Are you hearing a call to ministry?

I received this today from the Commission on Ministry. Developing new clergy leaders is incredibly important. Please consider whether you or someone you know might be called to lay or ordained ministry.

Once again, the Commission on Ministry is happy to come to you with our Discernment Program for the coming year. This is a wonderful opportunity for adult members of the Body of Christ in Rhode Island to reflect and grow in their faith. It is also the first step in the process leading to ordination for the diaconate and the priesthood.

The program is very similar to the one offered last year. As a result of feedback we received from last year’s participants, we are including a presentation on lay ministry, in addition to the presentations on the diaconate and priesthood.

The first session is an Introductory Dinner that is being held at the Hallworth House on September 14, 2006 at 6 PM. All clergy have information on the program, so please speak with your parish clergy if you are interested.

When two parishes become one

We've had a couple of parish mergers in Rhode Island in the last year or so. One was Church of the Advent, Pawtucket joining with Good Shepherd, Pawtucket. More recently, on the Day of Pentecost, two Providence parishes merged. Church of the Messiah, Olneyville joined with Grace Church.

If you are curious what it's like, liturgically, to deconsecrate a building (to return it to secular use) and to join two parishes, the current issue of the Grace Church newsletter (PDF) has a nice write-up of the day. There's also a profile of a parishioner, Lucia Bomster, worth reading. She was senior warden at Messiah, and she write about her experience coming to Grace Church. Rather than seeing this moment of uncertainty and transition as a time of fear, Bomster writes about the possibilities it brings:

The warm welcome and inclusion that Grace has off ered to both my Messiah family and my smaller personal family feels so much like that acceptance that Messiah blessed me with 16 years ago. Even though merging with another church was not one of the paths any of us wished for or dreamed to be God's plan for us, I have come to see this part of our journey in a very different light. I see this merger as a blessing too. I look forward to the two church families blending our different gifts and strengths together and becoming a stronger and more effective "tool" of God. It is beginning already with the creation of the Blending Team and the joining of our two Christian Ed teams!! I can’t wait to see where this part of the journey takes us!

This kind of hope is something we need more of. Speaking of things we need more of, I commend the Grace Church newsletter, which is posted on their website. It's nice looking and filled with fresh content. If your parish newsletter looks stale and takes only a few seconds to read, it's time to update. Grace Church's newsletter might make a fine model.

CBS: The Episcopal Church's New Pilot

There was a brief interview with Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori on the CBS Evening News today. You can read the interview (well, it's a transcript turned into an article) or watch the video here.

Here's a sample:

At the end of her term in nine years, how will she measure her success? "Well, I would hope to see a church that is less focused on internal division and far more focused on the world around us, transforming the communities in which we live," Jefferts Schori said.

Thoughtful writing from two perspectives

I've run across a couple of decent essays in the last few days. They don't have much to do with each other, except that they both articulate their positions well. I commend both.

First, from two senior bishops in the Church of England, is a response to Cardinal Kasper, who told the English House of Bishops in a recent address that they should not proceed to ordain women as bishops, lest they damage ecumenical relations. This charge is summarily dealt with (i.e. the pope declared in 1896 that Anglican holy orders are "absolutely null and utterly void" so how much more damaged can we be?), and then they move on to a careful exposition of why women bishops are OK, even with 2000 years of tradition. Here's a choice excerpt:

Faced with Rome's charge that Anglican innovations might make a projected unity more difficult, even those in the Vatican most concerned with patrolling the boundaries must recognise that to many Anglicans it seems that this charge could be levelled the other way round. The dogmas relating to the papacy (1870) and to Mary (1950) remain real obstacles for many who find it difficult to recognise them as developments in any sense from scripture and the tenets of the early church, and the recent work of ARCIC has not managed to find a pathway to help the churches travel together in these areas. The 'filioque' clause in the Creed is to this day regarded by Eastern Orthodox Christians as an unwarranted Roman addition to the creed of the universal church. Anglicans will naturally ask by what criteria Rome claims the right to introduce potentially divisive innovations in some areas, while advising Anglicans against developing the practice, rather than altering the doctrine of the church, in others. In what sense would ordaining women to the episcopate alter the doctrine of the church?

In a completely different vein, this brief essay by Bishop Iker of Forth Worth (and possible superhero?) summarizes the reasons why he has asked for alternative primatial oversight. If you are of a liberal persuasion and you haven't heard the conservative viewpoint on these issues, Iker's essay is a good, brief insight into at least one conservative position.

We realize that the Archbishop of Canterbury has a limited sphere in which to maneuver. We do not seek the impossible. We ask for some pastoral strategy whereby we might come under his primatial oversight and pastoral care (or that of another appointed by him) until such time as the primates’ meeting and the other instruments of unity of the Communion are enabled to consider our predicament and offer us help and protection. We cannot believe that because we are in a minority in this church we can be required to receive and endorse, in the person of the Presiding Bishop, a ministry which we have heretofore consistently, courteously and legitimately refused, and which is neither legitimate nor welcome in the greater part of the Communion.

Sunday services might be the answer, or not

I saw an interesting news bit from the Church of England today. It's a new version of an old question: "How do we make church relevant in a secular world?" In this country in the 1950s, it might have worked to expect people to come to church on "our" terms. Churches who live that way now do so at their own peril (witness the number of dying parishes). It's time to think in new ways.

A senior Church of England researcher has called on parishes to expand the scope of their vision, urging churches to think beyond their own walls and beyond the hours of Sunday in their attempts to engage communities with the message of the Gospel.

"Are we prepared to be flexible and responsive in our approach to church buildings and church services as we seek ways to respond to the widening gap between the inherited faith of the nation and its current practice, understanding and nurture of that faith?" asks the Rev'd Lynda Barley, Head of Research and Statistics for the Archbishops’ Council, in a booklet published today.

You can order a copy of the research from the C of E. It's called "Churchgoing today." While it's aimed at an English audience, I'll bet it has much to say to us on this side of the ocean. Dead tree version only -- no PDF, alas.

CBS Evening News plans July 23 profile of PB-elect

[ENS] A CBS Evening News profile of Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori is scheduled to air nationwide during the 6 p.m. EST newscast on Sunday, July 23, after last week's planned airing was pre-empted by breaking news.

