Our Guests

The Rev. Daudi Ndahana, his wife Olivia and their infant son Frank are spending a month with us as they take a break from Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin where Daudi is finishing a Masters in Theology program. They are pictured here on a trip with Celeste and Lene to the Jacksonville Zoo.

The party wouldn't have been complete

The grace of God means something like:

Here is your life. You might never have been, but you are because the party wouldn't have been complete without you.

—The Rev. Frederick Buechner (1926- )

Time for Something Amusing

At the risk of another irate phone call, I offer some less lofty fair to keep this site from getting too bogged down in theological minutia and the like.

While we are still in the last of the Twelve Days of Christmas (which end with Epiphany on January 6), here are a few amusing things to do on the web especially if you are fortunate enough to have today off like I do:

Make your own snowflake at this interactive website which lets you cut out paper with scissors and then view the results. Hint: the less paper you leave, the more interesting the design. See examples below.

I am not making this up, you may Pimp My Nutcracker online, creating much more fanciful versions than the one I created at left.

Finally, and closer to home, you may color the nativity scene online in King of Peace's own online coloring book.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor + King of Peace Episcopal church

Lift Up Our Hearts

In the days of His earthly ministry, only those could speak to him who came where He was: if He was in Galilee, men could not find Him in Jerusalem; if He was in Jerusalem, men could not find Him in Galilee. His Ascension means that He is perfectly united with God; we are with Him wherever we are present to God; and that is everywhere and always. Because He is "in Heaven" He is everywhere on earth: because He is ascended, He is here now.

Our devotion is not to hold us by the empty tomb; it must lift up our hearts to heaven so that we too "in heart and mind thither ascend and with Him continually dwell": it must also send us forth into the world to do His will; and these are not two things, but one.

—Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple (1881-1941)

In the Meantime

In tomorrow's Gospel reading we will read the prologue to John's Gospel:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it....And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth.

I have preached on this passage before by reading alongside it W.H. Auden's Christmas Oratorio, For the Time Being. The work was written soon after the poet came to faith in Jesus Christ and it gives Auden’s understanding Christianity, especially of Jesus’ birth—the Incarnation. Auden looks to the excitement of the holidays with the realization that God never wanted our Christmas Day, but our everydays, the plain days with no celebration,

Well, so that is that. Now we must dismantle the tree,
Putting the decorations back into their cardboard boxes—
Some have got broken—and carrying them up to the attic.
The holly and the mistletoe
must be taken down and burnt,
And the children got ready for school. There are enough
Leftovers to do, warmed up, for the rest of the week—
Not that we have much appetite, having drunk such a lot,
Stayed up so late, attempted—quite unsuccessfully—
To love all of our relatives, and in general
Grossly overestimated our powers.

Once again
As in previous years we have
seen the actual Vision and failed
To do more than entertain it as an agreeable
Possibility, once again we have sent Him away,
Begging though to remain His disobedient servant,
The promising child who cannot keep His word for long.
The Christmas Feast is already a fading memory,
And already the mind begins to be vaguely aware
Of an unpleasant whiff of apprehension at the thought
Of Lent and Good Friday which cannot, after all, now
Be very far off.

To those who have seen
The Child, however dimly, however incredulously,
The Time Being is, in a sense, the most trying time of all.
For the innocent children who whispered so excitedly
Outside the locked door
where they knew the presents to be
Grew up when it opened. Now recollecting that moment
We can repress the joy, but the guilt remains conscious;
Remembering the stable where for once in our lives
Everything became a You and nothing was an It.

In the meantime
There are bills to be paid, machines to keep in repair,
Irregular verbs to learn, the Time Being to redeem
From insignificance. The happy morning is over,
The night of agony still to come; the time is noon:
When the Spirit must practice his scales of rejoicing
Without even a hostile audience, and the Soul endure
A silence that is neither for nor against her faith
That God's Will will be done, That, in spite of her prayers,
God will cheat no one, not even the world of its triumph.

