News Briefs

Items of Interest from Around the Church and Around the World

Canterbury Press Launches New Celtic Worship Resource

A new book, A Celtic Primer, has just been launched by Brendan O'Malley, Dean of Chapel at the University of Wales in Lampeter. The traditional meaning of a Primer is that it taught people their prayers and taught children how to read; its origin as a manual of devotion lies in the "Prayer of the Hours" chanted in early medi- eval monasteries.

This Celtic Primer is intended to be used as a companion to the Bible, encouraging people to use the Bible itself as the ideal Book of Prayer. Prayers within it have been drawn from Welsh, Irish, Scottish, and Breton texts. It is several books in one--a daily prayer book, a reader in Celtic spirituality and poetry and it contains the complete Psalter, which was the prayer book of the Celtic saints. It also contains a Celtic Eucharist with three Eucharistic prayers, which would have been the ones used in the Celtic world.

"This collected text is very much a working liturgy. In common with the Stowe Missal, little in it is unique; I have employed these prayers because of their beauty and form and because they are the spiritual fount from which the Church of the Celts drew its inspira- tion," comments Brendan O'Malley.

A Celtic Primer is published in the UK by Can- terbury Press and will be released in the US by Morehouse Publishing in July.

VTS Celebrates 26 Years of Women in the Priesthood

More than 150 women clergy, Virginia Theological Seminary students and staff recently filled the Lettie Pate Whitehead Evans Auditorium to hear the first woman Supreme Court Justice speak.

Justice Sandra Day O'Connor kicked off the "Conference for Women in Ministry," hosted by the Center for Lifetime Theological Education at Virginia Seminary, and spoke on the subjects of women in power and leadership, infusing the speech with stories of her own personal struggles to the top of the judicial system.

Some of attendees and conference leaders were pioneers in the struggle for the ordination of women within the Episcopal Church. Such women included the Rev. Alison Cheek (VTS '69), who was one of the first two women to enter the MDiv program at the Seminary, and the Rev. Nancy Hatch Wittig (VTS '72). Both were among the 11 women ordained in Philadelphia in 1974, setting in motion a chain of events that led to the approval of the ordination of women in 1976.

Jane Holmes Dixon, recently retired as Suffragan Bishop and Pro Tempore Bishop of the Diocese of Washington, attended and led a workshop on "Women and the Episcopate." Bishop Dixon was the second woman to be elevated to the office of bishop in the Episcopal Church and the third woman bishop in the worldwide Anglican Communion.

Justice O'Connor, a woman who knows something about breaking open doors, ended her speech with some advice to the audience. "It's all well and good to be the first," she said, "but just don't be the last."

Virginia Theological Seminary is the largest of the 11 accredited seminaries of the Episcopal Church and was founded in 1823. The school prepares men and women for service in the Church, both as ordained and lay ministers, and offers a number of professional degree programs and diplomas.

[ACNS]

"You must do the thing you think you cannot do."
ELEANOR ROOSEVELT

Pressure Grows for Church of England to Accept Women Bishops

Divisions between traditionalists and supporters of women bishops could be widened by a recent vote, which calls on the Church of England's General Synod to end the bar to women in the episcopate.

An overwhelming majority backed a motion at the Ripon and Leeds diocesan synod on March 29, asking General Synod "to bring forward legislation to permit consecration of women to the episcopate in the provinces of Canterbury and York without further delay."

The successful motion was tabled by Canon Penny Driver, the diocesan director of ordinands and a member of General Synod, who told delegates that it no longer made sense to decide who could be ordained as bishops along gender lines.

"Many of us believe that an all-male episcopate can no longer properly fulfil the role of Christian leadership--we need both male and female bishops just as we have male and female priests, deacons and laity." Others speaking for the motion said that the church could not delay on an issue which was one of equality and "basic human rights."

Among those backing the motion was the Rt.Rev. John Packer, bishop of Ripon and Leeds. While he said that he was keen to see legislation brought forward, he stressed that it was important that provision be made for those who are oppose such a move. "I'm very optimistic that we shall find ways, as we did over the ordination of women to the priesthood, in which we can live together within a single church respecting each other's conscientious provisions," he said.

A General Synod Working Party, chaired by the bishop of Rochester, is due to report back in July 2004, and it seems unlikely the church would include women in the episcopate until the end of the decade.