The profile centers around a July 13 interview conducted by CBS News anchor Russ Mitchell with Jefferts Schori on the campus of the General Theological Seminary in New York City.

Should the profile be rescheduled due to time constraints, the segment will air at a later time, said producer Chris Hulme.

Clergy and lay leaders may wish to make this announcement in congregations during July 23 Sunday services.

Welfare ended, poverty remains, Griswold, mainline leaders tell Congress

Presiding Bishop Frank Griswold, along with other denominational leaders, has written a letter to Congress urging them to deal with increasing poverty, rather than celebrating the end of welfare. In the letter, the denominational leaders said this:

Our five denominations, steeped in the biblical imperative to care for the "least of these," represent close to 20 million members in the United States. We understand that many in Congress may be inclined to celebrate a political anniversary: the tenth anniversary of the signing of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 (PRWORA) and the "successes" of the law that as President Clinton said, "ended welfare as we know it." This is a celebration in which we cannot join. Welfare may have ended as we know it, but poverty in our nation has not.

PRWORA is not a success when many of our brothers and sisters lack adequate access to affordable child care, education and training, health care, affordable housing, quality nutrition and other basic human needs. Despite caseload reductions in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program (TANF), child poverty has risen for the last 4 years. According to recent US Census figures, the number of Americans living below the poverty line has increased every year since 2000 from 11.3% in 2000 to 12.7% in 2004. This now represents 37 million Americans, including 13 million children.

For some reason, the full text of the letter and news release are not on the ENS website, although I received a copy from them by email earlier this morning. When it appears online, I'll post a link to the news release, which contains the full text of the letter.

UPDATE: The article has magically appeared on the ENS website now. Enjoy.

You can make a difference

I received this in an email today from the Diocese of Mississippi. Please give it some thought. As readers here will know, people from our diocese have already had some great experiences in New Orleans doing similar work. Doing this work will change your life, make a difference for people on the Gulf Coast, and it will positively impact your whole faith community.

Camp Coast Care, a Katrina recovery ministry of Lutheran Episcopal Services in Mississippi, is in continued need for volunteers and work crews throughout the coming months. Our numbers for scheduled crews begin to taper off in early August: we need skilled and unskilled laborers to help continue to rebuilding efforts for so many who were impacted by last summer'’s storm. There is always something meaningful for anyone and everyone who comes to help.

To learn more about the work that Camp Coast Care is doing, please visit their website at www.campcoastcare.com and also the LESM website at www.lesm.org. Specific information on volunteering is available in the menu at the left side of the CCC website. The minimum age for volunteers housed at CCC is 16. For youth groups or volunteers under the age of 16 please contact Mission-on-the-Bay Camp Coordination Team: John Dreyfus 601-917-0794; Joelle Wright 619-865-8100; Butch Jones 228-860-8777; John Berault e-mail: missiononthebay@yahoo.com.

Evangelism starts best with clear soup

I ran across a thoughtful article from another blog. It begins like this:

A hiker emerges from the wilderness. He's rail-thin, having survived for weeks on what he could forage. Well-meaning greeters urge him to share in the rich, delicious meal they themselves are eating: sixteen-ounce steaks with sauteed mushrooms and onions; baked potatoes with butter and sour cream; and chocolate sundaes with whipped cream. Accustomed to leaner fare, however, the hiker manages to get down only a bite or two before his stomach rebels, and he has to turn away from the table. He would have been better served if his greeters had recognized his condition and started him out on just a little clear soup.

Unfortunately, some Christian evangelists are like the well-meaning greeters. They offer non-believers a rich meal of theological doctrines — delicious to those accustomed to them, but hard to digest for those who aren't, especially those brought up in the West's culture of rationality. Some evangelists dismissively label anything less than the full meal as cafeteria Christianity; they tell their listeners that true faith is an all-or-nothing proposition. Sadly, a lot of thoughtful non-believers respond to this challenge by choosing the nothing option.

I encourage you to read the full post. Many readers of this blog will not agree with his talking points, as they're quite liberal. Nevertheless, I think his point is well taken. Wherever we are on the theological spectrum, we do well to begin near those with whom we are conversing. I think Paul had something to say about that.

Leaning left, and also leaning right

It would be easy to think that all parishes are easily defined in their theological and political positions, at least based on most news reports. Here's a story from today's New York Times about a parish on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It's quite liberal in its politics, but conservative in theology. This is another example of how a mission-focused church might have a chance to stay together.

The parish, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, clings to a staunchly conservative theology, even though it is in an overwhelmingly liberal diocese of the Episcopal Church of the United States. Many in the congregation of about 300 young professionals, artists and even homeless people are proudly liberal in their politics. But they do not seem to carry that liberalism into their plain sanctuary, bathed in warm sunlight on Sunday mornings.

They've got things in perspective, I think. Here's a bit from the rector:

Mr. Sojwal said he believed many conservative Christians had elevated homosexual acts above all other sins. In his congregation, he said, sins like greed and materialism are of more pressing concern. “Jesus had nothing to say about homosexuality,” he said. “He has a lot to say about money.”

Nevertheless, he reads the Bible conservatively on homosexuality, saying he cannot find any way around the admonitions about it in the Old and New Testaments. Most in All Angels side with Mr. Sojwal in his reading of the Bible on the issue, but that does not mean they are at peace with it.

It looks like the principal concern of this parish with respect to ECUSA is not Gene Robinson, but rather a general leftward drift on scriptural authority. They want to talk about salvation, not sexuality. It's a conversation worth having, I think.

CBS Nightly News plans July 16 profile of PB-elect

This just in, from Episcopal News Service:

A CBS Nightly News profile of Presiding Bishop-elect Katharine Jefferts Schori is scheduled to air nationwide during the 6pm newscast on Sunday, July 16, unless pre-empted by breaking news.

The profile centers around a July 13 interview conducted by CBS News anchor Russ Mitchell with Jefferts Schori on the campus of the General Theological Seminary in New York City. Should the profile be rescheduled due to time constraints, the segment will air at a later time, said producer Chris Hulme.

Clergy and lay leaders may wish to make this announcement in congregations during July 16 Sunday services.

Is the church evolving? Relax, it's OK?

So how might scientists view the discussions in our church these days? Here's at least one take on things:

Christianity has already evolved into multiple divisions and subdivisions in its 2,000-year history. If the current crisis does indeed "permanently split the family of churches descended from the Church of England," we may be witnessing a modern instance of cultural speciation.

