A Report from Lambeth

Dear folks, here is a report from the Lambeth Conference - the once every ten years gathering of the bishops of the Anglican Communion. It is one of three from our bishop, + Mark Lawrence. To check out the two other reports, click on the link at the bottom of the report...

Dear Friends,
A bishop asked me this morning while we were sitting in Canterbury Cathedral waiting for the Eucharist to begin, “What has been the biggest surprise for you?” I thought about it for a moment and said, “The way my heart has been broken and broadened.” I suppose it goes without saying that as a new bishop of the Church I hardly needed any more challenges then I already had before I came here. Yet somehow I must trust that God gives us the grace necessary to sustain us in the responsibilities to which he calls us. Bishop Charles Henry Brent used to say, “Responsibility keeps pace with spiritual development. The more a man carries, the more he is capable of carrying. God fits the back to the burden and the burden to the back.” So, for instance, how can I pray and share meals with these bishops from the Sudan or Ghana who have such needs for their people and then forget them when I return home? How can I reconnect with an old friend like Bishop Tito Zavala from Chile and not sense that God brought us together for his purposes years ago when I was the diocesan liaison between the Diocese of Pittsburgh and Chile and not feel that this relationship should be cultivated afresh? I have met so many bishops of kindred spirits from England, Ireland, India, and elsewhere that it reaffirms my conviction that we need one another to carry out the mission Jesus Christ is calling us to in this global age. It is clear to me that they face challenges that we can help them with—and we challenges for which their clarity and forthrightness is a strengthening balm. One of the highlights of these past few days was our day in London—the Witness Walk from Whitehall to Lambeth Palace where the Prime Minister of England addressed us with passionate conviction regarding the need for people of faith and good will to work together towards the goals of eradicating extreme poverty, hunger and bringing educational opportunities to all. After his speech and that of the Archbishop I wandered into the Lambeth Library seeing documents of the Virginia and Carolina colonies. From there we went by coach to the Garden Party with the Queen at Buckingham Palace. I found it only natural while in this setting of royal majesty to reflect upon the splendor of the heavenly realms which our Lord left in order to sojourn among us in humility and with his body hung in shame upon a cross to purchase our salvation. The Father, in his will to redeem a slave like me, sent his Son, who in his humiliation, revealed his glory and our redemption. We enter now into the final and crucial week. The Bible Study and Indaba Groups have begun to peel away layers of caution and hesitation therein laying bare many difficult issues. This has been painful at times as we’ve faced the chasm that divides us. Like many of you, particularly those who have been to General Convention or provincial gatherings of one kind or another, I have lived with this chasm for so many years that it is easy to forget that for Christians elsewhere it is hardly the most pressing issue they face. For some of them it is the need for food, shelter, clean water, coping as refugees or holding firm to the gospel in the midst of persecution that dominates their ministries. Yet the crisis that The Episcopal Church threw the Anglican Communion into in 2003 has not only complicated our lives as Episcopalians but has made it increasingly difficult for them to do their ministries in what were already demanding cultural contexts. A conference such as Lambeth must address many concerns and these are often interconnected and multilayered. Perhaps I can share some of our discussions with you later, but for now there is a verse in the Mosaic Law that comes to mind as I write about these two seminal groups of the conference: “You shall not uncover your sister’s nakedness.” That is, it would be inappropriate in my mind to discuss in any detail what is transpiring in the Bible Study and Indaba Groups. Beyond saying it is the striving of people from diverse cultures to engage one another respectfully yet honestly in order to understand what the challenges are that dominate the lives of our people. The last two meetings of the Self-Select Session, The Bible and Human Sexuality, I attended (Wednesday and Friday) were much improved over the first. We looked at certain Old Testament passages regarding human sexuality in the second session and New Testament passages in the third session. Some of each session was spent in a lecture format, some in small group work and some in larger group discussion. The time was hardly sufficient for the subject at hand. At the end of our final meeting an Australian bishop made a statement that was in a way a question, but there was hardly any answer that seemed sufficient with which the presenter could reply—“Surely a loving Heavenly Father would not leave his children confused about something so fundamental as human sexuality…if so, I’ve been wasting my time for forty-three years!” I suppose some were put off by the force of his words, but it seemed to me a necessary and poignant pause with which to end our time. Tomorrow we have another hearing on the Windsor process and the Covenant. We’ve already been told that nothing will be definitively decided on the Covenant at this Lambeth, but I suspect that what we do decide will play a role in this ongoing process towards a covenant that unites us in a deeper fellowship or the lack of a covenant that will surely lead to greater division than we already have in the Communion. I need to prepare what I’m going to say at this hearing, or, if I do not get the opportunity to speak, then to turn in my written words to the Windsor Continuation Committee, so I will leave off writing to you for tonight. It is 10:00 p.m. and I have this other work to do. But if I may say in conclusion, Allison and I joined many other bishops and spouses at Canterbury Cathedral for worship this morning. We enjoyed a lovely luncheon given to us by the Cathedral congregation, and then she and I walked over to St. Martin’s Church, the oldest Church in England. Afterwards we visited the ruins of St. Augustine’s Abbey before catching the bus back to the University of Kent and to our dormitory rooms. The three sites which are almost contiguous with one another are World Heritage Sites. They are also reminders that forms and structures may change—yet the Lordship of Christ will abide forever. But some embodiments of the Church and its mission abide, changing faithfully with the culture, and some entirely collapse, or exist merely as relics of prior generations’ faith. These three places were a stark reminder to me of the gravity of the issues before us in Anglicanism and in The Episcopal Church. Can Anglicanism adapt to the opportunities and challenges of a Global age? I, for one, believe it can—and what we do at this Lambeth Conference will either further us towards this opportunity or drag us back into an overly autonomous provincialism that will only thwart the call of Christ for us today and the movement of the Holy Spirit in shaping a church that is sufficient for tomorrow. As I’ve begged you before so I do now, keep us in your prayers.In Christ,
+Mark LawrenceSouth Carolina

