Arizona Bishop

Back on line

2011-05-29T00:10:00.000-07:00

After much Internet frustration in Ireland, I am back on line from Cambrige where we arrived yesterday. Looking forward to a day of attending church, first at St. Be net's, the oldest church in Cambrige, then Kings college for evensong.

Tuesday May 24

2011-05-24T03:35:00.000-07:00

We finally arrived in spite of bD weather volcanos and late flights. We are now waiting for our hosts to pick us up in a hotel lobby. Not sure what the rest of the day will hold. We are weary but otherwise fine.

Packing our bags

2011-05-22T16:58:00.000-07:00

This blog will be reactivated starting on Monday May 23 as Laura and I prepare to leave for a two week trip to Ireland and England.
I will taking the camera and if all goes well and we can connect to the Internet, expect some good pictures!

House of Bishops--Day Five, March 3.29.11

2011-03-30T07:05:00.000-07:00

We only had one session today--on the Anglican Covenant. We had three Archbishops with us from Congo, Korea, and Canada. They shared with us their thinking about the needfullness of the proposed Covenant. I was surprised that all of them had serious reservations about it, in varying degree.

My experience back home is that most folks in our pews either don't know or care about the Anglican Covenant.

Trying to keep folks back home up to date, I was actively tweeting from the sessions. I had misheard or misunderstood the mind of the house that there was to be no tweeting. I have apologized for this, although I still think that we need to explore more fully what it we ought to share outside the meeting.

We had the afternoon off, a good chance to catch up on emails and writing projects.

In the evening we reconvened to have discussion on how we can better recruit young people for ordained ministry. I am happy to report that Arizona uses many of these techinques. I am especially pleased that for the first time in our history, all four of seminarians are under the age of thirty.

Tomorrow we will hear from the seminary deans themselves.

House of Bishops, Day Four, 3.28.11

2011-03-29T12:00:00.000-07:00

The focus today was on the relationship between Christianity and Islam. In the morning we had two excellent presentations by guest speakers Akbar Ahmed (former ambassador and Brookings Institute member) and Eliza Griswold (best selling author and daughter of former Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold). Both helped us realize the depth of misunderstanding and sometimes hatred that exists in this country with our growing Muslim population. For example the major of Christian clergy consider Islam as "evil" and a "threat" to America. We also learned of some real efforts be a reconciling force. In Omaha Nebraska a "Tri-Faith" campus is planned where Christians, Jews, and Muslims will share a common center for worship and learning. In Boston, the cathedral houses a Muslim congregation which meets in their crypt.

I am happy that in Arizona we already have good interfaith relationships through the efforts of the Arizona Ecumenical Council and others. However, these relationships will continue to be severely tested. Another terrorist act will make the vast majority of Muslims in our country very afraid. Two Republican candidates for President have announced that they will have "no Muslims in their cabinet", and one lumped them in the same class as atheists.

On a lighter note, I enjoyed the fellowship of my bishops' class of 2003-2004 last night at dinner off campus. We always have a good time together and probably have more in depth discussions than we do at our formal meetings.

Tomorrow's topic is the Anglican Covenant, something which only church wonks seem particularly concerned about.

House of Bishops, Day Three, March 27, 2011

2011-03-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Today was a sabbath day, meaning that we had no meetings only worship and lots of time to think, pray, and read. It was the perfect day for those activities, quiet, rainy, and foggy.

The highlight of the day for me was the joint Eucharist we held with five of the bishops from the Moravian Church. As some of you may know, not long ago the Episcopal Church entered into a full communion relationship with the Moravians in this country. I admit I don't know much about the Moravians (those interested may want to check out the article on Wikipedia). Theologically they are much closer to the Lutherans, but their liturgical life is "higher", and hence closer to us. Unity is very important to them, especially unity among Christians. Their original name was Unitas Fratrum, the Unity of Brothers.

What I did not know until tonight was that their founder John Amos Commenius (d.1670), was sent into exile and his church (which began in what is now the Czech Republic) was nearly destroyed. From his exile he commended his church into the care of the Church of England. Tomorrow will be the 400th anniversary of Commenius' birth, and I think he would have been pleased to see us together tonight. The Moravians love to sing, and during the service tonight we sang many of their traditional hymns. These words got to me:

Is this our high calling, harmonius to dwell,
and thus in sweet concert Christ's praises to tell,
In peace and blessed union our moments to spend,
and live in communion with Jesus our friend?

Tomorrow we reconvene and spend the day talking about the relationships between Christianity and Islam.

House of Bishops, Day Two--March 26,2011

2011-03-26T17:06:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy dark day here at Kanuga, but the presentations were thought-provoking and light-bearing.

We began by using a new form of Morning Prayer. We used the Prayerbook service, but instead of discussing the appointed readings at our tables, we used the ancient practice of lectio divina. Since we have to sit through so many words in the course of the day, it was nice to begin by entering into silence together.

The theme for today was "Reaching Young Adults with the Gospel." We got the background on generational differences from Lisa Kimball, who teaches at Virginia Seminary. I realized again what a bad job the Episcopal Church has done in this area, but there are signs of hope. Key for me was understanding that we don't do ministry for young adults we do it with them, and that means spending more time listening to their needs; where they are instead of trying to impose our programs and conceptions on them. Much of what was discussed the clergy of the Diocese of Arizona heard at our recent youth summit, but it was nice to learn about some best practices from the larger church. In the afternoon we heard about two projects involving young people, the Episcopal Service Corps which now has about 20 sites around the country where young interns are giving service to the church while living in community, and the Relational Evangelism project which trains 20-30 year olds to engage in conversations about God with their peers--they receive a stipend for this and it seems to be very effective. So, already I have lots of new ideas to try out at home!

Tonight we begin a sabbath time of quiet that will last until a service with some visiting Moravian bishops tomorrow night and a fire-side chat with our Presiding Bishop after that. I am looking forward to sitting by the fire and catching up on some reading, listening to the rain on the roof.

House of Bishops, Friday March 25

2011-03-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

The Spring House of Bishops meeting at the Kanuga Conference Center in North Carolina got off to a start at 2 PM today.

I had arrived a day early to participate in the Coaching Program for new bishops run by the College of Bishops. Our leader was David Renick whom the clergy of the Diocese of Arizona will remember as the leader of our clergy retreat two years ago.
David always has interesting insights, and it is great to spend time with him.

Most of the HOB time was taken up with hearing preliminary reports dealing with such topics as blessing of same gender partnerships, disciplinary procedures, Episcopal schools, etc. There are many of these, all mercifully brief.

Tomorrow we will get down to our major themes which center around ways to reach young adults, Christianity and Islam, and the Anglican Covenant. We will have outside speakers for these seasons. There is plenty of retreat time planned as well.

We welcomed as visitors one of the bishops from the Congo and the Archbishop of Korea. My former colleague from St. Jame's Los Angeles, Aidan Koh, is with the Archbishop as a translator, and it was great to see him again.

Of course the real interesting conversations happen over dinner or during social time when some of us sit on the porch overlooking the lake and smoke a cigar.

I will try to get a picture or two posted tomorrow.

Keep us in your prayers!

He's gone

2010-04-06T10:09:00.000-07:00

This past week I heard a story from one of our Sunday School teachers who was preparing her children to do a dramatic renactment of the disciples discovering the empty tomb on the first Easter morning. One little girl was drafted to be an angel. Even though she was far from enthusiastic in her role, her teacher made sure that she knew her lines, "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, but he is not here. Behold he is risen and gone before you."

When the time for the performance came, the little angel's mood had not improved much. She sat in the set of the tomb, her halo askew, her foot tapping anxiously. When the disciples arrived and asked their question, "Where is Jesus?', the little girl shot back dimissively--"He's gone."

In one important sense she was right. On Easter Day we make much of the empty tomb, but the tomb is just a sign pointing us to the Risen Lord, who is not here, but has gone before us. He IS gone, and that is GOOD news! Our Gospel reading on Sunday focused on Mary, and her utter disregard about the empty tomb. Peter and John took it as proof, and that was enough for them. But Mary stayed, weeping, looking for Jesus. Mary reminds us that Easter is not about the event of the empty tomb, as miraculous at that may be, but about a relationship that we can have with the Risen Lord.

One of my favorite writers, Barbara Brown Taylor, talks about growing up back east where every year as a young girl she would find the shells of cicadas, an insect that leaves a hard larva casing behind on its way to adult bug-hood. She was fascinated by those hard brown lacquered shells that she would find around her house--what happened to their occupants? Then she realized it it was these same insects whose voices she heard singing in the high in the tree tops every warm summer night. She never saw them, but she could hear them, and sometimes the chorus was nearly deafening. The shell only pointed the way to the living animal And so he warns us, don't pay so much attention to the empty tomb that you forget to talk with the gardener.

Many people came to church this past Sunday looking for the empty tomb and for "proof" of the resurrection. But our churches, with all their glorious worship, are themselves empty tombs, pointing towards a greater reality, that of the Risen Lord. That same Lord offers to us the same kind of relationship that he did to Mary. Jesus is gone, but the Risen Lord lives in us forever! Alleluia!

Working People

2010-03-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

Barbara Brown Taylor is one of my favorite authors. In a recent piece she writes about the some simple folks in her little town and how they live out their faith. She has in mind Studs Terkel who spent his long career documenting the lives of ordinary working people. http://bit.ly/dgW8i4

Big Thoughts March 22.

2010-03-22T19:05:00.000-07:00

How lucky we were today to have time with two of the best future church thinkers in the country!

This morning Phylis Tickle gave her view of where the church is in this moment of history. Her thesis is that the emergent church reflects an emergent culture in which our informational, economic, political, and sociological structures have changed forever. This is reflected in the way we are already doing church, and will effect us even more in the future. There is no going back.

After lunch Diana Butler Bass lead us through the numbers. It was somewhat comforting to learn that ALL Christian denominations have lost members, meaning that we are part of a changing culture and that no one in the church can be blamed for not doing something. The culture is changing and is the mood is reflected in the saying, "Spiritual but not Religious". She outlined ways in which the church can be more responsive to the energy of the spiritual side of this equation and less anxious about the organizational piece. Even emergent congregations are going to need structure and tradition. It is not a choice between one or the other, but finding a way to synthesis both approaches.

In keeping with a more modern approach, I "tweeted" through both talks and was gratified that so many in the internet world were following what I had to say. Several other bishops were doing the same thing.

The finish off this mind-expanding day, my class of 2004 had dinner together in a cabin on the far side of the lake here in Camp Allen. The food and comradarie were great.

Here we are together in a class picture. From left to right:

O'Neil, Colorado

Wolf, Kansas

Howard, Florida

Councel, New Jersey

Burnett, Nebraska

Hollingsworth, Ohio

Robinson, New Hampshire

High, Suf. Texas

Miller, Milwaukee

Lillibridge, W. Texas

Smith, Arizona

Brookhart, Montana

Sabbath Day

2010-03-21T20:06:00.000-07:00

Today was our Sabbath Day, which meant that activity was at a minimum.

