Tuesday, February 27, 2018

William Stringfellow (Holy Women & Holy Men)

William Stringfellow
(Apr. 26, 1928 – Mar. 2, 1985)
Theologian, activist, and Episcopal layman.

“The practice of the Christian life consists of the discernment of (the seeing and hearing), and the reliance upon (the reckless and uncalculating dependence), and the celebration (the ready and spontaneous enjoyment) of the presence of the Word of God in the common life of the world.” ~ A Private and Public Faith 

He was born in Cranston, Rhode Island. He attended Bates College and the London School of Economics. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 1956. He then began a private legal practice in Harlem, where he lived. He defended the legal rights of poor African American people. Stringfellow utilized a theological perspective to attack racism, the war in Vietnam, and other social ills. He perceived the powers and principalities of death to be active in the social evils of his day and in the idolatries of contemporary culture. Stringfellow urged that intercession and eucharistic praise are well suited to political resistance. Stringfellow moved to Block Island (New Shoreham), Rhode Island, in 1968 because of his failing health. He lived there with his partner Anthony Towne in the household they named "Eschaton." They were charged with harboring Daniel Berrigan as a fugitive. Berrigan, a Jesuit priest, was arrested at the home of Stringfellow and Towne after Berrigan's conviction for burning draft records. Stringfellow supported Berrigan's protest against American involvement in the war in Vietnam. The charges against Stringfellow and Towne were eventually dismissed.

Stringfellow was a prolific writer, despite the limitations of his health. He was an advocate for Bishop James Pike, and the co-author with Towne of two books that were supportive of the controversial bishop. Stringfellow's many theological books included Free in Obedience (1964), Dissenter in a Great Society (1966), Count It All Joy (1967), A Second Birthday (1970), An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land (1973), Instead of Death, New and Expanded Edition (1976), Conscience & Obedience (1977), A Simplicity of Faith: My Experience of Mourning (1982), and The Politics of Spirituality (1984). His writings were direct and accessible to a wide audience. He encountered the evils of his society with a profound Christian spirituality. Stringfellow died in Providence, Rhode Island. ("An Episcopal Dictionary of the Church, A User Friendly Reference for Episcopalians," Don S. Armentrout & Robert Boak Slocum, eds.)

Common of a Theologian and Teacher I

O God, by your Holy Spirit you give to some the word of wisdom, to others the word of knowledge, and to others the word of faith: We praise your Name for the gifts of grace manifested in your servant William Stringfellow, and we pray that your Church may never be destitute of such gifts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wisdom 7:7–14
Psalm 119:97–104
1 Corinthians 2:6–10,13–16
John 17:18–23

(from p. 720 of Holy Women & Holy Men)

Becoming the Beloved Community (News)

From Episcopal News Service

Episcopalians confront hard truths about Episcopal Church’s role in slavery, black history The goal: ‘Becoming Beloved Community’ now and in the future. By Amy Sowder



Vivian Evans, center, shares her thoughts after “The Birth of a Nation” film screening at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan Feb. 22. The Diocese of New York designated 2018 as “The Year of Lamentation” for its role in slavery — one Episcopal effort among many across the United States. Photo: Amy Sowder/Episcopal News Service
[Episcopal News Service] Brutal scenes of physical and psychological violence in the 2016 film “The Birth of a Nation” flashed across a screen set up inside a small chamber at the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine. A few viewers turned away, while some gasped and others watched steadily.

The film is based on the true story of Nat Turner, a slave preacher who led a rebellion in 1831.

Vivian Evans, 82, didn’t turn away.

“When I was 10 years old, I interviewed friends of my grandmother’s in Mississippi who had been slaves. She had me pick cotton to see what it was like, and I pricked my fingers just like they did in the movie,” Evans, a member of Trinity St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in New Rochelle, New York, told the others during a discussion after the film.

The Episcopal Diocese of New York Reparations Committee on Slavery organized the film screening and discussion as part of its Year of Lamentation to examine the diocese’s role in slavery. It’s one of a growing number of events across the United States as the Episcopal Church seeks racial reconciliation and healing among its congregations and wider communities.

