New Year, New Roles

As of the New Year, I am the new Diocesan Communications Officer and Editor of RISEN. The Rev. Scott Gunn has done a wonderful job coaching me over the last year. His guidance has been greatly appreciated (and I will continue to keep him on speed-dial until he tells me to leave him alone).

Scott remains the "blogfather" - we all hope to see continued postings, commentary, photos and other insight as long as he is interested in providing it.

I will attempt to post more frequently as I run across bits of information that may be of interest to our community.

Dee is a greatly appreciated contributor to the blog. Her level of involvement in the church, her energy and perspective all make for a great voice that is much needed. I hope we see more from Dee is 2007.

Happy New Year to all -

New bulletin series to highlight MDGs

This past Diocesan Convention we voted to endorse the Millennium Development Goals. Some people may however not know anything about the Millennium Development Goals. The National Church is putting out a series of bulletins set to begin this Sunday - Jan 7 - highlighting the MDGs. The following is a section from the email that ENS (Episcopal News Service) sent out this morning regarding the series. The series has installments for the Sundays from January 7 to March 11.

The inserts, available in either English
(http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_11775_ENG_HTM.htm) or Spanish
(http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_80604_ENG_HTM.htm)

First among the mission priorities that the Episcopal Church adopted
(http://gc2006.org/legislation/view_leg_detail.aspx?id=261&type=CURRENT)
at its General Convention in June 2006 is justice and peace work,
framed by the MDGs -- an eight-prong declaration that has at its core
the eradication of extreme poverty by the target date of 2015.

"This church has said that our larger vision will be framed and shaped
in the coming years by the vision of shalom embedded in the Millennium
Development Goals -- a world where the hungry are fed, the ill are
healed, the young educated, women and men treated equally, and where
all have access to clean water and adequate sanitation, basic health
care, and the promise of development that does not endanger the rest
of creation," Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori said during
her November 4 investiture sermon
(http://www.episcopalchurch.org/3577_79214_ENG_HTM.htm). "That vision
of abundant life is achievable in our own day, but only with the
passionate commitment of each and every one of us."

Rowan's Christmas message: "The poorest deserve the best"

In his Christmas message this year, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, speaks of his recent visit to Palestine:

And what stuck in my mind and I’m sure the minds of my colleagues was a remark made by Dr Robert Tabash, the medical director as we stood over an incubator in the intensive ward. All of this was important, he said, simply because ‘the poorest deserve the best’ (I promised I would quote him today by name; it’s the least I can do to give him the honour he merits). ‘The poorest deserve the best’: when you hear that, I wonder if you can take in just how revolutionary it is. They do not deserve what’s left over when the more prosperous have had their fill, or what can be patched together on a minimal budget as some sort of damage limitation. And they don’t ‘deserve’ the best because they’ve worked for it and everyone agrees they’ve earned it. They deserve it simply because their need is what it is and because where human dignity is least obvious it’s most important to make a fuss about it. And – to put it as plainly as possible – this is probably the most radically unique and new thing in Christmas itself brings into the world.

Read the complete sermon for a brilliant reminder that Christmas is about more than presents or even remembering an ancient birth. It is about transforming our lives and our world today.

Susan Wrathall's Ordination

Last Saturday, Decemeber 16th, Susan Wrathall was Ordained a preist. The service was held at St. Paul's Pawtucket - where Susan serves as assistant to the rector - and was one of, if not the, coolest service I have ever been to. It was the first ordiantion that I have ever been to, and it was so cool and fun. Even almost a week later I am still having trouble artiulating the emotions felt. Regardless we are all very proud of Mother Susan, and wish her the best in her new ministry. Below are some of the pictures form the service. Other pictures can be found at http://web.mac.com/dtavolaro/iWeb/Site/Susan%27s%20Ordination.html

"The family is splitting up"

