Religion
Post about Religious topics. My spiritual journey is a subtopic of this.
A Way of Love for Aspiring Non-stipendiary Priests. #GC79 A007 and #MeToo
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 07/07/2018 - 09:08I pause briefly from my studies in the history of the 1789 American Book of Common Prayer to read the latest dispatches from the Episcopal General Convention. How does The Way of Love that Presiding Bishop Curry spoke about, the Liturgy of Listening in response to #MeToo, and the work of the Committee on Ministry relate to me?
I became an Episcopalian over forty years ago back when I was in college but my relationship with the denomination has been a bit rocky over the past few years.
I had started college believing I was called to ministry and planned to major in religion, go to seminar, and become a preacher. I changed majors to philosophy, dropped out, and ended up working with computers. Yet that sense of calling never left no matter how hard I tried to ignore it or make up excuses about how it just wasn’t feasible for me.
A few years ago during a guided meditation at a conference on poetry and worship at Yale Divinity School I had a strong sense of God telling me that my whole life has been about showing God love and that I really needed to answer God’s call. So I started the process, only to be rejected by the Commission on Ministry. I was never told why and not given any support in dealing with this spiritual crisis.
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a college dropout in their fifties who needs to support a family to become a priest.
A few spiritual guides told me that I would not be happy until I went to seminary and taking their advice I searched around for a program that might work for me. I had taken an online continuing education course with Church Divinity School of the Pacific (CDSP) which I got a lot out of so I looked to see if they might be a fit for me. I decided to apply for their Online Certificate of Theological Studies program thinking it would be a good opportunity to see online seminary life was a fit for me.
After completing my first two semesters, I headed out to CDSP for a two-week summer intensive. The research I’m taking a break from is for one of those courses. I wandered the campus, met my classmates and professors, and was overwhelmed with joy. CDSP was exactly where I was meant to be. I put in my paperwork to change programs and am now officially part of the Low Residency Masters of Divinity Program. I am still not sure where it will lead, but sometimes it is more important to know you are in the right place heading in the right direction than to know where you are going.
One of my fellow seminarians who is at General Convention share a link to a blog post about the ”Liturgy of Listening”. I made sure to watch the livestream of the liturgy. It was incredibly powerful bringing up complicated reactions.
The wounds I carry from ‘the process’ are very different from the wounds we heard about in the liturgy and I want to be careful not to diminish in any way the stories of those hurt by sexual harassment, abuse, or exploitation, yet as I heard the stories, I thought to myself, “In my own way, #MeToo”.
Another blog post, by the same author, And Then, Silence: Reflecting on the Liturgy of Listening gave me a way of thinking about this that was very helpful. My wounds from ‘the process’ and the wounds of many others that I’ve heard about over the past few years are not as bad as the wounds of sexual abuse. In this context, my wounds are “not too bad”. Yet as the author writes, “Not too bad is a tragedy. We must be better than this.” I hope and pray that the “Liturgy of Listening” will move the church forward in addressing issues of sexual harassment, abuse, and exploitation. I also hope that someday the church will address the issue of those who feel called the priesthood, especially to non-stipendiary or bi-vocational priesthood and don’t see a way forward.
One way the church can address this is to seriously consider Resolution A007 Establish Committee to Study Relationship of Episcopal Seminaries with General Convention, One Another and the Wider Church. Objections to this resolution can be found in Deans Oppose Seminary Investigation
The Very Rev. Kurt Dunkle, dean and president of General Theological Seminary, said a top-down approach would not lead to good results. But he said the plan might have some promise if properly modified.
From my own experiences I can see problems with a top-down approach. Yet starting with a “Liturgy of Listening” to small parishes seeking non-stipendiary or bi-vocational priests and to people that feel called to such a ministry might be part of the modification that is needed.
The church does need to think more seriously and more creatively about how priests are called and formed in twenty-first century America, and Resolution A007 sounds like a very important starting point on our journey together on The Way of Love.