“Lamentation is actually an opportunity; it’s beginning to open our eyes to what actions are possible for us. We can’t do that until we’ve owned our beginnings more fully,” said the Rev. Richard Witt, executive director of the statewide nonprofit Rural & Migrant Ministry and member of the Episcopal diocese’s reparations committee.

Black history in the Episcopal Church

Although much has been done at more recent General Conventions and throughout the church, this New York committee was created 12 years ago in response to three 2006 General Convention resolutions. One resolution asked the church to study its complicity and economic benefits from the slave trade. A second resolution said to “engage the people of the Episcopal Church in storytelling about historical and present-day privilege and under-privilege as well as discernment towards restorative justice and the call to fully live into our baptismal covenant.” The last resolution called for the church to support legislation for reparations for slavery.

In 2014, the New York diocese created a three-part video examining slavery available on YouTube. The committee has since established a prayer blog and is asking priests to integrate these messages into their sermons. The Year of Lamentation includes a schedule of community events, from book and film discussions to walking tours, pilgrimages and forums. Organizers said they are especially proud of the theatrical presentation, “New York Lamentation,” featuring figures in the history of the diocese, from clergy to slaves and lay people, revealing how a number of churches were built by slaves. The show premiered in Staten Island Jan. 21, and continues in Poughkeepsie March 4, in Manhattan Sept. 23, and in White Plains Oct. 14.

“This is not about trying to lay guilt on people. It’s about what we’ve done institutionally and systemically. The notion of white supremacy is woven into the fabric of this country,” historian Cynthia Copeland told Episcopal News Service. She’s co-chairwoman of the reparations committee and member of St. Mark’s Church in-the-Bowery in Manhattan. “If you take time to remove yourself personally and detach, it may be a little bit more palatable to take off those defenses and listen, instead of hanging onto those myths established in our society.”

“We’re asking people to think more critically of where we’re heading,” Copeland said. “This is not a one-time, check-it-off-your-list thing. It is about really internalizing this and making a lifelong work of questioning, having discussions, listening.”

Church practices have treated African-Americans as “other,” dependents in need of charity similar to those in mission fields abroad, rather than as equal citizens, according to a St. Mark’s timeline on events of African Americans’ struggle for recognition in the Episcopal Church.

February is Black History Month, an annual celebration of achievements by African-Americans and a time for recognizing the central role of blacks in U.S. history. On Feb. 13, Episcopalians often commemorate the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first African American priest ordained in the Episcopal Church. While that history includes notable achievements, it’s mired in oppression and inhumane treatment, which is also woven throughout Episcopal history — whether or not churchgoers talk about it, Copeland said.

But Episcopalians must talk about the horrors of the past and the inequalities of today, as well as do something to change the present and future — not just in February, or this year, but indefinitely, said the Rev. Stephanie Spellers, canon to the presiding bishop on evangelism, reconciliation and creation care.

Becoming Beloved Community is a four-part vision

To help dioceses and congregations take on this lifelong mission, in the spring of 2017, the Episcopal Church released its “Becoming Beloved Community” vision for racial reconciliation efforts. General Convention in 2015 allotted $2 million to this work.

The release followed a year of listening, consulting and reflection by Presiding Bishop Michael Curry, House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings and the other officers of the House of Bishops and House of Deputies. They invited Episcopalians to study and commit to this mission.

The vision is four-fold, and more like a lifelong labyrinth rather than a chronological to-do list. The first part though, must be done before the others are possible, however, Spellers and other racial healing activists say.

Telling the truth: “Who are we? What things have we done and left undone regarding racial justice and healing?” Church-wide initiatives include a census of the church and an audit of racial justice in Episcopal structures and systems.

Proclaiming the dream: How can we publicly acknowledge things done and left undone? What does Beloved Community look like in this place? What behaviors and commitments will foster reconciliation, justice, and healing? Initiatives include holding regional, public sacred listening and learning engagements, launching a story-sharing campaign and allocating the budget for lifelong formation of transformation.

Repairing the breach: What institutions and systems are broken? How will we participate in repair, restoration, and healing of people, institutions, and systems? Initiatives focus on justice reform, re-entry collaboratives with formerly incarcerated people returning to community and partnership with Episcopal Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

Practicing the way: How will we grow as reconcilers, healers and justice-bearers? How will we actively grow relationship across dividing walls and seek Christ in the other? This also involves the Becoming Beloved Community story-sharing campaign, as well as reconciliation and justice pilgrimages; multi-lingual formation and training; and liturgical resources for healing, reconciliation and justice.