Citing current controversies in the Anglican Communion, the article, in Science & Theology News, says this:

When Charles Darwin had the fundamental insight that would become the theory of natural selection, he gleaned a principle not limited to biology. Rather, he put his finger on what happens to any system that makes copies of itself. Given the pressures of the environment and the imperfect transmission of traits, some alterations will inevitably prove more successful than others. Differing versions of the original will branch off. In time, entirely new systems may emerge.

All of this applies as much to non-biological phenomena as to microbes and men. Indeed, one instance of just such a "descent with modification" might be found in changing religious tradition.

And the winner is: Jurgen Moltmann!

While much of the world was focused on soccer last week, at least a few people were staging the World Cup of Modern Systematic Theologians 2006. The winner was Jurgen Moltmann. "Moltmann's relevance for his age, as well as his impact on church and academia was considered to be more significant" than other theologians, noted Finnish theologian Patrik Hagman.

The field of contenders (this is just the champion bracket!) was rich with big thinkers, Protestant and Catholic alike. Outside the field of academic theology, many of names will be unfamiliar. But Moltmann fans can take pride in their defeat of one Benedict (née Ratzinger) in the quaterfinals. Other celebrities included Gustavo Gutierrez and Reinhold Niebuhr.

I'm a big fan of anything that gets people to think about theology and read a little. Next year, if they stage this again, I'm definitely hosting a World Cup ("...of theology", which will be in small print) party!

Anglican heartlands -- the fertile ground of reconciliation

The Archbishop of Capetown, Winston Hugh Njongonkulu Ndungane, has issued a lengthy reflection on the current situation in the Anglican Communion. He calls for a focus on the "richheartlands of Anglicanism," on our heritage of "the solid centre, focused on Jesus Christ, to which we are constantly drawn back by the counterbalancing pull of the other strands, if any one threatens to become disproportionately influential."

Here are a couple of excerpts.

The greatest Anglicans of past and present are characterised by radical holiness of life, an uncompromising dedication to prayer and Bible study, and tenacious pursuit of the truth as they wrestled with the issues of their day. This is a life lived under the authority of all these three-fold strands of faith: of Scripture, of Church order and structures, of Christian tradition. It is the life of obedience and self-discipline, and often costly self-denial, for, especially in our relations with one another, as Paul reminds the Corinthian church, even where 'all things are lawful,' it may well be that 'not all things are beneficial' (1 Cor 10:23). All of us would do well to remember this. Nor does accepting the inevitability of messiness at the margins of the community of faith mean 'anything goes.'

And here's the conclusion:

So we should be in no hurry to find quick solutions tailored to addressing our current problems. We rather need to take thorough care in discerning answers that lie fully within the tradition that we have received, so that we too may pass on the great riches of our Anglican heritage. To do this requires methodical and comprehensive exploration of all that is in the Windsor Report, and in Archbishop Rowan's reflections. I see them as significant foundation stones of the future we are trying to build.

We will find authentic Anglican answers if we conduct our debate within the fertile territory of the rich Anglican heartlands, engaging with one another in a godly spirit of tolerance, trust and charity, and having confidence in the living tradition of our Anglican structures, as part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, through which the Lord has preserved us, guided us and led us, so mercifully in the past.

God has given us so much – let us be faithful to him, and to those who will come after us, by preserving and passing on the rich essentials of his gift.

Let us stand firm upon the middle ground.

I encourage you to read and ponder this entire reflection. The people of South Africa have much to teach all of us about reconciliation and holy living.

Time: 10 questions for PB-elect

The current issue of Time magazine has 10 questions (and answers, natch) for Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori. Here's an excerpt:

Do you have a favorite Bible verse? Chapter 61 of Isaiah is an icon for me of what Christian work should be about. That's what Jesus reads in his first public act. In Luke, he walks into the synagogue and reads from Isaiah. It talks about a vision of the reign of God where those who are mourning are comforted, where the hungry are fed, where the poor hear good news.

What is your prayer for the church today? That we remember the centrality of our mission is to love each other. That means caring for our neighbors. And it does not mean bickering about fine points of doctrine.

Lead what? Lead you!

Last week I had the opportunity to spend six days on the campus of Gallaudet University at Leadership University. I along with over four hundred other students, gathered in Washington D.C. to learn how to enhance our leadership skills and what it means to be a leader in the world around us.

In our very first session we were asked to think of the community in which we wish to be leaders. For some it was school, the arts, or a particular field. For me it was a little different. I want to be a leader in the Episcopal Church. Through everything I did, I kept the mind set of "how can this help me lead in the church".

The speech at our graduation spoke to me in terms of the amazing works that are happening in not only the National Church, but in the Diocese of RI. Mr. Anthony Sparks, one of our team leaders, got up and talked to us about being a light. Mr. Sparks, being a very religious man, had a spiritual under tone to his speech. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it." I could not believe he opened with the Prologue from John’s Gospel. He continued to talk about the verses he had recited particularly John 1:15, "The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it." The duration of his remarks had to do about light and what kind of light we are all called to be. There are some who are spot lights; refrigerator lights; night lights; and light houses. We, as young leaders, are called to be light houses. Light houses are the type of people who are always there no matter what to help guide others along their journey. The minute he said that I thought of the Church. We have been called to be Christ’s light in the world, and through that we are called to be light houses. To stand up for those who can not stand up for themselves. To guide others through the darkness. Yet how do we do this? We do this through mission. Like the group that went to New Orleans; and various MDG ministries. How can we in RI act more like light houses in are various ministries?

The Church is doing great things, and it is not all about sexuality and schism. We are witness, with some very good news to share. I think that right now we are a very good church. A good church does the right thing some of the time. A very good church does the right thing most of the time. Lets be a great church and do the right thing all the time. Lets truly be a mission minded people.

The church at work: the mission continues

I've have an agenda on this blog: my aim, among other things, is to point out that the church is still doing the work of the church, despite signs to the contrary in the major media. We're not all fighting and dividing. Most of the time, we're praying, inviting people to join us, and doing the work of building the Kingdom of God.