Once a week I drive down Mendon Road towards Nate Whipple Highway to go to my saxophone lesson. As I turn onto Nate Whipple Highway there is a white and blue sign with the Episcopal sheild on it, and under the sheild it says "The Episcopl Church Welcomes You". I personally believe that that saying is our greatest gift. Despite our differences we still gather once a week to recieve communion as a family. We respect each others difference, put our arguements aside and answer our weekly altar call. Recently, when I have been asked what I think about the Episcopal Church, I tell them the above story. I tell them that we are a church of no fine print and when we say "we welcome you" we mean it. I do not think that on these controversial issues we will ever all agree. We are human, adn we all see carrying out Christ's message in various ways. Lately we have begun to focused too much on our differences, and not enough on our similarities. We have lost sight on our common mission of loving our neighbor and working to bring Christ's light into this very dark world. When I tell people what the greatest thing about my church is, I tell them that despite our political and theological differences we all still share together in the Lord's table. Yet, those who have decided to leave have - in my opinion - decided that they can no longer put their differences aside and join us at the altar. I can't say if they are right or wrong, but I can say I feel that they are breaking our greatest tradition of all. So if those who left, those who are leaving, and those who will leave ever want to come back we will welcome them.

Some good humor

Over the past two days, it seems all people want to talk about is the split in the Episcopal Church. As we are all aware this is an extremely painful subject, that is difficult but necessary to tackle. This evening as I do every evening I got into bed to watch "The Daily Show With Jon Steward" This show is a moch news show that airs every night at 11pm on Comedy Central. Well this evening Jon Steward started his show by talking about the Episcopal Church and what is going on with the parishes in Virginia, and also U2charists. After having to listen to comments all day at school it was nice to get a good chuckle. Anyone interested in seeing this short segment title "Episcolypse Now" can do so by watching the Daily Show tomorrow (Decemeber 19th) at 8pm on Comedy Central. Hopefully tomorrow I will be able to publish my actual thoughts on the current situation in the church. I also have some wonderful pictures form Susan Wrathall's ordination this past Saturday.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the video.

ONE Campaign

I have been meaning to post this for a while. A few weeks back, we were contacted by a staffer on the ONE Campaign (www.one.org) who asked if we would allow them to post our blog as one of the "Blogs Supporting ONE."

Allow them? What an honor!

So now the Blog of the Episcopal Diocese of RI is listed here: http://action.one.org/blog/

The ONE Blog is a daily log of the anti-poverty movement. The site is operated by ONE staff, volunteers, members and coalition partners.

NY Times: "Revolt" is coming

I've got a backlog few things I've been meaning to post, but here's one for now. From tomorrow's NY Times, an article: "Episcopalians are Reaching Point of Revolt." You can read the whole article online (registration required, free).

As many as eight conservative Episcopal churches in Virginia are expected to announce today that their parishioners have voted to cut their ties with the Episcopal Church. Two are large, historic congregations that minister to the Washington elite and occupy real estate worth a combined $27 million, which could result in a legal battle over who keeps the property.

This is more of the same sensationalist media view: things are breaking apart, disaster is in our midst, the church is going nowhere. Of course, some of that is true, in some places. But it's also true that most people, in most churches, most of the time just want to be the church. Most of us want to focus on mission, on conversion, on service, on grace, on repentance, on evangelism, on healing, on...doing the work of the Body of Christ. Alas, that story will never be in the NY Times.

I don't mean to brush over very real problems, but we Christians should not let our view of our church be controlled by commercial media.

Photo sets for your viewing pleasure

OK, so it's pretty ancient history now, but I (finally) got around to uploading some photos from Diocesan Convention and Provincial Convocation. I'm a new flickr user, so I'm just learning there. Rather than delay until I get around to adding titles & captions, I thought I'd post this here now.

So, without further delay, please browse and enjoy a set of Convention photos and some Provincial Convocation photos. Oh, and as an added bonus, here is a big load of photos from last summer's General Convention. Enjoy.

Youth ministry

I just got home from attending the youth leaders dinner at the resource center. It was a small, but passionate group. There were a lot of great ideas passed around and many shared feelings and experiences. I encourage all of you to keep your eyes and ears open for future activities for youth - this is a great place to watch! Here is a website that is a great start. http://www.teens4teens.741.com/ This is a program run by Sarah D. Courtemanche out of St. Paul's Pawtucket (50 Park Place Pawtucket, RI 02860). It is an amazing program that I encourage all of you to take a look at. Over the next week or so I will be posting some dates of upcoming youth events for the new year.