And in the past year, leaders nationwide have made a great start, Spellers said.

“What the presiding bishop and the officers hoped for was to offer up a framework, not necessarily a program, for racial reconciliation,” Spellers told Episcopal News Service. “Do your discernment. What does it look like to tell the truth about your church, who we are and who we have not welcomed over the year? Do your discernment over what it looks like to practice love, to be reconcilers and healers, what you need to do to repair the breach.”

What other churches and dioceses are doing

“While I’m proud of what they’re doing here in New York, this diocese is by no means the first to grab this and run,” Spellers said.

Washington National Cathedral was one of the first to sign on, doing conversations on the church’s legacy of slavery, including their windows, which depicted the Confederate flag and Civil War. Cathedral leaders continue to host public programs, which are live-streamed for the rest of the Episcopal Church to participate. The Episcopal Church is a co-sponsor of this, which is a strong example of the second part of the labyrinth, Spellers said.

Based in Seattle, Washington, Heidi Kim, staff officer for racial reconciliation for the Episcopal Church, recently talked with Episcopalians in Massachusetts, where they’re doing an audit of the ordination process, studying the people who’ve dropped out and looking at patterns of exclusion that people of color, women and LGBTQ might be experiencing.

Kim has visited Southern dioceses with historically black and historically white parishes in small towns where they can no longer afford to operate as separate congregations and need to merge.

Often, separate parishes exist because the black church members weren’t allowed to go to the white church. The black churches are smaller and in need of more repairs compared to the white churches, she said. They need to engage in story-sharing, discuss what to celebrate and what they will lose when they merge, she said.

“This is not just about getting stuck in the guilt, but remembering those difficult dark moments of the past, not to shame and blame people, but so that we don’t make those same mistakes again,” Kim told Episcopal News Service. “This is part of our baptismal covenant, to repent and turn to a new way. People of good will and intentions allowed some pretty terrible things to happen. And it’s easy to do if we’re not intentional and creating beloved spaces for everyone.”

The Episcopal Church has partnered with the Diocese of Atlanta’s Beloved Community Commission on Dismantling Racism, putting $50,000 into the efforts, said author and activist Catherine Meeks, the commission’s chairwoman.

Meeks is also founding executive director of the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing, which opened in October in Atlanta for the benefit of not just Georgia, but the wider church.

As part of this effort, the diocese organized a Province IV conversation, which drew representatives of 20 dioceses, as a pilot for a wider conversation scheduled for Feb. 28-March 1, drawing representatives from at least 28 dioceses, from Minnesota to Missouri. It’s for Episcopalians involved in racial healing work to share what they’re doing and how they want the center to be involved in what they do going forward. Meeks is trying to create a better communications system so that people don’t feel alone in their work.

But this work isn’t just for church leaders, Meeks emphasizes. Nor is it only for churches with diverse congregations.

“People in predominately white congregations think there is nothing they can do because there aren’t any other kinds of people there, but connect with someone you don’t normally talk to. Try to build a bridge with anyone you see as ‘other’ in any way, like politically, or economically,” Meeks told Episcopal News Service.

“Racism is one kind of oppression, but there are many other kinds of oppression we live by. Any time you make an effort to be more open and caring and courageous, that will spill out into all the rest of your life. There is always some ‘other,’ alien-ness.”

People have to find what resonates with them, she said, encouraging Episcopalians to start book studies or something as simple as inviting someone unfamiliar out for coffee. “You do have to do something. You don’t get to just sit around and think about it for the rest of your life,” Meeks said.

Letting a person of color, or anyone who feels oppressed, share her or his experience, without interrupting, judging, correcting or editing it, is key, Meeks said.

Churchwide organizations, provinces and dioceses are joining the effort

Criminal-justice reform and helping previously incarcerated people re-enter the community was the focus of a Province 8 fall conference, which includes Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Navajoland, California, Idaho and the Pacific Northwest.

The United Thank Offering ministry identified Becoming Beloved Community as its 2018 grant theme, asking grant applicants to show how they would put the vision into action. “That’s going to spark all kinds of engagement, because once you have the money, you can take your idea and execute it,” Spellers said.