So, as a follow-up to the diary of our own diocesan mission trip to New Orleans, and of the story of a priest who lived on a roof, I thought I'd share a bit of this letter from the rector of a parish that was/is in New Orleans. It's well worth reading the whole thing.

We are blessed with a constant flow of mission teams coming in to stand with us and dig out of the rubble. Last week a team of 70+ young people arrived from New Mexico. They worked on more than 50 houses, put on a Vacation Bible School, conducted two Christian musicals and fed hundreds. One night the group went into our old church by candle light and held a vigil inside, singing Amazing Grace around the donated appliances stored in what is now our warehouse.

And this:

We are tired. We are often frustrated. But we are standing and fighting for the Kingdom with your prayers and support. We will not back down. We will not give up an inch of ground. We've come too far by grace and with much sweat and tears. Please keep us in your prayers, we need them badly.

Props to titusonenine for this one.

Projo: life continues for the Diocese

There's a decent article on the front page of today's Providence Journal about the recent goings-on with General Convention, the Anglican Communion, and our diocese. Basically it says that while some people are worked up, life continues for ordinary parishioners in ordinary parishes.

"Yes, it would be a great loss if we were thrown out of the Anglican Communion, but I think the reality is that, for the vast majority of Episcopalians, what goes on at the upper levels of the church is removed from how people live out their lives in the parishes," says the Rev. William R. Locke, rector of St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Pawtucket and one of Rhode Island's eight deputies to the convention.

Here's another bit, quoting Bishop Wolf:

Bishop Wolf says she believes the resolution as approved fell short of what the Windsor Report indicated was the minimum that needed to be done, "but it was the best we could do."

Finally, this quotes Neal Goldsborough, sometime seminary classmate of one Peter Akinola:

And having gone to seminary with Archbishop Peter Akinola, the conservative primate of Nigeria, Father Goldsborough says he believes that those conservative parishes that have spoken so freely about quitting their dioceses and placing themselves under the jurisdiction of an African bishop may want to consider the implications of such a move.

"Do Americans really want to be under the control of an autocratic sub-Saharan African bishop?" the priest asks. "I think not. One of the reasons the Episcopal Church was formed two centuries ago was that Americans didn't want to be under the control of a bishop in England.

Live from Episcopal Conference Center - Part III

Jessica Gates is the Communications Associate for the Diocese. She is spending the week up at the Episcopal Camp, her first visit to the property. This week is the Music and Creative Arts camp program. ECC is located in the northwest corner of the state, on 186 acres of land touching Echo Lake.

The final days of the Music and Fine Arts camp at Episcopal Conference Center (ECC) were filled with displays of amazing talent.

The talent show was held on Thursday night. Titled “ECC’s Got Talent” (a parody of a current TV talent show) the staff and camp all showed off a variety of skills. A panel of judges provided comic relief. We wrapped up Thursday evening with the final three desserts in the Staff dessert competition.

Friday was an absolutely beautiful day – not too hot, low humidity. We were all thrilled. It was a perfect morning to visit the Tower of Silence and hike down to the lake. The Tower of Silence is a raised cabin that serves as a quiet space. Nestled in the woods, it is a place to escape the bustle of the camp and reflect, meditate, pray or read. It is set beside a pond with a geyser pump in the middle that gurgles in the background.

My toddler had her first lake experience. A tentative toe-dip merged in to a brave few steps and then quickly turned in to a baby skinny dip. She was thrilled with the giant bathtub in the great outdoors. I am still berating myself for forgetting to take my camera down to the lake.

Friday evening was the accumulation of all the work at camp. Workshop presentations started at 7:30 PM and went until almost 11:30 PM. Visitors, family and friends crowded the camp to see all of the programs. This was the evening to be blown away by the talent of the youth. The rock-bands were fantastic and had everyone up and dancing. A camp favorite was a rendition of Nelly’s “Grillz” – skillfully covered by a very enthusiastic group of campers. The dramatic presentations were comedic genius and the a cappella group should get a recording contract. My humble opinion, of course!

Friday evening also brought about the results of the staff dessert competition. Alan and I won for our wacky dessert named “Nacho Libre.” It was created to look like salsa, sour cream and bean dip with chips. It was actually a fruit dip (strawberries, pineapple, raspberries), cheesecake dip and chocolate with caramel. The chips were lacy biscotti cookies cut in wedges.

On Saturday Alan and I were made to stand on chairs during breakfast announcements and were told that we won the award for being Woody Harrelson and Meryl Streep “look-alikes.”

All fun aside, few places in the Episcopal Church are doing enough to engage kids. They are the only hope for the longevity of the church and yet they are largely ignored with the exception of a few Sunday school programs. Youth programs are an uphill battle that must compete with school programs and sports. The church desperately needs to engage the 13-18 year-olds. Those 18 year-olds go off to college and may not set foot in a church (of their own will) again. It is our responsibility to make the church a home for them. There is always a small trickle of returns, a marriage or a young family may initiate a return to church life. Even so, there should be an abundance of young adults in the 22-26 age range, out of school, starting their lives – filling the pews. But they are not there. Why? We never established a relationship with them beyond Sunday obligations.

The Episcopal Conference Center does just that. It makes a home. Episcopalians in Rhode Island should be very proud of ECC's efforts. It does not matter if you have braces or tattoos up at ECC. The kids who attend the camp are fully engaged in creative activities, community and religious services. It is all intertwined. They have an amazing ownership of their spirituality that is not seen in many youth. They come back each year, again and again. They return as campers-in-training. They return to be counselors. They return to be staff members. They send their own children to camp. It is a full-circle program.

In a church that is currently consumed with politics (too left, too right, too center, red state, blue state, gay, straight, somewhere in-between, conservative, liberal, male, female, inclusion, exclusion, schism, communion, posturing, interpreting, right and wrong) it is not only refreshing, it is uplifting to attend a week up at the ECC. For a moment, you see the future and the future is happy, healthy, engaged, talented, community-oriented and deeply spiritual.

Of course, current church events are incredibly important and amazingly historic no matter what side of the issue you may fall on. But they are also exhausting. It is a pleasant reminder of community when you step on to the 186 acres on Lake Echo – the Music and Fine Arts camp at ECC is focused on, well, music and fine art. Amen.

Church of England backs women bishops

LONDON (AFP) - The Church of England has come out in favour of consecrating women bishops, saying it was "theologically justified."

