DEUS Synod Next Week

Next week I will be away at our diocesan synod in Charlotte, NC. Please pray that the synod goes well, and that the name of Jesus is lifted up. There is nothing major on the agenda as far as I know, though we are trying a slightly newer format that includes workshops and breakout sessions. I will give reports from the synod.

Church Unity Schemes - Sign of a Greater Sickness?

Hot on the heals of the UEC and ACC communion agreement comes a letter from the ACC's archbishop calling for greater cooperation with the UEC and the other St. Louis movement body, the APCK. Unity movements like this are a positive step in the right direction towards greater unity, cooperation, and understanding among Anglicans. They are especially good for the clergy because it gives them greater opportunities to serve. Unity movements and concordats can invigorate the church and give it a real shot in the arm, which is what I saw back in Maryland with the REC and APA churches in that area. Unfortunately this group does not want anything to do with us (or with FACA) because they see our Covenant Union with Nigeria as uncatholic, and our inter-communion with the REC as problematic. While our modus operandi could be compared to the way the United States engages countries like China, while theirs could be compared to the way North Korea or Iran engages the west.

The unspoken side to many of these unity schemes though is that they seem to be done in large part merely for survival. Sadly, our churches (the continuing churches) are really not very large or influential, and they are that way because we are not, by and large, evangelists, and because we have inherited historical American Anglicanism's idea that maintaining the institutions of the church is the most critical aspect of churchmanship (the book "Growth and Decline in the Episcopal Church" shows this quite clearly). My former diocese in another jurisdiction has fewer parishes in it than they did several years ago. Other dioceses in this same jurisdiction seem to have faced similar stagnation and/or decline. The same could be said, if we are honest, about most of the rest of us too. Have we really grown much over the years?

Do we evangelize and plant new churches, or do our dioceses grow by "trading parishes". In most of our jurisdictions it seems that there are parishes that were once in another jurisdiction, and so on. My old parish went from UEC to ACC to ACA. So while on the surface it may look like a lot of great things are happening with our various jurisdictions in terms of unity, or while it may look like we are growing because St. Swithun's parish just joined us from some other jurisdiction, on a deeper level are we really growing and reaching people? Or are we just in a fight for survival, and is this our last chance to be relevant and contribute anything to the conversation? Does the "shot in the arm" wear off after a while and do we return to the staus quo? I think that as long we pray for and tout unity and/or cooperation, and if God gives it to us, He then expects us to then go and do something with that - namely, fulfill the Great Commission.

Is there sex in heaven? (A Book Recommendation)

Okay, now that I have your attention, I want to recommend a great book by philosopher Peter Kreeft called "Everything you Ever Wanted to Know About Heaven But Never Dreamed of Asking" This book is a very deep, but very accessible text on the Christian philosophy and theology of heaven. He addresses the whole topic from a moderately Thomistic perspective, but also has numerous references to plays, music, art, literature, etc., and what they teach us about heaven. He is quite the fan of C.S. Lewis, as he quotes him throughout. He also ties in the ideas and writings from a whole range of other philosophers such as Aristotle, Heidegger, Kant, and Dooyeweerd (calm down, Greg). "Is there sex in heaven" is one of the questions that he addresses. I found his chapter on "Where is heaven" to be most enlightening, especially his discussion of how the spiritual contains the spatial, not visa versa. The book would make an excellent parish book study, or companion to a study on the four last things (which is how we used it). But honestly, it went so well the little bit that we did use it that I think next year we will do a study of the whole book.

Links Update

I have slowly been updating my links on the side bar. It is still a work in progress, so be patient. Basically I have removed links to defunct/derelict blogs. I have also removed links to bigoted organizations that, out of jealousy, fear, resentment, or something along those lines do not want to have anything to do with continuing Anglicans anymore, and who want to make communion with the arch-heretic of Canterbury and all of his lady cleric and actively homosexual friends the essence of being "Anglican" (I won't mention any names, but the initials of one such organization are SSC). That's all fine and well... I'd rather be a catholic than that type of "Anglican".

Elegy to Baltimore 1 and 2

I was asked to post a picture of "Elegy to Baltimore 2", the painting I did that hangs in my office. It is a picture of an old Redemptorist church, convent, and school in east Baltimore, near to where I used to live. This painting is from 2004. So here it is. It is still for sale, if anyone would like to buy it. (just e-mail me, or leave a note in the comments box)

And here is a picture of the companion piece, "Elegy to Baltimore 1", which is an image of an old church near Patterson Park in Baltimore. This piece, from 2003, is already sold.

