Letters
from 16 to 22 November 2009
Like all letters to the editor everywhere, these
letters are the opinions of the writers and not Anglicans
Online. We publish letters that we think will be of interest
to our readers, whether we agree with them or not. If you'd
like to write a letter of your own, click here.
We
asked last week for your thoughts about our decades-long
tradition of a front-page letter and its worth in
a world of tweets. Many of you took the time to write
and tell us to carry on. Below you'll find a selection
of those emails. Thanks to all for writing and giving
our front-page letter a thumbs-up. We'll continue,
God willing, as long as we're able!
Letters
to the editor about our front-page letter
From
Virginia, USA
By
all means please continue your mini-essays — they
are some of the most coherent and thought-provoking
writing in the Anglican Communion today (as well
as some of the most felicitous use of the English
language!).
The
combined constraints of space, and the fact that
the front-page letter will be read over the course
of at least a week by people from all over the world
are good things. They force the writer to be direct,
to raise questions without the luxury of trying to
justify a particular answer in huge detail, and to
avoid foolishly chasing after the headline of the
moment which will be old news tomorrow.
On
a personal note, if these letter-essays were to be
discontinued, I would lose a valuable model for my
own writing, as I have learned much from reading
Anglicans Online for the last several years.
Robin
Drake
Saint Anne's Church, Reston
Herndon, Virginia, USA
16 November 2009
From
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
I
have been coming this website every Monday, round
about 10:00 Central Africa Time. And
without fail I found some inspiration, food for
thought or a bit of laughter at this portal to
Anglicanism even when its called something else.
Thanks
for lifting my spirit sometimes when I didn't think
I need it and giving me a glimpse of some pitfalls
to look out for. Keep up the good work.
Gerald
Kestoor
St George, the Martyr, Kuils River
Cape Town, SOUTH AFRICA
gkestoor@telkomsa.net
16 November 2009
From
Maryland, USA
I
don't often write back to the publications I
read; I
usually just take what they say and carry the
words with me as I move on in my life. But
you asked us to tell you if the front page letter
(so to speak) was outmoded and useless or still
desired.
I
write to tell you I like the front-page letters,
and to ask that they continue. The letters are brief
enough to get your point across concisely; yet, they
are long enough to present a question about Anglican
life, its context, its historical perspective, an
opposing viewpoint, and an evaluation of its relevance
to our everyday lives. Writing such as that is rare
and of true value in a world where news increasingly
comes in 140 or 160 characters.
For
what it's worth, I'm a "wired" 24-year-old with several
websites, a Facebook account, and multiple email
addresses. I think few of my generation are truly
looking to condense communications into 140 characters.
Please
keep writing! We're still reading!
Elizabeth
St. John's Episcopal Church, Ellicott City
Columbia, Maryland, USA
musicalise@aol.com
21 November 2009
From
New Mexico, USA
Is
the essay in Anglicans Online outmoded? By
no means! (Well, I am probably not the most "with
it" person on planet earth!) I often think to
myself "Hey! It's Monday! I can read the new
AO essay! Intelligent, thought-provoking, centered,timely
and timeless . . . I often print them out for
my priest, who claims to be so computer-illiterate
that he can't even turn the computer on.
So,
in words short enough to be tweeted: keep up the
good, Godly work!
Lois
Phillips
Epiphany Episcopal Church
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
phillips@sdc.org
16 November 2009
From
Northern Territory, AUSTRALIA
I
always open Anglicans Online as soon as possible
after 4 pm Monday NT time (midnight
Sunday / Monday your time). I really admire your
brilliant precis of the 14 November editorials
of the past year; tweets, however, normally seem
to me rather to encourage verbal diarrhoea at
a banal level of superficiality, so I guess your
summaries are not typical tweets. Let a thousand
flowers bloom; but I think that thoughtful, scholarly
and accessible discourse will not disappear from
this earth because of the advent of twitter.
Am
I wrong in thinking that a different person has been
writing the editorials for the last few weeks? Yes
or no, I have really loved the glimpses into some
of the byways of our shared history that I have gained
from the pages of Anglicans Online, and also some
of the different perspectives and unshared history
that you as American Anglicans have given me as an
English / Australian one.
All
things pass; but I do hope that you will find it
in your hearts to continue to write, at least for
the foreseeable future. Your ministry is truly very
precious.
Vivienne
Hayward
Christ Church Cathedral, Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory, AUSTRALIA
vhayward@bigpond.net.au
16 November 2009
From
California, USA
Please
keep the front page essay! For
me, the essay is a place for reflection, for
stopping Monday's hectic pace and switching on
a different part of my brain. Working for the
church, I have more or less ceased to attend
church — an addition to the old line of
not knowing how laws and sausages are made would
be not knowing how the church is run— and
while I wouldn't equate the essay with worship,
it is a time to read, reflect, consider, smile,
or be moved to tears.
Several
years ago, you published a piece on reclaiming the
Epiphany as the "true" Christmas celebration. I printed
that out and it lived on my fridge for a couple of
years, reread at different times, keeping the retail
machine at bay (psychologically, at least). It inspired
discussion, a change of program at my mother's parish,
and a prod to create handmade gifts in celebration
of the holiday.
AO
is always appreciated, from clever headlines / commentary
on the news page, to the variety of information in
the essay, to the incredible linkage to the rest
of the Anglican Communion. Thank you!
Mary
Beth Brown
Diocese of California
San Francisco, California, USA
16 November 2009
From
Paris, FRANCE
#AO:
frnt-page is good. RT
to my diocese regularly. Keep it up!
[62
characters...]
Pierre
Whalon
Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe
Paris, FRANCE
17 November 2009
From
the Diocese of Bathurst, AUSTRALIA
Thank
you for all your front pages! I
read them religously each week and have done
so for years. Have sent a small donation to your
PO Box but please be encouraged. Your efforts
are really appreciated. The internet is one of
the most important but unrecognised 'instruments
of communion', and you have a central place there.
It keeps us together in a non-threatening way
and particularly people in isolated situations.
Consider the non-Jensenites in the neighbouring
Diocese of Sydney.
Christopher
Heath
Chaplain, Orange Health Service
Diocese of Bathurst, AUSTRALIA
17 November 2009
From
New York, USA
It
could be said that the each psalm is a collection
of tweets; however,
it is only when they are strung together that
they sing to the soul of man!
Wayne
Kempton
Saint John's Church, Yonkers, New York
Westchester County, New York, USA
archives@dioceseny.org
16 November 2009
From
Colorado, USA
I
find the front page of AO to be a well thought
out, well written (and researched) article. It
is always worth reading and following the links.
I've made AO my home page so if I don't have
time to read all of the front page right away,
I have the rest of the week to finish reading
it. I don't blog or twitter. That whole phenomenon
is lost on me. I like to spend time with what
I'm reading and take time to "read, mark, learn
and inwardly digest" it. The AO front page facilitates
that type of approach.
Keep
doing "that thing you do!"
Michelle
Stone
St Stephen's Church, Monte Vista, Colorado
Alamosa, Colorado, USA
16 November 2009
From
Vermont, USA
Please,
please keep writing your thoughtful essays. There
is so little of well-written, lengthy exposés
left out there that I hate to think of losing
yet another resource to shallow blabbing. So,
here's one vote for the 500-600 word essay to
remain. Many, many thanks.
Lee
Crawford
Trinity Episcopal Church
Rutland, Vermont, USA
17 November 2009
Earlier
letters
We launched
our 'Letters to AO' section on 11 May 2003. All published
letters are in our
archives.
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