Opponents of women bishops had hoped that moves would not be fast-tracked so that breathing space might be given to find a compromise, but the vote could bring the issue back on to the agenda sooner than expected.

The Rev. Timothy Lipscomb, area dean of Armley, was one of a number of speakers who opposed the motion on the grounds that it would cause further division and hurt, demoralizing further an already "demoralized church." Many traditionalists, opposed to the move would, he said, "either resign, become Roman Catholics or disappear into obscurity, disillusioned and broken.

"Driver said that the vote would allow the Gen- eral Synod to hear the overwhelming support of the Church of England for women in the episcopate.

Episcopal Church's Resolution on Diversity
Defeated at Stockholders Meeting

A resolution presented by the Episcopal Church and the Church Pension Fund asking Werner Enterprises to consider diversity on its board was defeated at a stock- holders meeting May 13.

A long-haul freight carrier, Werner's board includes the founder, Clarence Werner, his three sons and five other white men. "In this day and age an all-white male board is just an anachronism," said Harry van Buren, who introduced the resolution on diversity. "In the economy that we have today, companies need to take advantage of different perspectives and different kinds of talents." Van Buren is a consultant for the church on social responsibility in investments and corporate ethics. The company argued that it provides equal employment opportunities and that the resolution would limit the board's ability to select the most qualified candidates. The vote was 71 percent against and 27 percent in favor, with some abstentions. "We hope we've raised the company's consciousness of this issue," said van Buren.

The church has monitored the social responsibility of its investment portfolio since 1972. Board diversity resolutions have been proposed for about 20 companies, van Buren pointed out. Only twice have the resolutions been brought to a vote. Two others were withdrawn after the companies agreed to include language on board diversity in their proxy statements.

[ENS/Omaha World Herald]

'Claiming the Blessing' Statement is Distributed to House of Bishops

Organizers of Claiming the Blessing announced in early March that copies of their completed Theology Statement were distributed to all members of the House of Bishops in advance of its March meeting in Kanuga.

Along with a "Theology of Blessing," the publication includes scripture and tradition perspectives by noted scholars Walter Bruggemann and Bill Countryman, a "Message to the Church" by Michael Hopkins on behalf of the CTB Steering Committee and answers to the questions most frequently asked about the issues surrounding same-sex blessings by the church at large.

In her cover letter, CTB Executive Director Susan Russell introduced the publication saying, "We invite you to join with us in discussion and in dialogue. And we assure you of our prayers for all four orders of ministry in this beloved church of ours, including your work together as the House of Bishops when you meet this month in Kanuga--as we journey together toward Minneapolis and into God's future."

Claiming the Blessing, the national collaborative initiative working to secure the approval of liturgies for the blessing of same sex unions also be distributed the Theology Statement to all members of the House of Deputies, as well as holding regional educational gatherings around the church in the months before and General Convention. Copies of the Statement are currently available online on a variety of sites, including www.integrityusa.org and www.everyvoice.net.

"Keeping the conversation happening is our primary goal at this point," said Russell. "Presiding Bishop Griswold has said many times that it is conversation which is the vehicle for conversion, and so our prayer is that our work might become a vehicle for the Spirit's work of reconciliation in the Episcopal Church.

"Our goal is to resource the whole church-- bishops and deputies, clergy and laity, vestries and dioceses-- through this accessible document exploring the issue in front of us through the lenses of scripture, tradition and reason--and to find a place of compromise that will both advance the Gospel and maintain our unity as a Church."

Integrity USA Blasts 'Gift of Sexuality' Statement>

Members of the board of Integrity, the Episcopal Church's affinity group for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender members and their friends and families, strongly criticized a theological statement from the House of Bishops theology committee entitled The Gift of Sexuality: A Theological Perspective following a March meeting in Portland OR.

In a statement, board members declared themselves "struck by the scant amount of theology" contained in the report and "deeply distressed" by what they termed a "condescending, dismissive, clinical tone,"including the decision to refer to gays and lesbians as "homosexual persons." "It is abundantly clear to us that this is a political statement, designed, we suspect, to build on the fragile foundation of collegiality which has been carefully constructed in the House of Bishops over the past few years," they said. "That it did not result in a 'Mind of the House Resolution' is, perhaps, its sharpest criticism and, in our view, the most significant failure of this document."