(Please note that these images are copyright J. Gordon Anderson, and may not be reproduced or stored without my express written consent.)

My Office

One of the best parts about being curate at St. Mark's is having my own awesome office. Here are pictures. In the first photo is one of my oil paintings - a picture of an historic Redemptorist church from one of my old neighborhoods in Baltimore.

Hard to Build, Easy to Destroy

Many people point to the troubles in the Anglican world as a sign of the inherent weakness of its theological underpinnings, or, even worse, as a sign that it is not a true branch of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church. How have things gotten to where they are today in a mere 40 or so years? I have also heard people subject the Roman Church to the same criticism. After Vatican II, the convents and monasteries emptied; a great many priests dropped out of the priesthood; and proponents of controversial teachings were emboldened. Apparently this cataclysmic change hit Paul VI pretty hard. One man (a priest), after pointing this out to me, suggested that this sudden collapse indicated that there was just a "thin veneer" of order and piety in the Roman communion, and that underneath it was all rotten and messed up (same criticism about Anglicanism).

But really these two examples don't prove or disprove anything with regard to the integrity of an institution like the Anglican Communion or the Roman Catholic Church. All it proves is that it is much easier to instantly destroy something than to carefully build something up over many centuries. Chartes Cathedral could be destroyed instantly by some explosive device with the flip of a switch, but that doesn't mean that its foundations are lacking, or that it has no integrity. The same goes for a marriage, family, friendship, country, etc.; they all can be instantly destroyed by one reckless act as well.

Sin and rebellion against God is ultimately mindlessness and laziness. Even more, it is self-deception. We think that by destroying something in a moment of iconoclastic zeal that we are doing something good; we presume to have an Olympian view of life, and so we will "know" how our actions will turn out, and the "renewal" that they will bring. But when they do bring about what we have expected, only something horribly worse than ever, we not only have to fear the Frankenstein we have created, but we also must lament the Rome that we have lost by burning it to the ground.

Exrtamural Anglicans

I heartily recommend this article posted by Fr. Jones over on Philorthodox. It echos one of my own posts from a couple months back about how Anglicanism goes beyond "being in communion with the ABC".

Gimmie a break....

Tony Blair, who supposedly wants to enter the Roman Church (and become a deacon!?), apparantly got some sort of "dressing down" by the pope about all of the hyper-liberal legislation he's proposed and supported over the years. Honestly, I don't know why people like this even want to become Roman Catholic. It makes no sense to me. I once used to date a pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-"the whole nine yards", woman who, despite being vigorously FOR such gibberish, wanted to convert from Quakerism to Catholicism! And just like this, it made no sense (and I told her so). She also went into the whole "evil, imperialistic Crusaders" mumbo jumbo when we were visiting the Franciscan Monastery once in Washington D.C. "Uh, and you want to become catholic?" Needless to say that relationship didn't last long. Living a reasoned and ideologically consistent life seems to be becoming more and more rare anymore.

A "Faux" Tattered and Worn Bible

This past weekend my wife and I were at Wal-Mart looking for some beach hats when I came across some "pre-tattered" baseball caps that had "Crush", "Luck Charms", and other pop-culture food labels on them. Of course they have made jeans like this for years now. It's all so phoney.

Later that evening, we were Ross, the discount clothing and "junk" store, when I came across some books. So I start looking through them, and low and behold I find a "pre-worn" Bible published by Thomas Nelson. I tried to find a profile of it on their site, but couldn't, but there is a picture of it on the main Bible page; look closely and you will see how it has an "aged" look. It is a perfectly smooth, glossy, hardcover Bible with a slick graphic printed on the front, depicting worn edges and brittle leather.

Is that what Christianity is coming to? We can't even read your own Bibles enough so they develop wear and tear normally? We want the "look" of piety without all of the blood, sweat, and tears that goes with it? Sometimes I am amazed that God doesn't just strike us all down here and now. Okay, I need to go hurl now.

Obama on the Beliefs of Conservative Christians

Barak Obama says that the religious right is wrong in assuming that "conservative" Christians care only about gay marriage, abortion, school prayer, and intelligent design. He is right! I, for one, care a lot about universal healthcare (or doing something about healthcare). That is going to be one of the biggest issues for me in the upcoming election season. My wife and I can barely afford to insure ourselves... and they just upped our rates even more!