Backgrounder: #Pentecost2018 – From #MeToo and #EnoughIsEnough to @pb_curry at the #RoyalWedding
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 05/20/2018 - 03:09If humanity ever captures the energy of love, it will be the second time in history that we have discovered fire. – The sermon of Presiding Bishop Michael Curry at the Royal Wedding
(See the video or read the text)
When the day of Pentecost had come, the disciples were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability. – Acts 2
Today in the western church, we celebrate Pentecost. We celebrate that day when the power of Love rested on each of the disciples as a divided tongue of fire. We also celebrate the power of the Spirit resting on Presiding Bishop Curry. God’s Love burst in like tongues of Fire in a world desperately needing to hear it.
With all the horrible news over the past few weeks, the whole wedding, with Bishop Curry preaching and The Kingdom Choir singing “Stand by Me”, was the balm that we all so desperately needed.
In John 20, we read about the disciples huddling in fear on the Sunday of the Resurrection.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!"
In many ways, it feels like in recent days we’ve been huddled behind locked doors in fear of the racists, misogynists, and PussyGrabbers. In many ways it felt to me like Bishop Curry was saying #MeToo and #EnoughIsEnough.
At one point, Bishop Curry talked about “some old slaves in America’s antebellum south who explained the dynamic power of love and why it has the power to transform”. They knew that “If you cannot preach like Peter [and here, I would add, or like Michael] and you cannot pray like Paul [and here I would add or like Archbishop Angaelos and The Reverend Prebendary Rose HudsonWilkin], you just tell the love of Jesus how he died to save us all. Oh that’s the balm in Gilead. This way of love is the way of life.” His words were the balm we need right now.
To paraphrase Martin Luther King, Jr.
I have a dream that one day on the green hills of England the children of former slaves and the children of former slave traders will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
A friend of mine put it this way on his Facebook page.
I am filled with gratitude that, in a season when American Christianity is too often represented by preachers who have pledged allegiance to the current administration in Washington, we heard a sermon from an American Christian leader, a wedding homily proclaiming love, not hate, inclusion, not judgment. It fills me with hope. Thank you, Bishop Curry, for showing us what the Jesus movement looks like in the world today.
He, like many of my friends has recently shared what I refer to as “The Barmen Declaration 2018”. If you don’t get the reference, watch the video and then read up about the Theological Declaration of Barmen 1934.
For those who want to know more, I encourage you start by watching Bishop Curry’s video about The Eucharist and about The Jesus Movement.
Finally, if you want to experience this Love, this Fire, get to church. Today, the western church (Protestants and Roman Catholics) celebrates Pentecost. If you miss it, next week, the eastern church (Orthodox) celebrates Eucharist. Not every church will be as beautiful as St. George’s Chapel. Not every church will have a choir as powerful as The Kingdom Choir, not every church will have a preacher as gifted as Bishop Curry; they might not even be fully living into that power of Love that Bishop Curry preached about, but it’s a good place to start.
Come, Holy Sprit, Come.
First Look: Inspired by @rachelheldevans
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Thu, 05/03/2018 - 05:00When the famous German theologian, Karl Barth was asked to summarize the millions of words he had written, he reportedly responded, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so.” These words come back to me as I finish my second semester of seminary. I have been studying the greatest love story of all time and it isn’t just some academic pursuit, it is a story I am caught up in the middle of.
There is the story of the burning bush and the comment about how the miracle is not that the bush was not consumed, the real miracle was that Moses noticed. In the turmoil of our daily lives, we often don’t notice how God is telling us that he loves us. We get caught up in the drama, the conflict, or simply the academic studies.
Yesterday, I received a reminder in an unexpected way. I received an advance copy of Inspired: Slaying Giants, Walking on Water, and Loving the Bible Again by Rachel Held Evans.
In between my class assignments, I’ve started reading it. The introduction starts off with personal stories of Evans struggling with what the Bible means in our lives today. She starts off from the perspective of growing up in the Bible belt, going to a conservative Christian college, and struggling with how to make sense of the Bible in our post-modern milieu.
At least a little ways into the introduction, this seems like a really important book for our age. It is important to those trying to figure out their relationship to God and stories about God. It is important to those trying to figure out what Jesus would do and how we should then live. Yet it is perhaps even more important to anyone who is trying to struggle with devastating polarization in American politics today.