http://www.dioceseofsc.org/

http://southcarolina.anglican.org/

Update from Suzy McCall and God's Littlest Lambs

Dear Members and Friends of St. James Santee, One of the ministries SJS supports is the Lamb Institute based in Honduras. This multi-faceted ministry was founded by Suzy McCall in 1999. Suzy is a native of Barnwell and lived in Charleston for many years. She taught at Trident Academy and also served as the Director of Christian Education at St. Philip's where she had been a long time member.

In the mid 1990's, Suzy was called to serve in the mission field in Honduras. Through her ministry, as you will discover, God has been doing great work with the poorest of the poor in Honduras.

LAMB is supported by many Episcopal Churches in our diocese, and now has a national constellation of congregations and denominations of all kinds who partner with LAMB.

Please read more about this remarkable ministry at the link below. Also included below is posted one of Suzy's regualr update letters. I thought you might be in what is happening with LAMB. God's peace to you all, Jennie

http://www.lambinstitute.org/

Dear LAMB Friends,
It's when we most need your prayers and input that it is most difficult to find the time to get information into your email baskets! We are busy busy busy, but that is when we need God's outpouring more than ever, His love through you. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers and thoughts, even when I haven't written in awhile.
Betsy's Illness
Some of you already know that Betsy Hake, the missionary with whom I shared a home for ten years, is ill. She has been diagnosed with amyloidosis, and is undergoing chemotherapy in NYC. If you would like to call her, she is staying at the Carlyle Hotel in Manhattan. Her friend, Dr. Elvia, is with her. Please keep her in your prayers.
Blessing-Filled Suitcases
We are well into the 2008 school year at God's Littlest Lambs in Flor del Campo, and God's LIttlest Lambs in San Buenaventura. Now that we have TWO schools, along with everything else, we are trying to do a better job of coordinating what comes down in suitcases with our visitors. Julie Hoffman (jhoffman@hypercon.net), from Clinton UMC, is working with Valerie to make lists and spread sheets so that all of our programs receive support in this way. We are thankful for Julie's help. Please feel free to get in touch with her if you are planning to come down, or want to send something.
Fighting Corruption
Our ministry was recently involved in a peaceful demonstration against government corruption. About thirty people (no one from our ministry) were on a hunger strike in front of the congressional building, and we helped with latrines, spiritual support, singing from our children, and by marching in the accompanying demonstrations. As a result of the strike and demonstrations, a new law was enacted which makes it possible for state attorneys to be prosecuted for corruption during their administration. Also, several files of high-ranking officials were re-opened for prosecution. The people leading the strike have suspended the demonstrations for ten days to give the government an opportunity to demonstrate good faith. If that does not happen, the strike will begin again. We can be thankful that the process has been completely non-violent. In fact, the organizers called the demonstrations, "A March for Peace." We feel that Christians should join the struggle for justice, and will continue to support this movement. We appreciate your prayers for the country of Honduras.
Battling Hunger
Food prices have escalated tremendous during the past few months, and of course the poor are always hit the hardest. Since we work in a poor neighborhood, people come to us for help. Our food bank has not been able to meet the demand. St. David's Episcopal Church in Atlanta has begun a drive called "Put the Beans Back in the Bag," and have raised several thousand dollars for food for our folks. Thank you, St. David's!
Obeying the Law, Trusting Jesus
Each year during June and December, all Hondurans, by LAW, receive double salaries, a full month's pay. Since we are subject to Honduran law, we pay these bonuses. It is really a wonderful thing, as many many people here, including our own employees, work for little pay. Everyone looks forward to these two months. June is upon us, and frankly, we don't have what we need to pay double salaries. The Lord has always provided, and we are trusting Him to provide this time as well. Please join us in prayer for this immediate financial need, and if you feel led to help, thank you. As I pointed out in the previous paragraph, the economic situation here is grim, and the needs great.