The sermon is here For the Time Being. It is based on both this poem of Auden's and the prologue to the Gospel of John.

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

Singing that will make you cry

While we are still here in the 12 days of Christmas, I offer a diversion—two versions of O Holy Night. Each one will make you cry, but for different reasons:



This is the painful one, which will make you cry in a bad way.



This is the heart-warming one which will make you cry in a good way.

Santa's Request

The following poem is by King of Peace's own Dale Bundy, written for this Christmas and shared here as his gift to us all:

I climb down chimneys
On Christmas Eve,
I get all covered with soot,
And I ride round the world,
In that creaky old sleigh,
That seat is real hard on my butt.

My bag is full of presents and toys,
But it always brings tears to my eyes,
That I can’t fill some of the children’s requests,
No matter how hard I try.

You see,
I can’t wrap up a daddy whose left,
Or a mommy whose died and is gone,
I can’t send someone,
To hold little children,
Who spend much of life all alone.

I can’t cure the sick,
I can’t take back words,
I can’t mend lives torn apart,
I only have one night,
To accomplish my task,
But these undone things,
Still weigh on my heart.

I wish I could stop at every house,
But in some there’s just no Christmas there,
And it’s only because I have so much to do,
And believe me,
I really do care.

I see many homes,
On my trip round the world,
And each year the number grows,
Of the homes that I leave full of sadness,
And I can’t find my HO HO HO’s

So If you can please help Santa,
Just reach out to someone in need,
And spread Christmas cheer ,
To those who have less,
No matter how small the deed.


And don’t forget a prayer of thanks,
To God who reigns on high,
And remember those who need it the most,
But for his grace go you and I.

Thanks,

Merry Christmas, Santa Claus

The True Light

Josh and Abi with their Christingles at the early service on Christmas Eve as this night shines with the brightness of the true light from heaven.

The text of the play/sermon is online here: The Christmas sermon - A Play. Thanks to Robin and his Dad, Victoria, Griffin, Jim and Jason for being the cast for the sermon.

Shining Light into Darkness

Tonight, our Christmas Eve worship will be at 6 and 11 p.m. The early service will be more kid friendly. Children are encouraged to come 20 minutes early to make a Christingle. These are "Christ Lights" made with an orange. They are a tradition created in Britain 40 years ago with The Children's Society creating a more child-friendly Christmas eve service to raise awareness and funds. We don't add a fundraising element at King of Peace, but enjoy sharing the light of Christ.

The 11 p.m. worship service will also be a candlelight service with a quieter, more reflective feel than the earlier service. We will worship on Christmas day at 12 noon.

Christ Is Born - Glorify Him

The theme in Bethlehem this Christmas is "Christ Is Born - Glorify Him" which is what the Arabic calligraphy pictured above reads. The caaligraphy is by Palestinian artist Adel Nasser. A recent Episcopal Life news article Town of Bethlehem rests more peacefully this Christmas tells of this Christmas in Bethlehem. A million tourists are expected this Christmas booking more than 5,000 rooms in the area, which is 5.5 miles south of Jerusalem. Presumably, there is still room in a stable or two, but they may be about it this Christmas.

The Christians in Israel are mostly Palestinians and there are numerous shows of Palestinian art, music, theatre and folk dancing timed for the Christmas celebration in the town of Jesus birth. It wasn't so many years ago that there was violence in Bethlehem (see previous religion column here: Put people First on the Path to Peace).

This year, we give thanks for peace.

There is also an interesting Episcopal Life article: TENNESSEE: Myanmar refugees bring Advent story alive for rural church

Nativity Pageant

King of Peace Episcopal Day School held its annual Nativity Pageant this past Friday to a packed house. The show was a resounding success as the preschoolers taught told the story of Jesus' birth through words and song. Mary and Joseph gave the show two thumbs up.

A Christmas Prayer from India

Today is Saint Thomas day in the church calendar. Thomas is usually remembered as Doubting Thomas for the doubts he expressed about the resurrection before he saw Jesus for himself. But in India, he is remembered as the Apostle who brought the Gospel to that subcontinent.

