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http://ssje.org/ssje/2005/12/09/the-gift-of-joy/
The Gift of Joy – Br. Curtis AlmquistPosted on December 9, 2005 by Br. Curtis AlmquistRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your
gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not
worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 4-7
This morning I made a quick scan of the front section of The Boston Globe and New York Times, and there’s a topic that gets no press. Not this morning. Probably not most mornings. That missing topic is “joy.” A good many of the other “spiritual gifts” get press on a fairly regular basis. Most every day there’s talk about love and peace, patience, discipline or self-control, hope and faith, healing and reconciliation… but when was the last time you had some conversation or read some newsworthy article about joy? My sense is that the theme of joy is something of a rare commodity. To have joy or – as we would say in slang – to do joy, is to rejoice. In our lesson just read, St. Paul commends us to “rejoice in the Lord always,” In case you didn’t hear him or didn’t believe him, he repeats himself: “again I say, Rejoice.” There’s something here that’s new and fresh to draw out of the treasury God’s provision: the gift of joy, to know the capacity to rejoice in life.
To rejoice is to have a deep sense of delight. The Greek word literally means “for the heart, in its deepest place of passion and feelings, to be well.” For the heart to feel very well. That’s what it is to have joy: to rejoice the heart. And why might it be – if you agree with me that this can be something of a rare commodity, an untapped spiritual gift – why is that so about this thing called joy? Why so rare? Well, several things have occurred to me.
Firstly, joy takes time. Joy is not fast food. Joy comes, I would say, as a by-product of living a savored life, of having time and taking time to “smell the flowers,” as we used to say. Joy needs time. There is this old monastic insight about living a joy-filled life. Take time, take at least some time each day, to do one thing at-a-time. Take time, take at least some time each day, if you are walking, just to walk. Take time, take at least some time, if you are looking to just look. If you are listening, just to listen. If you are sipping iced tea or watering the plants or petting the dog, to do just that. Do one thing at-a-time, and do that as often as you can. Take the time to let the fragrances and aromas of life penetrate to the deepest part of your being, where they can be savored.iI think we call this “being there.” I don’t think it has so much to do with the pace of life as much as it does with the intentionality with which we live our life. It’s to presume that each moment is pregnant with God’s real presence and provision and promise. Look for it; wait for it; savor it. Don’t just visit life; life needs time to be lived abundantly.
Secondly, it seems to me that joy requires acceptance. Joy requires our saying “yes” to life, to the life we’ve been given, to the hand we’ve been dealt. Probably many of us have woken up one day to discover that the script we’ve been handed in the play of life is not the part we thought we were trying out for. It seems to me that joy requires a deep willingness to accept how little of our life is actually within our own control. It’s an acknowledgment and an acceptance that God will be God: that it is God’s world on God’s time and that we are God’s creatures and that God is at work according to God’s good pleasure.iiJoy requires our saying yes to life – the life we live as individuals, as members of a family, as members of a parish, as members of various professional or volunteer circles. Joy presumes our living with an intentionality to accept the good gifts of life that actually are there, not to live life in a state of rejection or resentment for what is not there or no longer there. Life brings arrivals and changes and departures, and that’s life – the changes and chances of life.iii
To rejoice is to say yes to what is there. I would say that without that quality of acceptance of what is there, those unmet desires of the future will never become present, can never become present. Without that quality of acceptance and thankfulness, those unmet desires will always be elusive. In God’s good plan, there is a reason why today is not tomorrow. In some deep sense we need the provisions of today to prepare us to receive the promises of tomorrow. It seems to me that joy requires a posture of acceptance, of saying “yes” to life: not the life we could have had or feel we should have had, but of saying “yes” to God for the life that God has given us… which is the only place where there is life for us.
Thirdly, it seems to me that joy requires desire. I was talking with someone not long ago on this topic of joy. There was absolutely no joy in their life, they were saying. Well I asked them whether they wanted to know joy? – Well, they had never thought of it quite that way… about wanting to know joy. Do you want to be joyful? Joy is a gift, it’s a spiritual gift. And, generally speaking, if you want to receive a gift, don’t keep your hands in your pockets. Joy is a gift from God, and if you want to receive that gift, open your heart and open your hands to receive it. Ask God for the gift of joy. (I think it’s what we might call an “under-utilized petition.”) If you want the gift of joy, ask God for the gift.
And then, lastly, it seems to me that joy requires endurance. Particularly in the New Testament, so much of the writing about joy is in the context of suffering. Why is it that we hear so much about “the joy of the cross of Christ”?ivWhy is it with the annunciation to Mary and to Elizabeth, they first know fear and then they know joy? It’s the same with Joseph: first fear, then joy. And it’s the same with the shepherds: first fear, then joy. And much later, it’s the same with the women at the tomb joy comes out of fear, of all things?! Why is it that Jesus says in the beatitudes you are set up to be blessed when “people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and defame you on Jesus’ account? Rejoice in that day,” he says, “and leap for joy”?vHow curious. Why is it that Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “Very truly I tell you… you will have pain… but your pain will turn into joy”?viHow is it that St. Paul could write from prison to the Philippians, as he was about to be executed, commending us to “rejoice always ”?vii
That’s because there is some paradox here about joy. (Our English word “paradox” comes from the Greek, paradoxa: para = other; doxa = glory, “other glory”, i.e., God’s glory being manifest in a way other than we would have imagined.) It seems that there is some direct relationship between the depth of suffering and the height of joy. That the extent to which we have known suffering, so we can know joy. It doesn’t mean that we should go looking for suffering; there’s surely enough of it to go around without looking for it. Suffering has a way of finding us. (I think that has something to do with the cross of Christ….) Nor does it mean to deny suffering. It seems that there is some direct relationship between the depth of suffering and the height of joy. (It’s not a de jure principle: first you get suffering and then you get joy… like first you eat your vegetables and then you get dessert. No, it’s not a de jure principle. Rather I sense it’s simply de facto. It’s de facto: this seems to simply be the way it is. There is something about our suffering in life – what we would not have chosen but cannot avoid – there is something about our suffering, when we say “yes” to God, when we show ourselves ready to bear our suffering before God, that opens the door for transformation, for consecration. The Psalmist writes, “Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning.”viiiThere is something about facing the dark night that allows us to see the dawning of joy.
Back in my high school years I set off to be a competitive swimmer. Several weeks into my first season I was a broken man. I think every muscle in my body hurt. My neck hurt. My shoulders hurt. My arms hurt. My back hurt. My thighs hurt. My calves hurt. I was at my end and I was sure that I would fail and never make the team. And I remember, in my youthful desolation, pouring out my heart to one of the wise old men on the swim team – I think he was 18 years old. And I told him of the absolute despair of my heart and the pain of my body. I remember that he listened patiently, and then he asked, “Do your feet hurt.” “What!?” I asked. He said again, “Do your feet hurt?” “Well,” I said, “no, at least my feet don’t hurt.” He said, “They will!” He said, “You’re getting in shape!” This is what it takes.” Well, I was in ecstasy. Everything still hurt in my body, but my heart soared to the heavens. I was right where I belonged. My suffering was not for naught. That this slight, momentary affliction was preparing me for something more and something wonderful.ixAnd I made it! I was suddenly full of ecstatic joy!