Our Beautiful Children
How can I not mention our beautiful children? When I walk through our schoolrooms in Flor, visit the children's home in SBV, and just sit around my own house, I am struck by the beauty and character of our children! Joyful, well-behaved, intelligent -- well, we have a GREAT GROUP, and we love them all so much. Many of you have visited our children this year, and I'm sure you agree with all that I am saying. Thank you for helping us teach, love and disciple these children -- more than 200 of them!
Inner Healing
In my master's program, we are doing a class called "Healing and Wholeness." First we read two books about physical healing. Now we are reading two books about inner healing. We are praying for people, and we are taking a close look at our own lives in order to receive healing ourselves. This week we are doing a "Healing Prayer Inventory" for ourselves. We have already done genograms on our families to look for patterns which need healing. This master's program has now left being practical, and has gotten downright personal! Thanks be to God. We all need healing, and I am no exception. I thank the Lord for this opportunity, albeit required, to invite the Holy Spirit to do some serious work in my soul and spirit.

Thank you for all that you do for LAMB. Thank you for your prayers for Betsy, for the children, the construction, the double salaries, the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of our staff (including me!), and our precious country, Honduras. May the Lord continue to speak to us His plans, and may we be found faithful in working towards their completion.

Love always,
Suzy

Trinity Sunday

Copyrighted Art by Jan L. Richardson, used with her permission. Check out her web site http://www.janrichardson.com/

How many sermons have you heard about the Trinity ? I suppose that, since I've really been paying attention, for me, the number would be around forty or so. It's one of those topics that we can talk, talk, talk about and never really feel that we have it pinned down. I want to suggest to you that this is a *good* thing. For, how in the world can we wrap our arms around the ultimate mystery? Below follow some clippings on the topic of mystery and the Trinity. Enjoy!

"There ain't no answer. There ain't going to be any answer.

There never has been an answer.

That's the answer."

That's from Gertrude Stein and could apply to many areas of life (despite her choice of grammar!) Here's another one, this time from Robert Capon. Our efforts to describe the Trinity are fruitless, because....

"We are like a bunch of oysters trying to describe a ballerina"

And finally from William Willimon...."Augustine, one of the greatest minds of the Western World, put his head to thinking about the Trinity. Augustine, a master of words, took fifteen books to talk about the Trinity, fifteen books that took him over a decade to write. Augustine’s On The Trinity continues to be helpful in thinking through that which is difficult to think about, and talking about that which is difficult to describe, namely the nature of God who comes to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Early on in his massive treatise, Augustine had seven statements about God: The Father is God. The Son is God. The Holy Spirit is God. The Son is not the Father. The Father is not the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not the Son. And then, after these six statements, Augustine adds one more. There is only one God. This is the thinking that is tough to get into our brains. We have experienced three rather distinctive modes of God’s presence. God is the Father, the Creator of us and the world. God is the Son, the One who comes to us as Jesus, living, suffering, dying, and rising among us.

We experience God as Holy Spirit, that power that has intruded into our world as the near presence and power of God. And yet, we are not trite theists, we don’t believe in three gods. We know, with Israel, that is only one God. These names, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are not three names for the same thing. They are three names of one God. And how to make sense of that? You can certainly understand our sisters and brothers the Jews who hear talk of this kind and who may think to themselves, “Christians are no longer monotheist. They no longer believe in one God but in three gods.” No, what we are attempting to do in the Trinity is make sense of how there can be one God, and yet that one God being experienced by us in three special ways. In the Council of Nicea, they spoke of God’s “three persons.”