We started with church, and afterwards I took the opportunity of getting a picture of myself with Mary Glasspool, the newly elected Suffragan Bishop of Los Angeles who is generating controversy, since she is a partnered Lesbian woman. I am her "90 Day Companion" appointed to show her the ropes of being a new bishop. She is a delightful person who will be a great addition to this body.

This afternoon I made my annual horseback ride along with about 10 other bishops. My horse, "Junior" was pretty tame. He followed directions but did not want to go faster than the other horses.

Tonight was our "fireside chat" with the Presiding Bishop. This was the chance we have to informally talk about what is on our mind or raise questions. There was some energetic discussion about the failures of the General Convention process, the need to find ways of liberals and conservatives to work together, and a host of other issues. A moving moment came with we welcome Bishop Duracin of Haiti and heard (through an interpreter) his experience of the earthquake in Haiti.

Tomorrow we have presentations on the Emergent Church which I am especially looking forward to. Watch for tweets @azbishop.

Lots of talk

2010-03-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Many hours of talking today.

In the morning we tackled a paper by the Theology Committee that attempted to present the arguments for and against same gender marriage side by side. Theologians from both the conservative side and the liberal side were on hand to make their case and answer questions. The reception was less than thrilling. One bishop pointed out that there was nothing new in the arguments, stuff we have heard 20 years ago. Still, I guess that it is a good thing that we are still at the table exchanging views.

Henry Parsley, the retiring Bishop of Alabama, closed with a plea for "Comprehension for the sake of truth, not compromise for the sake of peace." I thought that was quotable.

After lunch we had a discussion about the Episcopal Identity Project and their report called, "At One Table." This is the result of many years study about how clergy and congregations perceive themselves, and what they consider to be the most important aspects of their identity. We focused this afternoon on two theological areas which congregations especially did not rank highly, "incarnation" and "salvation." The HOB has been criticized for not giving enough time over to theological conversation, so we had lots of opportunity to do that today, although, as you might expect, a couple of hours was not enough time to go as deeply as some would like.

Stand about

2010-03-19T20:46:00.000-07:00

The full House of Bishops finally got underway this afternoon. Our main item of business was hearing from 8 candidates for the position of Bishop Suffragan for the Armed Forces and Federal Chaplaincies (now that is a mouthful!). Instead of a "walk-about", this was a "stand-about." All of the candidates were excellent. Robert Certain, whom Arizonans will remember as the sometime assistant at St Barnabas in Scottsdale, is one of the candidates.

These presentations were separated by the opening Eucharist in the "chapel" (it is a Texas-sized chapel, bigger than any of our Arizona churches!), with a sermon by the Presiding Bishop. She challenged us to think about new ways of "doing church" many of which we will find scary. Next week we will hear from several experts in the area of "emergent" faith communities.

I am enjoying the regional dishes in the refectory. They have included fried catfish, hush puppies, fried okra, and something new to me, Texas caviar, which is a kind of bean salad with chilies. Arizona needs to develop some of its own regional crusine, other than Prickly Pear jelly!

Intentional Listening --March 18

2010-03-18T17:17:00.000-07:00

The attached photo shows the cross in the middle of Camp Allen. It is a popular place to be, not just for prayer but because it is one of the few places here where you can get good cell phone reception! If you look carefully you can see Bp. Skip Adams (Central New York) and Jim Curry

(Suffragan, Connecticut) checking in with the home front.

Today was given over to peer coaching. This meeting was required of those who, like myself, will be serving for a three year period as a "mentor" to a new bishop. Our consulant, David Rennick, was with us recently in Arizona, where he worked with our presbyters at their annual retreat at Chapel Rock.

Doing this is such a powerful experience. I am always amazed at the effect that just a short period spent with a trained listener can make. It is such a gift to have someone listen attentively and deeply to your hopes and dreams and not try to solve your problems, but simply to be with you. What we learned will easily translate into all the pastoral situations we are in.

The numbers are increasing tonight, since we get started with the whole group tomorrow afternoon. There about 8 candidates for the

Arrival at Camp Allen--March 17

2010-03-17T17:18:00.000-07:00

It was an easy trip from Phoenix to Camp Allen, which is about an hour's drive from the Houston airport. Lovely early spring weather here--blue sky, puffy clouds, and just cool enough for a jacket.

I always enjoy Camp Allen. The facilities are great and so is the hospitality. It is also an easy trip from Phoenix.

I am here one day earlier than most, since I am part of a College for Bishops' mentor group. Each new bishop is assigned a mentor for three years. When I was new, my mentor was Bishop Alexander of Atlanta. Its now my turn, and I will be working with Bishop Brian Prior of Minnesota. That training starts tomorrow. Tonight there were about 15 of us. We had wine and cheese and dinner together, but it seemed rather quiet in the big dining room.

There was news today that Mary Glasspool has received all her needed consents. I believe that she will be arriving tomorrow and I look forward to meeting her.

Off To Camp Allen

2010-03-16T13:59:00.000-07:00

It seems that I only activate my blog when I am attending a church gathering. Tomorrow I leave for the Spring House of Bishop's meeting which meets at Camp Allen, TX outside of Houston. (www.campallen.org).

The meeting will be for about a week and will focus on a number of business items as well as hearing presentations about the "future church." I am looking forward to it as time of fellowship with my Episcopal colleagues.

I plan to post an update on this site each day, and this year, I will be making use of Twitter. To follow me on Twitter go to #azbishop. I will also do my best to post some pictures and perhaps video each day as well. I will aim to give you all a sense of what we are doing and my thoughts and reactions along the way in keeping with constraints of confidentiality of those participating.

As always, I welcome your comments and questions at the end of each post! Please pray for me and my brother and sister bishops as we gather together.

It's Over

2009-07-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

We finished our business ahead of schedule this afternoon. The House of Deputies is still at work, but should finish by 6 PM tonight, making this the first General Convention in a long time at which all legislation was acted upon before the closing bell.

In the next few days, I will be writing a reflection letter to the Diocese that will go out on the web and on the E-pistle mailing list. I understand that our deputation will also be preparing a letter which will be posted in the next few weeks.

All in all, it was a good convention. We took some necessary steps forward towards full inclusivity, but did so in a way that was respectful to the our conservative members and to the wider Anglican Communion. Those issues aside, we also made some important changes in structure which will effect us on a more local level, such as changing our health insurance plans, adopting new disciplinary canons, affirming youth, campus ministry, evangelism, and Native American programs.

Going back to some of my earlier cautions of the last few blogs, I want to include here a few paragraphs from the letter that the Presiding Bishop sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury today. As always, the press has been creating misleading headlines about what we did here, and she wanted to set the record straight. According to Episcopal News Services:

"The letter to Archbishop Williams outlined Resolution D025, which was adopted at this General Convention, explaining that Presiding Bishop Jefferts Schori and President Anderson understood Resolution D025 to be more descriptive than prescriptive in nature. It stated that some are concerned that the adoption of Resolution D025 has effectively repealed Resolution B033 but reiterated that is not the case. The letter continued, “This General Convention has not repealed Resolution B033. It remains to be seen how Resolution B033 will be understood and interpreted in light of Resolution D025.”

"The letter also states that the Episcopal Church “is deeply and genuinely committed to our relationships in the Anglican Communion.” It also says, “In adopting this Resolution, it is not our desire to give offense. We remain keenly aware of the concerns and sensibilities of our brothers and sisters in other Churches across the Communion. We believe also that the honesty reflected in this resolution is essential if indeed we are to live into the deep communion that we all profess and earnestly desire.”

"The letter expresses the profound appreciation of the Presiding Officers that Archbishop Williams, 16 Anglican Primates, and lay and clergy leaders of the Anglican Communion attended the General Convention and stressed the importance of finding ways to communicate directly about different cultural and ecclesial contexts."

The future looks hopeful, for our Church nationally, and more importantly, for the mission opportunities that await us, in spite of (or maybe because of) the financial constraints we are under.

I was proud to represent you as your bishop and to be part of this historical meeting.

The last picture I am posting is just for fun. The fact that we were able to have a good time together is a sign of health, as our chaplain reminded us. Since the creation of the Episcopal Church in 1789, there have been ten bishops named Smith.
Five of them now serve. One will be retiring soon, so this is the last time there will be so many for the foreseeable future. Here we all are. From left to right--
Andrew Smith, Connecticut; Kirk Smith, Arizona, Michael Smith, South Dakota; Dabney
Smith, Southeast Florida; Wayne Smith, Missouri.

Laura and I are headed for the Northwest for a few weeks of vacation. I will be back in the office around the middle of August. During that time both Epistles and this blog will be "on hiatus". I hope that you all have a restful and cool summer!

Catching our breath

2009-07-16T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today was rather quiet compared to the last two. After the important decisions we have made, it was as if everyone was being rather thoughtful and taking the measure of what we had done. Sure, there was plenty of legislation to plow our way through. The House of Bishops approved the budget in about 45 seconds with no debate--maybe we just didn't want to deal with the pain we know it will cause. An estimated 35 staff people in NYC will lose their jobs, some of them long time colleagues and friends. As the Presiding Bishop reminded us, we believe in resurrection after death, and that will surely happen to the church as well. There is a lot that is dying, old ways of doing business, communicating, organizing. The church that is emerging will look a lot different than it does now, both in structure and in mission. And maybe, just maybe, we can now get beyond the controversies that have preoccupied us for so long to do the real work of the Kingdom. There was a bright spot tonight. Several hundred delegates, mostly young, gathered for a U2-Eucharist, using the music of the the rock star Bono. I stayed for a while, although the volume levels are a bit too high for these old ears. But as you can see from the video, everyone was having a great time.

Another historic day

2009-07-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

There was good news and bad news today. Let's begin with the bad: At a joint session with the House of Deputies we received the final draft of the budget. We were warned it would be painful, and it was. Many staff people will be cut, all programs will be reduced, and lots of great projects will be left unfunded. I was particularly disappointed that money for our partners in Mexico was reduced by 29%. The newspaper we partner with, Episcopal Life, will also be greatly affected. On the other hand, the larger church has finally instituted some cost saving measures I have advocated for years, such as reducing travel for face to face meetings and increasing the use of electronic communication. Some programs that had to do mission, such as Hispanic ministry, youth, and church planting were actually increased. Still there was considerable anguish. Before our session began, we all stood to sing, and I took a video of the members of our deputation. The House of Bishop's spent a long time later today fussing over the wording of a substitute resolution having to do with blessings of same gender unions. We started this process yesterday, and for short time we decided to try an alternative way of dealing with this highly charged issue, rather than word-smithing amendmend after amendment. But when the ad hoc group came back today, all they had done was to rewrite the original resolution. At one point, I found myself voting with the conservative members, not over content but over process. I still believe the church has to find a better way of dealing with controversial topics than a win-lose legislative answer. Let's take a page from non-western cultures who solve problems in a family way in which all are included. Since that effort came to nothing, I was glad to vote "yes" on the roll-call that approved the resolution. Our willingness to at least explore ways of blessing such unions will no doubt result in additional disapproval from the Anglican Communion and from the more conservative dioceses here. The situation has certainly changed with the fact that five states now recognize gay/lesbian marriage with an estimated 15 more to come in the next few years. Assuming that the House of Deputies concurs with us tomorrow, the operative words of the resolution are: "Resolved, that bishops, particularly those in dioceses with civil jurisdictions where same gender marriage, civil unions, or domestic partnerships are legal, may provide generous pastoral response to meet the needs of members of the church; and be it further resolved, that this Convention continue to honor the theological diversity of this Church in regard to matters of human sexuality." This passed 104 to 30. I will be discussing the implications of this with the clergy when I return, but it is clearly a step forward towards a more inclusive church.

