I wrote this essay on commission for a publication, who finally decided not to use it. I thought it might be of interest to blog readers here. The bold-faced sentences were meant to start new sections in the print version.

Candles and vestments were at the center of controversies that nearly tore about the Episcopal Church. In the nineteenth century, lawsuits were files, schism was threatened, and the church was distracted by fights over things that we take for granted today. Is there a lesson for us?

For much of the 1800s, the Episcopal Church in the US was consumed by internal disagreements. On one side, some people insisted that there was no biblical basis for using crosses and candles at the altar. On the other side, some people insisted that these adornments added dignity and reverence to the liturgy, and were justified based on church tradition. People left the church, and efforts at evangelism suffered. Rather than rooting itself in mission and evangelism, the church used its energy to fight about things that today seem unimportant.

Last fall, the Barna Group published results of a study of young Americans’ attitudes toward Christianity. Among young adults (aged 16-29), the leading perception was that Christianity is “anti-homosexual.” Nine out of ten young people listed this perception first. Christians didn’t fare well in other areas either. Among non-Christians, nine out of 12 of their top perceptions were negative. Christians are judgmental (87%), hypocritical (85%), and old-fashioned (78%).

We should not make the assumption that these attitudes will somehow change as this generation ages. The study should give us pause, as it warns that this generation may never be churched. To be sure, they also had some positive things to say.  But the overarching sense is that the church is not relevant to their needs. Rather than teaching about materialism or relationships – matters of great concern to this generation – the church is perceived as using its energy and time to mercilessly condemn lesbian and gay people.

Just as people of good will could disagree about vestments and candles, there are plenty of intelligent people on all sides of the controversies over human sexuality today. But are these matters worth dividing the church? Might Anglicanism have something to offer the whole church as we wrestle with conflict?

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Sure, you’ve seen the zydeco mass and the U2charist. But have you seen the Masster of Puppets? Yes, that’s right. A puppet mass.

I actually think there’s a place for this kind of radically creative — sometimes shocking — liturgical expression. It forces us out of our normal perspective, into contemplating why we do what we do. At its best, it opens us to the Holy Spirit in new ways. However, this requires the creativity to be done for the right reasons, and it’s not easy.

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From the Church Times:

THE Archbishop of Canterbury is planning to reduce his carbon footprint.  He may fly to Poland to visit Auschwitz in the autumn, but, apart from that, he intends to eschew air travel for the rest of the year, a Lambeth Palace spokesman said.

Dr Williams, who took the train to Rome for his meeting with the Pope this week, is following in the footsteps of the Bishop of London, the Rt Revd Richard Chartres, who gave up flying for a year. A carbon-offsetting scheme is also in place for the Lambeth Conference, to compensate for bishops’ flying to the UK. They will also be encouraged to take the train or share lifts in England.

What a great idea. Let me be the first to say that I have no room to point the finger on this one. For instance, though I’m not a bishop, I’m going to be around during the Lambeth Conference. I do some other traveling too. But it does make me wonder… What if some other bishops, especially from the Global South, decided to do their part for the good of the environment? Maybe Gaffe-Con should be canceled?

My blogging friend, the Revd Chris Epperson, writes about a recent experience at St. George’s School in Middletown, RI. He’s been serving as Interim Chaplain there, and he describes a singular moment during a recent confirmation service.

In my mind, the great moment in the service happened at the Fraction. As Bishop [Geralyn] Wolf broke the bread, she started to spontaneously sing a fraction anthem. She sang in a hushed tone, the mic quietly amplified. The alleluias slowly wafted through the enormous chapel. All fidgeting ceased. It became very quiet except for the alleluias washing over all. It was quite a moving moment of the pronounced presence of the Holy Spirit.

For me, it was a moment signifying hope. It was a moment that showed just how open young people are to transcendence. The Church is always talking about how to reach younger people. We are always looking for innovative ways to accomplish this. Yet, in the midst of a very normal Confirmation, it happened. Maybe, it is less about us, and more about the Spirit.

I would add only that it’s not just young people. Most people are open to transcendence, but we don’t seem to allow enough of these moments in our liturgy. In the parish I serve — which tends to be a pretty boisterous place, liturgically speaking — one vestry member recently cited the silence at Ash Wednesday as the most God-filled moment in the recent past. Go figure. God’s transcendent presence shows up in surprising places.

(The photo is the only one I could find online of the interior of the chapel Chris writes about. A pity, because it’s stunning, and worth a trip to see.)

For our third visual art of the day, I was going to use a traditional icon, but I found this variant.

Identified as “Mexicon icon of Pentecost” from here. You can find other examples there too, including a really nice Coptic icon that I was going to use until I saw this one.

Here’s the second of our little series on visual art for the day.

The artist is Alexander Sadoyan (b. 1954), found here.

Here’s the first of three bits of visual art for today.

From here. No information about the artist. If you have info, please post a comment.

Image via Wikipedia

Like many of you, I grew up reading Dr. Seuss books. Was this the root of my priestly vocation? Or was it just the root of my eccentric sense of humor and love of word play? The author of the Parables of Dr. Seuss seems to think there’s doctrine lurking at every corner. From today’s USA Today:

No one has ever doubted the layers of meaning in the stories of Dr. Seuss. The Lorax has obvious lessons about the environment. The Butter Battle Book took direct aim at the Cold War arms race. Marvin K. Mooney, Will You Please Go Now! was one way to demand the resignation of President Nixon.

So when Horton’s world of Who-ville was “saved by the Smallest of All,” Robert Short saw the savior of the Whos as a symbol for the Savior of all people. From Green Eggs and Ham to How the Grinch Stole Christmas , Short has reinterpreted many of Theodor Seuss Geisel’s stories as subtle messages of Christian doctrine in the new book, The Parables of Dr. Seuss.

I’m not buying it, but maybe I’ll read the book and be convinced. In the meantime, it does make me think that some Sunday I’ll quote Lorax alongside St. Augustine or something.

Thanks, t19, for this.

I’m so tired of stupid arguments online. Good debate is enjoyable to me. It’s petty debate that is grating. You can find lots of the latter on the House of Bishops/Deputies email list, for example. (This is especially distressing because these are the leaders of our church.)

Anyway, I think if people are going to argue online, they might as well do it effectively. So I give you this, featured in an article from Wired.

Note: there is a bit of humor right at the beginning that some people could find offensive. I encourage you to persevere; the video in its entirely is quite good.

Sometimes we don’t practice good stewardship of our beautiful world because it seems so impossibly hard and so unimaginably daunting. But there are things we can do. Manageable things. 50 of them. Without further ado, I give you 50 ways to help the planet.

Thanks, simplebits.

A fellow blogger has written of his struggle over his ordination service. As proposed, the service would have flouted rubrics. Thus a dilemma: does an ordinand point out this error? I could relate to that. I had the same problem in my diaconal ordination. I sent over the service completely compliant with rubrics. It came back with a change, making it non-compliant. I mentioned this, and was told that we were doing it the revised way. I gave in, for lots of reasons.

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