Bishops from the Diocese of Indianapolis, Northern Indiana and the Lutheran Indiana-Kentucky Synod meet regularly to plan how engage in the Becoming Beloved Community vision, releasing a video to encourage story-sharing.

The Diocese of Iowa is creating a new Racial Justice Center in the heart of Iowa City, using the church’s Becoming Beloved Community guide as its framework. “Those people are on fire. They’re amazing,” said Spellers, who was the keynote speaker for the annual diocesan conference in October. “They want the rest of the heartland to follow.”

The diocese received a Mission Enterprise Zone grant of $75,000 for the center and its work.

The area has struggled with its changing demographics, said the Rev. Meg Wagner, the diocese’s missioner for communication and reconciliation. “We’ve heard things like ‘I don’t see color,’ that we don’t have a race problem because we’re mostly white, or because we’re surrounded by mostly white people, we don’t know how to talk about race and deal with our white guilt,” she said. “There’s a recognized need for more understanding of our history of race and oppression.”

There will be community discussions on equity gaps in education; pilgrimages following the underground railroad; an urban retreat with meditation; Freedom School curriculum, founded during the 1960s Civil Rights era to empower black Americans; a summit for women and girls of color; and a summer tour to prepare young black students for college.

“We want this to be about empowering people to be nonviolent agents for change in the world,” Wagner said.

This church-wide effort is by no means a straight, clear path, leaders say. That’s why Becoming Beloved Community is a labyrinth, she said.

“You just have to keep walking this path; it’s going to last a lifetime,” she said. “And just like a labyrinth, you’re never finished. But standing still is not an option for us anymore, as far as we’re concerned.”

— Amy Sowder is a special correspondent for the Episcopal News Service and a freelance writer and editor based in Brooklyn. She can be reached at amysowderepiscopalnews@gmail.com.

Sunday, February 25, 2018

2nd Sunday in Lent Sermon (Feb 25)

Sermon given at the 8 AM service...

Almighty God, you give to your servants boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(Common of a Martyr I)

Jesus rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
One of the great challenges we have as Christians is to set our mind on divine things and not on human things. But what does this really mean? Peter didn’t get it right and got rebuked.

Jesus continued, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.”

The cross – the disciples knew what it meant. That’s how Rome killed those they wanted to make an example of and it lead to a horrible, slow death.

But for Jesus, he uses it as a way to remind his disciples and all who would hear his words that to follow him, means we are to take up a way of life that is different than the expected, how things usually work in our world. Jesus wants us to go deeper than ourselves. The cross becomes a symbol not of death but of life with Jesus.

Jesus asks, “For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life?”
Life is not about profit. It is not about power or gaining the whole world. It is about life as gift from God and living this out as Jesus taught. The best explanation I have seen of this is from the Episcopal priest and author Malcom Boyd in his book “Are You Running With Me, Jesus?”:

They say that everyone has a cross to bear, Jesus. And you once said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” What do these things mean? I think they mean that every person ultimately has to face up to reality—face one’s own calling, destiny, nature, and responsibilities.

In your own life, Jesus you faced reality directly and unequivocally. You incarnated the truth as you believed it. You didn’t pander to any easy or obvious popularity. You attacked the hypocrisies of the human power structure head on. You rejected the status quo in favor of obedience to the Realm of God. And when it came to taking the consequences, you didn’t shy away from torture and execution.

The way of the cross was your understanding of your mission and your faithfulness to it. 
The way of the cross seems to be, for every individual Christian, the reality that dictates style of life, defines mission, and brings a person into communion with you. Help me bear my cross on the way of the cross, Jesus.

The cross for each of us is God’s reality, which dictates for us to Follow Jesus, Love People, and Change the World. It is not the easy road. It will put us in conflict with the way things are, those who have power and the power of death we see all over this world. But this is the real life of faith & for some it has led to their death, like it did for Jesus.