The statement went on to announce a May gathering of members of the steering committee of the coalition known as "Claiming the Blessing," in which Integrity is a partner, and members of the American Anglican Council and other conservative groups at St. James in Wilshire, California, in the Diocese of Los Angeles for a "national reconciliation conversation" on sexuality. "We are very clear that we are not meeting to negotiate a settlement," the statement said. "In the end, however, this is not about theology or politics. Neither is it about legislative action. It is about relationships. It is about behavior. It is about being known as followers of Jesus by the love and respect we show each other."

[ENS]

Episcopal Relief and Development Launches Fair Trade Coffee

Episcopal Relief and Development is launching Bishops Blend, a premium line of certified Fair Trade roasted coffees from Central America and Indonesia. Through the sale of Bishops Blend, Episcopal Relief and Development will be able to further its mission of responding to the needs of the poor, hungry, homeless, and sick worldwide. <

Episcopal Relief and Development is working with Pura Vida Coffee to sell Bishops Blend throughout the Episcopal Church.The product line will include three blends: Bishops Blend, Bishops Blend Decaf, and Bishops Cinnamon Spice. Individuals, dioceses, parishes, and other organizations can order Bishops Blend on a regular basis or may also purchase the coffee at wholesale prices for church fundraisers. Shipping is free on the first order.

To learn more about ordering coffee, visit www.er-d.org or call Bishops Blend customer service representatives at Pura Vida Coffee (877) 469-1431.

Pura Vida Coffee is a Seattle-based company committed to partnering with organizations such as Episcopal Relief and Development. One hundred percent of its net profits benefit at-risk children and families in coffee-growing countries.

Enthusiastic Intercommunion?
British Church Leaders are Worrying

Rome is worried that ecumenicism is creeping along the ground much faster than it is being given permission at the top.The Pope's tightening of the Church's stance on who can receive Roman Catholic Communion came as a major blow to Christian worshippers in Britain. There has been a significant increase in the number of Roman Catholics and Anglicans who regard each other's churches as interchangeable, particularly among inter-church families such as that of the Anglican Tony Blair and his Catholic wife, Cherie.

The move towards unity at the grass roots is not, however, reflected in the church hierarchy.

John Wilkins, Editor of the Catholic journal The Tablet, said that it was this schism between the laity and the establishment that was proving alarming to the Pope.

"The Pope is worried because the point is that people are voting with their feet. At a local level, there is an awful lot of inter-communion and it is growing. "People just do it because they want to," he said. "Rome is worried that it is creeping along the ground much faster than it is being given permission at the top. "This adds to the trouble this issue has given to interchurch families, when one is Catholic and the other is not, such as the Blairs."

In 1998, the Catholic Bishops of Britain and Ireland issued a teaching document called One Bread One Body, in which they set forth the rules on when a non-Catholic could receive Catholic Communion were actually tightened over an earlier version released in 1993.

It was a retreat from unity that saddened the Church of England; its House of Bishops released a response in which the Archbishops of Canterbury and York described the fact that Roman Catholics were banned from receiving Anglican Communion as "hurtful and unhelpful."

The Rev Paul Avis, general secretary for the Council for Christian Unity at the Church of England, said: "The personal pain caused by the sacramental chasm represented by One Bread One Body cannot be overestimated.

"It cuts across marriages, families and ecumenical communities."

[London Times]

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commision Calls for Reparations

As he presented the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to South African President Thabo Mbeki, Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu recommended that $270 million be paid to the 20,000 victims who, he said, had waited "too long." He called on big businesses, which had been beneficiaries of the apartheid policies, to contribute to the reparations process. The commission gathered the testimonies of about 21,000 people in an effort to reconcile victims and perpetrators of human rights abuses. It granted amnesty to 1,200 people. Mbeki promised to respond to the recommendations quickly.

Tutu said that the state could not afford to prosecute those who were not granted amnesty because "the burden on our system would be quite intolerable...and the cost astronomical." He added that "there are very many who should have applied for amnesty and who didn't."

Any future investigations are hampered by the fact that the government cannot use testimonies already presented to the commission. Tutu said that there was some solace to be found, even if perpetrators are not prosecuted. "This is a moral universe. You may walk as if you were free, but there is no doubt whatsoever you are going to have a trial living with yourself."