Ecumenical News

I never wrote anything about the intercommunion agreemment signed between the ACC and UEC. Obviously it is a long overdue step in the right direction towards traditional Anglican unity. The curious thing is that the UEC has some sort of communion agreement with the APA. Fr. Jones wrote about this on his blog, which I am sure many of you read. Today, though, I just read on VOL about APCK bishop Florenza declaring that a state of genuine unity and full communion exists between his diocese and the ACA. No telling how the rest of the APCK bishops will react to this, but this too, obviously, is a good thing. These stories, and the success of FACA, give us even more reason to be hopeful about the future, and to be excited about being an Anglican, even in the midst of all of the crap going on in the mainline communion.

I think that once we "official" continuing churches unite, or band together in the federation, we willl be able to exert more influence and muscle on the Anglican scene in the U.S. and the world, particularly in the area of the ordination of women. With us, and the help of FiFNa, we may finally be able to put the kabosh on this notion that ordaining women is a constituent element of Anglicanism, and that it is "here to stay".

Faith and Grace

Baptism is on the forefront of my mind, lately. We have a baptism coming up on Sunday here at St. Mark's - I'll be preaching, and the rector will be doing the pouring. And then, a few months ago, I did my very first baptism - twin boys! My spiritual director said that it is a rare treat to have twins be your first baptism. Now, my cousin up in Atlanta is looking to have his newborn son baptized, and I am trying to help them figure out how to get an RC sponsor (they are catholics). So baptism is on the brain.

All of this got me thinking about the relation between grace and faith, and how quite often they are set in opposition to each other. Sometimes we Anglicans want to stress so much the efficacy of the sacraments, and the power of God's grace, that we sometimes downplay the role of faith. By contrast, many Evangelical Protestants do the opposite. They are so scared of "sacerdotalism" and "hocus pocus" that, at least on a popular level, the sacraments are completely downplayed, and are free to be abstained from for various reasons (I have seen such people do this with both Baptism and the Lord's Supper). But the two - grace and faith - go together. "For by grace are ye saved through faith." (Ephesians 2:8). The sacraments communicate divine grace, which helps bring about faith. In baptism the parents and sponsors profess faith on behalf of the child, who later profess that faith on their own. Dr. Peter Toon has written some good articles on the subject of faith and baptism lately.

Anyway, I think that in our preaching and ministry we would do well to always stress both of these great truthes: grace and faith. For as much as Our Lord spoke of faith, and as much as the BCP speaks of having faith in Christ's blood (e.g. BCP p.81), you'd think we all do it more. And to be honest, I think the Church would be a lot better off today if we started talking about faith again.

RIP Ruth Graham

Billy Graham's wife died yesterday around 5:00 p.m. I offer mmy prayers for her and the family. Lately I have been watching classic Billy Graham crusades from the 50's on TBN (sometimes TBN slips up and actually has some good programming on it... same with EWTN). It is really amazing watching him and listening to him from when he was in his prime. He is such a great speaker, and I really like his "moves" at the pulpit. I often compare him to Fulton Sheen, whose reruns I also watch, and while they are both great speakers, they have very different styles. Graham is much more serious, but less intellectual. Sheen tells lots of jokes, and gets rather heady.

One of the things that is so lacking in the church today is dynamic speakers and preachers... people who are really good communicators. And one does not have to shout and jump around to be a "good speaker" (sometimes that sort of stuff is only a distraction). When I think back to various preachers who I've thought were really good, and who had effective ministries, they were always themselves from the pulpit - they didn't put on airs - but they had a really good, sincere message. One of the best I have ever heard was actually a Roman Catholic named Fr. William Au (from Baltimore). He wasn't flashy, but was very intellectual and sincere. The old assumption that Roman priests can't/don't preach is utterly false, by the way. They have some great preachers.

I think for the church to prosper she really needs great speakers and communicators. And I hope and pray that God raises up new Billy Grahams and Fulton Sheens for the next generation.

Will they ever learn?

Now it looks like there will be yet another bishop/jurisdiction out there for disaffected Episcopalians to join. Canon Bill Atwood is to be consecrated bishop by the Archbishop of Kenya. You can read all about it here. The article is interesting because Mr. Virtue doesn't seem too hyped about it. In fact, there is a rather condescending tone to it, if you ask me. But maybe that's just my read.

I just wonder what these people hope to accomplish by making all of these bishops and "new structures". Haven't they learned anything from we continuing Anglicans? Alas, no. Continuing Anglicans have been so disregarded and laughed at (by and large) over the years that no one ever seems to think they can learn something from us, or that our perspective and input is valuable and important. Well now it's our turn to laugh. Go ahead, make more bishops and "structures"... it won't solve the underlying issues. It will only complicate things further. Until these groups see the connection between ordaining women and homosexuality, and until they give up this idol of being in or related to the apostate "Anglican Communion", nothing will be solved.

