Proud Shoes, Indeed

What's on your summer reading list?

Well, besides the utterly fascinating (NOT!) 800 page Blue Book (which is Maroon, but so what) that contains the reports for the Episcopal Church's General Convention, I have recently reread Proud Shoes, a wonderful biography/history of the family of the Rev. Pauli Murray. I was asked to write a book guide for it recently (one of my previous lives was as a writer of book guides), and went back to read it again as part of the process. Reading a book to write on it is a different activity from reading for enjoyment, though I have to say I did enjoy it maybe even more this time than I did back in the 1980s when I first read it.

Pauli was born in 1910 in Baltimore, Maryland into a family that blended northern free blacks and southern children who were part slave, part master--thanks to the peculiarly accepted and shunned practice of white men going down to the slave shacks and raping women. We have lots of other names for it, but, stripped of euphemisms, that is what happened. If this sounds like Murray was attempting to cash in on the Roots phenomenon of the 1970s, you need to know that the book was originally published in 1956, and unlike Roots, it does not fill in known history with fiction - no Chicken George in sight. Murray does not go back as far, staying with her grandparents and great grandparents for most of the story.

What you get, instead, is one of the earliest books to examine in detail the challenge of color in the black community, specifically they way that lighter skinned blacks enjoy privileges within both the black and white communities that darker skinned black do not, but also suffer some consequences in terms of loss of community. Also of great interest is the way the South moved from hopefulness for blacks in the post Civil War period to the tragedy of Reconstruction and Jim Crow.

One of the things that make the book so wonderful, though, is the sense the reader gets that this family, told with all the warts showing, continues to triumph and maintain hope even in the midst of setbacks. Like when the grandfather gets shot during the war and continues to lose his sight even as he establishes classrooms all over the south; years later he must fight for a pension because the army won't acknowledge that the injury occurred while he was a soldier. Or the great grandmother who is separated from her husband because the master wants her for himself. Or the brothers who fight the elements to prove their trade as brick makers and, for a time, are more successful in Durham than the Duke family.

And if this story is not sufficient for you, check out Pauli's autobiography (yes, we were on a first name basis before she died), Song in a Weary Throat. Pauli's life is American history that you have never heard before, unless you are one of the lucky few. An orphan at the age of three, this family combined its efforts to raise her in Durham, North Carolina.

Her life includes the following: she refused to attend a segregated school in the south (she graduated from Hunter College in New York); she was then rejected for entry to UNC graduate school due to race, a school sitting on land given to it by her family; she was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat long before Rosa Parks; while studying law at Howard University, she organized a successful lunch counter sit in in 1943, well before other such demonstrations; when she applied to Harvard Law School, she was rejected because of her gender, later attending the University of California at Berkeley.

Let's not forget co-founding the National Organization for Women or becoming the first African American woman ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church. She celebrates her first Eucharist in the Chapel of the Cross, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina; the Chapel is next to the university and is the place her grandmother, born a slave had been baptized. Oh, and did I forget to mention she was the first woman priest to celebrate in the entire state?

Yes, I admit she's one of my heroes, made no less so from having met her in the last few years of her life as I was heading off to seminary. At that point, she had returned to Baltimore, the home of a father she could not remember.

So, if you need a sense of triumph in your life or a perspective that reminds you where the difficulties you face fall in the scheme of things, check out both of these books. And in a few weeks I'll be able to tell you where to get the book guide (because I know everyone reading this has a book club you'll want to discuss these books with).

This and that

Been a busy time. Robbie, one of my students was assaulted and landed in the hospital with a badly broken leg. Lot's of people have been gathering support for him now that he is home, but it has taken a great deal of potential blogging time. Pray for him. He will be on crutches for a couple of months.

Last night, my ministry held the second annual worship service in support of Pride Week. James my soon to be seminarian preached a great sermon. Too bad the church has so alienated the GLBT community that most of them stayed home.

Wouldn't it be great if church officials thought their job was to support and enable new ministries rather than to simply figure out what the problems will be and therefore try to block them?

What kind of school would make students have to work/go to class from 10:00am to 10:30pm without a single break? Guilford College apparently.