Seventy-five years ago this past Thursday, a group of young German students who had dared to speak out against the Nazis, were executed by the regime they had defied. Like a flickering flame in the darkness, they are an inspiring group that never lost its courage — and a frightening reminder of how rare such heroes are. (NY Times)

In 1942, the citizens of Munich were astonished by a series of leaflets that circulated throughout the city. They contained a sweeping indictment of the Nazi regime and enjoined readers to work for their nation’s defeat. At a time when the merest hint of dissent was a treasonable offense, the audacity of this call to resistance threw the Gestapo into a rage.

Calling themselves "The White Rose," the authors of these leaflets were university students from Munich who had been inspired by their Christian faith and the idealism of youth to challenge the Nazi regime. At the center of the group were a brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl, only twenty-four and twenty-one years old. Hans was a medical student who had served on the Russian front. Sophie studied philosophy. They were joined by friends Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Sophie’s Professor of Philosophy Kurt Huber, and a few others.

Discerning with uncommon clarity the depth of Nazi depravity, they had decided to wage a spiritual war against the system, armed with no other weapons than courage, the power of truth, and an illegal duplicating machine. By proclaiming the truth they hoped they might help break the Nazi spell and inspire others, who were experiencing doubts, to take up active resistance.

Over the course of a year or so, they managed to place 6 different leaflets around the city of Munich and beyond. Hans and Sophie were caught on February 18. Quickly convicted of treason they were sentenced to death and beheaded on February 22, 1943. Other arrests followed and while some received prison sentences, other White Rose members were eventually executed. (adapted from Blessed Among Us: Day by Day with Saintly Witnesses By Robert Ellsberg)

“Somebody, after all, had to make a start,” Sophie said. “What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.” Hans agreed: “It’s high time that Christians made up their minds to do something. . . . What are we going to show in the way of resistance.” Sophie’s final written word on the back of her criminal indictment was “freedom.”

The Martyrs of the White Rose chose to take up their cross. They challenged the power of death they found in Nazism and witnessed to the power of life and to freedom. Although their movement didn’t change the course of history as they had hoped, they did provide light in the midst of very dark times, living out their faith as best they could, even as they knew they risked death.

Their lives of resistance, reminds me of the words of Mary Oliver:

To live in this world you must be able to do three things:
to love what is mortal;
to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it;
and, when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.

Jesus calls us to the divine life – to take up our cross & follow him like he did with the members of the White Rose & countless others – to love what God has made, to hold it close with all of our being, and as the time comes to let it go. May Jesus help us bear our cross on the way of the cross. Amen.

Saturday, February 24, 2018

The White Rose

Here are some articles to help you better understand the White Rose:

75 Years Ago Today: The Incredible Story of Hans and Sophie Scholl

White Rose: The German Anti-Nazi Activists Beheaded in 1943

Remembering the White Rose

Why the Story of Sophie Scholl and the White Rose Matters Today

Blessed Alexander Schmorell and the White Rose

The White Rose Martyrs

Holocaust Resistance: The White Rose - A Lesson in Dissent
White Rose (Wikipedia)

The White Rose - The Leaflets

 Memorial to the ‘White Rose’ resistance group in the form of their anti-Nazi leaflets,
outside the University of Munich

If you want to learn about the White Rose, the leaflets will help you understand their purpose and their mission.

Here are two sites:

http://libcom.org/library/white-rose-documents

http://white-rose-studies.org/The_Leaflets.html

The Martyrs of the White Rose (Holy Women & Holy Men)



Hans Scholl (right), Sophie Scholl and Christoph Probst,
key members of the White Rose

February 22 - Hans and Sophie Scholl & Christoph Probst
July 13 – Professor Kurt Huber and Alexander Schmorell (St. Alexander of Munich)
October 12 - Willi Graf

Martyrs of the White Rose (d. 1943)

“We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience.”

In 1942, the citizens of Munich were astonished by a series of leaflets that circulated throughout the city. They contained a sweeping indictment of the Nazi regime and enjoined readers to work for their nation’s defeat. At a time when the merest hint of dissent was a treasonable offense, the audacity of this call to resistance threw the Gestapo into a rage.

Calling themselves "The White Rose," the authors of these leaflets were university students from Munich who had been inspired by their Christian faith and the idealism of youth to challenge the Nazi regime. At the center of the group were a brother and sister, Hans and Sophie Scholl, only twenty-four and twenty-one years old. Hans was a medical student who had served on the Russian front. Sophie studied philosophy. They were joined by friends Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell, Willi Graf, Sophie’s Professor of Philosophy Kurt Huber, and a few others.