Joy is a mystery. It’s as mysterious as our suffering. And, I think, it’s as boundless as our suffering. Somehow, in God’s economy, the one is creating the space for the other. Do you recall Jesus’ parting prayer for us (for you!) in John’s Gospel: “Holy Father, protect them… that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. …Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.”x
Go ahead: “ do joy.” (Try it, you’ll like it!) And if you can’t do it, ask God for it. (It’s a gift God’s Spirit is waiting to give out.) And if you still cannot rejoice, if you can’t reach to receive the joy that is there waiting for you, ask for some help. Joy will not spare you of suffering, nor did it Jesus. We are not spared the cross; we’re shared the cross… but also the joy that follows. Joy will give you a place in your heart to be well, to be passionately alive, even amidst the changes and chances and sufferings of your life. If you know something already about suffering – and I would imagine that all of you, in your life and ministry, are very acquainted with suffering – then you are at least half-way there. You’re “set-ups” to unwrap the gift of joy. Truly. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace….”xi
The Gift of Joy – Br. Curtis AlmquistPosted on December 9, 2005 by Br. Curtis AlmquistRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your
gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not
worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made
known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all
understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in
Christ Jesus. Philippians 4: 4-7
This morning I made a quick scan of the front section of The Boston Globe and New York Times, and there’s a topic that gets no press. Not this morning. Probably not most mornings. That missing topic is “joy.” A good many of the other “spiritual gifts” get press on a fairly regular basis. Most every day there’s talk about love and peace, patience, discipline or self-control, hope and faith, healing and reconciliation… but when was the last time you had some conversation or read some newsworthy article about joy? My sense is that the theme of joy is something of a rare commodity. To have joy or – as we would say in slang – to do joy, is to rejoice. In our lesson just read, St. Paul commends us to “rejoice in the Lord always,” In case you didn’t hear him or didn’t believe him, he repeats himself: “again I say, Rejoice.” There’s something here that’s new and fresh to draw out of the treasury God’s provision: the gift of joy, to know the capacity to rejoice in life.
To rejoice is to have a deep sense of delight. The Greek word literally means “for the heart, in its deepest place of passion and feelings, to be well.” For the heart to feel very well. That’s what it is to have joy: to rejoice the heart. And why might it be – if you agree with me that this can be something of a rare commodity, an untapped spiritual gift – why is that so about this thing called joy? Why so rare? Well, several things have occurred to me.
Firstly, joy takes time. Joy is not fast food. Joy comes, I would say, as a by-product of living a savored life, of having time and taking time to “smell the flowers,” as we used to say. Joy needs time. There is this old monastic insight about living a joy-filled life. Take time, take at least some time each day, to do one thing at-a-time. Take time, take at least some time each day, if you are walking, just to walk. Take time, take at least some time, if you are looking to just look. If you are listening, just to listen. If you are sipping iced tea or watering the plants or petting the dog, to do just that. Do one thing at-a-time, and do that as often as you can. Take the time to let the fragrances and aromas of life penetrate to the deepest part of your being, where they can be savored.iI think we call this “being there.” I don’t think it has so much to do with the pace of life as much as it does with the intentionality with which we live our life. It’s to presume that each moment is pregnant with God’s real presence and provision and promise. Look for it; wait for it; savor it. Don’t just visit life; life needs time to be lived abundantly.
Secondly, it seems to me that joy requires acceptance. Joy requires our saying “yes” to life, to the life we’ve been given, to the hand we’ve been dealt. Probably many of us have woken up one day to discover that the script we’ve been handed in the play of life is not the part we thought we were trying out for. It seems to me that joy requires a deep willingness to accept how little of our life is actually within our own control. It’s an acknowledgment and an acceptance that God will be God: that it is God’s world on God’s time and that we are God’s creatures and that God is at work according to God’s good pleasure.iiJoy requires our saying yes to life – the life we live as individuals, as members of a family, as members of a parish, as members of various professional or volunteer circles. Joy presumes our living with an intentionality to accept the good gifts of life that actually are there, not to live life in a state of rejection or resentment for what is not there or no longer there. Life brings arrivals and changes and departures, and that’s life – the changes and chances of life.iii
To rejoice is to say yes to what is there. I would say that without that quality of acceptance of what is there, those unmet desires of the future will never become present, can never become present. Without that quality of acceptance and thankfulness, those unmet desires will always be elusive. In God’s good plan, there is a reason why today is not tomorrow. In some deep sense we need the provisions of today to prepare us to receive the promises of tomorrow. It seems to me that joy requires a posture of acceptance, of saying “yes” to life: not the life we could have had or feel we should have had, but of saying “yes” to God for the life that God has given us… which is the only place where there is life for us.
Thirdly, it seems to me that joy requires desire. I was talking with someone not long ago on this topic of joy. There was absolutely no joy in their life, they were saying. Well I asked them whether they wanted to know joy? – Well, they had never thought of it quite that way… about wanting to know joy. Do you want to be joyful? Joy is a gift, it’s a spiritual gift. And, generally speaking, if you want to receive a gift, don’t keep your hands in your pockets. Joy is a gift from God, and if you want to receive that gift, open your heart and open your hands to receive it. Ask God for the gift of joy. (I think it’s what we might call an “under-utilized petition.”) If you want the gift of joy, ask God for the gift.
And then, lastly, it seems to me that joy requires endurance. Particularly in the New Testament, so much of the writing about joy is in the context of suffering. Why is it that we hear so much about “the joy of the cross of Christ”?ivWhy is it with the annunciation to Mary and to Elizabeth, they first know fear and then they know joy? It’s the same with Joseph: first fear, then joy. And it’s the same with the shepherds: first fear, then joy. And much later, it’s the same with the women at the tomb joy comes out of fear, of all things?! Why is it that Jesus says in the beatitudes you are set up to be blessed when “people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and defame you on Jesus’ account? Rejoice in that day,” he says, “and leap for joy”?vHow curious. Why is it that Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “Very truly I tell you… you will have pain… but your pain will turn into joy”?viHow is it that St. Paul could write from prison to the Philippians, as he was about to be executed, commending us to “rejoice always ”?vii
That’s because there is some paradox here about joy. (Our English word “paradox” comes from the Greek, paradoxa: para = other; doxa = glory, “other glory”, i.e., God’s glory being manifest in a way other than we would have imagined.) It seems that there is some direct relationship between the depth of suffering and the height of joy. That the extent to which we have known suffering, so we can know joy. It doesn’t mean that we should go looking for suffering; there’s surely enough of it to go around without looking for it. Suffering has a way of finding us. (I think that has something to do with the cross of Christ….) Nor does it mean to deny suffering. It seems that there is some direct relationship between the depth of suffering and the height of joy. (It’s not a de jure principle: first you get suffering and then you get joy… like first you eat your vegetables and then you get dessert. No, it’s not a de jure principle. Rather I sense it’s simply de facto. It’s de facto: this seems to simply be the way it is. There is something about our suffering in life – what we would not have chosen but cannot avoid – there is something about our suffering, when we say “yes” to God, when we show ourselves ready to bear our suffering before God, that opens the door for transformation, for consecration. The Psalmist writes, “Weeping may spend the night, but joy comes in the morning.”viiiThere is something about facing the dark night that allows us to see the dawning of joy.