[BBC]

Old North Church in Boston Challenges Government Policy to Get Restoration Grant

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton made a trip to Boston's North End on May 27 to announce a federal grant to Old North Church from the Save America's Treasures Preservation Fund. One of Boston's most familiar landmarks, Old North Church is known for its steeple, from which sexton Robert Newman on April 18, 1775, hung the two lanterns associated with Paul Revere's ride and the beginning of the Revolutionary War. The church receives more than 600,000 visitors a year.

The $317,000 grant is significant because the much-needed funds will go toward the cost of restoring its 280-year-old windows. But the award is also getting significant public attention because it is the result of a change in federal policy against government funding of religious sites.

Old North's original grant application, made last fall, was rejected. Because the church is a significant historic site as well as home to an active Episcopal congregation of 150 people, Old North Church risked wading into the debate over separation of church and state by appealing for reconsideration. The appeal led to a legal review which found that the government's policy discriminated unfairly against historical sites used forreligious purposes, Secretary Norton said in her announcement. She said of the policy change: "It ends discrimination against religion. In essence we have to deal with places only with historic value."

Among the host of officials joining Secretary Norton for the announcement were Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, Secretary of State William Galvin and the White House's director of faith-based and community initiatives, Jim Towey.

Old North's vicar, the Rev. Stephen Ayres, took advantage of his captive audience of city, state and federal government officials to give them his own policy reminder: "The question of the appropriate separation of religion and government is raised not only by the state, but within religious communities as well. Many are concerned that religious institutions may lose their moral and prophetic voice if we become too dependent on government support. We must always ask ourselves whether receiving government grants will compromise our vocation to remind our representatives of God's concern for peace and for the care of the poor and marginalized."

[ENS]
by Tracy J. Sukraw, editor of The Episcopal
Times in the Diocese of Massachusetts.

Synod of the Church of Melanesia Approves Ordination of Women

The 10th General Synod of the Church of Melanesia, which met 20-31 October 2002, has agreed to the amendment of the Church's Constitution in order to allow women to enter into any of the ordained ministry of the Church, be it as deacons, priests or bishops.

The decision was passed without dissent by the General Synod when it met in Honiara. The amendment, however, must first be approved by the eight diocesan synods of the church before the constitution can be changed.

Native American Group Honors Retiring Dubuque Professor

His friends often tell stories on him, because they love him and he's a good sport. This year they honored him as well. He's Henry Fawcett, of the Tsinshian tribe, now of Dubuque, IA, whose 40-year ministry among Native Americans has taken him from his Metlakatla, Alaska home village on Annette Island to the faculty of Dubuque Seminary.

Fawcett served pastorates in Nebraska, Minnesota and Washington before landing in Dubuque. The honors came at his retirement celebration during the 215th General Assembly. Fawcett will retire in July after two decades as pastor of students at the University of Dubuque and director of the Native-American pro- gram at Dubuque Seminary.

Because of the program--and Fawcett's devotion to it--the seminary can claim more Native- American graduates this year than any other Presbyterian seminary. Fawcett is also a member of the board of trustees of Cook College and Theological School in Tempe, AZ. He served a lengthy term as moderator of the Native American Consulting Committee and in 1974 was a candidate for moderator of the General Assembly of the United Presbyterian Church in the US.

Among the numerous gifts presented to Fawcett during a dinner meeting of the Native American Consulting Committee was a plaque from the Dubuque seminary and a ceramic Communion set crafted by a Laguna Pueblo potter. The program also featured Native American musicians.

The Native American Consulting Committee is composed of representatives of eight synods, plus eight at-large members. It includes persons of Choctaw, Cherokee, Laguna-Navajo, Nez Perce, San Felipe Pueblo, Seneca, Sioux and Tsinshian heritage. After retirement, Fawcett plans to remain in Dubuque and continue his one-on-one counseling with Native American students.

Rite of Blessing Authorized in
Diocese of New Westminster, Canada
Bishop Ingham Declares a 'Clear Biblical Imperative'

Clergy in six parishes within the Diocese of New Westminster have been authorized to perform a rite of blessing of committed same sex unions. In so doing, all provisions of the motion passed by Diocesan Synod in June, 2002, are now fulfilled.

That motion requested that Bishop Michael Ingham authorize a rite of blessing of homosexual couples. The bishop issued the rite to the parishes on Friday May 23, in advance of the Diocesan Synod held May 30-31.