The following prayer by Savithri Devanesen, is one that comes out of a part of Christianity facing persecution this Christmas season:

Lord, there is enchantment in the air tonight
casting a mysterious spell of expectancy on all creation
fulfilling the promise of the birth of God on earth
as a human child.
And as I watch with trembling hope
the wondrous pageant pass by
of poor shepherds and powerful kings
the radiant serenity of the night
is suddenly broken by a storm of power-drunk winds
spewing bullets of hatred, hurling stones of violence
on men and women, on frightened children
all fleeing from the grips of oppressive structures,
from bondage of sorrow and broken lives,
from explosive knowledge which has not yet
solved the problems of hunger and poverty,
from crumbling values which confuse the mind,
from death itself...
searching for the manger
where God's love and goodness for all humanity
blossoms in the heart of a Babe
and lets us know anew this Christmas morn
all people
as our brother,
as our sister.

God’s word of hope

During tomorrow's worship service, the Revised Common Lectionary gives us two passages from Luke's Gospel. In the first, we will say together the Magnificat, the divinely inspired song which is Mary's response to her pregnancy. For the Gospel reading, we will read the context for that song which is Mary's visit to her elderly relative, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with the baby who will become John the Baptist.

Kathleen Norris wrote of these texts for The Christian Century:

My favorite Christmas book is The Donkey’s Dream, which is about the journey Mary and Joseph made to Bethlehem. Meant for young children, Barbara Helen Berger’s story is a brilliant and subtle work of theology. Or perhaps antitheology, as it allows simple images to tell us more than words can convey about what the incarnation signifies. As the donkey ambles and dreams, we see that he is carrying a luminous city, with many gates and towers. Next we see on his back a sailing ship, rocking on the sea like a cradle, and then a flowing fountain, and then a rose. Finally we see what he has been carrying all along—a pregnant woman in a blue robe spotted with stars.

The child who trusts the wisdom of these pages has a head start on David, who had to be convinced by Nathan that it is not we who must build God a tabernacle, but God who chooses to dwell in and among us. Our job is to accept the burden. Human concepts of grandeur change—David’s cedar house might today be a McMansion of fake stone, with chandeliers, central air and cedar-scented room fresheners -- but God’s designs endure forever. It is in people, and not things, that God wishes to live.

In the passage from Luke that replaces the psalm in this Sunday’s readings, we see one result of God’s insistence on human beings as tabernacles of the holy. When we know God’s voice and answer his call, we sing, and as our soul "magnifies the Lord" we ourselves are magnified, becoming greater than the sum of our parts. Biblical scholars know that an illiterate peasant woman could never have made such a song, and we know that while Mary had little idea of what would be required of her, she could express her wonder and joy. This is one of those happy occasions when everyone is right. The point is that we need this hymn to restate and magnify our entire salvation history, to draw on Hannah’s song in 1 Samuel, as well as on prophetic warnings about the day of the Lord as a time when all that we value will be called into question. One thing only is clear: God has promised to come to our aid and be with us always.

It is no wonder that Mary’s song of praise has become one of the church’s most potent prayers. Traditionally recited in the evening at the close of vespers, it prods us to reflect upon how we have responded, this very day, to God’s call. Have we tried to ignore it, relying instead on our status, wealth or power? Or have we been poor and simple enough to receive it and take it to heart?

We hear the Gospel readings in the wrong order today, but small matter, as both are essential to our understanding of Christmas. The annunciation of the good news to Mary makes it clear that she was able to sing her song because she had listened well and said yes to God. With all the wealth of mystery provided in these texts, we do still wonder if God is foolish to choose human beings as the foundation of his kingdom. We are not only mortal, we are fickle and unfaithful, and easily distracted. All too often, in the noise of our busy lives, we give God a deaf ear, And we are glad to do so, because listening to God requires more of us than we are willing to give.