Back in my high school years I set off to be a competitive swimmer. Several weeks into my first season I was a broken man. I think every muscle in my body hurt. My neck hurt. My shoulders hurt. My arms hurt. My back hurt. My thighs hurt. My calves hurt. I was at my end and I was sure that I would fail and never make the team. And I remember, in my youthful desolation, pouring out my heart to one of the wise old men on the swim team – I think he was 18 years old. And I told him of the absolute despair of my heart and the pain of my body. I remember that he listened patiently, and then he asked, “Do your feet hurt.” “What!?” I asked. He said again, “Do your feet hurt?” “Well,” I said, “no, at least my feet don’t hurt.” He said, “They will!” He said, “You’re getting in shape!” This is what it takes.” Well, I was in ecstasy. Everything still hurt in my body, but my heart soared to the heavens. I was right where I belonged. My suffering was not for naught. That this slight, momentary affliction was preparing me for something more and something wonderful.ixAnd I made it! I was suddenly full of ecstatic joy!
Joy is a mystery. It’s as mysterious as our suffering. And, I think, it’s as boundless as our suffering. Somehow, in God’s economy, the one is creating the space for the other. Do you recall Jesus’ parting prayer for us (for you!) in John’s Gospel: “Holy Father, protect them… that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. …Now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves.”x
Go ahead: “ do joy.” (Try it, you’ll like it!) And if you can’t do it, ask God for it. (It’s a gift God’s Spirit is waiting to give out.) And if you still cannot rejoice, if you can’t reach to receive the joy that is there waiting for you, ask for some help. Joy will not spare you of suffering, nor did it Jesus. We are not spared the cross; we’re shared the cross… but also the joy that follows. Joy will give you a place in your heart to be well, to be passionately alive, even amidst the changes and chances and sufferings of your life. If you know something already about suffering – and I would imagine that all of you, in your life and ministry, are very acquainted with suffering – then you are at least half-way there. You’re “set-ups” to unwrap the gift of joy. Truly. “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace….”xi
Altar of Repose
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2017/04/03/presiding-bishop-michael-currys-easter-message-2017/
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Easter message 2017
It’s taken me some years to realize it, but Jesus didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. He wasn’t on vacation. He wasn’t just hanging out in town. Jesus was in Jerusalem on purpose. He arrived in Jerusalem about the time of the Passover when pilgrims were in the city. When people’s hopes and expectations for the dawn of freedom that Moses had promised in the first Passover might suddenly be realized for them in their time.
Jesus arranged his entrance into Jerusalem to send a message. He entered the city, having come in on one side of the city, the scholars tell us, at just about the same time that Pontius Pilate made his entrance on the exact opposite side of the city. Pilate, coming forth on a warhorse. Pilate, with soldiers around him. Pilate, with the insignias of Rome’s Empire. Pilate, representing the Caesars who claimed to be son of god. Pilate, who had conquered through Rome the people of Jerusalem. Pilate, representing the Empire that had taken away their freedom. Pilate, who represented the Empire that would maintain the colonial status of the Jewish people by brute force and violence.
Jesus entered the city on the other side, not on a warhorse, but on a donkey, recalling the words of Zechariah:
Behold your King comes to you
Triumphant and victorious is He
Humble and riding on a donkey
Jesus entered the city at the same time as Pilate to show them, and to show us, that God has another way. That violence is not the way. That hatred is not the way. That brute force and brutality are not the way.
Jesus came to show us there is another way. The way of unselfish, sacrificial love. That’s why he entered Jerusalem. That’s why he went to the cross. It was the power of that love poured out from the throne of God, that even after the horror of the crucifixion would raise him from death to life.
God came among us in the person of Jesus to start a movement. A movement to change the face of the earth. A movement to change us who dwell upon the earth. A movement to change the creation from the nightmare that is often made of it into the dream that God intends for it.
He didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. He went to Jerusalem for a reason. To send a message. That not even the titanic powers of death can stop the love of God. On that Easter morning, he rose from the dead, and proclaimed love wins.
So you have a blessed Easter. Go forth to be people of the Resurrection. Follow in the way of Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to love. Don’t be ashamed to follow Jesus.
Have a blessed Easter. And bless the world. Amen.
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Easter message 2017
It’s taken me some years to realize it, but Jesus didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday. He wasn’t on vacation. He wasn’t just hanging out in town. Jesus was in Jerusalem on purpose. He arrived in Jerusalem about the time of the Passover when pilgrims were in the city. When people’s hopes and expectations for the dawn of freedom that Moses had promised in the first Passover might suddenly be realized for them in their time.
Jesus arranged his entrance into Jerusalem to send a message. He entered the city, having come in on one side of the city, the scholars tell us, at just about the same time that Pontius Pilate made his entrance on the exact opposite side of the city. Pilate, coming forth on a warhorse. Pilate, with soldiers around him. Pilate, with the insignias of Rome’s Empire. Pilate, representing the Caesars who claimed to be son of god. Pilate, who had conquered through Rome the people of Jerusalem. Pilate, representing the Empire that had taken away their freedom. Pilate, who represented the Empire that would maintain the colonial status of the Jewish people by brute force and violence.
Jesus entered the city on the other side, not on a warhorse, but on a donkey, recalling the words of Zechariah:
Behold your King comes to you
Triumphant and victorious is He
Humble and riding on a donkey
Jesus entered the city at the same time as Pilate to show them, and to show us, that God has another way. That violence is not the way. That hatred is not the way. That brute force and brutality are not the way.
Jesus came to show us there is another way. The way of unselfish, sacrificial love. That’s why he entered Jerusalem. That’s why he went to the cross. It was the power of that love poured out from the throne of God, that even after the horror of the crucifixion would raise him from death to life.
God came among us in the person of Jesus to start a movement. A movement to change the face of the earth. A movement to change us who dwell upon the earth. A movement to change the creation from the nightmare that is often made of it into the dream that God intends for it.
He didn’t just happen to be in Jerusalem on that Palm Sunday. He went to Jerusalem for a reason. To send a message. That not even the titanic powers of death can stop the love of God. On that Easter morning, he rose from the dead, and proclaimed love wins.
So you have a blessed Easter. Go forth to be people of the Resurrection. Follow in the way of Jesus. Don’t be ashamed to love. Don’t be ashamed to follow Jesus.
Have a blessed Easter. And bless the world. Amen.
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
March 7, 2017
Confessions heard every Tuesday 5:15-6:15 pm in Jackson Chapel during Lent
Confessions heard every Tuesday 5:15-6:15 pm in Jackson Chapel during Lent
March 5, 2017
What a start to our 40 cans for 40 days first Sunday of Lent! One hundred fifty-three food items were donated and will be taken to Helping Hand food bank. The shopping cart, filled to overflowing, was brought to the alter as part of the Offertory.
What a start to our 40 cans for 40 days first Sunday of Lent! One hundred fifty-three food items were donated and will be taken to Helping Hand food bank. The shopping cart, filled to overflowing, was brought to the alter as part of the Offertory.
Curry, Jennings take lead in Supreme Court brief on transgender-bathroom policyEpiscopal presiding officers say church supports transgender equality because of Christian faithBy Mary Frances Schjonberg | March 2, 2017 24 Comments |[Episcopal News Service] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings are the lead signers on an amicus brief filed March 2 by 1,800 clergy and religious leaders in a U.S. Supreme Court case involving transgender-bathroom use policies.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, shown here at the Executive Council’s October 2016 meeting, say they anchored their decision to be the lead signers on a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in the theological understanding that all people are created in the image of God and thus entitled to equal protection under the law. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service
The “friend of the court” brief comes in the case of G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, which the American Civil Liberties Union and its Virginia chapter filed on behalf of Gavin Grimm and his mother, Deirdre Grimm, in June 2015.