The House of Bishops in Action

2009-07-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a video of the House of Bishops in action (maybe that is too strong a verb!). The 150 of us sit together at tables, with the Presiding Bishop on a platform with the officers. The audience (when we are open to the public) sits around us. When we wish to speak, we raise a card with a number of our table to be recognized by the chair. I have at my table Thom (Idaho), MacPhearson (W.Louisiana), Lee (Virginia), Barbara Harris (Mass, retired), Alexander (Atlanta). The going can be either tedious, when a hour or more is spent fussing over a sentence or two, or fast paced, as when it is hard to keep up reading the legislation that is being considered. Three more days to go!

Don't believe everything you read!

2009-07-14T21:00:00.000-07:00

Before I left Arizona, I cautioned people to be very careful about what they read or see in the media, which often does not fully understand how the church works, or is spinning events to fit an agenda. A case in point was the action yesterday. As I cautioned after the vote on DO25, this does NOT overturn the earlier BO33 of the 2006 Convention. It is far more subtle than that. What it does do is to reaffirm that the ordination process (including that of bishop) is open to all people. In essence, BO33 remains in effect until the time it is tested by the election of another openly gay or lesbian bishop. It is an importanted and needed step, but it does not "repeal" any earlier legislation. About the only media source that got this correct was the New York Times, and I commend their coverage. Other papers, including the LA Times and even our own supposedly in-house Episcopal Life overstated the case with headlines such as "Church Clears Way for Gay Bishops." I suspect that this incorrect reporting may cause many of the bishops to go slow when it comes to action on the question of same gender blessings. An important resolution on that topic which was passed by the House of Deputies was argued over and then postponed by our House this afternoon. I suspect that it may be replaced with a more pastoral and less legislative response. Maybe something like a gentleman's or gentlewoman's agreement that different bishops make the pastoral response to blessings they feel is necessary without a general policy being made--we will see.

No pictures, but breaking news!

2009-07-13T21:51:00.001-07:00

This afternoon we had our first controversial action. Deputies passed resolution DO 25 which essentially reaffirmed that the ordination process (including that of bishop) was open to all people. This was a movement away from the "restraint" of last convention's famous B033. Although BO33 was not exactly overturned (it will take an election of an openly gay person to make that happen, which frankly is not likely to happen anytime soon), this resolution was a defacto repudiation of that stance. When it came time for House of Bishop's to act, we concurred with the House
of Deputies 99 to 45.

I voted yes on this, in spite of what some inaccurate earlier reports said. It is time for us to be clear about who we are as a church in spite of the fact that it may make things harder for us in the Anglican Communion. The good news is the language of this resolution was thoughtful, considerate, and moderate in tone. I believe that even most of the my more conservative colleagues can live with it, even thought they may not have voted for it.

Tomorrow we will tackle blessings of same sex unions. I suspect that will be be a tighter and more difficult race. Please keep us in your prayers!

Weekend Update July 13

2009-07-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

I have discovered that I have not had nearly enough time to update this blog. There is almost no break in the day, and even meal times are taken up with meetings, so now I will have to play catch up a bit. A friend remarked that Convention goes through three stages--introduction, confusion, and resolution. During the weekend it was almost business as usual in the sense that committee meetings and legislative session continued, but we did not seem to be accomplishing a whole lot, and the controversial topics have yet to be addressed. Here are some of the important legislation that was passed, however. 1. We reinstated the MDG spending in the budget. That comes to about a million dollars a year. Instead of simply reinstating the 0.7%, Convention increased this asking to a full 1%. Dioceses and parishes will be asked to do the same. 2. Pension benefits are now extended to all lay church employees who work over 1000 hours a year. 3. We adopted a new denominational health plan which should save a lot of money to most Dioceses. 4. We also adopted a new strategy for Hispanic mission, yet it is unclear if we can afford the price-tag of 3.5 million. If we can, Arizona will benefit directly from this. The one change the routine came yesterday morning at the United Thank Offering Ingathering service which is the main festival Eucharist of the Convention. All the bishops put on their "rochetes and chimeres" (red and white robes) and process into the hall. I've included a short video of the Presiding Bishop in procession along with the two previous PBs, Bishops Griswold and Browning. About 8000 were in attendance. I especially enjoyed this service since my old parish in Los Angeles sent a busload of parishioners to attend. Seeing everyone was a bit like old home week. Today Laura is with other bishop spouses doing a work project at a low income trailer park. This afternoon we expect some more heated discussions in HOB, and I will try to report on that shortly.

Friday July 10, Running Behind!

2009-07-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was so hectic, that I have not had a chance to upload a new video. I've attached one of a typical morning (7.30AM) in our Committee Room. This work is beginning to wind down now that most of our legislation has been discussed and sent out to the floor. This afternoon we had a 4 hour House of Bishops meeting. The news item was that we approved an agreement with the Moravian Church (not many of those in Arizona, but lots on the East Coast). This arrangement is similar to the one we have with the Lutherans and represents another step towards Christian unity. Tonight was the Arizona delegation dinner. About 18 of us (deputies, ECW delegates, Altar Guild) had a good time at P.F.Chang's. We were joined by Chuck Robertson, who, although he works for the Presiding Bishop, still "belongs" to Arizona. Tomorrow is not so busy, and I will try to get some video of my public humiliation for having lost a bet on the Superbowl to the Diocese of Pittsburg!

House of Bishops gathers, Wed. July 8

2009-07-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

This was really the first full day of Convention. I started early with my committee meeting where we made some good process on the seven or so resolutions on our agenda. At 9.15 AM the opening Eucharist Convention took place with Presiding Bishop Schori preaching and celebrating. It was an impressive sight to see about 8000 Episcopalians from all over the globe united in worship. Logistically it was impressive that everyone was able to receive the bread and wine in about 10 minutes. In the afternoon there were more meetings and the first long session of the House of Bishops. We met for 1/2 hour privately before the visitors gallery is opened, and people come streaming in. We welcomed a large number of visiting bishops and Primates, including the Archbishop of Canterbury who gave an address about world poverty in the evening. I did not attend this, thinking it would be too crowded, but Laura did and found it very compelling. Some drinks with friends and then dinner concluded the evening. Lots of work, and also lots of socializing!

July 7--Committees Underway

2009-07-07T20:19:00.000-07:00

The day began at 8 AM with the first meeting of my Communications Committee. We seem off to a good start with very knowledgeable collection of talent from around the Country. We had a chance to get acquainted and to set our agenda for public hearings. At these hearings, anyone, deputy or not, can sign up to address the committee. This is democracy at its best. We also met at the end of the day to begin discussions on three of the seven resolutions we now have before us. At noon today the exhibit hall opened. The Korean drummer group from St Jame's School in Los Angeles (where I used to be rector) provided music. In the video you can see them warming up (my old colleague, Fr. Aidan Koh,the Korean priest at St James, looks on approvingly). One could easily spend an entire day in the exhibit hall. Laura plans to help at several of the booths including Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation, where she serves on the Board. Our friend who made my special Arizona vestment set has begun his own company, (www.cliffordchally.com), and that set is on display there. Laura is keeping him company. Tomorrow promises to be another busy day, with a talk by Archbishop Rowan Williams in the evening. The House of Deputies and House of Bishops will also have their first full meetings.

Monday, July 6th--Ready to Go!

2009-07-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

This was the last relaxing day we will have for a while--tomorrow is a 7AM to 9 PM schedule! Laura spent much of the day helping to ferry visiting archbishops from the airport. I spent the afternoon in the last orientation and briefing session we have before our committees go into session at 8 AM tomorrow. One person leaned over to me during the meeting and whispered half-seriously, "The purpose of this gathering is to raise our anxiety level." I am one of the co-chairs, and since I have never done this before, I am a bit nervous. Walking home from dinner tonight, I stopped at the local donut place and bought 2 dozen donuts to share with the committee tomorrow morning. Maybe I can buy their affection! The video for tonight is a peak at our hotel room. When I did this at Lambeth, it proved to be the most popular of my postings. I doubt that the inside of a American hotel room is quite as exotic, but here goes...

here's the VIDEO!

2009-07-05T22:03:00.000-07:00

Arrival in Anaheim

2009-07-05T20:31:00.000-07:00

Laura and I had a quick trip to Anaheim today. The traffic was not too bad, although it was hotter in California than in Arizona, 115 degrees near Palm Springs! There are not too many folks here yet. That will change tomorrow. I have several meetings in the afternoon, and Laura has volunteered to help drive visiting dignitaries from the airport. We ran into Chuck Robertson in the lobby and ending up having dinner together. He has a complimentary meeting room, which he has invited our deputation to also use. That room supplied the backdrop for tonight's first video blog.

Trying to post the video, but we are having some technical problems. Three computers with us but none of them seem to work right--either I will post the video later tonight, or will get a new camera tomorrow!

General Convention, Here We Come!

2009-07-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Laura and I are busy packing for our trip to Anaheim and General Convention. Since we will then be taking some vacation time afterwards, the car is getting pretty full!

I've imported my column in E-pistles for this week describing who will be blogging from convention. You can find that information right below this entry.

My plan is to post a short (1 minute) video every evening, beginning tomorrow, July 5.As I did at Lambeth, these postings will be an attempt to capture some of the spirit of the meetings and the human interest side of the events. I will also try to share my impressions of the work being done, although you can probably get more insightful analysis from other sources.

The plan is to attend the early cathedral service tomorrow morning and then hit the road, hoping to get to Anaheim by about dinner time.

The Episcopal Church in Arizona | The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona

2009-07-04T14:08:00.001-07:00

The Episcopal Church in Arizona | The Episcopal Diocese of Arizona

Shared via AddThis

Renewal of Vows

2009-04-07T16:48:00.000-07:00

This morning I gathered with the clergy of the Diocese in the cathedral for the annual renewal of vows service.

I gave a sermon about the leadership in difficult times, and I used the example of the Antartic explorer Ernest Shackleton as a model. For the first time in the cathedral's history, a sermon included video!

You can see the whole sermon, video and all, at the Diocesian web-site: www.azdiocese.org.

Jesus' Facebook Page

2009-03-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

This is very clever. You may need to zoom in.