In our language, that sounds like we are talking about three different people. No, Nicea was building upon the Greek experience, from Greek drama of the way in which one character in a Greek play portrayed a number of different people in the play by simply moving off stage, putting on another mask which was called a persona, and returning to the stage as a different actor. One actor could play three different roles. I am one person, but I play the roles of father, husband, and son.

In a similar way, though there is one God, we experience that God working in three different ways in the world. And yet, like most analogies about God, this analogy helped, but not completely. In Book 7 On the Trinity, Augustine tried this. Rather than looking specifically in scripture, or in the world, for analogies to speak about God, he looked within himself. In looking within himself, Augustine noted how the human soul itself is Triadic, Trinitarian.

There is a kind of triune way in which we experience ourselves, as if the Trinity is built right into the structure of our reality. We say for instance “I love myself.” According to Jesus, it is all right to love ourselves, for we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. So we can say, “I love myself.” When we do so, we are speaking in a Triune way. When I say “I love myself,” there is a lover that is doing the loving, namely me loving myself. There is also the beloved, the object of my love, which is also me, then, there is the loving, the act and energy of the lover upon the beloved. So even with the one there is the lover, the beloved, and the loving. Thus, within our own hearts, in our own experience, Augustine said that there is the vestigia trinitatis. Reality is Trinitarian.

One of the church fathers said that, “When we talk about the Trinity, we must forget how to count.” He was simply recognizing that, at first glance, the Trinity is a mathematical impossibility. After all, how can one equal three? We must throw away our math, not because the Trinity is a logical muddle, but because we need a different kind of logic.

It took Augustine fifteen books to try to think about it, because God is God and we are not. Because God comes to us with a complexity and effusiveness, a ubiquity and a plenitude that boggles our modest minds, no wonder we have trouble thinking about God. No wonder the Trinity boggles our imaginations. And that is probably the right way to put it. The problem with the Trinity is not that this is a bunch of nonsense, but that God is God, in God’s particularly glorious, effusive way, and we are just people, the recipients of a love so deep we cannot find words to describe it.

When we think about the Trinity, we must forget how to count. Augustine makes another attempt to think in a Trinitarian way by looking at himself. In my soul, there is memory, understanding, and will. That is when I say, “I remember my mother,” there is the will, my decision to remember something, to draw into the present that which is past. And yet simultaneously there is that act of memory. I will to remember something and, with luck, I will to remember. And yet while I am willing, and remembering, I am also understanding. My mother is appearing instantaneously before my eyes, in my memory. I see her, know her, and understand. It is as if the Trinity, God’s dynamic, effusive nature appears to be built right into the structure of who I am and what the world is. There is a modern word for talking about this dynamic structure — synergy. Within the Trinity, there is constant movement, interaction, as the Father gives to the Son, and the Son is constantly returning praise and glory to the Father, and the Father and the Son give to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit constantly draws everything back to the Father and the Son.

There is the Beloved, the Lover, and the Love."

Happenings around Diocese of SC

Our diocesan website has a great listing of what's happening around the diocese. From Healing Days to Tea Rooms, it's all there. Check it out at http://southcarolina.anglican.org/

Happy Earth Day

It has been a while since I posted, and today is Earth Day, 2008. This is not a feast day that is on our liturgical calendar, although we are approaching what is known as Rogation Sunday which could easily be considered the church's Earth Days.

Click on the image for a beuatiful sight.

Here is a good website for Earth Day resources http://ww2.earthday.net/ and above is a picture of our beautiful planet. As it turns out, I was a particpant in the first Earth Day observance held on the Mall in Washington, DC in 1970 - truthfully, I had never seen anything quite like it then or since.

Here's a question - how will you be exercising greater stewardship of the creation this year?

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

The Annual Brick Church Service...

...was quite wonderful this year. The weather was damp and chilly, but spirits were glad. People were especially stalwart in their picnicking. Our preacher was the Rev. Andy Morgan from Prince George Winyah Church in Georgetown and it was a good day all around. Here are some photos taken and shared by Kay Muschick Schneide. Kay is an artist who posts her painting daily here http://paintcharlestondaily.blogspot.com/ Check it out! March 30th has a sketch of Brick Church. Thanks Kay!