The signers urge the high court to see that the ability to live in a country that guarantees transgender equality is a religious freedom issue. They said their faith communities have approached issues related to gender identity in different ways, but are “united in believing that the fundamental human dignity shared by all persons requires treating transgender students like Respondent Gavin Grimm in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”
The signers urged the court to address the civil rights of transgender persons according to religiously neutral constitutional principles of equal protection under the law. Doing so, they said, “will not impinge upon religious belief, doctrine, or practice” and instead will adhere to the Constitution’s prohibition against favoring one religious viewpoint over any others.
Curry anchored his support of the brief in Genesis 1:26-27, which declares that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God.
“This divine decree proclaims the inherent sacredness, dignity, worth, and equality of every human person, by virtue of their creation imago Dei,” he said. “The way of love for God and our neighbor that Jesus taught is the way to honor the sacredness, dignity and worth and equality of each person. For this reason, we work for the equality and dignity of transgender people, who, like the rest of us, are created in God’s image and likeness.”
Jennings said Jesus tells his followers to love God and love their neighbor as themselves. “And, he tells us not to be afraid. The Episcopal Church affirms the victory of love over fear by supporting local, state and federal laws that prevent discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression,” she said.
That support dates at least to General Convention’s 2009 meeting, when bishops and deputies passed Resolution D012 opposing laws that discriminate against people based on their gender identity. It was in that vein that the Church’s Executive Council said in June 2016 that it opposed North Carolina’s “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act,” as well as “all legislation, rhetoric and policy rooted in the fear-based argument that protecting transgender people’s civil rights in the form of equal access to public accommodation puts other groups at risk.”
Jennings noted that the last resolve of council’s resolution (AN014 on page 8 here) encourages Episcopalians to work against legislation that discriminates against transgender people and for legislation that prevents such discrimination, and to communicate the church’s position to courts, policymakers and others across the United States.
“For the two of us to sign this amicus brief, that’s not a leap at all,” Jennings said. “We’ve already said as a church that’s what you do.”
The outline of the case
The case took shape in 2014 after Grimm and his mother told school administrators of his male gender identity at the beginning of his sophomore year. With their permission, he used the boys’ restroom for almost two months without any incident, according to the original complaint. However, some parents and other Gloucester County residents objected, prompting the school board to adopt a policy that limited students’ bathroom use to the one of “the corresponding biological genders” or “an alternative appropriate private facility.”
The complaint said the policy stigmatizes Grimm, who is now 18 and will graduate this year. He is the only student in the high school using the private bathroom and this practice marks him as different, isolates him and exposes him to “serious psychological harm,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit argues the bathroom policy is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, and violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination by schools.
ACLU attorneys asked the district state court for preliminary injunction in time for Gavin to be able to use the same restroom as other boys when classes resumed for the 2015-16 school year. The district court denied the request and dismissed the Title IX claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned the lower court in August.
The Gloucester County School Board successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appeals court decision. The Fourth Circuit’s ruling is on hold, pending the higher court’s ruling.
The case was complicated on Feb. 22 when President Donald Trump revoked the Obama administration’s interpretation that Title IX required schools to “treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.” The next day the Supreme Court asked the main parties for their views on how the case should proceed. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals relied heavily on that guidance in its ruling.
Attorneys for Grimm on March 1 urged the justices to proceed with the current schedule for March 28 oral argument. The school board suggested putting off the case at least until April to allow the federal government to weigh in, SCOTUSblog reported.
Religious freedom for all
Religious freedom is a main concern in the amicus brief. Permitting religiously based anti-transgender types of laws would enshrine religious beliefs in the country’s law and implicitly favor religious viewpoints that reject the existence of transgender persons over those who embrace such persons’ existence and dignity, the signers said.
“The First Amendment forbids both forms of religious favoritism,” they said.
“Here, a public school student who happens to be a transgender boy seeks no more than to use the same toilet facilities as every other boy in his school,” they said at the conclusion of the brief. “Forcing him instead to use stigmatizing separate facilities humiliates him for no apparent reason other than to appease religious views denying the existence of his gender identity.”
The signers said that causing Grimm such harm is inconsistent with their belief “as a matter of law, religious faith, and fundamental decency – that transgender students should be treated with equal dignity and respect.”
Jennings said the opposing claims of religious freedom were at the heart of hers and the presiding bishop’s interest in joining the brief. “We oppose all legislation that seeks to deny the God-given dignity, legal equality, and civil rights of transgender people,” she said. “We support transgender equality not in spite of our Christian faith, but because of it.”
Jennings said the brief very clearly says that religious freedom belongs to all Americans, not just one group’s theology.
Curry and Jennings have acted on Executive Council’s admonition to confront discriminatory laws before. Shortly after council acted in June, Curry and Jennings wrote to the Episcopal Church explaining their opposition to the North Carolina bill and saying that they had written to the state’s governor and members of the state’s General Assembly, calling on them to repeal the bill.
Last month, they wrote to the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives to praise his opposition to a “bathroom bill” in that state.
This is the second time in two years that Jennings has taken the lead in filing amici briefs with the Supreme Court. In April 2015, she was a lead signer on an amicus brief filed by nearly 2,000 individual lay and ordained religious leaders in the Supreme Court case on same-sex marriage known as Obergefell v. Hodges and Consolidated Cases.
More information about the Gloucester County School Board suit, including legal filings, is here.
– The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is senior editor and reporter for the Episcopal News Service.
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry and House of Deputies President the Rev. Gay Clark Jennings, shown here at the Executive Council’s October 2016 meeting, say they anchored their decision to be the lead signers on a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief in the theological understanding that all people are created in the image of God and thus entitled to equal protection under the law. Photo: Mary Frances Schjonberg/Episcopal News Service
The “friend of the court” brief comes in the case of G.G. v. Gloucester County School Board, which the American Civil Liberties Union and its Virginia chapter filed on behalf of Gavin Grimm and his mother, Deirdre Grimm, in June 2015.
The signers urge the high court to see that the ability to live in a country that guarantees transgender equality is a religious freedom issue. They said their faith communities have approached issues related to gender identity in different ways, but are “united in believing that the fundamental human dignity shared by all persons requires treating transgender students like Respondent Gavin Grimm in a manner consistent with their gender identity.”
The signers urged the court to address the civil rights of transgender persons according to religiously neutral constitutional principles of equal protection under the law. Doing so, they said, “will not impinge upon religious belief, doctrine, or practice” and instead will adhere to the Constitution’s prohibition against favoring one religious viewpoint over any others.
Curry anchored his support of the brief in Genesis 1:26-27, which declares that every human person is created in the image and likeness of God.
“This divine decree proclaims the inherent sacredness, dignity, worth, and equality of every human person, by virtue of their creation imago Dei,” he said. “The way of love for God and our neighbor that Jesus taught is the way to honor the sacredness, dignity and worth and equality of each person. For this reason, we work for the equality and dignity of transgender people, who, like the rest of us, are created in God’s image and likeness.”
Jennings said Jesus tells his followers to love God and love their neighbor as themselves. “And, he tells us not to be afraid. The Episcopal Church affirms the victory of love over fear by supporting local, state and federal laws that prevent discrimination based on gender identity or gender expression,” she said.
