The Diocese of San Joaquin Cuts Ties with the Episcopal Church

It's clear that the Episcopal Church has powered up their media campaign for this event. Watch the use of the word "secede" in the articles - that's a word the is used by 815 and when the media use it in their stories (the New York Times is using it a lot) it's a sign that they are getting that from 815. Note how the Episcopal Church leadership and spokespersons continue to act as though it is a small little group that is unhappy and they will just carry on as if there is no problem at all. "All is well." Note also that a group called "Remain Episcopal" is quoted in the media stories. That's actually the newest name for ViaMedia. In fact, Integrity / ViAMedia/ Episcopal Majority/ The Consultation/ Progressive Episcopalians etc. etc. are all the same same thing. Historically, they set up an entire "boulevard" in the exhibition room at General Convention (which should cost a pretty penny unless somehow they've been able to secure a "group rate" - ironically. If ACI is two guys and a website, these organizations are often one woman and a chair). But they are all the same - and they just had a pow wow in Chicago. They don't have many people, but some are experienced street organizers (but in the old style, not in the new style). They follow the street protest model in organizing - a model from the last century. Have they now been deputized by 815 to be their official enforcers? We wonder. They sure are talking like they have been (note how they had their own press people ready for the mainstream press - excellent organization). From the AP:

Diocese Breaks With Episcopal Church

By Jordan Robertson

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. (AP) — An Episcopal diocese in central California voted Saturday to split with the national denomination over disagreements about the role of gays and lesbians in the church.

Clergy and lay members of the Episcopal Diocese of San Joaquin voted 173-22 at their annual convention to remove all references to the national church from the diocese's constitution, said the Rev. Van McCalister, a diocesan spokesman.

The Fresno-based congregation is the first full diocese to secede because of a conservative-liberal rift that began decades ago and is now focused on whether the Bible condemns gay relationships.

"We have leadership in the Episcopal Church that has drastically and radically changed directions," McCalister said. "They have pulled the rug out from under us. They've started teaching something very different, something very new and novel, and it's impossible for us to follow a leadership that has so drastically reinvented itself."

The diocese, in a later vote, accepted an invitation to join a conservative South American congregation of the Worldwide Anglican Communion. The Episcopal Church is the U.S. member of the global Anglican Communion.

The decision is almost certain to spark a court fight over control of the diocese's multimillion-dollar real estate holdings and other assets.

The head of the U.S. denomination had warned Bishop John-David Schofield against secession.

"I do not intend to threaten you, only to urge you to reconsider and draw back from this trajectory," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori, head of the U.S. denomination, wrote in a letter to Schofield earlier this week.

Schofield responded that the Episcopal Church "has isolated itself from the overwhelming majority of Christendom and more specifically from the Anglican Communion by denying Biblical truth and walking apart from the historic Faith and Order."

The Fresno diocese had explored breaking ties with the American church since 2003, when Episcopalians consecrated the church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. The resulting uproar throughout the world Anglican fellowship has moved the 77-million-member communion toward the brink of schism.

San Joaquin is one of three Episcopal dioceses that will not ordain women. Last year the Episcopal Church elected Jefferts Schori as its first woman primate.

Christian advocates for accepting gay relationships, including Jefferts Schori, say they are guided by biblical teachings on social justice and tolerance. But Schofield and other conservatives believe Scripture bars same-sex relationships.

After the vote, Jefferts Schori said the church was saddened by the action.

"We deeply regret their unwillingness or inability to live within the historical Anglican understanding of comprehensiveness," she said in a statement. "We wish them to know of our prayers for them and their journey. The Episcopal Church will continue in the Diocese of San Joaquin, albeit with new leadership."

Some worshippers had fought to persuade the diocese to resolve its disputes internally without separating from the U.S. church.

"I'm very disappointed but not totally surprised," said Nancy Key, 59, a member of Holy Family Episcopal Church in Fresno and co-founder of Remain Episcopal, a group formed in 2003 to combat the secession. She said it had 125 members and many more supporters.

"This has been threatening to split our diocese apart for a long time," she said. "We feel like what we want to do is follow Christ, who included all, and used all of us for his ministry. And that didn't happen today."