The synod of clergy and laity meeting in York, northern England, Saturday backed the majority opinion of the church's bishops by 288 votes to 119, giving the green light to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams to form a commission from Monday to consider the question.

See full article here.

Article from Episcopal News Service here.

Living on the roof

No, that title is not some kind of metaphor for what ails the Anglican Communion. It's about a priest in England who has been living on his church roof for several nights--living as a homeless person. He's doing it to raise awareness and money. The money will benefit the local community there.

Anyway, the Rev'd Malcolm Hunter has been writing a diary each day and posting pictures. We do a fair amount of that sort of thing on this blog, so I thought you might like to read his diary.

This is what we should be doing with our energy in the church: making the world notice those among us who have the least, and then doing something about it. In his simple act, this priest is telling people what kind of church we are, he's raising up the plight of those who have no voice in our consumerist culture, and he's making a bit of a dent in the problem. Amen.

There's a "donate" link on his site if you feel inspired. A nod to Ruth Gledhill for the story.

Summer RISEN is available

The summer issue of RISEN is online now. It's gone to the printer, and I expect it will be in your mail box in a week or two. Exactly when it will arrive depends on the US Postal Service, and that's...

If you can't wait that long, you can download your very own copy now.

This issue is chock full (16 pages -- four more than usual!) of General Convention coverage, as well as the usual roundup of Rhode Island diocesan and parish news.

Note that this issue will be the last tabloid format / newspaper version of RISEN. The next issue, due to arrive in September, will be the first quarterly issue. That issue will look more like a magazine, and it will have longer articles, aimed to inspire, educate, and inform. Most of the newsy bits will now appear here on the blog, in eRISEN, or on the diocesan website. If you don't get eRISEN (our new email newsletter), why not subscribe?

Your questions and feedback are always welcome. Look for more communications updates over the next few weeks.

MDGs and the Episcopal Church

This appeared in my email inbox today. Presumably it comes from somewhere in the bowels of 815. It's great info, which I wholly encourage you to read.

In the three years since The Episcopal Church endorsed the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the first time at the 74th General Convention, Episcopalians have stood at the forefront of the U.S. movement to achieve the MDGs. This government to government partnership grew out of the 2000 Millennium Declaration. It has involved the Church’s leadership and staff, particularly in the area of public-policy advocacy; collaborative efforts with Anglican partners around the world; the work of Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD), and the efforts of dioceses, parishes, and individuals at the grassroots level. Now that the 75th General Convention has adopted the MDGs as a mission priority for the coming triennium, and set aside a new 0.7% line item in the DFMS budget for MDG-related programs, the Church at all levels is challenged to expand and intensify its advocacy for and contribution to the achievement of the MDGs.

ONE EPISCOPALIAN CAMPAIGN:
The ONE Episcopalian campaign, which was endorsed at last month’s Convention, provides an important way to move this work forward. This new partnership between The Episcopal Church and ONE: The Campaign to Make Poverty History challenges Episcopalians at the diocesan, parish, and individual level to deepen their involvement in MDG advocacy and connect those efforts to the larger MDG movement in the U.S. ONE is a large and growing movement of more than 2.3 million Americans (ironically the same size as The Episcopal Church), supported by a coalition of more than 70 leading advocacy and humanitarian organizations. It seeks to convince the U.S. government to spend an additional ONE percent of its budget each year on MDG-related programs. The ONE Episcopalian initiative unites this work with the Church’s ongoing MDG work. Parishes and dioceses are asked to become “ONE Congregations” and “ONE Dioceses” and make a series of commitments to MDG advocacy. Individuals, likewise, are asked to sign the ONE Declaration, wear a white wristband (the international symbol of the anti-poverty movement), and commit to regular MDG advocacy. Individuals, parishes, and dioceses will be supported in their efforts by materials and updates from The Episcopal Church’s Office of Government Relations. To learn more about ONE Episcopalian, visit www.episcopalchurch.org/ONE.

OTHER ONGOING MDG WORK AT THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH CENTER:
The Episcopal Church’s staff has made the MDGs a priority in many areas including Peace and Justice Ministries, the Office of Government Relations (OGR), Anglican and Global Relations, and Women’s Ministries. The Office of Government Relations has integrated the MDGs into all of the Church’s international-policy work; coordinated the grassroots MDG activism of Episcopalians around the country; and developed a host of educational, liturgical, prayer, and informational materials on the MDGs. Additionally, OGR staff co-chairs several Washington-based policy working groups on the MDGs.

NETWORKING GLOBALLY:
The Episcopal Church is providing financial and human resources to the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Poverty and Trade Task Team, chaired by Archbishop Ndungane of Southern Africa, which is attempting to coordinate MDG efforts across the Anglican Communion. (Alex Baumgarten from the Office of Government Relations was appointed by Archbishop Rowan as the U.S. member of that team.) The Anglican Peace and Justice Network – on which the Rev. Canon Brian Grieves is the U.S. representative -- also has identified the MDGs as a major priority for the Communion and receives most of its funding from The Episcopal Church. Shortly after the February 2007 Primates’ Meetings in Tanzania, there will be a March Communion-wide conference in Boksburg, South Africa. It will focus on the MDGs and overcoming poverty and HIV/AIDS. The conference planners include staff and members of The Episcopal Church, and the project is receiving significant funding from ERD, Church Center and many other Episcopal Church resources.

MDG WORK OF EPISCOPAL RELIEF and DEVELOPMENT:
The Millennium Development Goals are one of the frameworks Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) uses to put its development strategy into action. Working with Anglican and ecumenical partners, ERD focuses on food security, primary health, and emergency relief and rebuilding. ERD’s programs are rooted in capacity building, gender empowerment, and environmental sustainability. During 2005, ERD launched or strengthened over 35 programs around the world. For example, ERD is rebuilding lives and livelihoods devastated by the tsunami in India, providing training and long-lasting insecticide-treated nets to prevent malaria in Zambia, and helping women earn an income in a bread-making cooperative in Honduras. ERD’s monitoring and evaluation program helps measure the effect and impact of these programs which informs not only ERD’s approach, but helps other institutions working to achieve these important goals.