That support dates at least to General Convention’s 2009 meeting, when bishops and deputies passed Resolution D012 opposing laws that discriminate against people based on their gender identity. It was in that vein that the Church’s Executive Council said in June 2016 that it opposed North Carolina’s “Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act,” as well as “all legislation, rhetoric and policy rooted in the fear-based argument that protecting transgender people’s civil rights in the form of equal access to public accommodation puts other groups at risk.”
Jennings noted that the last resolve of council’s resolution (AN014 on page 8 here) encourages Episcopalians to work against legislation that discriminates against transgender people and for legislation that prevents such discrimination, and to communicate the church’s position to courts, policymakers and others across the United States.
“For the two of us to sign this amicus brief, that’s not a leap at all,” Jennings said. “We’ve already said as a church that’s what you do.”
The outline of the case
The case took shape in 2014 after Grimm and his mother told school administrators of his male gender identity at the beginning of his sophomore year. With their permission, he used the boys’ restroom for almost two months without any incident, according to the original complaint. However, some parents and other Gloucester County residents objected, prompting the school board to adopt a policy that limited students’ bathroom use to the one of “the corresponding biological genders” or “an alternative appropriate private facility.”
The complaint said the policy stigmatizes Grimm, who is now 18 and will graduate this year. He is the only student in the high school using the private bathroom and this practice marks him as different, isolates him and exposes him to “serious psychological harm,” according to the complaint.
The lawsuit argues the bathroom policy is unconstitutional under the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law, and violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972, a federal law prohibiting sex discrimination by schools.
ACLU attorneys asked the district state court for preliminary injunction in time for Gavin to be able to use the same restroom as other boys when classes resumed for the 2015-16 school year. The district court denied the request and dismissed the Title IX claim. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit overturned the lower court in August.
The Gloucester County School Board successfully petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to review the appeals court decision. The Fourth Circuit’s ruling is on hold, pending the higher court’s ruling.
The case was complicated on Feb. 22 when President Donald Trump revoked the Obama administration’s interpretation that Title IX required schools to “treat transgender students consistent with their gender identity.” The next day the Supreme Court asked the main parties for their views on how the case should proceed. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals relied heavily on that guidance in its ruling.
Attorneys for Grimm on March 1 urged the justices to proceed with the current schedule for March 28 oral argument. The school board suggested putting off the case at least until April to allow the federal government to weigh in, SCOTUSblog reported.
Religious freedom for all
Religious freedom is a main concern in the amicus brief. Permitting religiously based anti-transgender types of laws would enshrine religious beliefs in the country’s law and implicitly favor religious viewpoints that reject the existence of transgender persons over those who embrace such persons’ existence and dignity, the signers said.
“The First Amendment forbids both forms of religious favoritism,” they said.
“Here, a public school student who happens to be a transgender boy seeks no more than to use the same toilet facilities as every other boy in his school,” they said at the conclusion of the brief. “Forcing him instead to use stigmatizing separate facilities humiliates him for no apparent reason other than to appease religious views denying the existence of his gender identity.”
The signers said that causing Grimm such harm is inconsistent with their belief “as a matter of law, religious faith, and fundamental decency – that transgender students should be treated with equal dignity and respect.”
Jennings said the opposing claims of religious freedom were at the heart of hers and the presiding bishop’s interest in joining the brief. “We oppose all legislation that seeks to deny the God-given dignity, legal equality, and civil rights of transgender people,” she said. “We support transgender equality not in spite of our Christian faith, but because of it.”
Jennings said the brief very clearly says that religious freedom belongs to all Americans, not just one group’s theology.
Curry and Jennings have acted on Executive Council’s admonition to confront discriminatory laws before. Shortly after council acted in June, Curry and Jennings wrote to the Episcopal Church explaining their opposition to the North Carolina bill and saying that they had written to the state’s governor and members of the state’s General Assembly, calling on them to repeal the bill.
Last month, they wrote to the speaker of the Texas House of Representatives to praise his opposition to a “bathroom bill” in that state.
This is the second time in two years that Jennings has taken the lead in filing amici briefs with the Supreme Court. In April 2015, she was a lead signer on an amicus brief filed by nearly 2,000 individual lay and ordained religious leaders in the Supreme Court case on same-sex marriage known as Obergefell v. Hodges and Consolidated Cases.
More information about the Gloucester County School Board suit, including legal filings, is here.
– The Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg is senior editor and reporter for the Episcopal News Service.
World Day of Prayer
FRIDAY, MARCH 3 1:00 PM
HOSTED BY THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
215 N MAIN ST., PENDLETON OR
This Friday is the World Day of Prayer, a day dedicated to prayer by and for women around the world. This year's service was written by the women of the Philippines, and will be held at First Christian Church at 1:00pm.
FRIDAY, MARCH 3 1:00 PM
HOSTED BY THE FIRST CHRISTIAN CHURCH
215 N MAIN ST., PENDLETON OR
This Friday is the World Day of Prayer, a day dedicated to prayer by and for women around the world. This year's service was written by the women of the Philippines, and will be held at First Christian Church at 1:00pm.
19 things to give up for Lent that aren't chocolate
Monsignor Keith Derouen, Ponder These Things Published 2:06 p.m. CT Feb. 16, 2017 | Updated 10:15 a.m. CT Feb. 24, 2017
Two years ago someone sent me 19 suggestions regarding Lenten penances. With Lent right around the corner, I thought I would offer them again to you readers....
I published them again in our Queen of Angels Church bulletin, but someone from Lawtell suggested I put the list of 19 things in the paper. So here they are:
19 things you might consider giving up this Lent and beyond:
1. Fear: God is on my side. In Him I am more than a conqueror. (See Romans 98)
2. The need to please everyone: I can’t please everyone anyway. There is only one I need to strive to please.
3. Envy: I am blessed. My value is not found in my possessions, but in my relationship with my Heavenly Father.
4. Impatience: God’s timing is the perfect timing.
5. Sense of entitlement: The world does not owe me anything. God does not owe me anything. I live in humility and grace.
6. Bitterness and Resentment: The only person I am hurting by holding onto these is myself.
7. Blame: I am not going to pass the buck. I will take responsibility for my actions.
8. Gossip and Negativity: I will put the best construction on everything when it comes to other people. I will also minimize my contact with people who are negative and toxic and bring other people down.
9. Comparison: I have my own unique contribution to make and there is no one else like me.
10. Fear of failure: You don’t succeed without experiencing failure. Just make sure you fall forward.
11. A spirit of poverty: Believe with God that there is always more than enough and never a lack.
12. Feelings of unworthiness: You are fearfully and wonderfully made by your creator. (see Psalm 139)
13. Doubt: Believe God has a plan for you that is beyond anything you could imagine. The future is brighter than you could ever realize.
14. Self-pity: God comforts us in our sorrow so that we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
15. Retirement: As long as you are still breathing, you are here for a reason. You have a purpose to influence others for Christ. That does not come to an end until the day we die.
16. Excuses: A wise man once said, if you need an excuse, any excuse will do.
17. Lack of counsel: Wise decisions are rarely made in a vacuum.
18. Pride: Blessed are the humble.
19. Worry: God is in control and worrying will not help.
Monsignor Keith Derouen, Ponder These Things Published 2:06 p.m. CT Feb. 16, 2017 | Updated 10:15 a.m. CT Feb. 24, 2017
Two years ago someone sent me 19 suggestions regarding Lenten penances. With Lent right around the corner, I thought I would offer them again to you readers....