Wrapping up

2009-03-18T17:23:00.001-07:00

The Sun finally came out yesterday, and many of the bishops headed for the lake, canoes, and splashing each other (see attached). We just finished our final Eucharist together and farewell dinner. Many of the attendees have already left, so it was a smaller group. Many agreed that this was one of the better meetings that we have had. There was a minimum of posturing and debating, and a much better collegial spirit. We listened to some great speakers, discussed the hard topics of the day (money), elected a new bishop for Ecuador, heard about new strategies for Latino ministry, and were briefed on some important changes in the medical insurance coverage (better and cheaper). I look forward to sharing all this with you when I return. In the meantime, you can access our pastoral letter to all the churches on the either or own or the Episcopal News Service website. I also understand that there will soon be a video of some of us singing gospel songs in the chapel on YouTube. Perhaps if you search under "singing bishops?" Tomorrow (Thursday), I will be pack on the plane, headed west. I will be glad to be back in warmer climes and familiar faces.

A Full Day

2009-03-17T11:32:00.000-07:00

Monday was a full day of work. In the morning we had a "stand-about" of the three candidates for bishop of Equador Literal. This Diocese in Province 9 has excercised its canonical option of having the House of Bishops elect their next bishop after the local process became too conflicted. We heard from three excellent candidates. The election is Tuesday night.

The afternoon was given over to our regular business meeting. Attached is a picture of the Presiding Bishop and her assistants moderating the meeting. We got a lot done, but it was a bit tedious at times. There were no real controversial topics, but still plenty of parlimentary manuevering.

Today was not all work however. This evening was the time set aside for our class dinner, gathering with my collegues who became bishops the same year I did. We enjoyed some local cruisine here in Hendersonville. I had cheese grits with shrimp, something I knew I could not find in Arizona!

Catching Up

2009-03-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday (Monday) was so busy with meetings that I did not have time to run up to the main building and access the wireless, so I will try to catch up the events of the last 36 hours in two separate entries. I've attached first a video of the "Fireside Chat" on Sunday night. The Presiding Bishop covered a number of subjects, including her impressions of the most recent Primates' meeting, which were generally favorable. The bishops assembled however seemed more interested in talking about money, or rather the lack of it, the recession being the unmentioned topic that is clearly on every one's mind. One bishop addressed the "elephant under the table" the fact that some of our wealthiest dioceses pay very little to the larger church. ( I am happy to say that Arizona for many years has paid its full assessment). What followed was a long recitation of financial woes, what my old rector used to call, "crying poor-mouth." Frankly, I've heard it all before. When I was a parish priest, I would hear stories of how obviously wealthy parishioners just couldn't afford to pay raise their pledge. As a bishop I hear from parishes who just can't afford to support the Diocese as much this year (even when they have done little or nothing to improve their stewardship efforts). Now as a member of the house of bishops I hear about how various dioceses just can't possibly help with the mission of the larger church. The real issue for me on every level is stewardship. The average giving of Episcopalians is 1.7% of income, far from the Biblical tithe of 10%. The Pew Foundation stated recently that Episcopalians are the wealthiest of all religious groups. Even in a time of economic duress, we can certainly afford to fund our mission. The money is there, what is lacking is the motivation. Maybe if we spent a little more time proclaiming the Gospel instead of crying "poor-mouth," we would be better off on every level-- parish, diocese, national church.

The Good News and the Bad News

2009-03-15T11:14:00.000-07:00

I am taking a moment to catch you up on what happened yesterday. I am sitting in the library, trying not to type too loudly, because the Presiding Bishop is sitting next to me, hunched over her own laptop, deep in thought. Today (Sunday) is a very light day. It is an intentional "sabbath time," a day to relax, rest, (do laundry), and digest what we have heard the last few days. We had church this morning, and of course there are the meals. The video I've included shows us in the dining hall at lunch. The dining hall is where much of the real work of the HOB gets done. While enjoying great southern cooking, it is also the place to catch up with old friends, discuss the business of the church, and to do those vital "bishop to bishop checks" of clergy looking to move. I have about ten names I need to get a reference for while I am here.

I entitled this entry "good news, bad news", because yesterday we got a dose of both. Our main speaker was an economist from the Harvard Business School who briefed us on the depth and impact of the economic recession. The bad news? It is the worst economic crisis since the depression, and will effect us in some way for the next ten years (or at least the "seven lean years, the Bible speaks of). The cause? An unprincipled get rich quick "extended drunk" that effected us on every level. We are now paying the price for our greed. The effect on churches? Major, for even people who have money and jobs are now living in the grip of fear and will be less likely to give. The good news is that he is confident in the new administration, the attitude of the business students he sees graduating (who are committed to working rather than getting rich quick, the human resources of this country, and our innate ability to face hard times. We will make it through. His advice for those of us in church leadership? We need to counter the atmospshere of fear with a message of hope, and we have to redouble our efforts of faithful stewardship. As some of you know, I have been talking a lot with the clergy about this last topic, and will be doing a lot more in the future. Just as in the Great Depression, "We have nothing to fear, except fear itself." Perhaps in keeping with that theme, tonight we will be having a "fireside chat" with the Presiding Bishop. (I think she is working on her remarks right now).

Opening Day

2009-03-14T13:59:00.000-07:00

Our regular sessions began this afternoon with a Eucharist in the Kanuga Chapel. Attached is a picture of Presiding Bishop Katherine preaching the opening sermon (with the Bishop of Nebraska's head in the foreground).

Then we gathered in the main meeting room for two presentations and discussion. The first speaker was Bill Bishop, author of The Big Sort. His thesis is that Americans are more and more segregating themselves into like minded communities, where politics and life-style is shared. He does not see this as a healthy thing because it results in greater polarization. In order for people to understand one another, they have to be with one another, which only happens for most people at work, if at all. This has important implications for the church. The mega-church movement was largely fueled by an insight in the 1960's which said, define the parishioner you are after, and then create an environment that will attract people like him. This is one reason that the Episcopal church which promotes diversity does not do so well in a culture which promotes homogeneity.

The second speaker was the great Old Testament scholar Walter Bruggeman. His insights into Scripture are too technical to go into here (I hope to share them with the clergy at upcoming gatherings), but his argument was the the OT contains two "trajectories". One, found in the first part of the Torah--the priestly tradition--emphasis purity and absolute truth with no accommodation to society. The other, Deuteronomic strand, stresses adapting the truth of the tradition to changing circumstances. Both are biblical and need to be held in tension--absolutism vs. accommadation. He feels both liberals and conservatives have been following the first tradition (It's my way or the byway), and we need more of the second (let's go back to the source and see what we can work out). Without that corrective, we are can never find a way forward. In one of his more memorable phrases--"Final interpretations lead to final solutions." The total rejection of the other side.

So we have had lots to think about even in these first short hours.

Today (Saturday). We had an excellent presentation on the economy and its implications for church giving--and I will write about that tomorrow!

Blogging from House of Bishops

2009-03-13T06:31:00.000-07:00

Since our own Cathedral Dean, Nick Knisely is here at Camp Kanuga teaching bishops how to blog, I guess I had better get busy and start posting on my own blog. Those of you who follow this will remember that I did daily posting from the Lambeth Conference, including video. I have my camera and will try to do likewise these next few days. The setting for our meeting is the Kanuga Conference Center, just outside the town of Hendersonville, North Carolina. It is a great facility set on a small lake in the piedmont mountain country. The only problem for me with my thin Phoenix blood is the weather--damp and cold, with highs about 45 degrees. I am glad I brought my long underwear with me! I have been here since Wednesday, since I needed to attend a "pre-meeting" of bishops who are serving as mentors to new bishops. The spring meeting of the House begins this afternoon. At this point my guess is that our business over the next week will focus on the following: 1. Discussing the upcoming General Convention 2. Electing a Missionary Bishop for Ecuador 3. Looking at the impact of the recession on the wider church 4. Laying the groundwork for a closer union with the Moravians. We will also hear from Walter Bruggeman, one of the great Old Testament scholars of today, as well as from several other speakers. As always, daily Bible study will begin each day. I look forward to sharing thoughts and impressions with you over the next week. Your comments are always welcome!

2009-02-06T10:30:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite writers, John Updike, died last week. He was an active Episcopalian, although most of his novels were “X-rated.” Still he was one of the modern masters of the English language. In an interview in 2004 at the Trinity Institute in NY, he had made a couple of comments worth quoting:

When I haven't been to church in a couple of Sundays I begin to hunger for it and need to be there," he said, standing at a podium in front of the altar, against a backdrop of Byzantine-style mosaics and dressed in a gray suit befitting one of America's elder statesmen of letters. "It's not just the words, the sacraments. It's the company of other people, who show up and pledge themselves to an invisible entity."

As a young man studying at Oxford in the mid-1950s, Updike said he devoured new translations of Soren Kierkegaard at Blackwell's bookstore, discovering him "so positive and fierce and strikingly intelligent, like finding an older brother I didn't know I had." He pointed to his classic character Harry Angstrom, of the Rabbit tetralogy, as an example of the Danish philosopher's influence. The Swiss neo-orthodox theologian Karl Barth informed another character in the first book of the series, the Lutheran minister Fritz Kruppenbach, who faces off with an Episcopal priest in a scene Updike chose to read. Upon going to Kruppenbach's house to discuss Rabbit's desertion of his family, Rev. Eccles is treated to a diatribe against meddling in others' affairs. Kruppenbach sounds like a stand-in for Barth himself.

"When on Sunday morning then, when we go before their faces, we must walk up not worn out with misery but full of Christ," he tells a disconcerted Eccles. "Make no mistake. There is nothing but Christ for us. All the rest, all this decency and busyness, is nothing. It is Devil's work."

Christian Unity?

2009-01-19T14:09:00.000-08:00

January 18th was the first day of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. It begins on the Feast of the Confession of St Peter, and ends next week on the Feast of the Conversion of St Paul. This event was begun by the Episcopal Franciscan monks at Graymoor, New York in 1906 and has been a regular part of the wider Christian Calendar ever since, and is sponsored by the World Council of Churches.

It didn’t get much attention this year. There are probably too many other distractions both in Church and State right now. Also, ecumenical efforts, especially those organized in a top down manner from church leadership, don’t seem to generate much interest these days. There seems to be a fair amount of cooperation on a local level among various religious groups, but the days of big conferences on a national and world-wide basis seem to have passed. (I should note however that Phoenix will be hosting such a national gathering this coming April and the Diocese will be helping). Christian denominations, the Episcopal Church being a good example, have a hard enough time getting along with their own fellow members, let along with other churches! There is also the broader phenomenon of Americans disregarding the theological distinctions of their own churches as reported this past week by Barna Institute on religion (http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0114/p02s02-usgn.html). American Christians seem to pick and choose what teachings or practices appeal to them from a wide range of traditions. Denominationalism itself seems to be dead, with Americans selecting their church not because of their loyalty to a childhood denominations, but because a local congregation (they don’t care much which) provides the kind of services they are looking for. The culture wars have also played a role. In recent years we have noticed such diverse groups as Roman Catholics and Mormons supporting “traditional marriage”, while Pentecostals and Episcopalians unite for border reform.

