One of my first shoe postings (a year ago October) was on boots, accompanied by the Nancy Sinatra song, “These Boots Are Made for Walking.” That was a little more prescient than I knew.
So in that spirit, here are some more boots for walking:
and with that, this blog is done.
Thanks for reading and commenting, and thanks especially for all of the support.
To God be the glory!
From Stand Firm, mousestalker makes a perspicacious comment in reference to the letter sent to Bishop Duncan of Pittsburgh by Katharine Jefferts Schori [boldface mine]:
. . . A minor point, but does no one at 815 know how to write a letter anymore. When you’re being all chummy and collegial you get to use first names.
Example:
Right Reverend Frank Enbeans
Bishop of Bray, Bray City USA
Dear Frank,
It was swell seeing you at the auto de fa. I hope you can make the one in the spring. Best to Fanny and the kids,
Your sister in christ,
Katherine
For something formal, like a deposition, you write formally:
Right Reverend Robert Duncan
Bishop of Pittsburgh,
Dear Bishop Duncan,
It is my duty to inform you that the House of Bishops has deposed you. Your seat is therefore vacant and all honours, rights and privileges that formerly adhered to you are removed. Enclosed please find copies of documents showing the same.
Sincerely,
Katherine Jefferts Schori,
Presiding Bishop and Primate
End of letter writing lesson.
This is not a friendly letter. It cannot possibly be well meant. Don’t imply that it is. The Episcopal Church, as a church, has always been dodgy with its theology. I wish that were not so, but it is. What the Episcopal Church has always had until recently is manners.
The current leadership of the Episcopal Church, not just the ‘presiding bishop and primate’ but top to bottom are crass. What we have is a church being led by a bunch of louts in mitres. Ill bred, poorly educated, bad mannered thugs who have no idea of how to behave, no idea of how to treat people and no idea of the basics of human civilization.
The Presiding Bishop is the poster child for the principle that while most women have better manners than men, that is not true of all women. I doubt that teaching the episcopate proper theology would do any good. . .
Well, now that Lambeth 2008 has come and gone, there is a definite diminution of blogging going on around the Internet. Some of it is because there’s just not as much going on (although don’t forget to check out BabyBlue’s CANA Council posts) but I think much of the decrease is because Lambeth changed little.
And with little change has come somewhat of a sense of ennui, of apathy, especially if one is in a traditional parish in a revisionist diocese.
There is no turning back, there will be no change within The Episcopal Church except continued movement away from the Gospel.
There will be no rescue – there is only slugging on year after year.
If one is firmly of the belief that he or she is following God’s will, while staying in ECUSA may be frustrating, there is a certain fulfillment in being obedient to the Lord (and the anxiety of “when are we going to leave?” disappears as well).
If one is not sure, it would be pure agony to remain in a church that no longer holds to a “one, holy, catholic, and apostolic” formula. Continued prayer and discernment are called for, and then action, no matter how difficult, is required one way or another. Stay or go, but do so out of conviction of the Father’s will. Don’t remain trapped in a lukewarm decision or let the paralysis of indecision eat away at one’s faith.
If one knows it is time to go, then the question is “to where?” And discernment is again essential (and difficult). I think GAFCON was (and is) a great idea. It illustrated for all that the Global South and its supporters have realized that ECUSA will not turn back, will not stop, so it’s time to move on in mission with those who trust the Lord.
Following biblical injunction, Global South primates tried talking with and confronting those they felt had moved away from Christ. Once it was clear that nothing would change, the Global South essentially dusted off their sandals and left - left not the Anglican Communion (clever, clever), but the poisonous atmosphere of heresy.
If GAFCON can continue on (and that’s a big if, with the elephant in the room of women’s ordination), I really do think that it will over time become, at the very least, the de facto Anglican Communion center.
From the comments at Gawker.
Just remember, Roger L. Simon says it best [boldface mine]:
. . . This is disgraceful behavior on the part of Wikipedia, which is demonstrating bias that errs on the side of laughable. But we should be grateful. This censorship reminds us never to trust anyone. [Including this blog?-ed. Definitely.] Especially do not trust those whose expertise pretends to be encyclopedic. No one’s is, not even an organization that pretends to use the wisdom of crowds in the manner of Wikipedia. Too often we reference Wikipedia as if it were authoritative. It isn’t. Not even faintly.