I published them again in our Queen of Angels Church bulletin, but someone from Lawtell suggested I put the list of 19 things in the paper. So here they are:
19 things you might consider giving up this Lent and beyond:
1. Fear: God is on my side. In Him I am more than a conqueror. (See Romans 98)
2. The need to please everyone: I can’t please everyone anyway. There is only one I need to strive to please.
3. Envy: I am blessed. My value is not found in my possessions, but in my relationship with my Heavenly Father.
4. Impatience: God’s timing is the perfect timing.
5. Sense of entitlement: The world does not owe me anything. God does not owe me anything. I live in humility and grace.
6. Bitterness and Resentment: The only person I am hurting by holding onto these is myself.
7. Blame: I am not going to pass the buck. I will take responsibility for my actions.
8. Gossip and Negativity: I will put the best construction on everything when it comes to other people. I will also minimize my contact with people who are negative and toxic and bring other people down.
9. Comparison: I have my own unique contribution to make and there is no one else like me.
10. Fear of failure: You don’t succeed without experiencing failure. Just make sure you fall forward.
11. A spirit of poverty: Believe with God that there is always more than enough and never a lack.
12. Feelings of unworthiness: You are fearfully and wonderfully made by your creator. (see Psalm 139)
13. Doubt: Believe God has a plan for you that is beyond anything you could imagine. The future is brighter than you could ever realize.
14. Self-pity: God comforts us in our sorrow so that we can comfort others with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.
15. Retirement: As long as you are still breathing, you are here for a reason. You have a purpose to influence others for Christ. That does not come to an end until the day we die.
16. Excuses: A wise man once said, if you need an excuse, any excuse will do.
17. Lack of counsel: Wise decisions are rarely made in a vacuum.
18. Pride: Blessed are the humble.
19. Worry: God is in control and worrying will not help.
http://www.lentmadness.org/
About Lent Madness
Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church’s Calendar of Saints, Tim came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints, Lent Madness was born on his blog “Clergy Family Confidential” which has subsequently moved locations and become “Clergy Confidential.”
The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and people vote for their favorite saint. 16 saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo. The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints. Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move ino the area of saintly kitsch. If you’re not sure about terminology, check out our glossary. It’s free!
Bracket 2017
Check out the 2017 bracket, and then come here every day of Lent to keep up with your favorite saint. Clicking on the bracket will bring up a larger, printable, more readable one, or you can download a PDF version. You also can buy your very own Giant Bracket Poster from Forward Movement! Get one for everyone in your church and everyone on your street!
About Lent Madness
Lent Madness began in 2010 as the brainchild of the Rev. Tim Schenck. In seeking a fun, engaging way for people to learn about the men and women comprising the Church’s Calendar of Saints, Tim came up with this unique Lenten devotion. Combining his love of sports with his passion for the lives of the saints, Lent Madness was born on his blog “Clergy Family Confidential” which has subsequently moved locations and become “Clergy Confidential.”
The format is straightforward: 32 saints are placed into a tournament-like single elimination bracket. Each pairing remains open for a set period of time and people vote for their favorite saint. 16 saints make it to the Round of the Saintly Sixteen; eight advance to the Round of the Elate Eight; four make it to the Faithful Four; two to the Championship; and the winner is awarded the coveted Golden Halo. The first round consists of basic biographical information about each of the 32 saints. Things get a bit more interesting in the subsequent rounds as we offer quotes and quirks, explore legends, and even move ino the area of saintly kitsch. If you’re not sure about terminology, check out our glossary. It’s free!
Bracket 2017
Check out the 2017 bracket, and then come here every day of Lent to keep up with your favorite saint. Clicking on the bracket will bring up a larger, printable, more readable one, or you can download a PDF version. You also can buy your very own Giant Bracket Poster from Forward Movement! Get one for everyone in your church and everyone on your street!
February 9, 2017
Countering Religious Extremism: A Conversation with Michael B. Curry
http://www.cfr.org/radicalization-and-extremism/countering-religious-extremism-conversation-michael-b-curry/p38729
Countering Religious Extremism: A Conversation with Michael B. Curry
http://www.cfr.org/radicalization-and-extremism/countering-religious-extremism-conversation-michael-b-curry/p38729
February 8, 2017
As some of you may know, Patrick Cahill is now at Marine boot camp in San Diego. He can now receive letters. The Marines will not allow care packages (no food, candy etc.....they are feeding him three squares a day) :) Letters will find Patrick at the following address: RTC Patrick Cahill , 3rd BN Kilo Co PLT 3221, 38990 Midway Ave., San Diego, CA 92140-3221
As some of you may know, Patrick Cahill is now at Marine boot camp in San Diego. He can now receive letters. The Marines will not allow care packages (no food, candy etc.....they are feeding him three squares a day) :) Letters will find Patrick at the following address: RTC Patrick Cahill , 3rd BN Kilo Co PLT 3221, 38990 Midway Ave., San Diego, CA 92140-3221
29 January 2017
Redeemer's annual meeting -- well done everyone!
Redeemer's annual meeting -- well done everyone!
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Presiding Bishop: “I ask President Trump to continue the powerful work of our refugee resettlement program without interruption’
| January 25, 2017 |[Episcopal Church Office of Public Affairs press release] Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has released the following statement. Mark 12:31: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Leviticus 19:34: “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt.” Numbers 15:15: One ordinance shall be both for you of the congregation, and also for the stranger that sojourneth with you, an ordinance for ever in your generations: as ye are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord.” Deuteronomy 10:19: “Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.” On Saturday, the Washington National Cathedral hosted the National Prayer Service for the President, Vice-President, their families, and those who will be taking on the grave responsibility nominated to cabinet posts. Religious leaders from many traditions joined their voices in prayer and song, and while we shared our most sacred scriptures, we prayed for wisdom for all those who serve our nation. I affirm those prayers,and ask that our leaders listen to the powerful call to serve those who are most vulnerable in continuing to welcome refugees from around the world. As Christians, we are asked to pray: for our leaders, for our loved ones, for our enemies, and for those who are suffering. Our work does not end with prayer: we also offer assistance to those who are fleeing persecution. We find homes for those who have been forced out of their homes. We feed those who are hungry. The refugees who enter the United States do so after experiencing violence and persecution undeserved of any human being, and they come to the U.S. with hopes to build new lives. Refugee resettlement is a form of ministry, and one that we, and many other churches and faith-based organizations, cherish. The work of Episcopal Migration Ministries is God’s work, and we show the face of God through the care and compassion in that work. I ask President Trump to continue the powerful work of our refugee resettlement program without interruption, recognizing the long wait and screening process that means refugees wait months and sometimes years to enter the country. We ask that we continue to accept as many refugees as we have in the past, recognizing the need is greater than ever. We ask that refugees from all countries receive consideration to come to the U.S. and not to ban those who come from countries most in need of our assistance. Our Book of Common Prayer asks for God to “look with compassion on the whole human family;” to “break down the walls that separate us and unite us in bonds of love.” On Saturday, we prayed for God our Father to look with compassion upon the widowed and orphans, outcasts and refugees, prisoners, and all who are in danger. We pray to love one another as God loves us. I echo that prayer now and ask that we may work together to build a more grace and compassion-filled world. Join us for your Annual Meeting -- January 29, 2017! The meeting will begin immediately after church services.