So in one sense we may be evolving towards a greater sense of unity, or is it interchangeability?
Still, we still need plenty of prayers, although I suspect that the challenges of the future will have more to do with interfaith than with interchurch relationships, especially with Islam.

You can find out more about the Week of Prayer at their website: www.oikouneme.org.

The most beautiful plane ever

2009-01-17T14:49:00.000-08:00

As an aviation fan, I love to go to airshows. But my job keeps me away from these great events on weekends. But now there is YouTube, the next best thing!

My all time favorite plane is the P-51 Mustang. I once saw one take off from the Phoenix airport when I was about 12 years old, and have never forgotten that experience.

Here is a modest example via YouTube. The sound of this engine will give every aviation enthusiastic chills.

A movie worth seeing

2009-01-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

At the risk of looking like I am giving free publicity to Hollywood, I want to pass on a movie “trailer” that was recommended to me by a young “emergent church” leader for the new movie, The Visitor. He commented, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could share our faith like the characters in this movie?”

I have not figured out how to import this video yet, but you can watch it at YouTube,
just go to "The Visitor trailer."

Although I have not seen the whole movie yet, it looks like it contains a lot of very sound theology. The premise is the involvement of a middle aged bored businessman in the lives of some undocumented immigrants who have occupied his apartment while he is away. In getting to know one another they both discover more about the meaning of life, which can only fully lived as we enter into the lives of others. This sounds very incarnational to me. Jesus not only fully enter into our lives, he invites us to gain our lives by loosing them in the service of others. Through a simple act of hospitality—allowing strangers to stay in his apartment--the hero of the story is literally “reborn,” and is able to move from depression and despair to a joyful new life. This movie looks like is worth seeing…and contemplating!

2009-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

This week I wrote to the Diocese about Epiphany, one of my favorite seasons...

Even for Western Europeans, Twelfth Night, which used to formally mark the end of the Christmas season, is now mostly forgotten. I try to be a purist and keep my Christmas decorations up until tonight, but I think I am the only one on the block. As for Christmas music on the radio, forget it! That disappeared at noon on Christmas day!

Biblically, the central characters of Epiphany are the Magi or Wise men, mentioned only in the Gospel of Matthew. Although we usually like to make their arrival the spectacular climax of our Christmas pageants, giving them the title of Kings (because of the Old Testament prophecy about “kings shall come to the brightness of thy rising”), or bestowing upon them exotic names like Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior (not done until the 8th Century), or even assuming that there were three of them (because of the three gifts mentioned), Matthew had something else in mind. He mentions them, not because they were so grand and wise, but because in his day they would have been considered odd and rather, well, dumb. The word Magi, comes from the Greek magoi, the root of our English word, “magician.” What we are dealing with is something like ancient near eastern astrologers (hence their interest in the star over Bethlehem). But to Hebrew minds such astrologers would have been considered as sorcerers, a practice prohibited in the Torah. Not only were they theologically suspect, but they were politically dense. Going to King Herod, a raving paranoid despot, to ask where they might find his successor was hardly a bright idea!

Just as Luke has Jesus’ birth welcomed by shepherds, also ritually unclean occupation with a reputation of dishonesty, so Matthew has Jesus welcomed by a committee of “cracked-brain astrologers.” Once again, it seems that God picks the most unlikely, the most politically suspect marginalized, the most socially marginalized people to do God’s work. And that, my friends, is good news for us!

Like the Magi, many of us have come a long way (physically and emotionally) to Christianity. Just as they did, we have scanned the heavens for a sign of hope. We too have wondered if this little baby could somehow be the answer to our prayers. Like them we might not be the brightest bulbs on the Christmas tree. But we are wise about one thing-- like those oddballs from the East, we seek Jesus still.

Christian Charity

2009-01-05T15:02:00.001-08:00

Here is an interesting piece that I've sent out to the Diocese this week.

Slate offered a provocative essay on whether American Christians give too little to charity. The answer appears to depend on what benchmark is used. Christians are generous compared to nonbelievers, but perhaps stingy compared to what our affluence can afford and what our churches tell us to contribute:
The run-up to Christmas, with its street-corner Salvation Army kettles and church food drives, would seem a lousy time to find out that Christian charity in America is not what it's supposed to be. But in the recently released Passing the Plate: Why American Christians Don't Give Away More Money, sociologists Christian Smith, Michael O. Emerson, and Patricia Snell argue that too many American Christians—"the most affluent single group of Christians in two thousand years of church history"—are guilty of Scrooge-like stinginess. At least one in five American Christians, they write, gives no money at all to charities. In some churches, the miserliness rate is even higher. More than 28 percent of Catholics, for example, don't donate to charity. Bah, humbug, indeed.
But are Christians really so stingy? Looked at comparatively, Christians could be commended for their relative generosity instead of rebuked as misers. Their charitable giving stacks up pretty well against that of nonbelievers, who appear to be even tighter with their charitable dollars. More than half of nonreligious Americans contributed no money or property to charity, according to Passing the Plate, and the percentage of income donated to charity by the average nonbeliever was less than 1 percent, compared with nearly 3 percent for American Christians. And some categories of Christians distinguished themselves as givers. The average evangelical Protestant, for example, gave a sturdy 8.2 percent of annual income, according to surveys cited in the book.
Despite all the exhortations, though, it seems that relatively few Christians—even those who give regularly—have followed church teachings on exactly how much to give. Most American Christians belong to churches that promote tithing—giving 10 percent of income to the church. Tithing's roots extend back to the Old Testament commandment to give one-tenth of agricultural produce as a sacred offering. Though it's often associated with conservative and evangelical Protestant churches, tithing is also taught, for example, in the more liberal Episcopal Church, which teaches members "to practice tithing as a minimum standard of giving." Yet fewer than one in 10 Christians gives as much as a tithe of their income. The 2.9 percent of income given by the average Christian may seem reasonably generous, but it falls significantly short of what many Christian churches desire.
If tithing is so widely taught, why is it so seldom practiced?
(Thanks to Episcopal Café)

Enjoying the Red Rocks

2008-12-29T11:03:00.000-08:00

One of the best vacations I can think of is time by a fire and lots of good books.
I have a chance to do exactly that during this Christmas-tide. Laura and I are at the house in Oak Creek, keeping warm (it was 21 degrees yesterday morning)and doing lots of reading (even though the temptation to use the computer sometimes wins out). I am especially enjoying a new translation of the Canterbury Tales which Jordan gave me fo Christmas.

Phoenix Light Rail begins!

2008-12-28T09:09:00.000-08:00

Both kids (in their twenties) were home for Christmas and both asked why I haven't posted anything on my blog recently. So along the lines of a New Year's resolution, here goes...

Yesterday Laura and I spent a very cold day in Phoenix riding the new Lightrail or "metro" (in homage to Paris?) on its opening day. It took a decade to do and cost well over a billion dollars. It will remain to be seen if anyone uses it or not, since the route does not serve the most important areas of the city. Still it is a step in the right direction, and since we had to put up with 3 years of construction noise, we do feel a bit proprietary.

There were huge crowds, so there is some real interest. I suspect that we will use it to travel out to events a ASU in Tempe and perhaps use the library out there more.

There has not been a rail system in Phoenix for 60 years.

Having marked that historic occasion, we packed up both dogs and headed for Oak Creek where we will be until New Years.

What does the House of Bishops look like?

2008-09-22T10:06:00.000-07:00

I can remember the first time I actually witnessed a meeting of the House of Bishops, before I was elected. I think that I expected to see a group of mostly men sitting around wearing copes and mitres and discussing theology. The reality was much different--and a little disappointing. Many of you have enjoyed the video clips that I posted from Lambeth. So here is one from the recent House of Bishops meeting last week in Salt Lake City. As you can see, we met in a nice but ordinary hotel ballroom. The Presiding Bishop is speaking, and in the back of the room are tables for the staff and translators. Maybe copes and mitres would not be a bad idea?

Opening ceremonies

2008-08-10T13:57:00.000-07:00

Did anyone else find the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to be a bit scary?
There was lots of media commentary about how they marked China's entry into the world community. That certainly is true, but I wondered if they weren't also intended to shock and awe viewers around the world (and there were a record number of them in the US).

I found the huge masses of synchronized dancers to be just a bit intimidating. The message seemed to me to be, "We can get huge numbers of people to work together to do anything--those of you in the West, watch out!" I doubt I was the only one who was reminded of similar mass displays in the Nuremberg Party rallies of Nazi Germany.

If that impression is true, that America is finding itself increasingly to be a second rate economic and military power, then there are some implications for how we see ourselves as American Christians as well. Maybe we are not quite as important as we think we are?

Back fom Lambeth

2008-08-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

After more than three weeks in England, I now back in Phoenix, reflecting on our time there.

For those of you who missed the musings while at the Lambeth conference, you can find them all on my special site, www.lambethdaily.blogspot.com.

Now that I am home, I will be returning to this blog address.

The first item is to share the letter I wrote the my Diocese today:

Feast of the Transfiguration,
August 6, 2008

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Laura and I have just returned from three weeks in England, where we attended the Lambeth Conference, the meeting of the world-wide Anglican Communion held at the invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury every ten years.

Some of you have been following my daily reports of that meeting, and these will remain posted (along with some videos I took) at www.lambethdaily.blogspot.com. In addition, many of you have already looked at the final “Reflections” document produced at the Conference (www.lambethconference.org/reflections/document.cfm). Much of what is contained in that document, especially the sections referring to full inclusion of gay and lesbian folks in the Anglican Communion, will no doubt serve as material for further discussion and debate here in our Diocese and in our American church, especially when it meets at its General Convention next year.

So although the work of Lambeth 2008 will take some time to digest, I felt that this would be a good time to share with you some of my initial impressions.

Overall, it was an extremely positive experience. Those critics who predicted that the Anglican Communion would fragment at this conference were proved wrong. Far from resulting in schism, the meeting provided us all with a chance bishops from around the world to get to know each other and the contexts in which we work. In spite of the fact that we occasionally disagreed, there was no hint of rancor or anger in any of our meetings, only the desire to share in the mission of the Gospel of Jesus in the world. The highlights of our time together were the small Bible study groups we had each morning and the larger indaba discussions which followed (indaba is a South African technique for making sure every voice is heard). While the bishops focused on scripture and doctrine, the spouses in their meeting concentrated more on the relational side of our life together. Laura heard stories of hardship and suffering from spouses who have experienced rape, murder, and terror as the result of their witness.

Although the Reflections document is merely a report of our discussions (Lambeth has no legislative authority), many of its comments related to human sexuality are bound to gain attention in the coming months. The American Church realizes that our policy of inclusion is not shared by the majority. The document reflects that fact. Even though I had hoped that the Communion could accept the American Church’s actions, I was disappointed that this was not the case. Bishop Gene Robinson’s exclusion was personally difficult for me, and I supported him the best I could by attending an off- campus Eucharist with him. Most (but not all) of the 38 constituent provinces still feel that there is need for a covenant agreement which would contain some kind of discipline for those provinces that proceed with the consecration of openly gay or lesbian bishops, or who offer blessings of same gender unions. Both the meaning of these passages, and the disciplinary implications are still unclear, but I don’t think it would be an overstatement to say that many of us in the American Church feel caught between our love for the Communion and our conviction that in the church there can be no outsiders. The result, as someone half jokingly remarked, is that “the Anglican Communion welcomes everyone, except a few, and the Americans, who welcome everyone.” So this tension will continue.