The diocese's holdings include 48 church buildings, including its Fresno headquarters, a series of mission-style buildings surrounded by olive, Chinese elm and cherry trees. Its total assets are worth millions, McCalister said.

About 55 conservative Episcopal parishes have split from the church in the last few years and some have affiliated directly with Anglican provinces overseas, according to national church statistics. But courts have mostly ruled against them.

San Joaquin is one of four full dioceses — along with Fort Worth, Texas; Quincy, Ill., and Pittsburgh — out of 110 in the nation that has taken steps toward breaking with the U.S. church.

NOTE: Remember - the Episcopal Church leadership was told in 2003 by all the Anglican instruments of unity as well as the theology committee of the TEC House of Bishops itself not to go forward with the consecration of Gene Robinson, but the TEC leadership went ahead anyway. We believe that they thought the election of Rowan Williams secured that there would be no significant opposition to their actions. It appears they never dreamed there would be a Windsor Report or a Communique that would hold them accountable for their actions. The fact that 815 seems bent on continuing the "scorched earth" policy either directly (Schori's happy little letters) or through their surrogates ("Remain Episcopal") illustrates that either they still feel quite secure that the current Archbishop of Canterbury will do nothing or they no longer care what he does. Guess we'll see ...

Morning Thoughts

Mark Harris has posted a very kind comment on the "Evening Thoughts" post from Friday night. It's gotten me to think this morning as I am preparing to return to the CANA Council what the hope had been when the Virginia congregations had voted almost exactly a year ago to separate from the Episcopal Church. It's come to mind again reading the Standstill Agreement after nearly a year. Bishop Lee had said at the Diocesan Council of 2006 that he wanted to find a way that we all could be in the closest communion as possible. That had been the goal, with the hope that one day we'd be reunited (as the Reformed Episcopal Church has now reunited with the Common Cause Partners). The separation would mean that the churches (and the diocese) could - as Bishop Lee said - "get on with it." Get on with ministry - which is what I was seeing yesterday at the CANA Council, a move toward normalcy, a move to return to the focus of ministry of the Gospel call of the Church - to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ.

But they are only baby steps for the reality is that the crisis continues to deepen. I've posted the live feed of the San Joaquin convention that is also going on this weekend, with a historical vote scheduled to take place today and that reminds us how the crisis continues to deepen.

That there could be worship, gospel worship in the midst of the crisis I found truly amazing. Some of the friendships at council have stood the test of time over decades, some are brand new. The stories of the Nigerian churches opened our eyes to the wider world, the wider church, where for so many of the Nigerians are filled with concern for their loved ones back home. They came to America like strangers in a strange land, sojourners, and their stories are also both inspiring and sad. I found my heart in strangely familiar territory as I listened to the stories, from American-born and Nigerian-born Christians who found their homeland, be it a spiritual home or a far country, desolate and abandoned and torn by war.

That in the midst of such sorrow, a sorrow that continues both at home and abroad, that there could be such hopeful, such joyful worship is astonishing. But with that in mind, as my brothers and sisters pray for their homeland, I continue to pray for my own spiritual homeland, that we might find a way to be in as close as communion as possible, even at this late hour.

And yes, Mark, I'd love to have coffee some time.

Diocese of San Joaquin Convention Live

THIS LIVE STREAM IS A MINISTRY OF ANGLICANTV.ORG

Evening Thoughts

This is the season for - event planning and scheduling, the story of my daytime life which I often describe as Airline Traffic Control. Well, it's been an incredibly busy week at the firm and in the midst of it all is the first annual CANA Council in Herndon, Virginia.

The day began with drama. The "slight weather event" with "just a dusting" from the Alberta Clipper turned into what we knew it would be - being that this is DC Metro area and the "snow budget" was all spent in January and there nothing, no nothing left to treat the roads or run the plows. As the snow began to fall past a dusting and then an inch, and then another inch, and then yes, another inch - still there no sign of plows or treating of the roads and people were sliding off and wrapping themselves like iridescent Christmas ribbons around trees, guardrails and other nearby less fortunate cars.