From Captain Yips Secret Journal:
. . . Waiting . . .
Update: It's out, and it doesn't sizzle, it fizzles. It goes further down the road of making border crossing the equivalent of the EO's LGBT obsessions, and it seems (at first reading) to intend to subject small church plants like mine, a community never part of the EO at all, to either some remote new commission, or eventually to the Diocese of Chicago. That won't fly barring a complete change of heart here. Granting the EO an inviolable and exclusive Anglican Franchise is a sure way to prevent reform. This won't work, and they know it won't work. More later, probably.
Well, I could just post entry after entry from Stand Firm, since they are covering everything and seem to be everywhere (are we sure just Matt and Sarah went?? Has anyone actually seen Jackie or Greg or David recently??), but since all of that posting is time consuming and redundant, I'll just say - go over there to check everything out.
They have the latest and the greatest and are posting even as we speak.
God is Good. All the Time.
Just when I realized I had no idea for any shoe posting (and I haven't done one in a while), just when I was bored with summer shoes (after a while, most sandals start looking alike), just when I had finished searching for English shoes to do something on Lambeth (but could find nothing particularly different or interesting), The Manolo comes through for me once again:
Dear Manolo,
I’ve noticed that this summer there’s a real trend for ethnic themed shoes, mostly African motifs, but some also some Native American and Latin elements. Can you recommend something that’s in keeping with this trend but will still look good when it’s over?
Kelsey
Manolo says, the Manolo loves the current incarnation of the periodic mania for the ethnic themed clothing. This time around, the trend has been expressed in luxurious and mostly subtle ways, with beautiful shoes that feature snakeskin and feathers in African patterns, and sandals with native American leather fringes.
Of course, as always, one must be careful when adopting ethnic motifs for use in personal styling. The danger is that you may go too far and become the caricature.
Indeed, one minute you are admiring the leathery fringes on the high street shoe, and the next you are dressing head-to-toe in buckskin and trade beads, and calling yourself Kicking Horse Woman.
However, for the hot semi-ethnic sandals, the Manolo has been especially impressed this year by the Sigerson Morrison, who have produced the stunning series of shoes, flats and heels, with the woven black-and-white pattern.
Here is the wedge heel version which will satisfy your demands for tendy ethnicity and yet survive the season’s inevitable demise.
From EpiscopalLife Online:
The Rev. Terry L. Martin has been appointed Program Officer for Evangelism at the Episcopal Church Center, beginning August 13.
Martin was previously vicar of Holy Spirit Church, Tuckerton, New Jersey. He has also served congregations in Wisconsin, California, and South Carolina.
He is best known as “Father Jake,” the pen name he used on his popular blog, “Father Jake Stops the World.” After five years of writing daily about church life, Martin decided it was time to close down that site and shift his focus. He has started a new blog, “Father T Listens to the World: Seeking God Around the Globe.”
“The new site is quite different,” said Martin. “This is not a site for debate about church politics; rather, we will listen to faith stories from around the world.“
Martin believes that to be effective evangelists, Episcopalians have to practice the art of listening. “We look for the ways that God is already moving in people’s lives. We begin by listening; listening to the stories of others, sharing our own stories, and watching for the places that God’s story intersects them both.”. . .
They made it! Sarah Hey and Matt Kennedy are at Lambeth, duly credentialed and read to go (once they recover from jet lag).
Matt writes:
. . . I reintroduced myself to a orthodox bishop from the Episcopal Church I met in Jerusalem. I asked how things were going. He shook his head and said that the Americans were being "obnoxious" and unbearable, trying to run the show. I asked whether there'd been any resistance. "Oh yes" he said, "people are not taking it lying down". There is a lot going on "behind the scenes" he said. I don't know whether he meant that there is resistance from within the group of American bishops or resistance from without. Looking back on it, I think he mean eternal resistance because he went on to speak admiringly of the Sudanese statement released yesterday. . .
Just a few more I forgot to mention earlier:
From Brad Drell, some thoughts on the future of the Anglican Communion [boldface mine]:
. . . On a personal note, it dawned on me that Provincial Synod is coming up for Province VII, and then General Convention 2009 in a year, which as I get older seems like less and less time. Lately, I’ve been feeling like, well, not going. Getting a note from my doctor or my wife saying I’m too well to attend these meetings. Of course I am going to go and do my duty. Mostly to vote no at GC2009. No to whatever comes up. That was Bishop Robinson’s strategy to kill my prison ministry resolution in the structure committee, despite the sheer number of sponsors I had on the other side of the sexuality issues signed up on the measure. It came from me, so it had to die, despite the fact that this same resolution was passed at GC2003, with only a few changes made to update it for GC2006.