For my part, I intend to do three things. The first is to nurture the friendships I made with my colleagues from around the world. I am sure my prayer-group members (which included one very vocal critic of the American Church) and I will be friends for life, for we pledged to pray daily for each another. Second, our mission partnerships need to be strengthened. I hope to build on our relationship with Western Mexico and Dar es Salaam, and both will be present at our Convention in October. Third, the clergy and I will be discussing the pastoral implications of the Reflections document at our clericus meetings this fall and how we as one Diocese can best respond to it.

Lambeth Conference was for both Laura and me a life changing experience which will affect our ministries for years to come. In addition to the formal meetings, I will always treasure the personal opportunities I had during my time in England to do such things as sit in prayer in Canterbury cathedral for two days of retreat; to visit Cambridge University where I got to touch original documents of Thomas Beckett, Thomas Cranmer, and Martin Luther and to hold in my hands the oldest book in England that Pope Gregory gave to St Augustine in 597; to play the organ in the Cathedral; to walk in solidarity through the streets of London with 700 other bishops in purple cassocks in support of the Millennium Development Goals; and yes, to enjoy the gracious hospitality of the Queen at Buckingham palace! I will always give thanks for the opportunity to represent you, the people of the Diocese of Arizona at this gathering. I am proud to be your bishop and I am proud to be part of our great and historic church throughout the world.

Faithfully,

+Kirk

Salvation from Seniors

2008-06-10T15:48:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I had the chance to spend some time with my longtime friend and mentor, Bishop Claude Payne, retired Bishop of the Diocese of Texas. Some of you will remember that it was Bishop Payne who wrote the book, Reclaiming the Great Commission, which I have found to be a very helpful guide in my ministry as Bishop. Bishop Payne was in town to preach at the installation service of The Rev. Philip Jackson, the new rector of Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley. Philip's connections with Bishop Payne go back further than mine. They worked together in Texas, and the Bishop presided at Philip's marriage ceremony.

Bishop Payne was one of the oldest bishops ever elected in this country, not taking the reins of the Diocese of Texas until age 61. But once started, he accomplished some amazing things. Prior to his call to the priesthood, Bishop Payne was an engineer. Like most engineers, when confronted by a problem, he devised a solution and then implemented it. The newly-minted Bishop Payne faced a diocese with declining membership, stagnant growth and lack of vision. But thanks to his methodical approach to problems and solutions, the result is that Texas is now one of the largest and healthiest dioceses in the country.

What struck me most strongly during the time we spent together this weekend was that although now well into his retirement, and at an age when many of us would be content to play golf or bridge, Bishop Payne has taken on a quiet, but determined, reformation of the Episcopal Church. A few years ago, he began a series of informal meetings of bishops and clergy, a "Gathering of Leaders." Those attending share a common goal of not being sidetracked by the all too ubiquitous political infighting and to keep focused on the church's main task of spreading the Gospel. We share best practices with each other, and give each other mutual support. I am honored to be part of this group, and I have, in turn, invited several young clergy of our diocese to participate.

Not long ago I visited a vestry where, after I had challenged them to commit to a new vision of growth, one exasperated vestry member said, "We can't do that, we're too old!"

I recalled the saying of Winston Churchill, "Most good is done in the world by people who don't feel very well."

Bishop Payne is an example of someone who is having a huge effect on the lives of many in his "retirement." I am sure you can think of other examples in your own church or community who contribute to a future they may never see. I am quite proud of my Dad who last year at the age of 84 volunteered to work on a building project for the poor in Guatemala, who spearheaded a library expansion program in their town, and who sat on the board of directors of their county community college district. I recall a gentleman from St. John's church in Glendale who sang in the choir there-up to when he was 102!

It is true that the Episcopal Church is "grayer" than many denominations. That is certainly true here in Arizona. But that does not mean that even our older members can't continue to exercise dynamic, thoughtful, and productive ministries, and even change the course of the church for the future.

I wonder what Bishop Payne plans to do once he turns 80?

Interviewing for the Faith

2008-06-02T10:31:00.000-07:00

This past week I joined some of my Episcopal colleagues in New York City for some “media training,”—translated, “how to give an interview on television and not look like a doofus.” Together at the recent House of Bishops meeting in Texas we had all had a taste of this, but a group of us decided that we needed some more intense work in this area, including some practice runs on camera.

I think that the Presiding Bishop (probably prompted by our own Chuck Robertson) realized that at the upcoming Lambeth Conference we are likely to have a microphone stuck in our face and we had better be ready to respond intelligently. Moreover, I realized that since I have been bishop, I have probably given about 25 such interviews.
After last week’s media training, I wish that could have done most of them over again!

Dealing with journalists is not easy, but there are at least three main points that we learned in our training—take time to prepare, know your core story (the point you want to make sure you get across in what is likely to be a seven second sound-bite), and always include a story.

It occurred to me that these tips for doing a good interview are also fundamental to being a good evangelists—know the topic (the Gospel of Jesus Christ), insist on the core point (this is “Good News” for all people); make it personal and passionate (speak from your own experience).

We had a chance to critique several recorded television interviews. It was amazing to see how many people when confronted by a camera wander off-topic, or string together the worst kind of generalities, or are distracted by curve-ball questions which have nothing to do with the topic at hand.

How are we doing when it comes to proclaiming the Gospel? Do we take time to prepare what we are going to say? Our coach reminded us that most clergy spend 10-20 hours a week preparing a sermon that a few hundred people might hear. What about an interview that thousands or even millions will read or listen to? I am often saddened by the small number of folks who participate in parish education classes or the Church School teacher who brags that they “looked over the lesson for a few minutes on Saturday night,” or the priest who clearly has not his or her homework, or the Sunday morning service which is thrown together with no real thought. “Be prepared” is not just the Boy Scout motto, but for any of us in Christian leadership.

Likewise, our frequent lack of passion about what we proclaim is often a result of the fact that we don’t take it personally. Unless we share with others our own experience of God’s work in our lives, then we cannot expect to influence them. This does not mean that every sermon has to be a personal testimonial, or every coffee hour an occasion for witnessing, but it does mean that our religion is rooted in our experience ( Frederick Buechner once said, “Religion begins with a lump in the throat”), and unless we base our words on what is going on in our hearts, our presentation of the Gospel will be boring and irrelevant.

Most of us will never have to face a camera team, but each of us is called everyday to be interviewed by others about our faith. It can happen in simple ways: around the water-cooler, on the sidelines of the soccer field, at the senior center. The questions may be more subtle than on TV, but they are asking the same thing—tell us about what you believe and why?

What will be your answer?

“Film at 10”

God is Green?

2008-03-25T11:00:00.000-07:00

The Diocese of Arizona recently received some good front page coverage in the Phoenix paper, the Arizona Republic, when they did a long piece on how churches are being environmentally responsible.

You can read the article at http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0322greeneaster0322.html

Its a good start, but we have a long way to go!

Thoughts from the House of Bishops

2008-03-13T15:41:00.001-07:00

I have not posted anything here for a while, so I will share with you all the report from the House of Bishops that I sent to the folks in the Diocese of Arizona:

Wednesday afternoon
March 12, 2008

The spring House of Bishops Meeting in Camp Allen has just concluded and I want share my impressions with you before I head back to Phoenix.

We have enjoyed 6 days of fellowship, prayer (we worshipped together three times a day), great preaching and teaching against the backdrop of a springtime in rural Texas. I even managed to join some colleagues for a couple of hours of horseback-riding!

Much of our time together was spent on the hearing of reports and presentations, but the meeting was framed by two very emotional bookends.

The first was the announcement that in spite of intensive lobbying by many bishops of our church, the Archbishop of Canterbury has decided not to permit Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire to participate in any capacity at the upcoming Lambeth Conference in July. Although Bishop Robinson was the only American bishop not to receive a formal invitation, it had been hoped that a way could be found to have him present in an unofficial capacity. This news was greeted with great sadness by most of the House, and we are working to find ways support our brother during our time in England, and especially to invite our counterparts in the Anglican Communion to meet with him. I invite you to read all the documents that are posted on the Episcopal News Service website, including Bishop Robinson’s very moving response to the Lambeth decision, as well as a resolution passed by the House in support of him. Whether one agrees with him or not, it is important to remember that he is a duly elected Bishop and that his exclusion is hurtful not only to him, but to the integrity of the American church.

The other sad moment in our time together came when we took action to depose two bishops of the church who had violated their ordination vows by working to take parishes out of the Episcopal Church, Bishop John-David Scofield of San Joaquin, and Bishop William Cox, retired Suffragan of Maryland. This action was taken after long moments of prayer and silence reflection on the floor of the house. All of us wished to be as charitable and forgiving as possible, but the fact remains that both bishops have worked for many years to separate themselves from our church and in doing so have cause great harm to their dioceses. We consider our action to be a recognition of an existing situation, and not a punitive action.

Many of the presentations we heard focused, appropriately enough, on reconciliation and on our need to go to the Lambeth conference in as open, humble, and cooperative way as possible. We spent an entire learning about “faith-based reconciliation” and how it has been successfully practiced in our own church in around the world. We also renewed our commitment to anti-racism training.

As always, there were a number of practical items. We can expect, for example, some changes in our clergy medical insurance program that should result in considerable savings. We also received some training in dealing with media which will come in handy when we are interviewed by reporters this summer.

I continue to be impressed by the great wealth of talent and diverse thinking of the bishops of the American church, and their willingness to undertake decisions prayerfully and seriously.

A prayer used by our chaplains at worship each day sums it all up:

Give to your Church, O God,
a bold vision and a daring charity,
a refreshed wisdom and a courteous understanding,
that the eternal message of your Son
may be acclaimed as the good news of the age;
through him who makes all things new,
even Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

A Dog-loving Bishop

2007-12-30T10:19:00.000-08:00

The spark of reading the excellent new book by Larry Witham, A City Upon A Hill, How Sermons Changed the Course of American History, has rekindled my interest in the history of the Episcopal Church in this Country, as evidenced by my obsession with Arizona Missionary Pioneer Endicott Peabody (see the entry below).

It is amazing how much interesting material is available on the Internet, thanks to such sites as Project Canterbury. This weekend, I stumbled across a great picture of the Rt. Rev. William Doane, who was the first bishop of Albany. He also was for a time the rector of St. John's Church in W.Hartford, where I was curate back in the 1980's. I found on-line a contemporary biography which included a poem he had written about his St Bernard dog, Cluny. It's not bad theology, and is a great picture, both of which I share with you here. Could Bishop Doane ever have imagined that his work and likeness would be found in an electronic archive and flashed around the world 150 years later?