Well, there was a slight pause yesterday when the sun poked out and things were looking up. Then this morning I went out to clear the snow off the car before heading over to the Council meeting when I heard it - yes, the sound of ice pellets bouncing with delight off the roads and the parked cars and the closed windows. As I cleared the three inches of the Alberta Clipper off the trusty Turcel, it was quickly replaced by a lovely sheet of ice.

Yes, we did drive to the council meeting as the ice continued to fall, going at a pace much slower than usual but completely surrounded by evidence that indeed, The Hammersten Hierarchy of Human Behavior Level #2 is completely and most utterly correct. DC Metro area drivers are stupid. As they whiz impatiently past me out on the parkway, I listen to the news reporting a six car pile up on I-95 South, followed by more reports of pileups on other Northern Virginia area roads, including the area I am now driving in. But still, my fellow motorists zoom by, completely abiding by Level #2. Alas. What color will their ribbons be, I wonder?

Yet we do arrive in one piece, car in tack, and safely parked in the Church of the Epiphany parking lot. I go into the church building to the sounds of praise singing coming out of the brand new sanctuary - the place is packed with elected members of Council and CANA clergy, gathered from all over the United States.

Once again I see the faces of friends I have not seen in quite a while, some since General Convention in Columbus. I was in a prayer group with Don and Jesse Armstrong, I had delicious spicy Nigerian food for lunch, listened to a great panel on the Anglican Church and the Arts (and the Q&A that followed which in included lovely inside bits about U2), and ran into Dr. Michael Howell, who was a member of the General Convention special committee that dealt with the Windsor Report, and Chris Sugden from Anglican Mainstream - both of whom I hadn't seen since Columbus.

There were parts of the Council meeting that were quite familiar, the ministry display booths in the corridors, the "Seminary Dinner" presentation, the voting by ballot, the ministry reports, and lots of collars. But what is different are the workshops and the worship. We are actually being refreshed for ministry. Imagine!

As I mentioned earlier today, people will spontaneously breakout in song after a ministry report or even a voting by ballot. No, really! This has usually been led by a Nigerian lay delegate who's beautiful voice can be heard through the sanctuary as she picks up familiar Gospel choruses and then the entire assembly, including the bishops, joins in and start singing - without accompaniment - and in parts! It's just absolutely glorious! Imagine voting on resolutions and canons at General Convention followed by spontaneous bursts of Gospel singing (in parts!) by everyone in the room, worshiping our risen Lord!

Tomorrow the Council continues, followed by the consecration of new CANA Suffragan bishops on Sunday. Folks are flying in from all over the world for the consecrations. What has marked this time together so far is how ministry-oriented it all is, how encouraging it is, how joyful, how real, how deep the theological discussions are, how prayerful are the small groups, and how the worship fills not only the room, but our hearts. To God be the glory.

And this is dedicated to all of us who live dangling off the edge of the plumb line. You know who you are.

CANA Council Votes on Common Cause

Herndon, VA - We're taking a short break at Starbuck's during the CANA Council meeting. Delegates are here from all oer the country - from Texas to California to New England to the Midwest to the South - delegates have gathered for this Council. How different this is from Council's I've attended in the past. For example, after each session the council breaks out in acapella song of worship - with parts! - and just lifts all we've learned up as a prayer. Way cool. We've heard some great teaching, but the big moment today was when the CANA Council voted to ratify the Common Cause Partnership and the Common Cause Theological Statement. We haven't heard the results of the vote yet, but once we do I'll post them. Eight other members of the Common Cause Partnership have all ready ratified the statement.

For the Record: The Standstill Agreement

Last weekend I had dinner at an old friend's home and we got into quite a discussion about the current "troubles." It occurred to me that my friend had not heard of or seen something called the Standstill Agreement. It's no where to be found on the Diocese of Virginia's website nor is there any mention of it there.

It's as if it never existed.

Following the votes of the congregations to depart the Episcopal Church and following the Diocese of Virginia's Protocol (which included recognizing the legal statutes of the Commonwealth of Virginia which called for congregational votes), Bishop Lee established a Property Committee to begin to negotiate a settlement that would be a witness to the larger Christian community as well as to provide a way for us all to remain in as closest communion as possible. He also requested a Standstill Agreement which assured all the parties that no adversarial litigation would be filed. That standstill agreement recognized that the filing of reports by voting congregations in accordance with the Virginia Division Statute did not constitute adverse litigation otherwise prohibited by the standstill agreement.

