Seven whole days

The struggle over the consecration of gay and lesbian bishops will certainly be one of the most attention-getting aspects of the upcoming General Convention of the Episcopal Church. Many readers of 7WD will recall that in the closing hours of GC 2006, a measure calling for a moratorium on gay and lesbian bishops was passed. (Well, not exactly, but that’s not the point here.)

Anyway, lots of people feel that it’s time to move on from this moratorium. I’ll have more to say about this, but my personal position is this: we should respect the power of the Holy Spirit to call the right people to the episcopate, without artificial constraints. At the same time, we must state our position in doing so with all due humility and reverence. In other words, we mustn’t be brash we-will-do-what-we-want Americans. The latter point is essential if we hope to maintain good relationships with our sisters and brothers in the Anglican Communion.

Anyway, watch this video. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

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My neighbor and friend, Fr. John Alexander, writes a very thoughful blog about life in the church, especially matters liturgical. He recently celebrated one year of blogtastic existence. Go over and visit John, and wish hm well. While you’re there, find out what “Videtur quod” means.

We are still friends even though he called me a rubrical fundamentalist. I wear that title as a badge of honor.

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As some of you know, I serve on the Board of Governors of Episcopal Life. And you may also know that there is a proposal from the Church Center staff to change the nature of the printed version of Episcopal Life. The Board has today issued the following statement, and I thought I should post it here.

The Board of Governors of Episcopal Life Media strongly opposes the proposal of the Episcopal Church Director of Communications to change the nature, scope and content of Episcopal Life and calls for the withdrawal of that proposal.

Our opposition comes from concerns about both content and process:

• The board, which was created in 1990 by Executive Council specifically to have oversight and guidance of Episcopal Life, was not consulted at all in this process. We have yet to see the actual proposed budget, even though our Executive Council mandate charges us with reviewing the financial structure of Episcopal Life.
• Episcopal Life serves as a ministry resource to the 32 dioceses and parishes that make up the print partnership, without which many dioceses would not be able to produce, print and circulate their own newspaper. We note also that the costs of Episcopal Life’s production and mailing are paid by these partners, and that the number of printing partners has been increasing in recent years.
• Ending the longstanding printing partnerships at this time will deprive church members of the news vehicles on which they have relied, giving print partners an inadequate five-months notice.
• These are times in which members of the church want, expect and need more, not less, news about their church. This plan will hamstring diocesan and parish communicators, including those not in the printing partnerships, by depriving them of information needed to help keep people informed about what is happening in their church.

The Episcopal Church leadership proclaims a desire for grassroots involvement, transparency and greater collaboration. This proposal flies in the face of that.

The Board of Governors is committed to engaging in strategic planning on matters of communications in the Episcopal Church, but any changes to the existing mechanisms should take place only after a sustained period of engagement that includes all stakeholders, including the Board of Governors, the Episcopal Life printing partners, Episcopal Communicators, the Standing Commission on Church Communications and the communications staff at the Church Center.

We call for a withdrawal of this proposal. We also call for a renewed commitment to continue the Episcopal Life printing partnerships at this time. We also call for an agreement that the Office of Communications will abide by the mandate of Executive Council and will not make any proposal regarding Episcopal Life unless it comes through consultation with and agreement by the Board of Governors.

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A little treat for late morning in late June.

Tip of the biretta to Episcopal Cafe.

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Thanks to Bishop Kirk Smith for this one — shared on facebook.

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Here I present you the list of queries that landed people on 7WD so far today. These are ranked in descending order of popularity.

trinity humor
compass rose images
the holy trinity humor
two handed bowling rules 2009
iphone horn
“the trinity” humor
holy trinity humor
the trinity humour
outrageous churches
“holy trinity humor”

I note that Brits did not search here much. Either they do not practice Trinity humour or they do not use the Interwebs in their quest for such things. In case you are wondering, most of these people ended up here.

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Here is the much maligned and often misunderstood Athanasian Creed, presented as a Wordle. I think it’s rather beautiful, whether as a Wordle or as a creed.

I learned about Wordles from Bishop Alan. If you want more Trinity Sunday goodies from Seven whole days, there are several choices.

You can view this Wordle online here or make your own here.

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