A Christmas Message

2007-12-23T14:18:00.001-08:00

A Christmas Message from Bishop Smith

O holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in,
Be born in us today.

---Philips Brooks, “O Little Town of Bethlehem.”

“Be born in us today.” This is my prayer for all of us in the Diocese of Arizona this Christmas season. As followers of the Christ Child, our celebration is far more than just a commemoration of a stupendous act that happened long ago. Our calling is rather to reflect in our own flesh and blood the reality of God’s becoming flesh and dwelling with us as one of us. Just as God took our full humanity in Jesus, so he expects our humanity to reflect his divinity in all that we do. If God was incarnate in Jesus, that means that Jesus can be incarnate in us. We become the means through which Christ is born into the world.

How would those around us know that Christ is born in us? Simply through the countless small ways that we reflect God’s love for all creation. As St Francis used to say, “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary, us words.” They would see it in the way we treat each other, in how we spend our time, with what we do with our talents and possessions, and above all in our willingness to share the Good News with others.

As I have traveled around the Diocese this past year, I have witnessed countless ways in which Arizona Episcopalians have birthed Christ into the world. I have seen a new courage among church members to share their faith with others. I have been impressed with the growth of programs for children and youth. I have rejoiced in a renewed concern for creation and especially for the needs of the desperately poor of the world.

Of course, we still have along way to go. Our growing State needs more communities of worship. Our country needs to learn from us what it means to care for the stranger in our midst. Congregations need to understand that mission to others, not maintenance of the status quo, is the essence of our baptismal promise.

It is well neigh impossible to ignore an impending birth. That baby is coming, ready or not, whether means being born into a sterile hospital, the back seat of a tax cab, or into a feeding trough in a barn. God has been born into our world. That is a fact we cannot igmore. Now it is time for him to be born into our hearts.

May you all have a blessed and holy Christmas season!

Icon image copywrite: Laura Fisher Smith

Beowolf and Hollywood

2007-11-28T19:39:00.000-08:00

Last week I had the opportunity to see the hit movie Beowolf. As a sometime medievalist and Anglo-Saxon period history buff, I looked forward to this special effects treatment of the earliest English writing. As pure entertainment, I would give it an A, but as history or literature, an F would be generous. The story as told by Hollywood has only the slightest resemblance to the great 8th Century poem. What was intended as a epic portrayal of the struggle of good and evil has been turned into a predictable sentimental love triangle. Gone is the poetry,the mystery; what remains is bland dialogue and Angelina Jolie as a naked water demon in stilleto heels.

What was especially disappointing was how Hollywood has turn a Christian story into an anti-Christian polemic about how the age of heroes has been replaced by simpering Christian whimps. It is hard to believe that the writers ever even read the original story!

But my biggest sadness is that now millions of young people will think they have seen and understood the story of Beowolf without ever experiencing the brillance of the original epic. Do yourself a favor, rummage through your old college textbook collection and enjoy it all over again.

The Internet: An engine for schism?

2007-11-25T15:05:00.000-08:00

I have just finished reading Alex Wright's fascinating history of information management called Glut: Mastering Information Through the Ages (Joseph Henry Press, 2007). In it, he examines human attempts to organize information from prehistoric beads, ancient libraries, monastic proto-bloggers, Thomas Jefferson's Library, and the Dewey Decimal System, all leading up to a history and critique of the World Wide Web.

It is no surprise that he has some thoughts on how the web affects human consciousness.

Before the age of television, many historians believed that the spread of literacy signaled the forward marc of technological progress, in which human civilization was moving inexorably forward toward higher degrees of social complexity....Recent history, however, seems to support an alternative view that in our modern technological era human culture may not be moving unidirectionally at all, but rather multidirectionally. The notion of inevitable progress towards hierarchical complexity began to fracture in the 1960's, with the rise of the great modern liberation movements:civil rights, the antiwar movement,feminism, sexual liberation, gay rights. All of these social movements also happen to coincide with the spread of electronic media. p. 236.

In short, the web is a corrosive force for any centralized authority. I don't think is much of a jump to apply his conclusions to our Church today. It has often been pointed out that before e-mail, no one cared about the World Wide Anglican Communion.
What the American Church was up to was unknown to the African Churches. Now, with every action of every bishop instantly analyzed and criticized by millions, and self-appointed bloggers emerging as the semi-official spokesperson for any given theological view, the ecclesiastical world has changed.

Where Wright takes this idea deeper is in assertion that web cultural represents, in spite of its written form, a new "oral" culture which tends towards tribal self interest.

Fueled by the growth of personal computing and network technology, many organizations have since had to come to terms with the ongoing transfer of power, away from the old central planning hierarchies and towards increasingly self-organized groups of individuals. p. 238

I suspect we have seen these forces at work with the dissident movements within our own church--witness the continued fracturing of those groups leaving TEC--as well as the more positive "emergent" movements both within and without our existing organizational structures.

For a culture which is essentially a 19th century informational book culture, I believe we ignore the impact of the digital age to our own peril.

Thanksgiving Day

2007-11-22T11:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings to our internet friends!

We attended services at the cathedral this morning
where I preached and celebrated. Earlier, we helped at
the annual cathedral breakfast for the homeless.

This afternoon we will be with some friends at their
home in Tempe. They are both gourmet cooks, so the
fare will be spectacular.

In the midst of the abundance we enjoy, let's not
forget the hungry, especially those recovering from
the typhoon in Asia. The attached picture was taken
there yesterday as women line up for the small amount
of food that is there.

You can help in these an other places by contributing
to Episcopal Relief and Development (www.er-d.org) or
other charities of your choice.

May you all have a great day with those you love!

Endicott Peabody

2007-11-12T08:18:00.001-08:00

One of the privileges enjoyed by an Episcopal Bishop is the ability to add to the liturgical calendar those local “saints” worthy of veneration by the faithful of the diocese. This is the first step towards eventually having that person’s name added to the liturgical calendar of the National Church, printed in the Book of Common Prayer.

In my time as Bishop of Arizona I have been struck by the contribution of two outstanding missionaries. Padre Eusebio Kino, the 17th Century Italian Jesuit who explored Arizona and northern Mexico, and the Rev. Endicott Peabody, who, before his over 55 years as Headmaster of Groton School in Massachusetts, founded in 1882 St. Paul’s Church in Tombstone, the oldest Protestant congregation in the state.

As I announced in our recent Diocesan Convention, I intend to add the commemoration of both these men to our liturgical calendar, beginning this year.

On Saturday, Nov. 17th at 11 a.m. at Trinity Cathedral, Phoenix I will celebrate and preach at the first such service for Endicott Peabody. This is the anniversary of his death on that day in 1944, and it also marks the 150th year of his birth. You are all welcome to join members of the Peabody family, former Groton School headmasters, and members of St. Paul’s Church, Tombstone for that service.

Having read most of Dr. Peabody’s correspondence with the first Bishop of Arizona, his friend Julius Atwood (in whose former house I now live), as well as his biography, Peabody of Groton, I feel a certain spiritual kinship to this great man. I am certain his life will continue to be an inspiration to future generations of Arizona Episcopalians. In addition, should his name be added to Book of Common Prayer calendar, he would be the first head of an Episcopal School to be so honored.

I have attached propers for this special day below and invite you to use them in your own parish celebrations on, or near, that day. Padre Eusebio Kino will likewise be remembered on Mar. 15, 2008 at Tucumcacori Mission, near Tubac. Propers for that service will be forthcoming.

I hope that you will join me in honoring the witness of these two great missionaries and important figures in our Arizona history.

One of my favorite hobbies

2007-10-29T10:49:00.000-07:00

Every so often I volunteer time a the Arizona Science to help operate their amateur radio station, W7ASC. Not only do I get to operate their equipment (far better than mine) but I also get the satisfaction of talking to school kids about radio. Its a great hobby and I highly recommend it. If you want to find out more, take a look at the information from the American Radio Relay League

Vitality of the Gobal South

2007-10-27T11:44:00.000-07:00

As I visit the parishes in this Diocese and talk with them about the future of the church, I often remind them of the tremendous vitality being displayed in the Anglican Communion in Africa and Asia. I like to contrast my experience with Confirmation services with that of my African collegues. The greatest number I have ever confirmed at one service was 45. One bishop I know reported a seven hour service at which almost 5,000 new members were welcomed. He was so tired that he had to have his assistants hold up his arms.

I like to point those interested to the excellent studies of Philip Jenkins and his conclusions that the future of Christianity lies in the Third World.

However, there is also an important corrective, picked up this week in the The Daily Episcopalian.

"'Global South' implies a monolithic body when in reality the group's membership appears to be porous, driven by a small number of special interest advocates primarily in Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, and their American franchise holders. Membership and financial data about the group is as difficult to come by as that of a Cayman Islands registered corporation. The organization projects a billboard slogan North-South divide. Northern churches are cold, dwindling in numbers, and ignore the Bible. In contrast, the growing South is energetic, biblically correct, and the home of ready judges waiting to declare what is acceptable practice throughout the Anglican Communion.

This slick North-South divide is no more accurate than numerous other discredited religious clash-of-civilization comparisons that have appeared and disappeared during recent centuries. Amartya Sen, the Pakistani-born Nobel-Prize-winning author, has warned about the dangers of such distorted religious reductionism: 'The hope of harmony in the contemporary world lies to a great extent in a clearer understanding of the pluralities of human identity, and in the appreciation that they cut across each other and work against a sharp separation along one single hardened line of impenetrable division.' (Amartya Sen, Identity and Violence, The Illusion of Destiny (New York: Norton, 2006), xiv.)

You can read all about it over at Episcopal Life Online here

A Church in Decline?

2007-10-21T09:54:00.000-07:00

In the last few days there has been considerable discussion on the national church's listserve about whether or not the Episcopal Church is dying. I won't get into the statistical arguments (my view is there is both good and bad news), but I will share a comment made by one of the delegates to our Diocesan Convention which was held this past Friday and Saturday:

We rejoiced today at the Diocesan Convention in Arizona with Christ Church of the Ascension in Paradise Valley and its new priest -- it's the parish which most definitely did not leave. We accepted as a companion the Diocese of Western Mexico with great opportunities for mutual support as together we straddle the border.And we accepted as mission congregations the three start-ups of the last couple of years, one of which is a Sudanese congregation -- the first in the country, we were told, to have its own church building.We passed a budget with .7 % for the MDGs and encouraged all congregations to do the same by 2009.

I would simply add, Does this sound like a church in decline?

Courageous Parish in Cave Creek

2007-10-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Good Shepherd Church in Cave Creek, just north of Phoenix has for some time been assisting migrant workers in their day workers program. Every weekday morning the parish provides workers, most of them undocumented, with food, counseling, and referrals for work. They have been furiously resisted by local citizens and the County Sheriff. Tonight on "Nightline" (Channel 15 at 10:30 PM in the Phoenix area, others check local listings), you can learn all about their struggle.

You may also read about it here.

Kudos to the parish and to their rector, The Rev. Glenn Jenks, for their courageous support of people in need.