Discerning with uncommon clarity the depth of Nazi depravity, they had decided to wage a spiritual war against the system, armed with no other weapons than courage, the power of truth, and an illegal duplicating machine. By proclaiming the truth they hoped they might help break the Nazi spell and inspire others, who were experiencing doubts, to take up active resistance.

Over the course of a year or so, they managed to place 6 different leaflets around the city of Munich and beyond. Hans and Sophie were caught on February 18. Quickly convicted of treason they were sentenced to death and beheaded on February 22, 1943. Other arrests followed and while some received prison sentences, other White Rose members were eventually executed. (adapted from Blessed Among Us: Day by Day with Saintly Witnesses By Robert Ellsberg)

“Somebody, after all, had to make a start,” Sophie said. “What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don’t dare express themselves as we did.” Hans agreed: “It’s high time that Christians made up their minds to do something. . . . What are we going to show in the way of resistance.”

Prayer:

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyrs of the White Rose [N.] triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 51:1-12
Psalm 116 or 116:1-8
Revelation 7:13-17
Luke 12:2-12
 
(Adapted from Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), page 714)

Wednesday, February 21, 2018

#ForSuchATime - #PrayFastAct

For Such a Time is a commitment for each of us to pray, fast and act on the 21st of each month through December 2018, when the 115th Congress will conclude. Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton of the ELCA invite us to commit to pray, fast and act to remember those in poverty and the challenges they face, and then to do something about it.

February 2018 #PrayFastAct to Protect and Support Indigenous People
As Episcopalians, we are taught that it is our duty to follow and worship Christ, but also to “work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God.” Approximately 1.9 million American Indians and Alaska Natives, whose ancestors had taken from them millions of acres of land that makes the United States what it is today, have been and still are subjected to various forms of physical and social injustices.

As Christians and Americans, we have an obligation to work, pray, and give to respond to and end those injustices. Let us lift our voices and ask our members of Congress to protect funding for programs that provide relief, promote public safety, and support a meaningful livelihood for American Indians and Alaska Natives.

ON FEBRUARY 21, JOIN THE EPPN AND PRESIDING BISHOPS OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH AND THE ELCA AS WE PRAY, FAST and ACT.

Pray for our nation’s elected leaders and for all who struggle with hunger and poverty.

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen [Book of Common Prayer, pg. 826]

Fast to call attention in our own minds and actions the needs and circumstances of the poorest among us.

Join us on social media using #PrayFastAct and @TheEPPN. On the 21st, post a picture of a dinner place setting with the reason you are fasting this month.

ACT: Tell Congress to Support Robust Funding for American Indians and Alaska Natives

Learn more by reading this one-pager on protecting Indigenous People.

You can also read the testimony of the National Congress of American Indians before the House Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies expressing, on behalf of Native Americans and Alaska Natives, the need for public safety and business support.

(from EPPN - http://advocacy.episcopalchurch.org/ForSuchaTimeasThis)

Monday, February 19, 2018

Helping Youth & Kids after Parkland and Remembering the Dead



Here are some resources talking with youth:


And some faith based:

And we remember them...

Loving God, Jesus gathered your little ones in his arms and blessed them. Have pity on those who mourn for the youth and teachers of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida, innocents lost to the violence of our fallen world. As all things are possible with you, redeem this horror with the immensity of your love, and lead us to somehow love those who are responsible, filling our hearts with a spirit of forgiveness. Be with us as we struggle with the mysteries of life and death; in our pain, bring your comfort, and in our sorrow, bring your hope and your promise of new life, in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.


17 people died in the #ParklandShooting.