DIOCESAN RESPONSES:
Alongside the growing movement in support of the MDGs within The Episcopal Church, there has also been a movement of dioceses supporting international-development programs with 0.7% of their annual budgets. Episcopalians for Global Reconciliation has played a key role in this effort. The Lambeth Conference of 1998 urged all dioceses in the Anglican Communion to adopt this target as model of advocacy to governments, a call that was reaffirmed by the 2000 General Convention of The Episcopal Church (The 0.7% figure is a 40-year-old international target for government giving to foreign aid). Today, more than 60 dioceses of The Episcopal Church have committed to the 0.7% international-giving target. Many dioceses also are developing global-reconciliation committees to determine how this money best can be used and how the financial commitment can be used to engage Episcopalians and deepen their involvement in issues of international development. Commitment to advocacy on the MDGs – through participation in efforts like ONE Episcopalian -- is one such example of a deepened involvement that can grow from a diocese’s giving to international-assistance programs.

HOW TO MOVE THE MDGs FORWARD:
In the coming year, the MDGs will reach the half-way point of their lifespan with most of the world – particularly the most impoverished countries – well behind track in progress toward the Goals. There are many signs of hope, however. In 2005, world leaders gathered at the G8 meeting pledged to devote $50 billion in new aid to impoverished countries by 2010 and adopted a major new debt-cancellation initiative for some of the world’s poorest countries. These promises are only first steps, however. It is now up to citizens to make sure their governments keep these promises. The ONE Episcopalian campaign provides the framework for how The Episcopal Church intends to do this over the next triennium and beyond.

Live From Episcopal Conference Center - Part II

Jessica Gates is the Communications Associate for the Diocese. She is spending the week up at the Episcopal Camp, her first visit to the property. This week is the Music and Creative Arts camp program. ECC is located in the northwest corner of the state, on 186 acres of land touching Echo Lake.

Bishop Wolf arrived this morning and celebrated the Eucharist in the barn and then joined the group for breakfast. Apparently the Bishop has a history of making appearances at the Music and Creative Arts program. The kids really respond to her. Many of you may be used to seeing Bishop Wolf in formal settings so it may surprise some people to learn that the Bishop is incredible with children. She has a very gentle and unassuming way of approaching them. I watched a 9 year-old and a 14 year-old instantly fall in to a warm interaction with her. As for my toddler, how many people can claim they played peek-a-boo with the Bishop of Rhode Island?

Last night there was a big dance in the barn and they covered the entire floor with buckets of sand. Sand was everywhere. Originally the dance was going to be held at the waterfront, but unpredictable weather led to the barn location instead. Cleaning and sweeping took place late in to the evening so that the morning service would not be unnecessarily “gritty” for Bishop Wolf.

The dance was a success. Even the shyest of kids were out dancing. Most of the girls dressed up and the counselors joked that there was a toxic cloud of hairspray floating up from the girl’s cabins.

As predicted, the teenagers were horrified when visiting staff (or anyone over 20 for that matter) attempted to dance. Most staffers regulated themselves to the fringe and bopped their heads while keeping an eye on the crowd. A few staffers braved teenage disdain and showed off some fine dancing skills. Kudos to those brave souls!

The visiting staff has a dessert competition running each evening. Each team or person is trying to outdo each other. It is hilarious. The judging is done on ballots with a variety of categories (including categories like “color” and “aftertaste”). The taunting and bravado displayed are almost as important as the desserts. The first evening, two desserts were presented. Last night, five were presented. We could barely move. We have seen everything from gooey brownies to deep fried ice cream and there are still two nights left in the competition. We are all going to need to spend some time at the gym after this camp.

Live from Episcopal Conference Center - Part I

Jessica Gates is the Communications Associate for the Diocese. She is spending the week up at the Episcopal Camp, her first visit to the property. This week is the Music and Creative Arts camp program. ECC is located in the northwest corner of the state, on 186 acres of land touching Echo Lake.


Having just finished a camp lunch of tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches, I am escaping the heat by ducking in to the office (read: air-conditioning) to provide you with a glimpse of life at the Episcopal Camp and Conference Center (ECC).

My husband (Alan - St. Paul’s, Wickford) is the resident chaplain for this week of ECC’s summer camp – the Music and Creative Arts Camp. I decided to follow him up here; toddler in tow, to see what ECC is all about.

My hope is to post some pictures over the next few days.

The first thing that impressed me about ECC is the noise level. The counselors and campers have a language of chants and yells and whoops that make little sense to a visitor but clearly inspire group camaraderie. The energy level is contagious, even in the thick heat of the day.

Secondly, I am impressed with the loyalty this place inspires. Many adults (visiting staff and regular staff) attended this camp as children. Many of the kids here are second and third generation campers.

It is a gentle space, old fashioned in the modern world. While many camps are catering to whims (spa camp anyone?) the ECC summer program has KP duty and work projects along with free time and fun workshops. Kids here not only better themselves, but they help to better the camp in the process. While physically old-fashioned in spirit, the camp is surprisingly “with” the times when it comes to the campers needs. Workshops include “rock band” and “comedy improv” as well as singing, drama, painting, dance and numerous others.

While sitting around the table in the main house, I hear staff member after staff member talk about their experiences here. It inspires a passionate discussion around the table about what the camp is all about. Everyone agrees that the spirit of the camp needs to be preserved for all time. There is nothing generic or cold about the place, it is worn and warm with the imprints of all the campers that came before. Tradition abounds.

Speaking of traditions, my little family was jolted out of bed this morning at 5:44 AM to the sound of pots and pans being banged while counselors shouted patriotic songs at the top of their lungs. Ouch. I am still recovering.

Mission trip to New Orleans: final thoughts

This is the final entry from the group who went to New Orleans last week. I encourage you to read the other posts from the blog as well. Thanks to all who wrote these updates.

On our last night in New Orleans we gathered at the Palace for a debrief session. After praying and sharing with each other all of the work we had done, we asked that everyone share their high and low of the week. What follows are powerful statements and stories from those present that evening.

One of the boys shared, “A low was driving around and walking around and seeing all the devastation on the side of the road and the houses that were half standing, and that what you see on TV in the north isn’t really what’s happening here. They make us think a year later that everything is fine. I’m going to pay attention to people that say the media blew things out of proportion. They really didn’t. It’s crazy the work that needs to be done, and I didn’t see enough people doing it.”