Science and Religion

2007-10-16T10:28:00.000-07:00

The Dean of Trinity Cathedral, the Vy. Rev. Nicholas Kniseley is a scientist by training and so devotes a lot of his excellent blog, Entangled States (http://www.entangledstates.com/) to issues of science and religion. This is also an interest of mine, although I am not nearly so qualified, being more of a dilettante and (very) amateur astronomer. Still, discussions of the intersection of the two disciplines always sparks my interest, as did this recent comment from English Rabbi Jonathan Sachs in the London Times. It was reported by Nick and I am reprinting it here:

"Any account of the human condition that reduces the human spirit to an accidental by-product of evolutionary pressures tells less than half the story of who we are. We may be — on this, the Bible and neo-Darwinism agree — ‘dust of the earth’, the reconfigured debris of exploded stars. But within us is the breath of God. Scientists call this ‘emergence’: the process whereby systems of self-organising complexity yield something new, more than the sum of its parts. That is where religion and science both began: when life became conscious, then self-conscious, then able to ask the question: ‘Why?’
The current argument between ‘religion’ and ‘science’ is deeply unnecessary. It involves a caricature of religion and a parody of science. It is structured around a set of absurd oppositions, between science and superstition, reason and revelation, knowledge and wishful thinking, as if scientists and religious believers were incapable of realising the limits of their respective domains. We need both: science to tell us how the world is, religion (and philosophy) to tell us how it ought to be."

An ancient art form for a modern church

2007-10-15T16:57:00.001-07:00

My wife Laura has become quite an accomplished iconographer. She has recieved a number of commissions for her work, and her license-plate even reads "Ikon" (this is the Greek spelling!).

Icons aren't painted, they are "read" or prayed. Many people from a variety of religous traditions have found meaning in these "windows into heaven."

Today she will be giving a class about them for the Episcopal Church Women at Church of the Advent in Sun City. More importantly, she will be helping them to try their own hand at this form for devotion.

For more information see Laura's web site: http://www.ikonarts.net/

Some feedback from the Digital Generation

2007-10-15T14:48:00.000-07:00

Last week I visited with the students of our Canterbury Group at the campus of Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff (www.naucanterbury.org). Over dinner, I asked them however many of them had their own blogs (about half). How many of them read other peoples' blogs (about half). I thought that number low and asked how come. "You need to remember, Bishop Smith," said one, "Your generation things all this web stuff is exciting. We just take it for granted as part of life."

There is some truth there to be sure. But if the next generation takes it for granted, that it even more reason for us old foggies who are now running the church to make sure that we are technically savvy, not because it is the cool thing to do, but because it is expected.

The church no longer has a monopoly on information about religion and spirituality. The spiritually hungry person can find anything they want on the internet. Hopefully what they can also find an effective presentation of the faith as we understand and value it.

Bishops in the electronic age

2007-10-13T10:15:00.000-07:00

My Cathedral Dean, Nicholas Kniseley, has done a great job of helping to move the Diocese into the Digital Age. He has recently conducted a series classes for the clergy called, "Blogging for Jesus" which prompted your's truly to get into the act.

I thought you all might enjoy a picture of several bishops at a recent gathering in Spain all busy with their laptops attending to business back home. What would we do without our computers?

Some Ancient Advice for Modern Pastors

2007-10-13T10:14:00.000-07:00

This past week, we celebrated the feast day of Robert Grossteste, medieval Oxford scholar and later Bishop of Lincoln (+1253). It is often pointed out that his name means literally “fat head,” but he was anything but that, being noted in his own day for his keen intellect (he was especially interested in scientific topics), his pastoral care, and his efficient management of his Diocese. In one of his writings he gives us one of the most succinct descriptions of a pastor’s duties that I have found anywhere:

The cure of souls consists not only in the dispensation of the sacraments, in singing of the hours, and reading of masses, but in the true teaching of the word of life, in rebuking and correcting vice’ and besides all this, in feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, clothing the naked, housing the strangers, visiting the sick and prisoners—especially those who are the parish priest’s own parishioners. By such deeds of charity, a priest will instruct his people in the holy exercises of daily life.

Those are words I would like to have framed and hung over my desk as a reminder!

E-pistle Text for 10.6.07

2007-10-10T20:44:00.000-07:00

This past month one of our largest parishes has gone through some major changes.

Many of you know that the clergy and a sizable group of parishioners at Christ Church
of the Ascension in Paradise Valley have found themselves at odds with the Episcopal Church since the consecration of Gene Robinson as Bishop of New Hampshire. I sense that some of those people also viewed the action of the 2006 General Convention as a departure from an “orthodox” understanding of Scripture and Church tradition.

This unhappiness has over the years resulted in a lack of participation in the life of the Diocese, and even discussions of how that parish might leave the Episcopal Church, taking the parish property with them. By now I think you know that in our system of governance, all parish property is held in trust by the congregation for the Diocese. That has not stopped some dissatisfied congregations around the country from challenging that rule in court, but to date, with no success.

Ever since I began my time as bishop, I have tried to make it clear to the unhappy members of that parish that I valued their presence in the Diocese, and that they were welcome to their own theological understandings. You have heard me say many times that our church is a big tent, and that anyone who wants to be an Episcopalian should be!
One of the ways I did that was to arrange for them Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO) in which I invited the Bishop of the Diocese of the Rio Grande to become their Episcopal visitor. This system worked for a while.

However, with the announcement by the rector, Fr. Ken Semon, that he was leaving to take an interim position in that Diocese, things quickly changed. Many vestry members resigned, a new “moderate” vestry was elected, and a small group of about 75 people (out of a 1000 member parish) announced that they were leaving their home on Lincoln Drive to start a new church. This group, calling themselves “Christ Church Anglican,” has affiliated with an Anglican archbishop in Africa, in violation of not only the Windsor Report, but also the ancient canons of the church. I am sorry that they felt they had to take such a drastic step, but I wish them well in creating a place where they no longer have to feel angry and oppositional to the mission of the church.

Back at Christ Church of the Ascension, parish life continues. I have appointed the Rev. Philip Jackson, formerly leader of one of the largest and fasted growing parishes in Detroit, as Priest in Charge Under Special Circumstances, which means that after one year the vestry may, if its wishes, call him as their permanent rector. Fr. Jackson is traditionalist in his thinking, but he is also loyal to the Episcopal Church. He began his duties on this past Monday, October 1st. My assumption is that his parish will continue to be a home for those who describe themselves as conservative, but who value their historic connection with the Diocese, as I value their connection with us.

It is always sad when members of the family leave home—and I want to say to them again “the door is always open.” But I am also heartened to know that Christ Church of the Ascension has begun a healing process that will allow it to remain an important part of our Diocese as we work together to do the Lord’s work.

A Final Thought.

I have received lots of letters since I wrote to you after the recent gathering of the House of Bishops last week. I also discovered an excellent article which summarizes my feelings about where we are now. It is called, “Keep Your Eye on the Prize,” and it is written by the Dean of the Cathedral in Syracuse:

I attended seminary in 1978-1981. Thus, I was in seminary when the 1979 General Convention passed a resolution stating no persons having sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a woman should be ordained to any order in our church. This resolution was largely seen as a reaction to Paul Moore's ordination of Ellen Barrett, a lesbian, to the priesthood in 1977. It sent shock waves through my seminary, Nashotah House, and not just among the gay or lesbian students [And yes there were both there in those days.] One student, a gay man who I thought had great promise as a priest, decided that he needed to leave seminary and cease being in the ordination process. One of the results of that resolution was that a new organization called Integrity, and a charismatic leader named Louie Crew, became emboldened. I heard Louie preach at St. Francis House in Madison, Wisconsin in that time frame and he was compelling.What if instead, Louie Crew and many others had simply left the Episcopal Church? What if Gene Robinson, when he clearly did discern that he is a gay man, had decided to leave? On one hand our Church would have deserved it. But thanks be to God they stayed and taught and talked and built relationships, in what must have surely have seemed like a frustratingly endless basic tutorial on human sexuality and the Bible.In 2003 the General Convention gave its consent for Gene Robinson's election to be a bishop. That was 24 years after passing a resolution saying he shouldn't even be a priest. In the lives of people living in history, 24 years is a long time, a generation. In the scope of Christianity, 24 years is nothing, not even the blink of an eye. Even in the history of the Episcopal Church, it is not that long a period of time. When Gene's election was confirmed we thought that in many ways that the struggle was over, not completely, but much closer.But then we were reminded that not only are we not a congregational or presbyterian church, we are not merely a national church. We are an episcopal church, and bishops by definition are symbols and even means of unity across the globe. When first Barbara Harris and then other women were ordained to the episcopate we faced the global challenge that people, serving in an order one of whose purposes is unity within the church, would not be received by many within our Communion. We entered a period of "impaired Communion" with many of our dioceses throughout the Anglican Communion. Yet in that case, we could look to resolutions from prior Lambeth Conferences which stated that there were no theological barriers to women being ordained.When a gay man was elected a bishop in our church, we thought this would be similar, but we were wrong.We were reminded that – legally and constitutionally – we are part of the Anglican Communion. We were reminded that unlike the ordination of women, Lambeth had said "no" to this move. We have repeatedly been told, and I believe the bishops heard again, that to continue down this path would mean that we have decided to leave the Anglican Communion.For us to ordain to the episcopate people whose "manner of life" causes a problem for the rest of the Communion [and since I am divorced I may be included in that group] until there is a change in the consensus of the Anglican Communion is to, in effect, leave the Communion. For us to authorize rites for blessing same-sex relationships [something I have advocated for twenty years] until there is a change in the consensus of the Anglican Communion is to, in effect, leave the Communion. My prayer, my hope, and the thing I work for, among others, is the full participation of gay and lesbian people everywhere, and especially in Christ's One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, including the Anglican Communion.I think that the best thing in the long run is to refrain from acting, but to be a powerful and strong voice for advocacy, as Integrity has been within the Episcopal Church. We need to try to have openly glbt people representing the Episcopal Church on the Anglican Consultative Council. We need for our Primate and Bishops to be fully present voices within the councils of the Communion. I think that the Cathedral Deans need to become more creative about building relationships with other Deans and cathedrals across the Anglican Communion, so that the gays and lesbians among us may be heard and seen.We need to be realistic that all this may take another generation, but I do not think we should walk away from the challenge of transforming the third largest body of Christians in the world, and I believe it will happen. I say all of this realizing that as much as I may preach and teach and advocate, as a married, straight male I am not paying the cost for this journey the way glbt people are. Only the glbt among us can decide if they want this journey and if they are willing to pay the cost. I hope for the sake of God's Church, and even more for the sake of God's Dominion, that they will find the ability to do so.About the Author: The Very Reverend G. Thomas Luck is Dean and Rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Cathedral in Syracuse, New York.

2007-10-08T15:53:00.001-07:00

This is my first experience in the world of blogging. The Dean of our Cathedral, the Vy Rev. Nick Kniseley has given the clergy of the diocese some lessons in "Blogging for Jesus." I hope to use this as a tool for reaching those in this Diocese and beyond.