If we did not want Supreme Court justices with empathy, we could program a computer to make our rulings.

People who object to national health insurance have not looked at 1) the complete insanity of what we have now, 2) the better examples of how it works, and 3) the satisfaction rate of people even in the so-called failure countries (e.g. Britain).

Free pulpit available to anyone who can come up with a lively sermon for Trinity Sunday (June 7).

Anyone want to bet on whether I get dismissed when I go for jury duty in June? (Yes, of course I will wear my collar!)

Don't buy an Iphone right now! They are dumping their stock in anticipation of a new model in July.

Why hasn't someone in the Episcopal Church realized that, with a new Lectionary, we need new collects too (sorry for the confusions that sentence is causing the non-Episcopalians.)?

What level of stupidity must yo possess to try to text while driving?

Today is the proposed feast day for John Calvin in our new list. But you already knew that didn't you?

On Beer

Just one more difference between Anglicans and some conservative churches. We drink on occasion. Almost any occasion, actually. We are not ashamed of it. Jesus wasn't, so why should we be? Remember that wedding in Cana with the wine? That was a lot of wine he made. A whole lot. Go back and read the story, and realize those urns contained gallons of wine. Strong wine. The kind they usually diluted before drinking. Wedding parties went on for days back then. And no, it was not "new wine" -- i.e., grape juice. No one has a grape juice steward. And no one says something like, "Most people serve the good grape juice first and then wait until the guest have had their fill of it and can no longer tell the difference. But you have saved the good grape juice for last!"

And then there was that Passover thing. Only someone who has not been to a Passover meal (I mean a real one in a Jewish home or community, not that Christianizing crap some churches do) would claim Jesus used grape juice there, or did not drink it. The number of cartwheels and hoops you have to go through to reach that conclusion are absurd. Let's just take it on face value this time.

The reason we can be certain Jesus drank? Because water was unsafe. The ancients did not understand bacteria. But they did know that fermented liquids were not going to kill them (no cars on the roads to worry about). No wonder virtually every culture developed some fermenting process.

Drinking too much could get you in trouble, to be sure (see Noah), but drinking wine was still safer than drinking water. And Israel had grapes to spare more than grain, so wine was more plentiful than beer.

Well, we have both grain and grapes, although so many fields got planted with corn that we had a hops shortage last year. Just another fall out of the too-quick rush to corn-as-fuel binge we went on. If you noticed your local microbrew not serving up as much of you favorite double IPA, that's why. Things have settled out a bit now.

So it has become brewing season for me. FIRST INTERLUDE: Before I go any further, I should point out that, yes, I do work with college students. And yes, I am extremely careful about who gets to have any of my homebrew. I'm not kidding myself about whether those under 21 drink or not, but I like my job, and a I like being able to get a job. And anyway, I don't particularly like the drink to get drunk culture of undergraduate parties.

That said, have you noticed how many guys will cook things on the grill but not in the kitchen? Or maybe they will make chili or spaghetti sauce, but not potato salad or peas. And forget about those guys ever baking. All that measuring and precision seems beyond them.

Well, take a trip to your local homebrew store sometime and just listen. It's all about measuring grain, which brand of yeast works best, the bitterness of various hops, and extract versus all-grain brewing. If beer is 'bread in a bottle' then there are a lot of guys baking out there.

Ever since I began making beer, I have learned how many friends either have also been brewing or want to start. And brewers will talk endlessly about their last batch and what they will do with the recipe next time to make it better. Mind you, there was a period in time (through the 1990s) that home brewing was cheaper than buying a quality brew. Not any more. We can rightfully claim that we do it for the unique tastes we can produce. But, really, it's a lot of fun.

And truthfully, brewing beer smells great! And saying you brew your own is big time bragging rights, especially when you show up at the party with a few varieties. Which is why some of us obsess on getting labels made. Or setting up a separate area in our home (I gave my realtor a six pack and told him to find me an extra room. He not only found the room but a second refrigerator so that I could begin brewing lagers!).

SECOND INTERLUDE: I need to point out that no one brews beer to get drunk. It's too much work, and brewing in 5 gallon batches would have you working all the time. If an alcoholic is sad when the last beer is gone, let me tell you that homebrewers are almost distraught when we reach then end of a batch. That last bottle or two can stay on the shelf in the refrigerator for weeks just to say we still have a little of that batch left.