In a letter accompanying the rite, Bishop Ingham distinguished between the blessing of gays and lesbians and marriage and stated that couples who seek the blessing must receive preparation and instruction, and be supported and sustained by the parish throughout their lives together.

"The church recognizes that homosexual couples face the same challenges and share the same responsibilities as other people in living out the costly demands of love," said the bishop in his letter.

"Our purpose is to encourage and strengthen fidelity and mutual supportiveness in family life on which the stability of our wider society depends."

The synod's motion last year required that blessings will take place only after a favorable vote of the parish Vestry, and the agreement of the priests involved. To date, the six parishes (of 80 in the diocese) are the only ones to have held Vestry meetings and requested that their churches become a place where same sex blessings occur.

The bishop noted that two days after he had issued the rite of blessing, a statement by the Primates of the Anglican Communion meeting in Brazil stated that "as a body" the Primates could not support a blessing of same sex unions.

He said he was not surprised that the Primates could not agree on the matter, since divisions within the Communion have been in evidence since the last Lambeth Conference in 1998.

"The Primates are faithfully reflecting the lack of theological consensus in the Communion," he said, "And yet they are also recognizing that gay Christians are part of the church and are not going away."

Bishop Ingham said that he and his diocese agreed with the Primates that there is a "duty of pastoral care...to respond with love and understanding to people of all sexual orientations." In a letter sent to the six parishes, he wrote:

"This is not a marriage ceremony, but a blessing of permanent and faithful commitments between persons of the same sex in order that they may have the support and encouragement of the church in their lives together under God.

The bishop, quoting the Canadian House of Bishops Guidelines, added: "In taking this step, the diocese is affirming our belief 'as Christians that homosexual persons are created in the image and likeness of God and have a full and equal claim, with all other persons, upon the love, acceptance, concern and pastoral care of the church. The gospel of Jesus Christ compels Christians to guard against all forms of human injustice and to affirm that all persons are brothers and sisters for whom Christ died.'

"Homosexual persons, like all persons, take strength and comfort from the overwhelming witness of Scripture to the unconditional love of God. The Bible urges the church to put into practice the compassion of Jesus towards all who suffer prejudice, discrimination and rejection because of their particular human differences and uniqueness. This Rite of Blessing is one response to that clear biblical imperative."

The rite of blessing of homosexual couples is the pastoral response which the Synod of the Diocese of New Westminster had requested three times and to which he gave his consent last year.

The rite and other materials will be posted on the diocesan web site at www.vancouver.anglican.ca or contact:

Neale Adams, Communications
Officer,Diocese of New Westminster
Email: nadams@vancouver.anglican.ca

As we go to press...
Ruach has learned that on May 28, in what may be the first same-sex blessing in the Anglican Communion, the Rev. Margaret Marquand blessed the 21-year relationship of Michael Kalmuk, 49, and Kelly Montfort, 62, at St. Margaret's in Vancouver.

Workshop on Christian Unity Celebrates the Spirit of Ecumenism

The 2003 National Workshop on Christian Unity drew over 400 participants to its May 10-13 meeting in Savannah, Georgia, where they celebrated the spirit of ecumenism--and some progress on the road to unity. The meeting also sought to "widen the table" by including denominations that haven't participated in the movement over the years.

Plenary sessions, for example, focused on the classical Pentecostal traditions and the ways in which their growth around the world has impacted and influenced the ecumenical movement. Pentecostals in the U.S. have moved through a period when they did not participate in ecumenical discussions into a new period where their influence has increased on the ecumenical scene. The main question for Pentecostals now, according to some participants, is whether the ecumenical movement is really serious about building a new ecumenical table with them as partners in the building process or merely "adding leaves to the existing table."

In the opening plenary address, Dr. Robert Franklin of Emory University in Atlanta spoke of the power of the Holy Spirit to break apart neatly constructed vessels of parochialism and of the need for the church to have a broom ready to sweep up those shattered fragments, study them, and seek to shape them into new and unexpected arrangements of great beauty and utility. "Tradition is the living faith of the dead while traditionalism is the dead faith of the living," he said. He challenged participants to become, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr., a creative core of non-conformists seeking dialogue and cooperation among churches and the great religions of the world.