REMEMBER TO SIGN UP FOR THE POTLUCK WE HAVE DURING THE MEETING! Unity prayers to recall the Reformation and celebrate reconciliation
The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, celebrated worldwide from 18-25 January, will be hosted this year by the Council of Christian Churches in Germany (Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen in Deutschland / ACK). As 2017 marks the commemoration of the Reformation, the week of prayer will reflect on the legacy of the Reformation and the current spirit of reconciliation in Christ. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is celebrated worldwide, traditionally from 18-25 January in the northern hemisphere – between the feasts of St Peter and St Paul – or at Pentecost (a symbolic date for unity) in the global south. During the week, Christians come together, in special ecumenical celebrations and services, recalling Jesus’s prayer that “they may all be one so that the world may believe” (John 17:21) and experience in praxis unity in diversity. This year one of the many ecumenical prayer services taking place worldwide for the Week of Prayer will be held in Wittenberg, Germany – a town with a history and heritage identified with Martin Luther and the Reformation. It was there that Luther is said to have nailed his 95 Theses denouncing church corruption to the side door of the Castle Church, which still stands not only as a place of worship but as a memorial of Reformation. “For Christians in Germany and all over the world, the theme Reconciliation – The Love of Christ Compels Us (2 Corinthians 5:14-20) can be considered both a calling and an opportunity for reconciliation”, the Revd Dr Odair Pedroso Mateus, World Council of Churches (WCC) director of Faith and Order, said, “a chance to break historical walls that separate churches and congregations from each other, during times that require healing and recovering hope”. For Worship and Background material for the 2017 Week of Payer for Christian Unity, go to http://tinyurl.com/zk96nay. For the link to the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity on FaceBook, go to http://tinyurl.com/gv88oze. From the Bishop January 18, 2017
Grace and peace to you in this Epiphany season, and in the early days of a new year. You will be receiving this edition of Connections during a time when TinaMarie and I are attending the College of Bishops meeting in Richmond, Virginia. This is the orientation for new Bishops and spouses which we were scheduled to attend last year, but that one was cancelled due to winter storms plaguing the East. We in the Northwest region are knowing something of that disruption this year, are we not? With that in mind, let us continue to hold one another in prayer as we face significant threat of harm to persons and places from snow, cold, and floods. We definitely will need to stand together as we live through this record breaking season. I want to say more about standing together as it relates to the national scene. And how that relates as well to our common prayers. A phenomenon is occurring within our Episcopal church, and I suspect by extension to many other religious traditions, the likes of which I do not remember happening before. There is significant push back in some quarters against including prayers for the incoming President within the weekly Prayers of the People. While I can appreciate the significant concerns some may have about comments and positions taken by the President-Elect, I am firmly convinced that my responsibility, and that of the larger faith community, is to pray for him and all people in leadership of this nation, and all people in leadership positions. I remember back a number of years during the time I served a Parish in Idaho situated close to the border with Washington State that I added within our prayers intercessions for both state governors, for we had Parishioners from both states. One of our members approached me, irate that we would pray for a governor of "that other party" with whom this person had great disagreement. I responded that, while I recognized the deep passions we all may exhibit when it comes to politics, our prayers are non-partisan. I experienced this from another prejudicial position when one of our lay readers, entrenched in a traditional view of the church, refused to offer within our weekly gathering prayers for the Presiding Bishop of our church, because at that time the position was occupied by a woman. That was not a practice I would condone nor allow to continue, for our prayers must extend beyond all personal biases. And so I bring this to you, with the hope we might stand united in our practice and be of one mind: if we are to practice the kind of hospitality of spirit that Jesus displayed, and if we are to be true to the radical nature of a Christ filled life, we will pray for all of our local, state, and national leaders with a fervor that seeks the common good and hopes for the best in all. Genuine, spirit-led prayer does not compromise our personal beliefs, but in truth validates them. No matter for whom those prayers are offered. My love to you all, as I hold you deeply in my prayers. + Pat Statement of Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Curry regarding prayers for the President January 12, 2017 The following is a statement from Presiding Bishop and Primate Michael B. Curry. This past week, Barack H. Obama, the 44th President of the United States, in the tradition of Presidents dating back to George Washington, gave his farewell address to the nation. Next week Donald J. Trump, in the same tradition of this country, will take the oath of office and be inaugurated as the 45th President. We recognize that this election has been contentious, and the Episcopal Church, like our nation, has expressed a diversity of views, some of which have been born in deep pain. There has been much discussion, and some controversy, about the appropriateness of the Washington National Cathedral hosting the Inaugural Prayer Service this year, and of church choirs singing at inaugural events. Underneath the variety of questions and concerns are some basic Christian questions about prayer: when I pray for our leaders, why am I doing so? Should I pray for a leader I disagree with? When I pray what do I think I am accomplishing? On one level these questions seem inconsequential and innocuous. But real prayer is not innocuous. It is powerful. That question can become poignant and even painful as it is for many in this moment, given that some of the values that many of us heard expressed over the past year have seemed to be in contradiction to deeply-held Christian convictions of love, compassion, and human dignity. So, should we pray for the President? We can and, indeed, I believe we must pray for all who lead in our civic order, nationally and internationally. I pray for the President in part because Jesus Christ is my Savior and Lord. If Jesus is my Lord and the model and guide for my life, his way must be my way, however difficult. And the way prayer for others is a part of how I follow the way of Jesus. This practice of praying for leaders is deep in our biblical and Anglican/Episcopalian traditions. Psalm 72 prays that the ancient Israelite king might rule in the ways of God’s justice, defending “the cause of the poor,” bringing “deliverance to the needy.” 1 Timothy 2:1-2 encourages followers of Jesus to pray earnestly for those in leadership, that they may lead in ways that serve the common good. Even in the most extreme case, Jesus himself said, while dying on the cross, “Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing,” was praying for Pontius Pilate, the Governor of Rome who ordered his execution, and for all who were complicit in it. In this spirit, the Prayer Books of the Anglican/Episcopal way have always included prayer for those “who bear the authority of government,” praying in a variety of ways that they may lead in the ways of God’s wisdom, justice and truth. When we pray for Donald, Barack, George, Bill, George, or Jimmy, Presidents of the United States, we pray for their well-being, for they too are children of God, but we also pray for their leadership in our society and world. We pray that they will lead in the ways of justice and truth. We pray that their leadership will truly serve not partisan interest but the common good. When we pray for them, we are actually praying for our nation, for our world, indeed we are praying for ourselves. Prayer is not a simplistic cheer or declaration of support. Prayers of lament cry out in pain and cry for justice. Prayer can celebrate. Prayer can also ask God to intervene and change the course of history, to change someone's mind, or his or her heart. When we pray for our enemies, we may find that we are simultaneously emboldened to stand for justice while we are also less able to demonize another human being. Real prayer is both contemplative and active. It involves a contemplative conversation with and listening to God, and an active following of the way of Jesus, serving and witnessing in the world in his Name. For those who follow the way of Jesus, the active side of our life of prayer seeks to live out and help our society live out what it means to “love your neighbor as yourself.” So we work for a good and just, humane and loving society. We participate as followers of Jesus in the life of our government and society, caring for each other and others, and working for policies and laws that reflect the values and teachings of Jesus to “love your neighbor,” to “do unto others as you who have them do unto you,” to fashion a civic order that reflects the goodness, the justice, the compassion that we see in the face of Jesus, that we know to reflect the very heart and dream of God for all of God’s children and God’s creation. I grew up in a historically black congregation in the Episcopal Church. We prayed for leaders who were often lukewarm or even opposed to our very civil rights. We got on our knees in church and prayed for them, and then we got up off our knees and we Marched on Washington. Following the way of Jesus, we prayed and protested at the same time. We prayed for our leaders who were fighting for our civil rights, we prayed for those with whom we disagreed, and we even prayed for those who hated us. And we did so following the Jesus, whose way is the way of unselfish, sacrificial love. And that way is the way that can set us all free. As we celebrate the birth of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we may find guidance in his words, spoken during one of the most painful and difficult struggles in the Civil Rights Movement. He asked that all participants live by a set of principles. The first principle read: “As you prepare to march, meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus.” Should we pray for the President? Yes! The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry Presiding Bishop and Primate The Episcopal Church Greening of the Church
Dear Ones: Help the Church prepare for the Birth of Jesus This Sunday, December 18, is the Fourth Sunday of Advent. It’s also the last Sunday before Christmas. This is our opportunity to have the church looking its festive best for Christmas Eve and the Birth of the Christ Child. After the 9:00 am church service on the 18th we will help the Altar Guild put up our decorations. As with most things, many hands make light work, and your hands will help. We even have jobs for little ones. Refreshments will be provided, so come out and help decorate God’s house! Redeemer's first annual Thanksgiving celebration feast. November 24, 2016
Please make plans to join us for Thanksgiving dinner. Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24th from 3 - 5 pm. If you plan to attend, please call Shirley Moll 276-3663 or David Silva 276-6370 so we have an accurate count for food prep.