Random Comments

I'll be preaching and jamming out at the homeless ministry in just a little bit, so I am getting my materials together, and going over a few last minute things. For the music set I think I will be doing a couple of Hank Williams songs and the Jerry Garcia Band version of "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot". For an encore I might do " This Little Light of Mine". I am praying that the Lord will help me get a band together down here so we can do more ambitious material for the music portion. Music really helps reach people.

One of the nice things about ministering at this place is that I can do topical sermons. I like to keep it very practical, and preach on subjects that both the homeless and those who are not homeless (e.g. the people that work at the ministry) can relate to. Today the topic is going to be "anger". Preaching from a lectionary is somewhat limiting in terms of preaching on topics.

New President-Rector

The seminary I graduated from has recently elected a new president. There is a great article on the outgoing one, Fr. Bob Leavitt, that you can download from their website. I had Leavitt for a class, and he was a superb teacher. He was a student of Yves Congar and Raul Riceour among others, and he had some funny stories about various scholars (I remember a really good one he once told about the New Testament scholar Ernst Kasemann). He lead St. Mary's with dignity and poise through some rather difficult times. For example, in the middle of the sex abuse scandals he managed to raise gobs of money, endowing several faculty chairs. He also vastly expanded the physical plant, and academic and spiritual offerings of the school, as well as instituing other important changes. But the bad side is that under his tenure enrollment at the nation's first Catholic seminary drastically dropped (from 400+ to under 100). Meanwhile, Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg (which my classmates called "Vacation Bible School" because it was so much easier than Roland Park) has so many students that they had to build a new dorm building. In fairness, I guess enrollment at all of the seminaries dropped after the council, but this was huge. So I don't know how you gauge success in this instance... lots of money but few students, or lots of students but less money. Both students and money are important for academic institutions to prosper. Luckily, before all of these other funds were raised, the seminary was basically propped up by their night school, the Ecumenical Institute of Theology, which was started by the Roman Catholic archdiocese and the Episcopal diocese. What the future holds for St. Mary's is anyone's guess.

From the Idiot File - Rev'd Billy and The Church of Stop Shopping

Get a load of this. And guess where they meet? St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Greenwich Village in NYC. Go figure.

I read Rev. Billy's report on Victoria's Secret, and apparantly he is more concerned about the trees the company destroys in making its catalogs than he is in them showing scantily clad women in provacative poses! So much for promoting virtue. Good thing the catalog doesn't have pictures of nude trees in erotic poses.... then Rev. Billy would really be mad!

A composer that YOU should know about...

For my birthday the other day my lovely wife got me a CD by Morten Lauridsen. Lauridsen (pictured to the left) is the most performed living America choral composer. He has been called the only American composer who is a "mystic". He composes lots of sacred works, but also some secular works. For example, on this CD (O Magnum Mysterium), he sets a number of poems by Rilke to music.

I like his work because it is melodic and accessible, but not contrived, or a simple "rehashing" of Christian music from times past. Incidently, that's the same reason I like Arvo Part (though Lauridsen's music is brighter than Part's). His compositions are subtle and understated, but very powerful. He also seems cool because he worked as a Forest Service firefighter for a long time! All great artists have to put in their time doing something else before (or "if ever") they are recognized.
Anyway, I recommend his work to everyone.

The Descent from the Cross - Random Reflections

I just finished painting an "icon" of the Descent from the Cross, based on an image from the Novgorod school. This school of iconography is noted for its use of brilliant colors, even in more somber icons like this one. Now I find myself going back to oil painting, and I am working on one of the crucifixion (a semi-original composition). The colors are dark and earthy, almost like the Rembrandt painting to the left.

It has been fascinating to me to compare these two themes: the crucifixion and the descent from the cross. For me, it is the descent which is the sadder of the two. There is a certain finality present in the descent that is not there in the crucifixion. In the crucifixi0n Jesus is dying. In the descent, He is dead. In the crucifixion, Jesus is still there with some of His disciples, but in the descent, the disciples and His Blessed Mother are all alone. Maybe it also has something to do with the bastardization of the image of the crucifixion... you see it everywhere in popular culture, jewelry, etc. And when you see something that much you almost become numb to it. Not so with the descent. When was the last time we saw someone with a beautiful little "descent from the cross" necklace?