Dr. Anthea Butler emphasized local partnerships and dialogue between Pentecostals and mainline churches in addition to the national and international ones. The Rev. Carmelo Alvarez traced the history of charismatic renewal in the churches of Latin America, pointing out that Roman Catholic and historic Protestant churches have a charismatic flavor that makes cooperation easier and more fruitful.

Workshops and seminars provided an overview of the various ecumenical dialogues as well as a focus on interfaith listening, racism, grassroots ecumenism, and the office of deacon as an ecumenical opportunity. One of the Eucharists was celebrated by Lutherans and Epis- copalians with Bishop Henry Louttit of Georgia presiding and Bishop Ronald Warren of the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America preaching on the mission challenges facing the two churches today as "full communion" partners.

[ENS]

Iraqi Christians Worry about Freedom of Religion, Rise of Fundamentalism

While most Iraqi Christians joined the celebrations following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, they are now expressing concern and anxiety that freedom of religion will be curbed in favor of Islamic fundamentalism.

Fearing a Shiite-dominated government, Christian leaders are calling for a new constitution that will guarantee minority faiths the right to "profess our faith according to our ancient traditions and our religious law, the right to educate our children according to Christian principles, the right to freely assemble, to build our places of worship, and our cultural and social centers according to our needs," the Chaldean Church said in a statement.

"I'm afraid for my people," said Bishop Ishlemon Warduni, leader of the Chaldean community that represents about 80 percent of Iraq's 800,000 Christians. (The remaining 20 percent is comprised of Syrians, Assyrians and Armenians.) "During the war we were not afraid like we are now. All Christians are in danger," he said in an article in Religion News Service. "We have a 2,000-year history in Iraq--and that is now threatened. The fanatics would see us gone," he said.

The danger seems most pronounced in Shiite strongholds in southern Iraq where Muslim clerics are calling for an Islamic republic.

Under Saddam Hussein Christians were allowed freedom of worship but not to seek converts or give their children Christian names. There are increasing reports of Christian girls and women being harassed on the streets for not wearing veils and liquor stores, usually run by Christians, have received threatening notes.

[ENS]

Methodist Bishop Calls for 'Transcendent Chiristian Community'

Describing Christian community as "our DNA," the president of the United Methodist bishops called on her colleagues to lead the church in creating a community that overcomes divisions and gives hope to a world gripped by fear. "Christian community is embedded in our United Methodist identity," Bishop Sharon A. Brown Christopher told the international Council of Bishops. "It is our DNA. The practice of our Christian faith, Wesley style, is all about connection."

In her president's address April 28, she emphasized the need for building "transcendent Christian community" as an antidote to the anxiety and division she sees in the United Methodist Church and the fear at large in the world. Her remarks came in the opening business session of the bishops' weeklong, semiannual meeting, being held in the Dallas suburb of Addison.

"With the United States engaged in a global war on terrorism that apparently has only just begun, with international relationships defined by shock and awe, and for many other reasons...I believe our human family is scared to death," she said. "Fear has found us, and we are not prepared. Our fear is jeopardizing our faith."

People around the world are searching for a sign of hope, she said. "We long for another way that pulls the human family together in a manner that leads to life, not death." The Christian movement offers such hope, she said. "I believe that the antidote is Jesus Christ, given and shared in transcendent Christian community."

She described personal experiences of being 'profiled' by others--as both a liberal and a conservative--and then 'pushed aside.' She noted that incidents of profiling based on skin color or other characteristics are increasing around the world for the sake of "international security."

Profiling, she declared, is "judgment not based in reality....Throughout our church, as I listen and watch, I am observing a fierce hardening of mental and spiritual categories that leads to behavior that is brittle and rigid and causes assuming, judging, controlling, closing," she said. "This behavior is filled with the spiritual malaise called arrogance--'my way is the right way,' or more to the point, 'my way is God's way.'" That, she said, "smells like anxiety." When insecurity and anxiety take charge, encounters become confrontations, and the other person becomes an enemy who must be discounted or changed, she said. "We attempt to secure ourselves and maintain control of our own lives by diminishing others, by reducing their threat to us through profiling.

"Profiling is a sign of the smoke and fire within our world and church and emblematic of the deeper issues facing us in the church," she said. "I note that this behavior is not the exclusive property of one side or the other."