At one time, I had some hope for reconciliation, after participating in the exercises here in Western Louisiana. I simply don’t think it is possible anymore. I don’t think anyone else really thinks it is possible anymore. If some sort of structural relief were to come in which I, as a conservative, Bible-believing Christian who is about equally evangelical and Anglo-Catholic, could remain in the Episcopal Church and the Anglican Communion with integrity, I would take it. So would a lot of other people, including quite a few solid Episcopal bishops. Frankly, folks, it just isn’t going to happen. I’ll be cheering the loudest if it does. But, it is something the liberals just can’t give.
The only thing Canterbury could do to help this situation is to recognize those who have left TEC and the Anglican Church of Canada as Anglicans as well, and then see which part of the Anglican Communion prospers under the Gamaliel principle. He wouldn’t need anyone else’s approval to do that symbolically. Short of that, I think the Anglican Communion is pretty much over, as is the Church of England.
Here are a few (very few) Internet resources for Lambeth 2008:
Now, rivaling the Onion, our own Anglican wordsmith:
(ENS)The Episcopal Church will celebrate one of our unique Saints Days today. The Feast Day that marks the martyrdom of Saint Gene is commemorated every year on June 17th. On this day in 2008, the saint was cruelly snubbed by the entire Anglican Communion in Lambeth England.
For the first time in six years all five Episcopalians are expected to gather at the church's meeting room at 815 Second Ave (Just enter past the Masjid and take the elevator to the sub basement. The meeting room is between the Unitarian/Universalist headquarters and the New Original Drifters office. It should be clearly marked).
Presiding Bishop Fox, after being revived, said "It's gonna be really swell.". . .
From Jennifer at "Et tu?" (the diary of a former atheist) [boldface mine]:
. . . Without God -- or, to phrase it another way, without objective truth -- we are sailors without a compass, trying to rely on gut instinct to navigate troubled waters. It might work out some of the time, as is evidenced by the number of nonbelievers who are indeed "good people" most of the time. But it leaves us vulnerable to the legion forces that try to steer us off course, and it makes it almost impossible to weather a great storm. If we don't know the truth about who we are, why we're here, where we came from and where we're going, we're on shaky ground to begin with; and when we deny the existence of objective truth on matters of what is good and bad, what is right or wrong, we lose control of our own lives. The further we get away from the truth, the closer we get to becoming slaves of those ever-present, soul-killing voices, with names like Lust and Greed and Power and Selfishness and Status, that whisper in our ears, "It's OK, just do it. There's nothing wrong with that."
When I was an atheist, I thought I was more liberated than the people who believed in God. After all, I didn't have all their bizarre rules and regulations to bog me down. Now I realize that those "rules" that seemed so bizarre are actually a tool set, a key to unlock the shackles of sin, a compass and chart to navigate the troubled waters we all find ourselves in. Now I realize not only where that inscription came from, but what it means. To know God is to know the truth. And without the truth, we can never be free.
A new entry in Matt Kennedy's on-going series at Stand Firm on his experience with the Diocese of Central New York:
The following is an email I sent to vestrymembers following perhaps the most important meeting with Bishop Adams prior to his decision to file a lawsuit against us.
The meeting took place in late October and it included discussions of a protocol for property negotiations.
Two important things to note:
1. At this point Good Shepherd had yet to officially leave the Episcopal Church and Anne and I were still ordained Episcopalian ministers. We did not want to leave first, without any consultation, and then come to the bishop with that fact already established. We wanted to act in full consultation and cooperation with the diocese to avoid causing public embarrassment to the diocese, unnecessary discord in our relationships and any litigation that might come in response.
The position of the diocese, however, was that unless and until Good Shepherd officially departed the Episcopal Church there could be no property negotiations.
2. Subsequently, many months after our departure, at a meeting at the diocesan office as relations were breaking down the chancellor for the Diocese of Central New York, Mr. Paul Curtin, suggested that “the bishop never used the word ‘negotiate’” and never believed that negotiating for the property of Good Shepherd was possible.