Another young woman spoke, “My other low was seeing that message on that house. (Michael -- where are you?) It really made my heart stop. To think that a year has gone by and there are still families that are not together. You can rebuild a house but you can’t replace a family member. If something like that happened to my family I don’t know what I would do. It really made me think of how much I cherish my family.”

Another one of the guys shared a personal low: “My low was probably Wednesday morning. I had been sheet-rocking the afternoon before and I couldn’t get the hang of it. I thought I was the only one who couldn’t do it, but then today when we finished that room I realized that I leave here knowing something I didn’t know how to do before.”

The highs that were shared were equally as meaningful. One girl smiled as she shared, “I have a lot of highs, but really every time I laughed, even though we were working we were still laughing -- all those points were the high for me.” One of the boys shared a similar sentiment, “My high was most of the jobs I did with Nina, and just being able to laugh about stuff. Having fun working was definitely my high, because working is not fun.”

Another boy shared, “My high was going to the Zephyrs game. The other high was standing back and seeing the work that we did on this trip. Real work...standing back and saying that we accomplished something.”

One of our adult leaders shared some of her thoughts, “The high for me which happens every time I’m with young adults is that it gives me so much hope for the future. And that there are so many really bright hard-working kids for the future. We hear so much bad stuff...I’m reassured about how untrue those things are. It’s really the most important thing to me, that kids are hopeful, because that’s all we have.”

These are just some of the comments that were shared that evening. We had been so busy all week that I don’t think any of us had had the time to stop and fully realize what was happening with our group. As a result of the share we all realized how much we had been moved and changed during this trip.

Perhaps reading this blog has moved and changed you as well. I’ve listed the names of the people that went on this trip below. If you see one of them, I encourage you to ask them about their experience. They have some amazing things to say. Thanks for reading.

The Rev’d Bob Brooks, the Rev’d Jennifer Pedrick, the Rev’d Clare Fischer-Davies, Susan Samoiloff, Sara Nappa, George Kolb, Mary Kesson, Bill Dench, Amy Scanlon-Moore, Meaghan Kelly, Chris Shumate, Andrew Shumate, Jonathan Shumate, Matthew Shumate, Tamsyn Santos, Jola Ilori, Chad Furey, Nina Nappa, Carey Iacobucci, Peter Meckel, Ben Carter, Cameron Carrington, Liz Wagner, Melanie Monteiro, Stephanie Monteiro, Samantha Martinez, Damian Almada, Derrin Almada, Colin Bomster, Sarah Dench, Mary Davies, Michael Leber, and Mahyama Fallah

Two archbishops share their thoughts on Communion

We can begin to get a glimpse of the future of the Anglican Communion in two bits of communication from two parts of the world. The first is from the Archbishop of Perth (Australia), the Most Rev'd Roger Herft. I encourage you to read his whole note, in which he argues that we cannot really choose to divide the church. We must have love and generosity as the basis of our church. Here's an excerpt:

The church of God called into being by the act of Christ must be particularly careful in its judgements and its exclusions - for, as Jesus reminds those whom he chooses, we are not called to respect or tolerate each other - but to love one another, particularly those we determine to be the "enemy".

The heat is on.

The gay and lesbian person is placed on the altar - the presenting cause of schism. While the church beats itself into a frenzy it may easily forget that its primary vocation is to love, to make judgements without deeply loving is to hate, and hate is a cycle that leaves the cross standing powerless - without resurrection.

From Nigeria, we get pretty much the opposite sentiment from the Most Rev'd Peter Akinola, Archbishop of Nigeria. The Episcopal Synod there has just met, and they've issued a communinque. The letter pulls no punches, once again including Canterbury in their list of suspect dioceses: "Synod also regrets the inability of the See of Canterbury to prevent further impairment of the unity of the Church." And. because of this, it appears that Nigeria is positioning itself not to attend Lambeth 2008:

the moral justification for the proposed Lambeth Conference of 2008 is questionable in view of the fact that by promoting teachings and practices that are alien and inimical to the historic formularies of the Church, the Bishops of ECUSA, Canada and parts of Britain have abandoned the Biblical faith of our fathers.

And just in case there was any doubt where this is headed, Nigeria is preparing to hold its own gathering of the "Anglican Communion" in 2008:

Synod underlines the need for maintaining the age-long tradition of a ten-yearly Conference of Bishops in the Anglican Communion for discussing issues affecting the Church. It therefore calls on the leadership of the Global South and Council of Anglican Provinces in Africa (CAPA) to do everything necessary to put in place a Conference of all Anglican Bishops to hold in 2008 should all efforts to get the apostles of 'revisionist agenda' to repent and retrace their steps fail.

So now the Archbishop of Canterbury is to be outside of Akinola's view of the Anglican Communion? Huh? The mind boggles. Call me a revisionist heretic, but I'll take the first option here: love and generosity sound like the Gospel to me.

UPDATE: I encourage you to read two very thoughtful reactions to all this. You'll find one great piece by Jim Naughton, and another by Mark Harris. They're both well worth reading.

Two can play that game?

So I wondered when we'd start seeing post-GC reports of liberals looking for ALPO or DEPO. (Yes, I know there are likely places like Calvary in Pittsburgh, but they haven't been in the news lately.)

Here's the first hint, from the CofE, no less. So says an article in today's Telegraph.

Liberal clergy in Britain are preparing to turn to America's Anglican bishops for leadership in a move that could produce "civil war" and destroy the Church of England, The Sunday Telegraph has learned.

They are considering the drastic action after the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, delivered a strong warning to liberals that they could be marginalised from the Anglican Church if they are unable to subscribe to more traditional doctrine over the issue of homosexuality. A delegation of influential liberals flew out to the American Church's General Convention in Ohio last month to discuss building closer ties with their counterparts in the United States.

Of course, believe the Telegraph at your own risk. This article came onto my radar screen courtesy, yet again, of Jim Naughton's excellent blog. Here's the post.

Conversation on Communion in one parish

Today's New York Times has an article about what I think is a typical conversation at a typical Sunday morning forum on General Convention and its aftermath. The parish is St. Luke's, Darien, Connecticut. I'd encourage you to read the article -- I think it reflects the conversations taking place in many parishes throughout Rhode Island and the country.

Here's an excerpt.