Alyssa Alhadeff, 14
Scott Beigel, 35
Martin Duque Anguiano, 14
Nicholas Dworet, 17
Aaron Feis, 37
Jamie Guttenberg, 14
Chris Hixon, 49
Luke Hoyer, 15
Cara Loughran, 14
Gina Montalto, 14
Joaquin Oliver, 17
Alaina Petty, 14
Meadow Pollack, 18
Helena Ramsay, 17
Alex Schachter, 14
Carmen Schentrup, 16
Peter Wang, 15

Bishops' Responses on Parkland Florida School Shooting



from an Anglican Church in Australia
 

Dear Companions in Christ in the Episcopal Church in Connecticut:

We are writing in the wake of Wednesday's shooting at the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida. We have connected with Bishop Peter Eaton of the Diocese of Southeast Florida and have offered our prayers and assistance as a diocese who has, sadly, experienced, a similar tragedy here in Connecticut. Below is a statement and call to action from Bishops United Against Gun Violence - a network of over seventy Episcopalian bishops committed to overcoming the scourge of gun-violence in our country. Bishops Douglas and Ahrens are founding members of Bishops United Against Gun Violence, and Bishop Douglas serves as a co-convener of the network. We commend the statement from Bishops United Against Gun Violence and encourage participation in its recommendations for reflection and action.

Faithfully in the peace of Christ,

The Rt. Rev. Ian T. Douglas and The Rt. Rev. Laura J. Ahrens
Bishop Diocesan and Bishop Suffragan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Statement by Bishops United Against Gun Violence
February 16, 2018

The heart of our nation has been broken yet again by another mass shooting at an American school

We offer our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of those who were murdered at Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. We mourn with particular sorrow Carmen Schentrup, a 16-year-old student at the school and leader in the youth group at St. Mary Magdalene Episcopal Church in Coral Springs, who died at the hands of the gunman. We pledge to work with the Episcopal Diocese of Southeast Florida to lend whatever material and spiritual comfort we can to all those who have suffered such a devastating loss.

The phrase "thoughts and prayers" has been devalued by politicians whose prayers seem never to move them to act against their self-interests or the interests of the National Rifle Association. Yet, as Christians, we believe deeply in the power of prayer to console, to sustain and to heal, but also to make evident the work that God is calling us to do. We pray that all who have been touched by this violent act receive God's healing and solace.

In the wake of this massacre, we believe God is calling us to understand that we must not simply identify the social and political impediments to ending these lethal spasms of violence in our country. We must reflect on and acknowledge our own complicity in the unjust systems that facilitate so many deaths, and, in accordance with the keeping of a holy Lent, repent and make reparations.

Specifically, we ask you, members of our church and those who ally yourselves with us, to:
Contact your elected representatives and ask them to support legislation banning assault weapons such as the AR-15, which is the gun used in most of the recent mass shootings in our country; high-capacity magazines; and bump stocks, the equipment used by the killer in the Las Vegas massacre that allows semiautomatic weapons to fire dozens of rounds in seconds. We understand that mass shootings account for a small percentage of the victims of gun violence; that far more people are killed by handguns than by any kind of rifle; that poverty, misogyny and racism contribute mightily to the violence in our society and that soaring rates of suicide remain a great unaddressed social challenge. And yet, the problem of gun violence is complex, and we must sometimes address it in small pieces if it is not to overwhelm us. So, please, call your members of Congress and insist that your voice be heard above those of the National Rifle Association's lobbyists.

Participate in a service of a lamentation for the victims of the Parkland shooting and all victims of lethal gun violence. We will be announcing a schedule of such services at churches around the country in the near future. To keep up with these plans, please follow our Facebook page Episcopalians Against Gun Violence.(https://www.facebook.com/EpiscopaliansAgainstGunViolence/)

Enter into a period of discernment with us about how, through prayer, advocacy and action, we can make clear to our elected representatives that they must vote in the interests of all Americans, including law-abiding gun owners, in passing life-saving, common sense gun policies. Visit our website to learn more about our work and how to reach us. And if you plan to attend this summer's General Convention in Austin, Texas, plan to join us each morning for prayer outside the convention hall and to attend the Bishops United Against Gun Violence public witness on Sunday, July 8 at 9 a.m.

Two years after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary that took the life of Ben Wheeler, an active young member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Newtown, Connecticut, his father, David, asked parents to look at their children and then ask themselves, "Am I doing everything I can to keep them safe? Because the answer to that question, if we all answer honestly, clearly is no." In memory of Carmen and Ben and all of God's children lost to senseless gun violence, may God give us grace and fortitude in our witness so that we can, at last, answer yes.