Denise Levertov begins her poem "Annunciation" with a line from the Agathistos hymn, "Hail, space for the uncontained god," reminding us of the great mystery that is enacted in Mary. But Levertov disconcertingly puts us in sharp contrast with the young woman of scripture. While annunciations of one sort or another come to most of us, Levertov insists, there are all too often those strange and risky moments

when roads of light and storm
open from darkness in a man or a woman
are turned away from
in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.
God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes.
And so it goes with us, much of the time. We cling to what we know, the ordinary life that pays the bills. But God keeps calling and, surprisingly, is often answered by the least among us, the most unlikely people from the provinces. It is the barren Hannahs, the young Davids and innocent Marys who hear and believe, and further God’s reign on earth. As many times as we turn away from their witness, God has put us together on the road to Jerusalem. It is never the right time, and we are never ready. We have other, more important things to do and places to be. The burden is too great for us to carry. But once we say, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord," the angel will depart, and the path will open before us. We can trust that even in this violent, unjust and despairing world, God’s word of hope is true, and we will sing it "from generation to generation."

Why Be Religious?

Father Matthew Moretz offers his take on the expression, "I'm spiritual, but not religious."

My own take on this ran in the Tribune & Georgian back in July: Spiritual, but not religious and it didn't have the funny bits that Matthew at which Matthew is so adept.

Living Right

A man who lives right, and is right,
has more power in his silence
than another has by his words.

—The Rt. Rev. Phillips Brooks (1835-1893)

Go Public with Sins?

Denise pointed out the following news item, Woman Says Church Threatening To Make Sins Public. The article tells of a church in Mandarin, Florida harassing a woman even after she has left the church:

A divorced Jacksonville woman said her former church has threatened to "go public with her sins" and tell the congregation about her sexual relationship with her new boyfriend.

Rebecca Hancock said harassment from Grace Community Church in Mandarin over her sex life caused her to leave, but she said that didn't put an end to the problem. She said she received a letter from the church's elders telling her the church plans to make her personal life very public.

"I'm basically run out. I'm the church harlot," Hancock said.

The 49-year-old said she has been dating a man for a while and she said members of the congregation at Grace Community Church haven't been happy about the relationship.

"Because I have a boyfriend that I'm involved with … to not be married to that person is a sin," Hancock said.

She said the issue caused her to leave the church. However, she said the church has not let go of her.

The letter Hancock received from the church states that because she has refused to end her sexual relationship with her boyfriend, "you leave us with no other choice but to carry out the commands of the Lord Jesus Christ" … "In accordance with Matthew 18:17 we intend to 'tell it to the church.'"

"On January 4, my sins will be told to the church, publicly, with my children sitting in the church and my friends," Hancock said.

The irony is that the church is named "Grace." Grace is God's free, unearned gift of love. Oh well.

In partial defense of the church, scripture does have higher expectations of the faithful than of the newcomer. We are to be transformed over time by God's presence in our lives. This ongoing work of sanctification (being made holy) is the work of a lifetime. Jesus did not condemn the woman caught in the very act of adultery, but he also told her to "go and sin no more."

So much for defending the church. This story sounds like opposite day in the Kingdom of God. When I was in elementary school, you could tell someone, "You are handsome, well dressed and the smartest person in school." Then follow it up with, "Haha. It's opposite day." They read the Gospel about the woman caught in adultery and then said, "Haha, it's opposite day. Let's stone a woman for her sins."

Kidding aside, Grace Community Church is clear about who they are. Their website lists one of the purposes of a church as, "The church exists to provide accountability to the purity of the church (Matthew 18)." Their holding this one member publically accountable is not some arbitrary decision, but is part of a core value this congregation maintains for itself.

I know that they will see my views as being conformed to the culture and not to God's will, but I think they got the letter of the law, but missed the spirit of it. Jesus said that you know a tree by its fruit. The fruit of this decision will be to encourage more highly judgmental people to seek out Grace Community Church as their kind of church, one that will be pure. But the Body of Christ is messier than that.