Now, there are plenty of women who brew beer, though I don't think I have ever seen one in the homebrew store without a guy who is also clearly into it. There is clearly a male culture about all this. Which is funny because, apart from a little heavy lifting, it's really cooking - serious cooking. Like the kind that people who make homemade candy have to do, checking temperatures and precise measuring. Well, there is a little bit of added science in measuring specific gravities, but really, it's cooking. Which means we should never be allowed to get away with claiming we don't know how to follow a recipe.

And the great thing is that the skill bleeds over to other items. I am making my second batch of wine right now, which has a few extra steps but doesn't have the time on the stove. And my hard cider recipe, which is truly easy--if you want a true English cider, not that sweet junk you find in the market, make your own--is a favorite among friends. And my great research project has been figuring out how to make a gluten free beer for people who have those allergies. And my next big project is mead.

So, I have a double chocolate stout brewing now, and a shiraz fermenting. A chili IPA is probably next because that is easy and fairly quick. And I'll be wearing my "What would Jesus brew?" T-shirt when I brew it.

This Just In...

The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), one of the chief centers of governance for this loose affiliation we call the Anglican Communion has decided that it really believes in the Windsor Document after all. This was the document that followed the Episcopal Church's consecration of Gene Robinson, and openly gay man (See article just below this one.).

The Windsor Report said that The Episcopal Church should refrain from further gay consecrations. But is also said that Bishops should stop intruding in the internal affairs of other dioceses. This part of the Report has been routinely ignored by dioceses who choose to accept North American clergy who have been deposed or have abandoned the Anglican Communion over the issues related to sexuality.

Typically these clergy align themselves with bishops and dioceses in Latin America and Africa who claim to be providing 'missionary work' in North America because they believe the Episcopal Church (USA) has abandoned any kind of sensibility about Jesus' message.

So what happened. Well, the ACC has chosen to tell the Church of Uganda that they cannot be represented by an American priest living in Georgia who remounced his orders years ago because then the ACC would be sanctioning a violation of the portion of the Windsor Report that chastises the attempts to establish jurisdiction by a foreign bishop in a diocese where there is already an established church. It has been a chief complaint that everyone has been making demands of the American (and Canadian) churches but this equally critical issue has not been faced. Well, now it has.

Read all about it here: http://www.aco.org/acns/news.cfm/2009/5/4/ACNS4603

Thank you ACC. We are glad the admonishing is now going out to someone other than us: You cannot keep shouting 'Windsor Report' and simultaneously ignoring the parts of it that apply to you!

Okay, enough Episcopal Church and sexuality stuff. Next week, a report on beer making!

B033 - An Idea Whose Time has Come and Gone

Okay, just a bit of a warning for any non-Anglicans reading out there. I'm about to give you a history lesson on the Episcopal Church. If we sometimes seem confusing, this may clear up a few points. Or it make it all seems even scarier than your could ever have believed.

Here is the short version. In 2003, the Episcopal Church, having received a majority vote in the House of Bishops, consecrated Gene Robinson to be the Bishop of New Hampshire. The rest of the church went into apoplectic fits because Bp. Robinson is not only gay but living in a committed relationship. Everyone knew this at the time, so there was no deception going on here. Well, there was a lot of self deception from people who refused to see that this was going to happen sooner or later, but that's about it.

Skip ahead three years to 2006 General Convention (GC). By this time, the rest of the Anglican world (except Canada) had told us what bad people we were, demanded an apology and a promise that we would not do it again, and threw us off the playground. Mind you, our polity maintains that each Province of the Anglican Communion is separate and it really was none of their business what we did; but some other places felt there might be guilt by association.

Anyway, the 2006 GC was asked to make a promise to hold off on any more such consecrations. Initially, we rejected that demand. Then we did something else shocking. We elected a woman, Katherine Jefferts Schori, to be the Presiding Bishop of the USA. Not only was she (gasp!) female, but she was supportive of gays and lesbians in the church. However, she had a dilemma. There was no way she could participate in international Anglican events without some kind of a promise from the Episcopal Church not to make any more gay bishops, (or, at least, openly gay bishops).