Lent Plastic Challenge (Plastic Free Lent)


While my family and I were visiting our local aquarium, I ran across this sign. It reminded me that the Church of England is promoting a Plastic Free Lent. Quite tough and yet a very noble & necessary addition to our traditional fasting.

You can learn about it here:

http://www.churchcare.co.uk/about-us/campaigns/news/1081-lent-challenge

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/15/world/europe/lent-plastic-church-of-england.html

http://www.churchcare.co.uk/images/Plastic_Free_Lent.pdf

The Great Litany

The Great Litany – First Sunday in Lent
From Enriching Our Worship I

Holy God, Creator of heaven and earth,
Have mercy on us.
Holy and Mighty, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Immortal One, Sanctifier of the faithful,
Have mercy on us.
Holy, blessed and glorious Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.

From all evil and mischief; from pride, vanity and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred and malice; and from all evil intent,
Savior deliver us.

From sloth, worldliness and love of money; from hardness of heart and contempt for your word and your laws,
Savior deliver us.

From sins of body and mind; from deceits of the world, flesh and the devil,
Savior deliver us.

From famine and disaster; from violence, murder, and dying unprepared,
Savior deliver us.

In all times of sorrow; in all times of joy; in the hour of our death and at the day of judgment,
Savior deliver us.

By the mystery of your holy incarnation; by your birth, childhood and obedience; by your baptism, fasting and temptation,
Savior deliver us.

By your ministry in word and work; by your mighty acts of power; by the preaching of your reign,
Savior deliver us.

By your agony and trial; by your cross and passion; by your precious death and burial,
Savior deliver us.

By your mighty resurrection; by your glorious ascension; and by your sending of the Holy Spirit,
Savior deliver us.

Hear our prayers, O Christ our God.
Hear us, O Christ.

Govern and direct your holy Church; fill it with love and truth; and grant it that unity which is your will.
Hear us, O Christ.

Give us boldness to preach the gospel in all the world, and to make disciples of all the nations.
Hear us, O Christ.

Enlighten your bishops, priests and deacons, especially Michael our presiding bishop, Ian & Laura our bishops with knowledge and understanding, that by their teaching and their lives they may proclaim your word.
Hear us, O Christ.

Give your people grace to witness to your word and bring forth the fruit of your Spirit.
Hear us, O Christ.

Bring into the way of truth all who have erred and are deceived.
Hear us, O Christ.

Strengthen those who stand; comfort and help the fainthearted; raise up the fallen; and finally beat down Satan under our feet.
Hear us, O Christ.

Guide the leaders of the nations into the ways of peace and justice.
Hear us, O Christ.

Give your wisdom and strength to Donald, the President of the United States, Danel the Governor of this state, and Ken, the selectman of this town that in all things they may do your will, for your glory and the common good.
Hear us, O Christ.

Give to the Congress of the United States, the members of the President’s Cabinet, those who serve in our state legislature, and all others in authority the grace to walk always in the ways of truth.
Hear us, O Christ.

Bless the justices of the Supreme Court and all those who administer the law, that they may act with integrity and do justice for all your people.
Hear us, O Christ.

Give us the will to use the resources of the earth to your glory and for the good of all.
Hear us, O Christ.

Bless and keep all your people,
Hear us, O Christ.

Comfort and liberate the lonely, the bereaved (especially _______) and the oppressed.
Hear us, O Christ.

Keep in safety those who travel (especially _______) and all who are in peril.
Hear us, O Christ.

Heal the sick in body, mind or spirit (especially _______) and provide for the homeless, the hungry and the destitute.
Hear us, O Christ.

Guard and protect all children who are in danger.
Hear us, O Christ.

Shower your compassion on prisoners, hostages and refugees, and all who are in trouble.
Hear us, O Christ.

Forgive our enemies, persecutors and slanderers, and turn their hearts.
Hear us, O Christ.

Hear us as we remember those who have died (especially _______) and grant us with them a share in your eternal glory.
Hear us, O Christ.

Give us true repentance; forgive us our sins of negligence and ignorance and our deliberate sins; and grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit to amend our lives according to your word.
Holy God,
Holy and Mighty,
Holy Immortal One,
Have mercy on us.

Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: have mercy on us.
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world: grant us peace.

Let us pray. (The Presider prays the collect of the day.)