We are a mixed body in the Church made up of saints and sinners alike. And this is not just in the church, but within each of us. Each of us is within ourselves a mix of saint and sinner. Until my whole life is in conformity to God's will, am I in a position to condemn another person? And when my whole life is in conformity to God's will, would I still want to condemn another person?

I see that the church opted to publically judge this woman for her sins. I just don't understand where they found the person to cast the first stone. Jesus said he wouldn't do it. Neither will I. I trust you, gentle reader, would not do so either.

Some of those who seek out this congregation as their kind of church will find themselves on the pointy end of the finger, with the judgment of the congregation falling on them, because life works out that way. In fact, life usually works out so that it will be the pastor whose own sins will be made public one day. I hope not. I truly do. But this kinda thing has a way of happening so frequently as to almost be predictable.

One final note, the church did get its way. She made their judgment public as a way to condemn their actions against her. So they don't have to wait for January anymore. Jacksonville television news has already let everyone know about the boyfriend. It sorta takes the punch out of condemning her in church now that their plan of action has been broadcast by the media.

I still think that Jesus words apply here and we should judge not, lest we be judged in the same manner. That's my take. What do you think?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

The Vulnerable Pay the Price

The following is the Christmas Letter from Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams:

Human beings, left to themselves, have imagined God in all sorts of shapes; but—although there were one or two instances, in Ancient Greece and Ancient Egypt, of gods being pictured as boys—it took Christianity to introduce the world to the idea of God in the form of a baby: in the form of complete dependence and fragility, without power or control. If you stop to think about it, it is still shocking. And it is also deeply challenging.

God chose to show himself to us in a complete human life, telling us that every stage in human existence, from conception to maturity and even death, was in principle capable of telling us something about God.

Although what we learn from Jesus Christ and what his life makes possible is unique, that life still means that we look differently at every other life. There is something in us that is capable of communicating what God has to say—the image of God in each of us, which is expressed in its perfection only in Jesus.

Hence the reverence which as Christians we ought to show to human beings in every condition, at every stage of existence. This is why we cannot regard unborn children as less than members of the human family, why those with disabilities or deprivations have no less claim upon us than anyone else, why we try to makes loving sense of human life even when it is near its end and we can hardly see any signs left of freedom or thought.

And hence the concern we need to have about the welfare of children. As we look around the world, there is plenty to prompt us to far more anger and protest about what happens to children than we often seem to feel or express. In the UK this year there have been several public debates about childhood, as research has underlined the lack of emotional security felt by many children here, the high cost of divorce and family breakdown, the disproportionate effect of poverty and debt on children, and many other problems. We look forward to the publication here in the New Year of a nationwide survey about what people think is a 'good childhood'—sponsored by the Children's Society, with its long association with the Anglican Church.

Elsewhere we see far more horrendous sights—child soldiers still deployed in parts of Africa and in Sri Lanka, the burden laid on children in places where HIV and AIDS have wiped out a whole generation, leaving only the old and the young, the fate of children in areas of conflict like Congo and the Middle East and the insensitive treatment that is so often given to child refugees and asylum seekers in more prosperous countries.

'Though an infant now we view him, He shall fill his Father's throne' says the Christmas hymn. If it is true that the child of Bethlehem is the same one who will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, how shall we stand before him if we have allowed his image in the children of the world to be abused and defaced? In the week I write this, the British public is trying to cope with the revelation of the shocking killing of a very small child. Recently I accompanied a number of students and British faith leaders on a pilgrimage to the extermination camps at Auschwitz, where some of the most unforgettably horrifying images have to do with the wholesale slaughter of Jewish children—their toys and clothes still on display, looted by their killers from their dead bodies.

Christmas is a good time to think again about our attitudes to children and about what happens to children in our societies. Christians who recognise the infinite and all-powerful God in the vulnerability of a newborn baby have every reason to ask hard questions about the ways in which children come to be despised, exploited, even feared in our world.