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The newest little saint was baptized at Redeemer this morning.
November 6, 2016
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Rev. Charlotte and a few members of Redeemer are attending this week's Diocesan Convention at Ascension School in Cove. The picture on the far right is of Bobby Fossek, who conducted a workshop on diversity. He shared how he uses his heritage from the confederated Tribes to return native plants to the region to restore soul and waterways. |
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A few pictures from the potluck and Bishop Bell's visit. Thank you Kathy McCoy for taking the pictures. It was a festive weekend! To see the entire photo album, go to Church of Redeemer Facebook page. September 24, 25, 2016 |
From Friday's East Oregonian newspaper (September 16, 2016)
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September 15, 2016
Church of the Redeemer stepped up to feed the hungry during Round Up on Thursday. The sack lunches made at the church were taken to Stillman Park and distributed to those in need.
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September 13, 2016
Don't forget about the parish potluck on September 24th at 5:30 pm! Come enjoy good food and good company.
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September 7, 2016
Immediately following church services on Sunday, September 11, 2016, there will be a Liturgical Committee meeting to plan for Bishop Bell's visit.
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Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Election Message
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/presiding-bishop-michael-curry-election-message/
August 22, 2016 / Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Election Message
This November we will gather together as a nation to vote not only to elect a new president but to elect governmental leaders on a variety of levels.
We are blessed. We are blessed as a nation to be able to do so as citizens of this country. This is a right, an obligation, and a duty. And indeed the right and the privilege to be able to vote is something that was won through an American revolution. Something that was won even more through civil rights and women’s suffrage. A right and a privilege that was won for all. So I encourage you to please go and vote. Vote your conscience. Vote your perspective. But vote.
But it’s not just simply a civil obligation and duty. Voting and participation in our government is a way of participating in our common life. And that is a Christian obligation. Indeed, we who follow in the Way of Jesus of Nazareth are summoned to participate actively as reflections of our faith in the civil process.
In the thirteenth chapter of Romans, sometimes a chapter that is debated among scholars and among Christians, St. Paul reminds us that we have a duty and an obligation to participate in the process of government, “For that is how our common life is ordered and structured.” And at one point he actually says, “For the same reason,” going on, he’s expanding, he says, “For the same reason you also pay taxes for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with everything.” That’s probably very true. “Pay to all them that is due them. Taxes to whom taxes are due. Revenue to whom revenue is due. Respect to whom respect is due. Honor to whom honor is due.” Now he’s talking about the role of government as helping to order our common life. But here’s what I want you to really hear. He continues and says:
“So owe no-one anything except to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments ‘You shall not commit adultery’, ‘You shall not murder’, ‘You shall not steal’, ‘You shall not covet’, any other commandment, they are all summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
For St. Paul, the way of love, the love of neighbor, is the fulfilling not only of the moral law of God, but the way to fulfill the civil law.
Go and vote. Vote your conscience. Your conscience informed by what it means to love your neighbor. To participate in the process of seeking the common good. To participate in the process of making this a better world. However you vote, go and vote. And do that as a follower of Jesus.
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
Church of the Redeemer stepped up to feed the hungry during Round Up on Thursday. The sack lunches made at the church were taken to Stillman Park and distributed to those in need.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 13, 2016
Don't forget about the parish potluck on September 24th at 5:30 pm! Come enjoy good food and good company.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 7, 2016
Immediately following church services on Sunday, September 11, 2016, there will be a Liturgical Committee meeting to plan for Bishop Bell's visit.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Election Message
http://www.episcopalcafe.com/presiding-bishop-michael-curry-election-message/
August 22, 2016 / Presiding Bishop Michael Curry Election Message
This November we will gather together as a nation to vote not only to elect a new president but to elect governmental leaders on a variety of levels.
We are blessed. We are blessed as a nation to be able to do so as citizens of this country. This is a right, an obligation, and a duty. And indeed the right and the privilege to be able to vote is something that was won through an American revolution. Something that was won even more through civil rights and women’s suffrage. A right and a privilege that was won for all. So I encourage you to please go and vote. Vote your conscience. Vote your perspective. But vote.
But it’s not just simply a civil obligation and duty. Voting and participation in our government is a way of participating in our common life. And that is a Christian obligation. Indeed, we who follow in the Way of Jesus of Nazareth are summoned to participate actively as reflections of our faith in the civil process.
In the thirteenth chapter of Romans, sometimes a chapter that is debated among scholars and among Christians, St. Paul reminds us that we have a duty and an obligation to participate in the process of government, “For that is how our common life is ordered and structured.” And at one point he actually says, “For the same reason,” going on, he’s expanding, he says, “For the same reason you also pay taxes for the authorities are God’s servants, busy with everything.” That’s probably very true. “Pay to all them that is due them. Taxes to whom taxes are due. Revenue to whom revenue is due. Respect to whom respect is due. Honor to whom honor is due.” Now he’s talking about the role of government as helping to order our common life. But here’s what I want you to really hear. He continues and says:
“So owe no-one anything except to love one another. For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments ‘You shall not commit adultery’, ‘You shall not murder’, ‘You shall not steal’, ‘You shall not covet’, any other commandment, they are all summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’. Love does no wrong to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.”
For St. Paul, the way of love, the love of neighbor, is the fulfilling not only of the moral law of God, but the way to fulfill the civil law.
Go and vote. Vote your conscience. Your conscience informed by what it means to love your neighbor. To participate in the process of seeking the common good. To participate in the process of making this a better world. However you vote, go and vote. And do that as a follower of Jesus.
The Most Rev. Michael B. Curry
Presiding Bishop and Primate
The Episcopal Church