No where on the diocesan website is there a record of this Standstill Agreement. It was to be renewed as the negotiations continued and would provide a safe space for those conversations (following the model established by the departure of All Saints, Dale City).

However, following a meeting of the Presiding Bishop's chancellor, the Standstill Agreement was ended by the diocese. The diocese then filed lawsuits against all the churches, their rectors, their trustees, and their volunteer lay leadership. This was followed by The Episcopal Church doing the exact same thing as well. Even to this day, it was a tremendous shock.

Here is the Standstill Agreement (click on the graphic or here and you will either be able to read the original document as or download it to your desktop). Please read it very carefully. One hopes that the Diocese of Virginia will see fit to add it to their website and clarify the order of events.

CANA Council opens today in Virginia

Today marks the opening of the first annual CANA Council. Elected lay and clergy delegates for the Convocation of Anglicans in North America are gathering from all over the country for three days of worship, teaching, fellowship, and legislative business. Please keep the gathering in your prayers. You can find more info on the schedule here.

This just in ...

Ruth Gledhill of The Times of London is reporting the somewhat tragic news that the Archbishop of York's Christmas Tree Ornament has indeed sold out.

It appears that 200 were commissioned for sale at the York Minister Bookshop and then within minutes of going on sale were completely sold out. Zip. Not one left. Not even for the Archbishop of York himself, who, alas, was unable to acquire one for his own tree (note to self: check eBay). Looks like he'll have to go with this one instead.

However, we are pleased to report that all is not lost. The Official Archbishop of Canterbury Teddy Bear is still in full supply (note to self: put on BB's Christmas Wish List) at the Canterbury Cathedral Bookshop. We must say we are quite relieved. At least no one is going to prison over that.

Bob Dylan - the Artist

I've been looking forward to seeing Bob Dylan's recent artwork (I originally wrote about it here) and finally found a few that are now being shown in an special exhibition in Germany. They are from his Drawn Blank Series (1989-1992) which just this year (2007) he overpainted 322 of them with gouache or watercolor. I put the copies I have in a short slide show and added his 1963 outtake (a bootleg only for years, it was officially released by Columbia in 1991) called Suze (The Cough Song). Here's the slide show:

First Snow

This morning I was listening to the radio. The Weather People kept saying words like "Alberta Clipper" and "dusting" and "minor event" and "melt" and "Alberta Clipper" and "dusting" and "nothing to worry about." Then cars started crashing on the interstate highways and still we heard, "Alberta Clipper" and "Dusting" and "minor event" and "melt" and "nothing to worry about" - oh then they added words like "trace" and "grass only" and kept saying "dusting."

Another Example of #2. I don't know who the Weather People are but it's obvious they don't live here. They are probably in their cozy cubicles at the Weather Channel looking at the modules, but they forget this Washington. A mere snow flake causes people to abandon their cars.

John Guernsey: How to pray

Great sermon by John Guernsey, now one of the bishops in the Anglican District of Virginia and for the wider Anglican Church in mission from the Anglican Province of Uganda. Please take the time to listen - this is a must-listen. He opens with his testimony on the early negotiations with the Diocese of Virginia over their church property, All Saints, Dale City"



Tip of the TinFoil to StandFirm and St. Peter's Anglican, Tallahassee.

Tuesday Afternoon at the Movies

Here you go Sarah:

Read more about it here. And here. Oh, and here.

Literary Update

I had a sudden inspiration about Dumbledore today. We do remember that Jo Rowling is a well-read author, especially with the classics. We do think that Emily Bronte, Dante, and Lord Byron all over the character of Severus Snape. We now wonder, how much has she read American literature? Perhaps she's not telling. But now that we've learned some more about Dumbledore of late, another literary hero comes to mind. He sure does look the part!

As I have lived—As I have look'd through my win-
dows, my eyes,
As I went forth in the morning—As I beheld the light
breaking in the east;

-Leaves of Grass, 1867

LATER: I sent this video to Mark Harris. He's written beautiful lyrics for a children's advent song and reading the lyrics made me think of this style of music in this video. And of course, there's Pete Seeger too! As we wait expectantly, for Jesus and for word from a palace far away, this song comes to mind:

Friendly Fire does not win battles ...

