work of the people here at Saint John's, and the experience got me thinking about what might be.

Imagine a place where the Holy Communion was the basis of our life together.  What would it be like for the ancient devotional societies of the church to cooperate in prayer with the more functional modern mission agencies which labour in our parish?  Could it be possible that evangelical commitment to study God's Word might be blended with the devotional practices of the church catholic such as confession and stations?  Could the personal devotional practices of the modern west be coupled with fasting and the disciplines of another age and another part of the world?  And could God, would God, work through such a mix to send his people out in the power of the Holy Spirit to 'preach good tidings unto the meek, bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.' (Isaiah lxi. I)? 

These are the sorts of things I think about in mid-winter.  Perhaps in the days to come, God will unite our hearts to see such a miraculous fulfillment of the prophesies of Isaiah.