This would seem rather absurd given the protocol drawn up in his office and the entire two year process of negotiations and leads to the following conclusion: Either Mr Curtin is misrepresenting the facts or Bishop Adams purposefully lured Good Shepherd into a position vulnerable to litigation by promising good faith negotiations, never intending to follow through. Much more will soon be published to help clarify this question.
Here is the email and the protocol. . .
After posting this comment from Stand Firm's post on St. Margaret's Palm Springs financial struggles:
I live in Palm Desert and now attend services at a Roman Catholic parish in La Quinta (haven't officially jumped ship yet). Several parishioners at St. Margaret's told me that following the recent California Supreme Court's gay marriage decision, Bishop Mathes quietly has given consent for the blessing of same sex relationships. However, he stopped short of allowing clergy to actually perform the nuptials. Clergy are allowed to bless the civil same sex marriage once it has already occurred. Two weeks ago, Rev. Clark Trafton (retired but assisting clergy) announced immediately after delivering the sermon that he and his partner were recently married. Most of the congregation gave them a standing ovation.
Dear Anne,
The Bishop has received your email asking him to comment on a rumor. As blogs do not commit to journalistic standards, such as not reporting on rumor, it is not his custom to comment on blogs. With that said, the Bishop is confident that the clergy of our diocese are following his counsel and direction regarding the issue about which you inquired.
Faithfully,
Howard Smith
Canon to the Ordinary for Finance and Administration
Others (Stand Firm, TitusOneNine, Fr. Dan Martins, Christopher Johnson, Ruth Gledhill, etc.) can parse over the details of the Jerusalem Declaration and the ins and outs of GAFCON – they offer tremendously valuable insight, questions, and understanding of what happened, what was agree to, and how that might play out. And Kevin’s coverage for AnglicanTV made all of us front-row participants at the event, for which we should offer [tangible] thanks [cough* donate now for his Lambeth trip *cough].
My admittedly superficial sense of the event, gathered from a great distance, is one of joy and fellowship.
Knowing some of the clergy from San Diego that went and having met some of the archbishops and bishops that were there, I can only say that any result, while maybe not perfect, would definitely have been made in intense and searching prayer with the wish to follow God’s direction and Christ’s commands under the discernment of the Holy Spirit.
There also seems to be a great sense of relief, and rightly so. GAFCON participants correctly realized that it would do no good, and was pointless, to discuss on and on, again and again, anything about the American church. Been there, done that (and been undercut by the Archbishop of Canterbury).
It is time to move on.
ECUSA is no longer an issue because ECUSA is no longer important. The Episcopal Church has removed itself from the greater part of the Anglican Communion in everything but name. The GAFCON bishops know ECUSA cannot be trusted, will try unendingly to bend others to her way, and will try to buy those that she can. So the only way to move forward is not to move ECUSA out of the way, but to just go over her and continue on. The Jerusalem Declaration gives a framework for doing just that. All of the energy that has been expended over the past five years or so to try to call the Episcopal Church to repentance can now be directed outward, to the Great Commission, and there are many ready to do that.
I am very happy for those churches in San Diego that have already moved under Anglican Primates and out from under the Presiding Bishop. I think that GAFCON and the Declaration will contribute greatly to their cohesion, unity, and fellowship. They are now in the forefront of the ongoing (and quickly gathering steam) Anglican renewal movement. They took the risks over the past several years and stepped out in faith: most left their buildings and all trappings of “normal” church, the ones that stayed are now under litigation from Bishop Mathes with the backing of 815, and all are relearning what it is to be a Christ-centered community. There is an energy, an excitement, and sense of freedom there that I pray continues on since there is also a lot of hard work to be done.
For the Episcopal churches still in the Diocese of San Diego that are at all traditional (and there are only a few left), I’m afraid it’s just a matter of time. Given Bishop Mathes’ most recent ordinations and the diocese’s ideas about “holy relationships,” he is moving further and further away from the Gospel. Once traditional rectors leave or retire, I cannot see +Mathes letting any orthodox, traditional, or Anglo-Catholic priest into the diocese. There would be no reason to – most of those upset with the direction of the Episcopal Church have already left in San Diego, not quite all, but most.
