Lambeth Conference invitations

By now you may have heard that the invitations have been issued to the Lambeth Conference, to be held in the summer of 2008 in England. This meeting, held every 10 years or so, is an opportunity for bishops from throughout the Anglican Communion to gather for prayer, fellowship, and discussion.

Some people had expected that due to present controversies in the church, bishops from the US and Canada might not be invited. As Lambeth Palace announced a couple of days ago, nearly all bishops have been invited, including Bishop Wolf. (She'll be making her second trip there, having attended the 1998 meeting -- among the first group of women bishops at the Conference.) Many commentators are unhappy because Bishop Gene Robinson of New Hampshire and Bishop Martyn Minns of CANA are not invited as of yet.

You can read up on all the news here. Or you can simply enjoy this pictorial representation of the situation, courtesy of Dave Walker and the CartoonChurch blog.

Successor to the U2charist?

What's next for the church, after the terribly trendy U2charist runs its course? Sarah Dylan Breuer isn't sure, but she does hold forth with "10 rejected alternative worship themes." At least we know what's not coming next.

Anglican Communion Sunday

Today is Anglican Communion Sunday, which is observed on the Sunday after the Ascension (or at some other convenient time, in case you missed it). I encourage you to have a look at the Anglican Communion website today. Do some reading or exploring.

For your reading pleasure (or something), here is the sermon I preached today at St. Matthew's, Westminster in London.

A teaser:

St. John speaks of the consummation of history, but I think this might apply well to a more imminent coming of Jesus. If we invite him, we can receive Jesus Christ into our hearts, into our lives. In the sacraments, and in our mundane lives, we can see Jesus revealed, whether in bread or in the face of a stranger.

This invitation is not for some, it is not for a chosen view. Hear the vision: "Let everyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who wishes take the water of life as a gift." Every minute we spend on discord and division within the church is a moment we could be inviting God into our own lives and offering God's love to a world that is thirsty for hope, for meaning, and for reconciliation.

Thirty-something elected bishop

From ENS:

The Rev. Sean W. Rowe was elected May 19 on the first ballot to be the next bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northwestern Pennsylvania. Rowe, 32, is rector of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Franklin, Pennsylvania, in the Diocese of Northwestern PA.

Rowe was elected on the first ballot from a slate of four candidates. He was elected with 64 lay votes and 29 clergy votes. An election on that ballot required 51 votes of 101 cast in the lay order and 24 of 47 votes cast in the clergy order. The election took place at Cathedral of Saint Paul in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Under the canons the Episcopal Church (III.11.4), a majority of bishops exercising jurisdiction and diocesan Standing Committees must consent to Rowe’s election and ordination as bishop.

If consented, Rowe will be the youngest member of the House of Bishops. The consecration is scheduled for September 8.

PB: An exciting time to be an Episcopalian

Watch Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori as she addresses the Church Club in New York City. Here's a teaser from ENS:

"This is one of the most exciting times in history to be an Episcopalian and an Anglican, Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said during a May 9 presentation to the Church Club of New York, a 120-year-old layperson's group.

"The Communion is moving, in what some people see as seismic kinds of ways, but it's moving. It's not a dead and dormant thing," she said to applause.

While many tell her she has a "challenging job," Jefferts Schori answered: "I don't think that's a bad thing. I think we are meant to be challenged in the varieties of work and ministry in which we are engaged. If we're not challenged, we're likely bored, and that's not healthy for anyone."

Watch her whole speech.

U2charist slideshow

The Boston Globe has a nice slideshow from a recent U2charist in Massachusetts. If you haven't been able to get to a U2charist, this is a glimpse of why they're so appealing to many people.

Enjoy the show.

NY Times: Religion is alive and well on college campuses

Few young people at your congregation? It's not because of lack of interest. Here's an article from yesterday's NY Times:

Peter J. Gomes has been at Harvard University for 37 years, and says he remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege. To be seen as religious often meant being dismissed as not very bright, he said.

Peter J. Gomes, the Harvard preacher, said of the university, "There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years."

No longer. At Harvard these days, said Professor Gomes, the university preacher, "There is probably more active religious life now than there has been in 100 years."

Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember.

More students are enrolling in religion courses, even majoring in religion; more are living in dormitories or houses where matters of faith and spirituality are a part of daily conversation; and discussion groups are being created for students to grapple with questions like what happens after death, dozens of university officials said in interviews.

Read the whole article (free registration required).

Going and coming to church

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Evangelism in 10 (or 20) easy steps!

I commend two blog postings. Ten ways to get someone to stay away from your church, and then ten ways to draw someone to your church. How does your congregation rate?

Teaching kids the Bible

Recently, the Christian Century published an essay by Nancy Ammerman on teaching kids the Bible and why it matters. It's provocative reading, and any parent or anyone who hopes for future generations in church should read Ammerman's essay. An excerpt:

Many mainline kids don't even hear sermons, since they leave for Sunday school after the opening portion of the worship service. And in many New England churches, religious education shuts down for the summer. Even a pretty regular attender in these churches is lucky to get 20 to 30 hours a year of religious exposure. Also, when children are in Sunday school, free-thinking teachers rarely ask them to memorize anything, lest they be accused of indoctrination. It seems likely that these children's reservoir of biblical memory will run dry before they ever have a chance to reach adulthood.

In some churches, this pattern is more a matter of neglect than intent, while in others it reflects a genuine ambivalence about teaching children the Bible. Is all that Bible reading and memorization a good thing? Have those biblical images embedded in our brains made us too accepting of patriarchy, too willing to trust authority, too willing to believe? Perhaps. But I am convinced that it need not be so, that when we commit something to memory, it sinks deep and often resurfaces in surprising ways to meet new situations. Biblical fragments ("knit together in my mother's womb," "her price is far above rubies," "plans for your welfare and not for harm") happily can grow with us, providing both a touchstone to the past and points of connection to new people and new meanings. We stuff our memories with so many things (lyrics to Sesame Street songs, Santa's reindeer), why worry about adding the names of the apostles and the words of Psalm 23 to the mix?

Those biblical words are, in fact, the common language we speak as Christians, part of the tool kit with which we build ourselves and our communities of faith. If nothing else, the Bible's existence means that we do not have to start from scratch in building a community of faith. And its infinitely multivocal and multiform self also means that there is plenty of material to work with as we and our communities change. Thinking again about how scripture works, I have become convinced that having a canon matters, not just because the words are uniquely inspired or holy or true, but because this is the core set of stories that we've all agreed to share and that have shaped us and our forebears in manifold ways. There are always other stories and always many interpretations, but those who have called themselves Christian for all these years have these characters and plots in common.

Spending time building up that core, then, is essential. It can later be deconstructed and reconstructed, added to or set aside, but if we don't start here, we may lose something very important.

How does your congregation do on teaching the Bible to kids? Are kids learning the sacred stories? Does your church do anything to feed kids and their inquisitive minds during the summer? (For that matter, do you offer any learning for adults in the summer?) There's much at stake, so this writer hopes Ammerman's points will be pondered in your hearts.

Hat tip to T19.