We all suspect that in a time of economic crisis worldwide, it will be the most vulnerable who are left to carry most of the human cost. The Holy Child of Bethlehem demands of us that we resist this with all our strength, for the sake of the one who, though he was rich, for our sake became poor, became helpless with the helpless so that he might exalt us all through his mercy and abundant grace.

With every blessing and best wish for Christmas and the New Year.

+Rowan Cantuar

No Strings Attached

The youth group met yesterday afternoon and completed the shopping for Christmas for Camden Kids. Then we went to downtown St. Marys to give away dollar bills. It proved not as easy as you might think to give a stranger a dollar. If the person took the dollar they were given a business card which read,

It's a free dollar.
There really are no strings attached.

This is just an exercise
to help our youth group
learn about the
free gift of God's love.
Thanks for helping.
Then we gathered and talked about buying the toys and sending them off with no strings attached, the children who get them will have no idea who bought them. And then the dollars given again with no strings attached, not even the name of the church given (which could be viewed as advertising). These are both tangible signs of how God gives us so many gifts out of love, rather than because we earn or deserve God's love.

We can give for what we get in return, making sure the person knows that we gave him or her something. Or we can give without the recipient even knowing who gave the gift. The second option best models the agape, the self-giving loving we find most fully revealed in the life and ministry of Jesus.

Thanks Kelly and Ginger for helping out!

The spring will come

Never cut a tree down in the wintertime.
Never make a negative decision in the low time.
Never make your most important decisions
when you are in your worst moods.
Wait. Be patient.
The storm will pass.
The spring will come.

—Robert H. Schuller (1926- )

Testifying to The Light

In tomorrow's Gospel reading we meet John the Baptist. The wild and wooly saint of Advent is out on the fringe of society calling people to repent as they prepare for the coming of the Lord.

In preaching on this passage, The Rev. Kirk Alan Kubicek has written,

John was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. John did not come to decorate everyone and everything for Christmas. John did not come to announce the beginning of the Christmas sale season. He did not come to stir us into a frenzy of shopping and spending. He came to remind us and to bear witness to all who will listen that the darkest forces of the world are not as powerful as they claim or appear to be.

We begin this Third Sunday of Advent by praying, “Stir up your power, O Lord, and with Great Might come among us.” Will we take the time this Advent to allow God to stir things up within us and within our parishes and throughout the Church, so that we might become more like John, “a man sent from God?” For that is, in fact, who we really are – men and women sent from God as witnesses to testify to the Light, so that all might believe through him.

And maybe, just maybe, as we testify, bear witness to, and proclaim the glory of the Light, we will embody the Light and become those who reveal the life of Christ anew in the world – a world that increasingly is desperate to see and know the Light.

As it says in John, in the Light is “life, and the life was the light of all people.” All people look to us to see the Light. When all that we say and all that we do bears witness to the Light, heaven and salvation will be understood not as a time and place after death, but rather the world as it should be, here and now.

The full text of his sermon is online here: Third Advent.

Meaningful Gifts Redefine Christmas

What do you give to the person who has everything? What about a goat? Or perhaps a flock of chickens? Not only will the gift of a goat or chickens be unforgettable, it will be a more lasting present than most of the gifts given this year.

Of course, I’m not actually suggesting that you pack up a goat and ship it off to your Mom and Dad. The goat might keep the grass cut and the chickens could well provide some tasty eggs for breakfast, but livestock would be more imposition than gift for most Americans. But if the animals are given through Heifer Project International, the gift of livestock can transform a whole community over time.

I have seen this on the ground while working in Tanzania. The church I worked with there as an intern in 1998 took part in Heifer Project. The community had a cow that was donated by a person in America. The cow had gone to one family who raised it until the cow gave birth to a calf. They kept the cow and gave the calf back to the project, making their local Heifer chapter self perpetuating. Through a single donation, many families came to have a steady source of milk and a minor source of income. This is just one example of the many development programs offered at www.heifer.org. Any of these gifts will still be helping another community long after the latest electronic gadgets have become obsolete.