So, on the last day of that GC, she brought forth a resolution numbered B033 which said we would not consecrate any bishops whose manner of life might strain the bonds of affection between the Episcopal Church (USA) and other parts of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Everyone knew that this language was targeted at one group only, but implied that there might be other manners of life (voting Republican?) that people would find offensive. The plea was made to do this for a 'season'.

Now here's the problem. GC meets again this summer and B033 will come up again, mostly in resolutions to repeal it. Here's why. In the three ensuing years, several dioceses have attempted to leave the Episcopal Church. Most are learning that they don't get to keep the money or the property, but that is a long slow legal process. The Presiding Bishop has been snubbed by a number of bishops around the world who refuse to go to meetings where she is present or to shake her hand. Bishops in other parts of the world have been interfering in American dioceses, sending so called missioners and appointing new bishops where there are already existing bishops. Not only is all of this redundant, but it goes explicitly against the other part of the agreement that was requested around the world. In the meantime, the Episcopal Church has not gone back on its word.

The final straw (in my opinion) was the refusal of some bishops to go to last year's Lambeth Conference. Lambeth takes place every ten years and is intended as a time of discussion, reflection, and education for bishops around the world. Some bishops have decided that they will not even listen to the thinking process that has preceded our decisions in this country, preferring instead to bury their heads in the sand.

An interesting thing that happened out of Lambeth last summer is that a number of foreign bishops, taken out of the spotlight (the press is kept out of these meetings), had the chance to talk with American bishops and discover that there really is some theology taking place behind our actions, not just some cultural abdication of the Bible as they were led to believe. A growing collegiality has begun to develop, but not, of course, with those who refused to attend.

So we are left asking this question: Given that we got virtually nothing we wanted from B033, no dialogue, no retention of conservative dioceses, and no ending of the interfering by foreign bishops, why should we continue B033?

It was a bad compromise when it first happened, but I can easily see how people voted for it. I might actually have been one of them, had I been present. The newly elected Presiding Bishop was asking for something that she thought would allow the dialogue to continue. Instead, other forces decided they were done talking, that the body of Christ was irretrievably broken once again.

Worse than that, we sacrificed other people for our comfort. It is one thing for Christians to sacrifice themselves; our faith is rather based on that idea wouldn't you say? But it is another thing to sacrifice someone else. I don't see the biblical model for that.

So the only question, as far as I am concerned is whether we repeal B033 or confess our shame in having passed it in the first place. I, for one, am tired of putting the institution above human beings. To put it bluntly, B033 stank from the beginning, and it has gotten any better with age.

A Few More 'Lesser' Saints

April 27 - Christina Rosetti, Poet 1894 - A rare find! She wrote the poem "In the Bleak Midwinter", which was later set to music and is now a Christmas Carol. But (for all us Geeks), she also wrote "Goblin Market" part of which appears in the episode titled "Midnight" in the sci-fi show Doctor Who!

April 29 - Catherine of Siena, 1380 - The youngest of 25 children, Catherine began having visions at the age of six. Despite her families best efforts, she pursued her mystic vocation as a Dominican. An interesting woman to read about.

April 30 Sarah Josepha Buell Hale, Editor and Prophetic Witness, 1879. An early advocate of the back to Africa movement to return slaves to Liberia, Ms. Hale is best known for two other accomplishments, the children's poem "Mary Had a Little lamb", and the nationalization of the Thanksgiving Holiday. Editor of Goday's Ladies Book for forty years, she was also a tireless advocate for women's education, and the production of American literature.

May 2 Athansius, Bishop of Alexandria, 373 - Nowadays, he is a pillar of orthodoxy. Of course, he had to go into exile 5 times because the odds were stacked against him. What was the reason? In a word, homoousios. It means "of one being (with the Father)." The full divinity of Christ was the major debate at the time.

May 4 - Monnica, Mother of Augustine of Hippo, 387 - Monnica prayed for years that her son would convert to Christianity. She won. You might want to check out whatever your mother is praying for!