Andrew Goddard over at Fulcrum has published an essay entitled "The Anglican Communion - Mapping the Terrain." The thing about a map is that it needs to be accurate.

Here in the United States the great rage right now are GPS systems. Normally, you install them in your car and they're either saved maps or satellite-generated real-time maps. The coolest thing about about them is that they can find you, where ever you are and guide you to the place where you want to go. I actually have one in my cell phone.

Sometimes, for fun, while riding the train home I'll power-up my cell phone's GPS system and a little dot shows up on a map and shows me right where I am, on the Norfolk-Southern track heading west. One time I was sitting in the back seat of car driving through Pittsburgh and the driver was sort-of lost and while he and his wife discussed stopping at a gas station to get directions, I just powered-up my GPS program in my cell phone and zap - there was the little dot that was me in this car and the program gave me street directions on how to get where we were going. But the driver still opted for stopping for directions. He wasn't quite sure he could trust some dot in a cell phone.

Maps are important - they need to be accurate, trustworthy, and clear. An outdated or unclear map is a disaster. When I was a kid growing up in the Navy, it was a big deal to head over to AAA before we did one of our major moves (like driving across country from Charleston, South Carolina to San Diego, California when I was 12) and get TripTiks that showed us exactly where to go, where to stay, and what roads were under construction. It even gave us little blurbs about the terrain we were traveling in, the history of the area, or how and when the road was built. We relied on those TripTiks so we would end up in San Diego and not Winnipeg.

Andrew Goddard has created a map, a way of illustrating where we are and who we are. The problem is, the map is out of date, at least here in the United States. Looking at his essay and how he maps out his illustrations, I'd estimate his map is about ten years out of date, at least on this side of The Pond.

This map - despite the Windsor references, which frankly just outline what has been known for quite some time - could illustrate where we thought we were after the 1997 General Convention. The problem is - and was - the map was inaccurate even then and having a bad map means we can end up somewhere we never intended to go.

One of the major "roads" missing from Goddard's map is what I might call the "X Factor." The X factor is that unknown number, that unknown detail that causes people to make irrational decisions. His map is based on a very rational view of decision-making, but as we learn in politics - and especially church politics - people don't always make rational, well-considered decisions. And there are those who are activists who are banking on the hope that people will not do things rationally but thoughtlessly.

Why do people do the things they do? My Brother The Methodist has a friend who is a brilliant scientist. For fun - or perhaps not - he invented The Hammersten Hierarchy of Human Behavior. It was created in whimsy but the deal is, it stands up to testing. It has proven helpful, sometimes at the worst of all moments. Thanks, Dr. Hammersten.

The Hammersten Hierarchy of Human Behavior (or the HHHB) has four reasons or tiers for why do the things we do. It works every time. All the reports in China (or in Windsor) can not accomplish as much as The Hammersten Hierarchy of Human Behavior. Here it is:

We do the things we do because we are:

#1. Lazy
#2. Stupid
#3. Evil
#4. Altruistic

Good to know that the #1 reason why people do what they do is because they are lazy and not because they are stupid. But of course the first two reasons we usually assume people do the things they are do is because we think they are either evil or altruistic. We associate malevolent intentions by those we oppose and benevolent intentions by those we support. Ah, but according to The HHHB, the #1 reason we do the things we do - we and our opponents - is because we are lazy. We didn't read the report. We missed the meeting. We watched football. We went to the Mall. We overslept. We weren't paying attention. We didn't feel like it.

The #2 reason why people do the things they did is because they are stupid.

Yes, stupidity reigns. Surprised? Of course, we don't want to be the ones to say we are stupid - just them. But as Christians who are fallen it's apparent there is enough stupidity to go around. "I don't know," is a good example. Of course, it's hard to admit that, "I don't know," which makes us even stupider.

The third reason, according to The Hammersten Hierarchy of Human Behavior is because of malevolence - evil. It's often the first reason we jump to - especially in politics. Death Eaters. Evil does exist and how much of a percentage we want to attach to this third tier may either come from our experience or our mood - but often quite frankly, it's the #1 place we go to when we are either lazy or stupid. "The devil made me do it." Well, yes, but let's check #1 and #2 first.