Hopefully, over the next few weeks I’ll have the opportunity to write more about this book. I look forward to other people’s comments about the book as well.
Implicit Bias and Racial Reconciliation
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sun, 04/29/2018 - 07:53Continuing on from my blog post yesterday; a couple weeks ago, I received an email about the Executive Council Committee on Anti-Racism’s Framework for Anti-Racism and Racial Reconciliation Training in the Episcopal Church.
I shared about this in my Christian History class and one of the responses summed things up fairly nicely,
Yes, there are a number of initiatives, programs, and efforts across the Episcopal Church to try to frame these discussions, address our past, and think about ways to move forward. Anti-racism training is required of everyone in the ordination process, and many dioceses have their own programs. Part of what Executive Council is trying to do is think about how the church as whole can move forward in these areas.
In my discussions around racism, particularly around racial health disparities, I’ve often run into the idea that various groups have their anti-racism training, their cultural competency training, or other trainings that count as checking off an issue on a list, but perhaps might not really be having as big an impact as desired or necessary.
I thought a lot about this earlier this week when I attended the Connecticut Health Foundation’s conference on the future of health care. Dr David Williams shared a lot of important information in his presentation Making America Healthier for All: What Each of Us Can Do.
He notes that if White America was a country, its life expectancy would be 34th in the list of industrialized countries. Black America would be 96th. In 2012, the infant mortality rate for black Americans was over twice that of white Americans. Recently, a friend shared a link to a New York Times article addressing infant mortality, Why America’s Black Mothers and Babies Are in a Life-or-Death Crisis.
As life expectancy increases, it takes forty years for black Americans to catch up with white Americans. The life expectancy rate for white Americans in 1950 was 69.1 years. It took until 1990 for black Americans to reach that rate.
In a study in Portland Oregon, it took black male pedestrians of similar age and dressed similarly as white pedestrians had to wait 32% longer to cross the street. In 2012, the average wait time to vote for African Americans was 23 minutes. For white Americans it was only 12 minutes. In Connecticut, the county with the highest heart disease death rate for white women was better than the county with the lowest heart disease death rate for black women.
For median household income in the United States, for each dollar a white American household makes, a black American household makes 59 cents. For every dollar of wealth that white Americans have, black Americans have six cents. As an aside, I am not suggesting that wealth is what people should be seeking. I suspect some of the problem is caused not only by too many black Americans not having enough wealth and income to meet daily needs but also by too many white Americans having too much wealth.
I hear a lot of people talking about ‘racial reconciliation’. Is this what we want black people to be reconciled to?
What are the causes of this and how can we address this? One important factor that gets listed as an ‘essential concept’ in the Episcopal framework, but not explored deeply is implicit bias.
During Dr. Williams talk, he mentioned the work Patricia Devine is doing to address implicit bias such as mentioned in this Atlantic article, Is This How Discrimination Ends?. You can see more in a YouTube video, Patricia Devine on Kicking the Prejudice Habit
I’m not sure how much anti-racism trainings address the issue of implicit bias. The ones I’ve participated in don’t seem to address it much. Yet it seems like it needs to be a starting point for anti-racism trainings.
Thoughts?
What can we learn about the Three Self Movement today?
Submitted by Aldon Hynes on Sat, 04/21/2018 - 11:06(This was written for a discussion in Christian History II and I thought I'd adapt it to be a blog post as well.)
The discussion of the Three Self Movement reminds me of Roland Allen whom some of my friends are very interested in. It led me to try and find out more information about Henry Venn, "honorary secretary of the Church Missionary Society from 1841 to 1873."
I am struck by the different approaches of Indigenisation that Venn supported, of having missionaries start the churches which would then be handed over to the indigenous people and Indigeneity which Groves and Allen supported of having the indigenous people start the churches themselves.
This raises for me the question of how we reach out to the “nones” of today. Are we trying to get them to return to the churches of the previous century? Are we trying to set up churches we will hand over to them? Or are we trying to help “nones” develop communities that meet their spiritual needs?