For parishes that identify with the right or the left pole on the issue of homosexuality, allegiances are clear. But the vast majority of parishes are somewhere in the middle, with members on each side of the debate who feel connected to the Episcopal Church and to Anglican tradition, said the Rev. William Sachs, a St. Luke's member who was recently named director of the new Center for Reconciliation and Mission at St. Stephen's Church in Richmond, Va.

"What's really going on in the pews of Episcopal churches is they don't necessarily want to align with either side," he said. "They want to get on with life. They want this thing resolved."

The NY Times photo is the Rev'd David R. Anderson, rector of St. Luke's, Darien, CT.

Mission trip to New Orleans: work by the numbers

This is a follow-up to several previous posts here on the New Orleans mission trip. As I write this, most of the participants are safely back in Rhode Island. I think some travel complications have kept at least a couple of people in Louisiana until tomorrow. This entry was written by Meaghan Kelly and Jon Shumate. Pictures will come soon, I'm told.

After our late night out at the Zephyrs game we were treated to an extra hours of sleep Friday morning – much needed by all. When we did wake up however, we were raring to go. We had one day of work left, and there was a lot to finish at the church. We immediately split into our groups and started to chip away at the rest of our to-do list. The last of the drywall was put up, the second coat of polyurethane was put on the floor, the sacristy was reorganized and usable again, the windows in the front doors were cleaned, the nursery was painted and the hallways were primed. It was hard to believe, looking around the church at the end of our day, how much we had accomplished in such a short time. Betty (our point person at the church) and Ronald (the sexton) took some time at the end of the day to thank us for our hard work. Betty wept some as she looked around the restored sacristy, and Ronald made a small speech, admitting that he was skeptical about our group, but was now impressed by what we had accomplished. Walter, the rector, told us that both Betty’s tears and Ronald’s speech were relatively uncharacteristic, and that alone spoke volumes about what we had done there. On Friday night after our work was finished we gathered at the Palace for reflections (which will come in a later blog entry), prayer, and some recapping of what we had done over the week. We thought we’d share some of our more amusing (approximate) stats from the week:

Number of paint rollers used: 30
Number of brushes used: 12
Number of sandwiches consumed: 275
Number of cockroaches (living) found in the sacristy: 35
Number of miles run by our St. Michael & Grace leaders: 17
Number of unnecessary miles driven looking for Walmart: 10
Number of gallons of joint compound used: 15
Number of puncture wounds: 1
Number of subsequent trips to the emergency room: 1
Number of times Bob went to the hardware store: 30
Number of gallons of water consumed: 110
Number of gallons of coffee consumed: 20
Number of cups we had to pull out of the trash to drink the coffee: 3
Number of walls we tore down by accident: 3
Number of tries (on average) it took to wake Cameron up in the morning: 3
Number of walls we put up: 15
Number of coats painted on the floor of the nave: 3
Number of cabinets torn down: 5
Number of dead trees taken down: 2
Number of people that had sewage accidentally spilled on their leg: 1, sorry Peter.
Number of showers available for the 18 people staying at Chez Cortez: 3 (Peter got first dibs)
Number of times we moved the organ: 4
Number of lives changed from a week in New Orleans: 33

So there’s a little wrap up of some of the work we did (and didn’t do) in New Orleans. In the end, it was a very productive week, and the church is in much better shape because of our time there. The general consensus was that we wish we could have done more, but we are glad we could do even a little bit to help a community that needed it.

Stay tuned for a more detailed piece on our reflections on this mission trip…

Are we now a dog-eat-dog church?

OK, so I'm growing weary of posts reporting more schism and dissension, when I'd rather post mission news. Still, this stuff is news, so I guess it belongs here.

Springfield and Central Florida have joined the other four dioceses in seeking Alternative Primatial Oversight. In related news, speaking of alternative bishops, the Martyn Minns adventure gets an update. Virginia Bishop Peter Lee has written a letter in which he speaks very frankly about Minns and his decision to be elected as a bishop of the Anglican Church in Nigeria. Lee says,

The election of the Rev. Martyn Minns as a Bishop of the Church of Nigeria with oversight of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America is an affront to the traditional, orthodox understanding of Anglican Provincial Autonomy. Archbishop Akinola acknowledges as much in his letter to Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams. How that situation resolves itself remains to be seen. However, the request by Archbishop Akinola that Martyn be allowed to continue as rector of an Episcopal congregation while also serving as a Nigerian Bishop seems to me, at this point, to be impossible.

Lee is responding to the notion that Minns would remain as rector of Truro Church (an Episcopal Church) while also serving as a bishop of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America (a group that seeks to set up parallel jurisdictions, and which comes under the authority of the Archbishop of Nigeria, who has pronounced himself out of communion with The Episcopal Church). Minns has said this, in a letter posted on the Truro Church website:

What does this mean for Truro? It most certainly does NOT mean that Truro will be left without a rector. I’m not going anywhere. The vestry has endorsed my continuing as Truro’s rector until the rector search committee completes its job and a new rector has been selected.

Again, I'm not quite sure what the hurry is. What about the listening process? Where is the time and space for reconciliation. Apparently the calendar is too full of meetings planning parallel provinces, elevating more priests to be bishops, and finding ways to undermine the Episcopal Church.

In our jargon-rich world, this situation has demanded some acronyms, and we finally have them. First there was Delegated Episcopal Pastoral Oversight (DEPO). Then England brought us TEA and SEO. Now, thanks to Jim Naughton has brought us ALPO: ALternative Primatial Oversight.

This suggests a possible solution to our church woes. Maybe Lorne Greene is the answer. We could channel him to solve our woes. He'll use charm and wisdom, and cute dogs, to fix everything. If the primates can't deal with our PB-elect, we'll send them another kind of leader (a guy who, by the way, runs a battlestar). That'll teach 'em to play nasty. If love, justice, and inclusion aren't the Gospel, we'll just invoke the good old lex talionis.

PB-elect interviewed on NPR

I finally got a chance to listen to the entire interview with Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori on the Diane Rehm show, which took place on June 29. I don't know how long it will be online, so listen right away. You can find it here in either Windows Media Player or Real Player format.

If you don't want to listen, you can read some excerpts on on Susan Russell's blog.

If you want to know what kind of leader we'll have for the next nine years, I strongly encourage you to listen. Leave comments here with your thoughts. Personally, I'm really looking forward to our new PB at the helm.