On the other hand, according to the HHHB - evil does really exist. It's not cartoon "evil" - it's the real deal and it makes it into the hierarchy. Closing our eyes and wishing it away is not going to do it. How much of a percentage we assign it's place in the hierarchy may have to do with our theology - or our mood - but it's #3.

Then there's altruism. It's a place we all want to live, but very few actually do. It's the Land of Oz before the Wicked Witch of the West shows up. This is where we'd like to think we make all our decisions by being and by doing, and what I frankly think Goddard's piece is based on: altruism.

Windsor is an altruistic place. Its a lovely world and Christians and nice people like to live there. And there are those who really do live there, whose motivations are pure and actions are delightful. "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." They do exist. However, #4 is rare - and it depends upon your world view how rare it is. And no one lives there for very long. At some point, someone doesn't answer the phone and takes a bath instead. Altruism and the Fall do not always partner well together.

If we live proscribing #4 to others (as often the leadership of organizations want us to do - "all is well," you know) then we forget about #3. And when actions are taken that do not confirm with our altruistic view, we immediately jump to #3, disillusioned, when the probable cause for some ill-advised action was actually the #1 or #2.

We can make all the altruistic maps we want, but are they accurate? The HHHB, though perhaps made up somewhat whimsically, works because it has an accurate view of human nature. It helps us be far more forgiving when people screw up because it turns out Jesus was right. He understood The Hammersten Hirarchy when He was hanging on the cross. "Father, forgive them," he said. "They don't know know what they are doing."

Nice way of saying the people who put Him there were lazy and stupid.

In this highly-charged, somewhat toxic environment we are living in, it might be good to remember The Hammersten Hierarchy of Human Behavior. It's up to you how much of a percentage you want to give to each level. Maybe it's 25% all the way through the hierarchy. I wrote my assumptions, but I could update the chart tomorrow. The order, however, remains the same.

The hardest part is discerning when evil is really marching, as well as when some are making altruistic pure decisions. We tend to ignore #1 and #2. But that is how we end up making charts like Goddard's. It's not the whole story.

To find real solutions means having a realistic view of why people do the things we do, show some compassion on our failures because of our laziness (or what used to be called sloth - not exactly a virtue) and our stupidity. We are still accountable for both. I supposed that if we are more charitable to understanding the human failures of our leaders - and ourselves - we may be able to recognize what is truly evil and combat the right enemy.

Friendly fire does not win battles.

It seems to me that evil perpetuates because we are so lazy and stupid. Ignorance and naivete - which are forms of stupidity - probably do more harm because we are busy pointing at the wrong thing.

The problem with Goddard's piece is that it's based on a false premise, a level #4 premise that is naive. It does us no good to know that people are divided. We know that and we know that much of the division is not because we differ over Windsor, but because we are lazy and stupid. We engage in Friendly Fire to cover our own laziness and stupidity. Even if Windsor was delivered to us by Moses himself down from the Mountain Top, we must remember what he actually came home to. Debauchery and despair. Do we think we're any different? Here he has a big-time Memo from God and what happens? He finds his pals dancing about and carrying on with the New & Improved New Thing. Or Old Thing. The Golden Thing. The Stupid Thing.

The problem of the Golden Calf continues to this day. If Anglican leaders think that the ability to define the true problem will then solve it, they might as well start melting down their gold pieces now. Aaron was doing a lot of listening that day and out came his Golden Idea.

We all ready know what the true problem is - and that's the problem.

The problem isn't Windsor and who loves Windsor and who hates Windsor.

No, it's not.

The problem is Jesus.

He's the problem. When we strip away everything else, when we undo all the packages and unpack all the suitcases, we still end up with the the one who wore the Crown of Thorns. Yes, Him. He is the problem. He is the rock that makes men stumble and the stone that makes them fall.

This is why we are living in an extraordinary time of revival and renewal, but one surrounded by strife and division. Churches that were once in conflict with one another are finding common ground, and people who would never have imagined worshiping alongside one another are finding one another together in the pews. Even the great schisms in the Episcopal Church are finding healing, but not where you'd expect it.