Heifer Project itself is just one example of several ways in which you can change your pattern of giving in a way that makes the world a better place to live. After all, Christmas is a time of giving to others. Yet much of this giving does a little to stimulate the economy, but does nothing to provide any lasting change. Much of the giving we do accomplishes nothing toward Jesus’ command to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, and clothe the naked.

The rest of today's religion column is online here: Meaningful Gifts Redefine Christmas

Brandon's Gift

Brandon offers the above video of King of Peace as his gift to King of Peace. Enjoy his evocative look at our/his congregation.

Put Your Faith to Work

A new ad campaign by The Episcopal Church uses the tagline "Put Your faith to Work." The idea is that youcan get actively involved in making a difference in your community through a community of faith. The campaign also uses the words:

Serving Christ in Everyone.
Everywhere. Every Day.
The Episcopal Church welcomes you.
The website for the campaign is here: Put Your Faith to Work and you can see a video of a TV ad there. I think the ads are fine. Certainly working in the soup kitchen at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Rome, Georgia, was part of how Victoria, Griffin and I got more fully connected to the church and found some meaning in our lay ministry there. That said, I don't plan to use the new ad campaign locally. On the national ads alone, I probably wouldn't have found my way into an Episcopal Church. I would probably be a Mormon if not a Methodist, or perhaps I would worship at an Interstate Batteries distributor (see previous blog post: Powered by God's Love).

That's my take. What do you think?

peace,
Frank+
the Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

Diocesan Profile

In the ongoing work toward the election of the 10th Bishop of Georgia, the hardworking nominations committee has completed and released the diocesan profile. The 40-page color document gives an excellent overview of the Diocese of Georgia, its current strengths and future challenges. The document is available online only. Click the artwork here to view the Adobe PDF file, which also contains the nomination forms for use in supplying prospective nominees as our next bishop.

Thorny Issues of Religion Online

This blog and the King of Peace website it accompanies online work together with email lists from the church to provide our congregation's online presence. It's taken almost as a given these days that a church will maintain at least minimal presence in cyberspace. But there are downsides and these are explored in an interesting article Sacred Texting: When Religious Writ Gets Wired by Rachel Wagner for Religion Dispatches. She writes in part,

Is something important lost in the 2005 translation of the entire Bible into SMS, when the first passage in Genesis becomes: “In da Bginnin God cre8d da heavens & da earth?” And what are we to make of the “Text Mary” service, embraced in 2005 in the Philippines, which allows worshippers to send text prayers via cell phones to then be included in the Catholic mass? Should Muslims consider a divorce legitimate if the husband, who is required to tell his wife three times that he wishes to divorce her before it is final, simply texts her or emails her instead of telling her personally, a problem that Malaysian Muslims have recently been addressing? In Malaysia, the practice was banned, but Egypt was still debating the issue in January 2008.

The article is interesting and the full text (Sacred Texting: When Religious Writ Gets Wired) is worth a read.

I know that the Incarnation (God becoming human in Jesus) was not virtual reality (as some early heretics claimed) and that the practice of Christianity must involve real people coming together in real space and time. But I find that the article's quote of Pope John Paul II captures well enough my own thoughts when he wrote,

While the Internet can never replace that profound experience of God which only the living, liturgical and sacramental life of the Church can offer, it can certainly provide a unique supplement and support in both preparing for the encounter with Christ in community, and sustaining the new believer in the journey of faith which then begins.

Christians do not need an internet connection, but there are, nonetheless, sites and tools on the internet that can enhance your spiritual journey. I consider these toe holds in cyberspace essential for faith communities as there is also much online to distract or tempt the faithful off the path. What do you think?

peace,
Frank+
The Rev. Frank Logue, Pastor

An Important Step

At the close of our worship service today, we held a parish meeting at which the congregation voted by acclamation to petition the upcoming 186th Convention of the Diocese of Georgia to move King of Peace from mission to parish status. It's a step toward autonomy sometimes not taken for 50 to 100 years, though more commonly taken sooner by more recent church plants. We also collected and burned pledges unopened in keeping with our ongoing pattern of committing of finances to God.