Letters
from 17 July to 23 July 2006
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all letters to the editor everywhere, these letters are
the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans Online.
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Culture influences
church canons
During the
50 years since my Ordination to the Diaconate in 1956, I served in 3
countries: (Canada, the United States, and Japan), in 3 branches of the
Anglican Communion – 10 years in the Anglican Canada of Canada,,
30 years in the Episcopal Church USA, and 10 years in the Nippon Sei
Ko Kai. It has been a rich and rewarding experience in parish ministry.
In learning
about the canonical challenges of the present time, I am reminded that
during my ministry I had to become familiar with and use the Canons of
6 Dioceses and 3 National Churches in at least 4 different cultures and
2 distinct languages.
I discovered
cultural and national influences that exert their pressures upon the
way rules are differently perceived and applied. Also the rules themselves
would become altered by life’s differing circumstances, understandings
and backgrounds.
Whenever a
pastoral preamble is composed to accompany each Canon, the intention
of the Canon is more effectively communicated. Such pastoral words are
not part of the Canon, but the wording of the Canon is no longer the
only means of understanding it. The pastoral intent is more readily communicated
and understood. Biblical and theological understandings can also thereby
be shared.
The Reverend
Timothy Makoto Nakayama
St. Mark's Cathedral, Seattle
Seattle, Washington, USA
frtim@yahoo.com
17 July 2006
After all,
many 'news sources' are actually just editorializing
Most
dear editors: what
tireless and selfless ministry you have provided, and what a treasure
you are for the whole Church!
But I would
like to see one un-selfless aspect demonstrated more often. Most of the
time you list a news item with only its source and sometimes a little
background. But what I treasure most is the infrequent (and truly delightful)
editorializing comment in the news posting. It adds a wee spot of spice
to an often dull posting.
John-Julian
Swanson, OJN
The Order of Julian of Norwich
Hartland, Wisconsin, USA
johnjulianojn@sbcglobal.net
17 July 2006
(Ed:
Thank you for the comment. Our managing editor is a very
kind, gentle, and even-handed person, not given to public
wisecracks, while the news editor can be a bit of a smartass.
Usually she keeps him roped in, but as you know she's
out on sick leave right now, so the editorializing sneaks
through. We'll let her know that it's often welcome. She's sound
asleep right now, so we'll tell her later.)
Knowing everything
should be its own reward
There is a
lot of noise about the state of the wider Anglican Communion at present
with the evangelicals saying the liberals shouldn't have voting rights
and Archbishop Rowan and others trying very hard to placate these outspoken
and arrogant fundamentalists.
I wonder if
an institution of any kind is worth compromising beliefs and standards
of compassion just to stay together. Jesus was radical and often divisive
and had no time for the leaders who thought they knew everything about
God and God's laws. Maybe we should take an example from him and support
the people in our communion who are marginalized and hurting (women and
homosexuals especially at present) and let these ones who would say they
have the unerring truth go their own way.
How long will
we stand by and allow those who are suffering stay that way because we
want to be "one
body" with those who have no
use for "sinners"?
Patricia Pattison
Dipton Ministry in the Winton Parish
Dipton, NEW ZEALAND
george.patti@xtra.co.nz
19 July 2006
Grumpy, tense
adult parishioner 'fesses up
I would like
to add to Judith Guttman’s thoughtful letter of July 7, 2006 concerning
our rector Martha Ann Englert, who has been charged with as-yet-unspecified
conduct unbecoming a member of the clergy and who consequently has been
inhibited until her trial.
A little background
information: I started regularly attending services at Grace Church of
Madison, Wis. in April of 2005. One year later, I became a confirmed
member of the Episcopal Church and officially joined the congregation
of Grace. Early in my time at Grace, I flinched when babies gurgled during
the sermon, my jaw dropped when a small boy shimmied to an offertory
anthem, and I became tense and distracted when a child prattled to her
mother amid the Prayers of the People. Judith reports accurately that
our rector Martha Ann gently and effectively shepherds the children of
Grace toward respectful worship. Martha Ann also has gently but
firmly nudged me to embrace the full humanity of Grace’s parishioners,
especially its littlest ones: “Let her be!” “He’s
fine: he has the spirit!” With
such pleas, Martha Ann has repeatedly scolded the likes of me—grumpy,
tense adult parishioner— to embrace the childish behavior of children,
to grant these wee congregants the space to make a joyful noise to the
Lord and worship Him with the youthful gladness that is all their own.
I
relate this experience because it exemplifies the embracing, uplifting
latitude of Martha Ann’s ministry. Martha Ann has welcomed me as
a gay man who wasn’t sure he had a place in organized Christianity.
She has encouraged me to carry my doubts as well as my hopes into the
sanctuary of Grace. She has granted me the breadth of vision to find
myself in Anglicanism. She knows that rigid composure and poised appearance
rarely facilitate the nitty-gritty of spiritual questing. The ease and
openness that Martha Ann brings to Grace has directed me to the gladness
of knowing Christ. In Martha Ann’s absence, the number of children
attending Grace’s services has dwindled and I have felt myself
becoming more than ever the grumpy, tense adult parishioner. I hope and
pray for a speedy resolution to the matter at hand, without a perilously
divisive trial. I also hope and pray that joy and gladness will shortly
return to the halls of Grace Church in Madison, Wisconsin.
J. Ereck Jarvis
Grace Episcopal Church
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
jejarvis@wisc.edu
21 July 2006
(Ed:
We've gotten a steady flow of Letters to the Editor in
support of Martha Ann Englert. We don't want this page
to turn into the Englert Cheering Society, so we only
publish one every now and then. This letter seemed from
the heart, and is shorter than most, so here it is. We
remain happy to receive letters from people with a different
point of view, but aren't.)
Earlier
letters
We launched
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