Here are some of her pictures from the service and picnic

The Revs. Andy Morgan and Jennie Olbrych and Max Olbrych

The Picnic!

Yumm!

Easter Day 2008 Sermon

Easter Day -2008
Matt. 28:1-10

“Don’t be afraid,” the angel said – almost always, the first word out of the mouth of the Holy One or his emissaries.

“Fear not” – and yet, how could they not have been scared to death?
Mary Magdalene and the other Mary had gone in the dark to the tomb of Jesus, and, suddenly, there was an earthquake, and an angel coming down from heaven and rolling back the stone. “His appearance,” the text tells us, “was like lightening and his clothing white as snow.”
The guards shook with fear and became like dead men– the words Matthew uses tell us they became rigid, immobilized – passed out cold …as if they were dead…

“Don’t be afraid” the angel said to the women..
“Don’t be afraid” the angel said to Mary – Jesus’ mother
“Don’t be afraid” the angels said to the shepherds.

Think about what happened with the Israelites when God miraculously pried them out of Pharaoh’s hands. They ran through the desert pursued by an army and came to the Red Sea .
There was a wall of water in front of them, a wall of Egyptians behind them and the walls were closing. Would it be death by drowning or death by the sword? V. 10 in that 14th chapt of Exodus tells us, “In great fear, the Israelites cried out to the Lord and said, 'Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you have taken us away to die out here in the wilderness? What have you done?'" And Moses said, “Do not be afraid, stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will accomplish for you today,” and God made a way through the waters.

Think of the vision of desolation seen by the prophet Ezekiel who lived at a time when the people of Israel had been defeated in war. Towns and cities had been razed with untold numbers of casualties. The survivors were marched off into slavery – all forms of family and community destroyed. An entire people were disheartened and disappearing, probably so sick at heart, they wanted nothing more than to lie down and die. “Don’t be afraid” God said to them through Ezekiel, “I will give you new life.” And He did.

To the same Ezekiel, God showed the vision of the valley of the Dry Bones—I have wondered if a modern-day equivalent imagery might not be some of the photos coming out of the concentrations camps like Dachau – with death everywhere…no life, no future, no hope. Can these bones live, came the question to Ezekiel…and he responded…o Lord, only you know..and you remember what happened…the Spirit of Life itself breathed over, blew over those bones and the bones were joined together, flesh and muscle,came on them. In the valley of death, the Spirit of Life danced and blew over the dead bones of a whole people, and they lived.

And, St Paul proclaims over and over again that that when we are united to Christ, Death has no hold over us.

Now, back to our gospel reading. The angel of the Lord said to the women , “Do not be afraid. You are looking for Jesus…he is not here…he has been raised from the dead and is on his way ahead of you to Galilee…you will see him there. "
With joy and fear and everything else, they ran to tell the disciples, and suddenly on the road with them was Jesus. What a moment! And, what did he say to them? He said,“Greetings” or the equivalent of “hey, y’all." Then, he said to them, Don’t be afraid…go and tell.

You see, the followers of Jesus have nothing to fear… NOTHING. God’s resurrection power can overcome anything… So, what are you afraid of? Financial loss? disease? Our own death? The death of someone we love? The anguish and heartsickness of grief?

These are very real losses but we need to know that 1. those we love are not lost but in God’s keeping…2. that resurrection is real..perhaps, the most real thing of all. 3. that death can do its worst and does not have the final word…because in the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, God’s final word to us is life, and life energized by a love that will never die.

“Don’t be afraid” is the sermon delivered first by a lightening –faced angel and then by Jesus himself. We are witnesses to the resurrection and there is nothing on this earth that is beyond the reach of God’s resurrection power.

Jesus says to us – go and tell others that I have walked this road before you and there is nothing to fear… go and be witnesses to the resurrection…go be Easter people who live with joy and anticipation in our sad, anxious and fearful world.

Go to those who are anxious or fearful and surround them with resurrection love..
Go to those who are grieving and embrace them with resurrection love (this doesn’t mean beating someone over the head)…but simply loving them..walking with them---- if they will let you…praying for them..and embodying resurrection hope.

Because Jesus has been raised from the dead, love and life have the last word and will ALWAYS have the last word.

Today, right now, to you, Jesus says---hey, y’all--- don’t be afraid, but go and tell. AMEN.

JTCO