At the heart of the revival is Jesus. Not the Idea of Christ, or our Inner christ, or our Little christs, or the Cosmic Christ, or our christness or any of that - but Jesus.

"Father, forgive them," he said. He understood who His real enemy was and could recognize that enemy. He prays for us in our sloth and stupidity and shows us great compassion and mercy. He confronts us in our naive altruism - that the world is fallen and in need a Savior. He is the way, the truth, and the life. And through the cross is the only way we are reconciled with God. It is His kindness that lead us to repentance.

My guess is the only way we will be reconciled with one another is not through Windsor, but through the Word made Flesh. The map must be accurate. It must be true. At the center of the map is Jesus. He's not an institution, He's a relationship. Either we follow Him or we don't. Our decisions are based on the health of that relationship.

At any time we may find ourselves foolish in our laziness and wanton in our stupidity and turning away from the map to follow our own path, our own preferred map. No one is immune. Most of the time those maps aren't new, but very old maps and they are untrustworthy. The do not define who we truly are or where we are going. They show us what we want to see and they take us where we want to go. But that ultimate destination - if we put our trust in those maps - is despair.

I look at Goddard's map and I see despair. It does little to guide us on a way forward and it does not accurately explain either where we've been or where we are going. The issue is not homosexuality, it's not even primarily the scriptures, or even revelation (though both greatly inform the issue) - the issue is Jesus. "Who is Jesus?" the Alpha Course asks first thing. And it is a question we still ask. Who is Jesus? Do I follow Him? How do I follow Him?

Odd that the solution to our divisions is the very person we say we follow, who's name we hold dear as Christians. But is He an idea which can be reimagined? Is He a mirror of ourselves? Is He an esoteric light beam? Is he not a He? Is He "truly God" or is he just a pretty darn good guy? Is He The Way- or does He just show us a way? Is He the rock that makes us stumble and the stone that makes us fall?

Jesus wasn't lazy, or stupid, or evil, or altruistic. He was none of those things. And that's the difference. And that's why He's the problem.

What do we do about that?

Isn't that the whole point? What do we do?

Well, you wake up early in the mornin' 
Turnin' from a-side to side 
Somethin' givin' you a warning 
You can run but you can't hide 
Demands are laid upon you 
And burdens a-you can't bear 
Sins you can't even remember 
I waited to meet you there 

You've got to cover down, breakthrough 
Cover down, breakthrough

You've got an image of yourself 
You've built by yourself alone 
But it will come a-tumblin' down 
Just like the walls are made of stone 
You will be separated 
From everything you seem to be 
You think you'll be liberated 
Yeah, but the grave won't set you free 

You've got to cover down, breakthrough 
Cover down, breakthrough 

B. Dylan 1980

Canterbury speaks on the global AIDS pandemic

"Twenty years ago a brave and outspoken Christian commentator observed that 'the body of Christ is HIV positive'. A startling, perhaps a shocking statement, but a reminder that this is not about 'them and us'; the suffering and the privation of any part of the body is everybody's issue and the suffering and privation by extension of any part of the human family is everybody's issue. It is in recognising that that we find our deepest most lasting motivation for responding creatively and lovingly to this challenge."

-Rowan Williams

Here a terrific organization to support in the effort of "responding creatively and lovingly to the challenge" before us: Five Talents.

Five Talents’ mission is to fight poverty, create jobs and transform lives by empowering the poor in developing countries using innovative savings and microcredit programs, business training and spiritual development. We enthusiastically support Five Talents here at the Cafe. Learn more about their great work here and here. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is the principal patron of Five Talents. Learn more:

A Vision for the Church

The following is the Stewardship Sunday sermon by Tory Baucum, rector of Truro Church, Fairfax. It's a most extraordinary sermon for a Stewardship Sunday. Listen here:

What have I in this life
But the love in Your eyes
This empty world will one day fade
Only Your truth will remain
Jesus all I have is

You You’re the hope I’m holding to
I might weep but still my faith Rests in You
As the heavens hold the skies
It’s Your hand that holds my life
And Your love will lead me on
When all else is gone

TIM DOBBELMANN / GABRIEL BRENNAN / NATE BRENNAN