The church's malaise centers on "our faith having gone to our heads, resulting in battles of ideologies as if our lives depended on them, while forgetting our hearts that shape our relationships with one another."Drawing on biblical accounts of Jesus and the early church, the bishop said that "life in God begins in relationship."

"I believe our human family is scared to death. Fear has found us and we are not prepared...Our fear is jeopardizing our faith."

It begins in Christian community, she said, one not defined by the absence of disagreement but characterized by how the members love one another as Jesus loved.

"How do we so order the life of the church that the anxiety that binds us and sets us against one another is transformed into the courage, confidence and hope required for us, as one body, to engage and defeat the powers and principalities of our world that hold the human family hostage?" The bishop said she prayed that the bishops would lead the church "so that conditions for transcendent Christian community are set, our church touched again by the transforming power of Jesus Christ, and our splintered world given a fresh...sign of the hope that we know in God through Jesus Christ."

Christopher leads the denomination's Illinois Area. Her one-year term as president of the council expired May 2, at the end of the council's meeting.

[UMNS]

Women's Ministries Network meets In Austion

by Marcia McLean

The Rev. Maylin Biggadike, Anglican priest and economist, was the speaker for the Southwestern Network for Women's Ministries Spring 2003 conference at the Episcopal Seminary of the Southwest in Austin, TX in late April.

This group initially formed to encourage women who felt called to be priests to come together from a variety of dioceses and support systems in Texas. The meetings now draw women and men who share accomplishments, concerns and visions of lay and ordained ministries, as well as supporting women from the Diocese of Fort Worth, where Bishop Jack Iker does not ordain women or license women priests to function.

The Rev. Biggadike is a Ph.D. candidate in Christian Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in New York, and is currently investigating the impact of globalization on women and the poor, specifically women in South America.

This year's program was the Theology of Wealth and Poverty, The Impact of Inequality on the Human Capability to Function. It began with a Friday night lecture, followed by two Saturday lectures and time set aside for evening prayer and Eucharist, Sarah's circle, and meals together. The Rev. Biggadike encouraged interaction from the audience who brought experience from street ministries, corporate careers, consumer and humanitarian watchdog groups, small and large churches, and their own struggles with the best use of money.

The group started with statistics that give numbers to the pyramid shape of wealth distribution. Worldwide this concentrates great wealth in a small number of people at the top and leaves a large number of persons/ countries at the bottom (i.e.: the gross national product of the 47 least developed countries is equivalent to the income of the richest 250 people.)

But to define a rich person as having billions and a poor one as $1/day was a distance too great to Women's Ministries Network Meets In Austin grasp. So the audience together decided being rich meant "plenty of food, needs were met, clean water, choices, safety, health, access to medicine and insur- ance, a place to live, access to beauty, privacy, owner- ship, leisure time, freedom to express beliefs, a stake in and protecting the status quo, education and voting rights, some certainty about tomorrow, power." To be poor meant a lack of most of the above plus "indignities in searching for daily needs, invisibility, crisis orientation, vulnerability, social unacceptability".

Most of the audience decided they were rich, and that set the tone for discussing what Christianity gave them to help in the process of making daily decisions about money, envisioning their use of resources and affecting change in larger groups.

Key concepts included family lessons about money, emotions, Scriptural paradoxes, sharing vs. giving, and the concept of 'mammon'. It appears there may be an arrogance in people's personal communication with God as God's directive is heard as "help them" --the poor--vs. standing with all those who ask for God's presence in their lives.

The Rev. Biggadike referenced Emmanuel Levinas and encouraged the audience to read the works of more radical world economists. One priest said it was easier to get her parishioners to talk about sex than money.

The Rev. Biggadike is a graduate of the General Episcopal Theological Seminary in New York and serves as Associate Priest at St. Elizabeth's Episcopal Church in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Anyone interested in receiving more information should contact Patty Turney at Pmt4tex @aol.com, or Marsha McClean, 1821 Martel Ave. Ft. Worth, TX 76103.

Marsha McClean is a
member of the Fort Worth Chapter
of the EWC.

"...threshold consciousness is not about ideas. [It is] about stepping past what we think we know and into an entirely new relationship with the many possibilities of being, the ultimately singular and limitless mystery of being. Above all, it is about freedom and the affection for all existance that only genuine freedom brings."
JANE HIRSHFIELD