And I think +Mathes is not interested in keeping the orthodox, he is not interested much in the pew sitters in those churches, and he is definitely not interested being a “bridge builder” (his claim to fame at his election several years ago). He is interested in property. And given that the diocese is financially helping, in some form or another, over 50 percent of the churches in the diocese, money matters. Even with the real estate decline in southern California, there is some prime real estate that churches are sitting on that could keep the diocese going for quite a while (if only those darn reasserters would just leave already).
But for all of that, I feel strangely removed from it all, a little set apart – from whatever machinations Bishop Mathes may think up, from the activity at GAFCON, from the revisionists’ reactions (and I think they are protesting much too much – GAFCON has them shaken and a little scared).
Perhaps it is because we have left the Episcopal Church and have not yet landed anywhere. I also think it is because I feel some guilt that I should have, could have, done more at my church to help people realize what was going on. But Bishop Mathes was very clever – in his 2006 “pastoral” letter he implied very strongly that anything done to organize against the diocese’s actions or 815 (say, join the Network or make too many waves) would bring wrath down, not on me as a parishioner, but on my rector. Being a political newbie at this several years ago, that affected me. How could I rally and organize to do something that might get my rector fired? If I had known then what I know now, I would have approached it differently but then I was still trying to get my mind around lying bishops and heretical Executive Council actions.
And now, my family has left. Should we have stayed? No, not only were our reasons for leaving valid, but both my husband and I felt God was calling us out. But sometimes I feel like I abandoned something and in a few years if I happen to wander in, it will be unrecognizable to me.
I also think it is because I am still working through what it means to be a member of the “one holy catholic and apostolic Church” because, which church is that? How does one tell? Does it really matter which particular flavor of Christianity? Or does the Nicene Creed mean all of the followers of Christ together, only then becoming the Church as the Body of Christ?
So GAFCON has come in the middle of my ongoing, muddled discernment and gets short shrift in the process, I’m afraid.
From jamesw in the comments at Stand Firm [boldface mine]:
. . . The liberal fear of GAFCON, is I think, borne out of the liberals’ gradual realization that GAFCON is actually far more “important” then they had realized. The MSM don’t get it - all they want is their “evil conservatives are mean to gays” headlines. But I think some of the liberals are realizing GAFCON’s true “importance”. That is, I think that GAFCON is the first concrete step in creating a true communion within the Anglican federation. GAFCON is not leaving the “Anglican Communion”, they are not formally breaking with the See of Canterbury. Rather they will begin work to reform Anglicanism from within - and the liberal bureaucracy of Lambeth Palace and the ACO will have NO POWER TO STOP IT!!! This, I think is what the liberals fear the most. GAFCON would seem to be creating - within the “Anglican Communion” the engine for the long-term transformation of the Communion. I think that liberals know that despite their rhetoric, theirs is a dying brand. The growing, live Anglican Provinces are joining GAFCON. The dying, liberal Anglican Provinces have controlled the Anglican bureacracy, but GAFCON is bypassing that bureaucracy without leaving the Communion. GAFCON is essentially telling the liberal Provinces that they are now completely irrelevant. . .
. . . For a long time we have been spending needless money and time, issues that are going in circles. We want to get out of the circle and get together, think of our mission, what is it that the Lord demands of our church? What is the need of the world? Let's go for it. . .Ever since October 2003, we have been talking about this thing about the American church - we are now all through coming to about five years, how much longer are we going to go on? I think it's a question of stewardship, of time and resources. GAFCON will help us to begin to see how can we now move on. Okay, the Anglican Communion is there, the agendas within the Anglican Communion should shift . . .
From SanDiegoAnglicans.com, on-going posts from Fr. Russell Martin, St. Timothy & St. Titus, as he goes to GAFCON:
. . . Lunch at the main hotel, followed by the opening Eucharistic Service at 2 p.m. which I was graciously asked to be a chalice bearer--it was simply phenomenal Eucharist service. What a terrific honor, praise God! Then a workshop by the renowned Dr. Oz Guinness on Secularism and its challenges to authentic faith. My posts have been spotty, but I have been swamped. I will try to get another Blog/Journal out to you soon. I have been on full thrust from about 16+ hours now between coordinating the pilgrims at my hotel for transport, assisting in the opening Eucharist and being assigned as Archbishop Venables’ Chaplain. It is wonderful and I have been so very blessed beyond belief but I am bushwhacked. . .
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