May 7 - Harriet Starr Cannon, Religious, 1896 - The founder of the Community of St. Mary, the Episcopal Church's first monastic order for Women. On September 9, the order is remembered for the martyrs of Memphis, when several members of the order died nursing victims of Yellow Fever in Tennessee.

May 8 - Dame Julian of Norwich, c. 1417 - One of the great medieval mystics. "All is well."

May 9 - Gregory of Nazianzus, Bishop of Constantinople, 389 - Known as one of the Cappadocian Fathers, Gregory championed the Trinity at a time when the church was just beginning to work out that theology. A beloved bishop and good preacher.

May 10 - Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Prophetic Witness, 1760 - Zinzendorf can be attributed with creating the Moravian Church, which is odd since he was not exactly the type who wanted to create another organization. A somewhat maverick Lutheran, he simply could not conform and saw the idea of free churches developing along family lines, becoming structured only when necessary. We can all see some attraction in that! He also had some interesting ideas about sexuality and transcendance.

That's enough for now!

Gotta Love Them Saints

Actually, one of the fun things coming before General Convention is a complete revision of our Lesser Feasts and Fasts, the book that identifies, among other things, the Christian people we remember on our calendar. In Anglican lingo, the term Saint (capital 'S') is only officially applied to New Testament witnesses to the early events of Christianity. Other Christians are referred to saint the way that Paul calls the entire community saints. And certain exemplars of the faith are commemorated for what they have done in a book now entitled Lesser Feasts and Fasts. So, for example, Timothy is Saint Timothy but Francis of Assisi is not (and yes, the common useage of the term does not always match this formula). Timothy's feast day is included in the Book of Common Prayer Calendar, while Francis remains in the Lesser Feasts group.

One other difference between us and Roman Catholic practice: In Anglicanism, it is not common practice to pray to Saints for intercession. We believe one can pray to God (in any part of the Trinity) directly. Yes, I am hedging here because as with much of Anglicanism, there are not prohibitions against praying to saints. You just won't see much of it, and lots of people will tell why the believe it is unnecessary.

Anyway, back to my point. The revision has a new title: Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints. And yes, you can tell one of the differences is an attempt to include more women. And more non-European or North American folk. And more post-Reformation non-Anglicans. So here is what is upcoming on the new calendar. Hopefully, I will remember to do this a few times for you:

April 15 - Damien, Priest and Leper 1889, and Marianne, Religious 1918 of Molokai
God of compassion, we bless your Name for the ministries of Damien and Marianne, who ministered to the lepers abandoned on Molokai in the Hawaiian Islands. Help us, following their examples, to be bold and loving in confronting the incurable plagues of our time, that your people may live in health and hope; through Jesus Christ, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

April 16 Mary (Molly) Brant (Konwatsijayenni), Witness to the Faith among the Mohawks, 1796
Maker and lover of all creation, you endued Molly Brant with the gifts of justice and loyalty, and made her a wise and prudent clan mother in the household of the Mohawk nation: Draw us also toward the goal of our faith, that we may at last attain the full dignity of our nature in our true native land, where with Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

April 19 - Alphege, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Martyr, 1012
O loving God, your martyr bishop Alphege of Canterbury suffered violent death when he refused to permit a ransom to be extorted from his people: Grant that all pastors of your flock may pattern themselves on the Good Shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep; and who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

April 21 - Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1109
Almighty God, you raised up your servant Anselm to teach the Church of his day to understand its faith in your eternal Being, perfect justice, and saving mercy: Provide your Church in every age with devout and learned scholars and teachers, that we may be able to give a reason for the hope that is in us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

April 22 - John Muir, Naturalist and Writer, 1914, and Hudson Stuck, Priest and Environmentalist, 1920
Blessed Creator of the earth and all that inhabits it: We thank you for your prophets John Muir and Hudson Stuck, who rejoiced in your beauty made known in the natural world; and we pray that, inspired by their love of your creation, we may be wise and faithful stewards of the world you have created, that generations to come may also lie down to rest among the pines and rise refreshed for their work; in the Name of the one through whom you make all things new, Jesus Christ our Savior, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Hey, we get to remember John Muir liturgically by reading from the Song of the Three Jews!